Cape Cod & Buzzards Bay Fishing Report: 9-29-11

So far this fall the striper fishing, especially from shore, has been consistently inconsistent. The fish are moving quick, flooding one area for one tide and disappearing completely on the next. Even in the canal, anglers can’t seem to agree on how the fishing is.  Some anglers are saying it’s great, others saying it’s terrible, and with huge numbers albies blitzing from the East End of the Canal, through Buzzards Bay and out to Monomoy, some anglers could care less about the bass.

Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay

Big tides and strong currents made fishing challenging for Canal anglers this week, as bouncing bottom required 6 ounces of lead at times. Friday and Saturday will be breaking tides, however, and with sporadic topwater action earlier this week, the prime tides this coming weekend could create some excellent fishing.

Bull at Red Top in Buzzards Bay said while bass fishing has been decent, the albies have gotten his attention. He’s been throwing diamond jigs at breaking false albacore and hooking up. Most of the bass he’s seeing are in the 15- to 18-pound range, but a few as large as 30 pounds have been weighed at the shop this week.

Mike from M and D’s saw similar fish this week, with fish up to 32 pounds gracing his scale. Mike reported that the bigger fish have been caught on the west tide, while smaller fish are being taken on the east. This isn’t set in stone, however, as I, and several anglers I spoke to, found very slow fishing on the overnight west tide. Bull at Red Top agreed that the nighttime fishing has been slow, but said the daytime bite has been quite a bit better.

Buzzards Bay still has false albacore, and fortunately not too much has changed on that front.
Tog fishing is so-so, reported Mike. Finding a limit has been difficult, but as the super strong New Moon tides slow down, tautog fishing should pick up.

Sea bass fishing, just outside the west end of the Canal, has been great. Mike said anglers are catching the fish on Crippled Herrings and other lures, as the fish have been extremely aggressive. I’ve even seen a few huge sea bass pulled out of the canal in the past week. The sea bass season will stay open until October 11, so get after them while you still can.

South Side and Islands

In a rare break from the norm Martha’s Vineyard anglers are actually jealous of the false albacore fishing on the Cape Cod side of Vineyard sound. Coop at Coop’s Bait and Tackle said the albies and bonito have yet to storm the MV beaches in big numbers, but with the amount of baitfish around the island, he expects that to change soon. Things are just running a bit late, he suggested. Even so, a few albies have been taken from shore around Wasque and East Beach.

Bass fishing from shore on the Island is slow, with boat fishing not too much better. Anglers fishing boats for albies, bones and blues are having a great time, however, and have had no trouble getting into plenty of fish. The blues have been running big, so get ready for a fight when you hook up.

Chris from Falmouth Bait and Tackle said the albie bite is still going strong. He’s been finding some bass as well around the harbor mouths, and just inside some of the salt ponds where baitfish are abundant. Needlefish, especially the Super Strike Super ‘N’ Fish has been producing well for Chris.

My favorite report this week came from Roy at Riverview in Yarmouth. He said a female fisherman was casting a snapper popper off the beach when instead of a snapper blue, an 8-pound false albacore hit the lure and gave her the fight of her life. Goes to show that even shorebound anglers have a shot at the south side albies right now.

Mid and Outer Cape

Monomoy Rips are producing great bluefishing and some decent false albacore fishing lately according to the crew at Goose Hummock. A few bass are being picked up off Chatham, but more anglers are interested in the 40- to 80-pound bluefin tuna that have been feeding on the surface 1 to 4 miles from shore off Chatham.

Tough fishing for the surfcasters on the Outer Cape said John at Nelsons.  A few blues are keeping the beach fishermen busy as they wait for bass to move in, however. John said the bass, and most of the blues, are holding deep, in 70 feet of water, and have refused to move in closer despite plenty of bait. The fish are hitting diamond jigs and trolled lures by boat and kayak fishermen.

Bluefin

Chatham and Provincetown both have good bluefin tuna bites nearby. The Chatham fish have been blasting halfbeaks out of the water and creating great casting opportunities for run-and-gun fishermen tossing weightless soft-plastic lures. Live bait in Cape Cod Bay has produced a couple giants and a 900-pound-plus giant was caught in the Shipping Lanes this week reported Dan from the Hook Up in Orleans

Best Bets for the Weekend

If you’re fishing on the Cape this Saturday, take a break and swing down to Falmouth for StriperFest, which starts at 1:00 p.m. Live music, good eats and some chilled cervesa might be just what the doctor ordered to take the sting off the lackluster striper fishing.
Once again, albies would be my top choice, even in the Canal. Who knows how much longer they’ll stick around, so I’d get in as much drag-burning albie fishing as you can before they are all gone.