Fishing in mid-summer, like in mid-winter, doesn’t change all that much. Fish have settled into a pattern, and until there’s a break in the weather, not much changes. And with almost an identical daily forecast for the past two weeks—5- to 15-knot southwest winds and sunny skies, interrupted by the occasional thunderstorm—fish are in a holding pattern.
This can be a good thing, in cases like the bluefin tuna. That fishing continues to be red hot. Every boat that gets into the zone is catching one or more of the 40- to 46-inch tuna. That “zone” has shifted a bit farther offshore reports Dan at the Hook Up in Orleans. Eric Stewart is still putting clients on tuna daily, but sometimes he’s running 12 to 14 miles off the beach to do so. The fish that had been in 60 to 90 feet of water have moved out. Peaked Hill Bar is still holding fish, some small, some giant. Anglers are catching the tuna in a variety of ways. Some are casting, some are trolling and some, like Chris Bramford, are throwing flies. Chris took a healthy bluefin on the fly rod at Peaked Hill Bar last Thursday.
The stagnant weather hasn’t been so good for striper fishing. There are fish around, but a good storm would really shake things up and send some stripers into some new areas. Dan at the Hook Up hadn’t heard much on the bass, neither had Justin at Coops on the Vineyard, nor Chris at Bad Fish in Falmouth. Jim at Nelson’s in Provincetown, also said the stripers have been tough to come by. He believes the bass are around the tip of Cape Cod, but that the bluefish are too numerous for any real striper fishing to take place. Some bass are coming out of Woods Hole as well. OTW TV filmed a show for the upcoming season trolling up bass to 22 pounds on tube-and-worm rigs. Bass are still being caught in Cape Cod Bay as well. The fish are scattered, but anglers finding them are hooking into the occasional big fish.
The Canal saw an uptick in activity this week, thanks to the “breaking tides.” Bass were mostly small, but keepers were mixed in, along with reports of fish to 40 inches and better. Sunrise has been best, and a variety of lures are working. The fish are hitting topwaters, but subsurface presentations will draw the most strikes.
Small bluefish are abundant in Vineyard Sound. Chris at Bad Fish said the little blues are feeding daily within casting range of some of the South Side Outflows. The bites have been all-out blitzes, with diving birds and everything. Small metal lures are the key.
A huge body of 4- to 5-pound bluefish is hanging around the Lower Cape. Boat anglers have considered them a nuisance while surfcasters have been taking full advantage of the eager blues in the midst of what has been an otherwise dismal beach-fishing season. The surf blitzes are happening at first light, and tail off as the sun gets higher in the sky. Jim from Nelson’s in Provincetown said the occasional 8- to 10-pound blues are being caught as well.
Other places to find the summertime blues include Buzzards Bay, Hedge Fence, Middle Ground, and the Nantucket Rips. The beach at Chappy on Martha’s Vineyard is also giving up bluefish to shore casters.
Bonito are still around, still hanging at structures like the Hooter and Bonito Bar, as well as other rips and shoals around Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Justin at Coops said the bonito haven’t quite moved inshore yet. The bite close to the island is improving, but it still has a ways to go.
South of the Vineyard, warm water continues to hold white marlin, and school bluefin as well as mahi are making an appearance in these waters as well. The canyons have picked up again, with some big yellowfin and gaffer mahi.
Fluke fishing is a bit hit or miss at the moment. Keepers are being caught, but the number of undersized fish vastly outnumbers them. Chris from Bad Fish recommends looking for deeper holes around places like Lucas Shoal, Middle Ground and Hedge Fence. Black sea bass are being caught as well. Captain Jason Colby has been catching his share of black sea bass out of Westport. Many fish have been keepers, with some approaching 3 to 4 pounds.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The forecast looks like more of the same, so angers can be optimistic at their shot at a tuna this weekend if they are headed east of Chatham. Though you may have to push a little farther off the beach, it sounds like there are plenty of bluefin out there. Bonito fishing will hopefully hold up. Albies have been rumored seen, but certainly not in any numbers if they were actually seen at all.
Bluefish are the best pick for action regardless of where you’ll be on the Cape this weekend. Sounds like there are plenty of shore-fishing opportunities to catch them as well. Pack along the metals and poppers.
If you want bass, be prepared to troll. Wire line and jigs or tubes and worms will be the ticket. Race Point, Billingsgate Shoal or the Elizabeth Islands would be my top picks for trolling up a mid-August cow.
any word if there is any action of monomoy in the rips?
spent friday midday on outgoing tide on southside of billingsate shoal in about 25 feet of water with about 20 other boats chasing blues with little success. I believe that every type of fishing option was in use. plenty of fish on finder but little action. wind shift and building seas cut trip short…
On my flight I today Saw 100’s of tuna 35 miles off Chatham the group of boats weren’t even close to them
Fished the rips yesterday. Birds were working hard. We trolled rapala cdmag11 and a jet popper with lots of success. I actually lost the rapala to a blue just chomping around on bait fish because my lure, whole leader and half a color of lead core didnt come back. We caught a blue or schoolie on every pass trolling right along the rip. pulled in about 20 or so in an hour. After a bit we even put live baby blues, small sea bass, and little scup on trebles and an egg sinker and the blues and stripers hit them well too. In fact often as soon as the bait hit the water the action was on. It was awesome. I fish out of Boston harbor and I’m just down on vacation and it really made our week. Glad I dragged my 22′ eastern down. We’re gonna head back out in the morning. Good luck!
Fished from the Canal to Woods Hole today. Water was like glass, not a ripple. Other than some rat blues couldn’t find anything, no birds working or fish breaking. Buzzards Bay water is a sick looking pea soup green with large patches of red. Doesn’t look very good.
Fished today at buoy 4 in Buzzards Bay. Water was like glass. C aught founder, sea bass and a bluefish. No sick looking water there.
trying to find a marina to launch boat and leave in water at a slip space for a few days while fishing on vacation reasonable. target fish tuna and bass.