Fall Variety on Cape Cod

Albies, Bass, Blues and Bluefin (and More!)

Finally a little bit of weather moved through this week, shuffling the fishing deck a bit and getting this fall run into second gear. Some great fishing took place this week before and after Tuesday’s blow. Anglers found good luck with stripers, blues, bluefin, albies – and even wahoo!

Cape’s South Side and Islands

Some good bass were moving along the south side of Cape Cod this week. Both Vineyard and Nantucket sounds have been loaded with baitfish of all sizes from tiny bay anchovies to large adult bunker. While the albies continue to gorge on anchovies and peanut bunker between Falmouth and Hyannis, some other gamefish have taken notice of the adult bunker moving through the area. Good-size stripers were caught along south-facing beaches in Falmouth this week as big bunker moved close to shore. Big blues were also reportedly with the bass. Scott at Bad Fish Outfitters in Falmouth had fish up to 42 inches and saw several anglers hooking bass of this size.

The good albie fishing off the South Side persisted through the heavy south winds, and anglers continued to catch them through Thursday. There’s no reason to expect the fishing to taper off this weekend. Falmouth to Woods Hole has seen little albie action, but the mouth of Waquoit and east of there has been great.

Waquoit Bay has a healthy number of schoolie stripers lurking in the channels as well. Trolling small swimming plugs has been working best for Scott at Bad Fish, but small jigs ought to work equally well.

Woods Hole produced a few nice bass on eels for anglers drifting the slimy live baits during daylight hours. Fish as large as 38 inches were reported out of “The Hole” this week.

Vineyard fishermen are finally seeing albies close to shore with some consistency. Coop at Coop’s Tackle thinks the albie bite is primed to blow wide open soon.

Bass fishing on the Vineyard is slow, but improving. The shore-caught Derby Leader is 29 pounds and change while the boat leader is 37 pounds, two nice fish for this early in the tournament. Hopefully this trend continues.

Big blues are all over the Vineyard. Choppers into the 15-pound range are being taken by boaters. Shore fishermen are finding double-digit fish as well.

Bonito have been a bit scarce, but there are some around.

Buzzards Bay and Elizabeth Islands

Eric at CMS in New Bedford reported great albie and bluefishing at his end of Buzzards Bay. The blues are well spread from Sakonnet Point to New Bedford and have been running big. Striper fishing is a bit slow, even along the Elizabeths, but some days anglers are able to scratch out a few fish in the teens. Schoolie stripers have been willingly striking topwater lures fished around the rocks, making for a fun appetizer to the fall run fishing that is on its way.

Big scup are once again moving close to shore in Buzzards Bay as they fatten up before making their fall migration to deeper water. Eric said anglers are having no problem finding the panfish, and that young anglers especially have been enjoying the fast action.

Cape Cod Bay

Big stripers—some into the 50-pound range—were being caught from Cape Cod Bay early in the week, but it seems like the heavy south wind on Tuesday night either scattered the bait or pushed them offshore. Boaters are waiting patiently for the now-strong Northeast wind to subside so they can get back on the water and find out. Trolling tube-and-worm rigs has been the best bet, but with the amount of big bunker in the bay this fall, a bunker spoon trolled just off the bottom might just tempt the 40- or  50-pounder lurking amongst the 15- to 20-pounders.

Brewster Flats are holding the usual assortment of schoolies and small keepers available to light tackle anglers. As is Barnstable Harbor.

A few bluefin have been reported in the bay as well, but most of the bluefin news came from the other side of the Cape.

Cape Cod Canal

This week’s breaking tides have provided some memorable catches in the Big Ditch. Although fish into the high 40-pound range were wrenched from the canal on Thursday morning, most anglers reported a disappointing day. It seems like despite good numbers of fish feeding on top, hook-ups were tough to come by.  Nonetheless, fish were taken on pencil poppers worked along the surface, heavy jigs bounced along the bottom, and plugs worked through the middle of the water column. Some anglers reported fun light-tackle action with school-sized fish after dark on small plugs.

Mid to Outer Cape Cod

Captain Eric at the Hook Up in Orleans said anglers have been doing well with 10- to 12-pound bluefish off Nauset Beach this week. The northeast wind put the blues (along with some keeper stripers) right into the surf. There’s a similar story at Race Point where big numbers of blues are on the beach with the occasional striper. Jim at Nelson’s in Provincetown heard of stripers to 40 inches out of the surf this week. Seals have made landing fish a bit tricky, but the fish are there and feeding. Move away from the seals if you can, or fish at night when they are a bit less active.

Boat fishermen and kayakers are doing well off the Race with stripers into the 40-inch range. Vertical jigging and trolling is working. Keep an eye out for working birds as well, but don’t be surprised if the breaking fish you’re chasing are bluefin tuna. There have been lots of small bluefin off the Race.

Bluefin Tuna

Peaked Hill Bar is producing big time for tuna. Live bunker and jigs are working, allowing anglers to mix up their trolling routine a bit. Eric Stewart at the Hook Up in Orleans said he’s eager to get out to see where the tuna have moved since the boats were last able to get out on Monday. Some big fish were showing up, including a 112-incher and a 90-incher, both caught on the troll. Eric said an abundance of sharks, both blue and thresher, have made live baiting for tuna too much of a hassle. However, if you are looking for sharks, this sounds like a good problem to have—especially the thresher part!

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod and the Islands

For variety, the South Side of the Cape is the pick of the litter this weekend. Albies are thick, big stripers and blues are hitting the beaches, and school stripers are in a feeding frenzy in the salt ponds after dark. I would go out looking for albies, but have some bass and bluefish plugs ready.  The area from Waquoit to Craigville has been the hotbed of albie activity, and the big bass, big blues and big bunker were reported in this area as well.

Tuna hopefuls have a lot to look forward to if the weather lets them get out. Peaked Hill Bar sounds like the most likely place to find them, but a little exploring east of Chatham might turn up a giant.

With big scup moving back into Buzzards Bay, bringing some bottom fishing rigs along could help enhance a day of albie fishing by adding a few tasty fillets to the cooler.

Where ever you go, bring a variety of gear, in late September on Cape Cod, you never know what might move in on the next tide.