Once again, nasty weather is hot topic around the Cape’s Bait and Tackle shops. There’s some heavy winds and rain forecasted Thursday Night and Friday, but thankfully, the weekend looks good-to-go with calm seas and sunny skies on Saturday.

Cape Cod Canal and Cape Cod Bay Fishing Report

Early this week saw “breaking” tides in the Canal, where the current change from west to east coincided with sunrise. And the tides didn’t disappoint. Plenty of fish came through on the surface, but more, and bigger fish moved through along the canal bottom. Jigs with soft-plastic bodies like the Savage Sand Eel or a jighead and Slug-Go caught good numbers of quality stripers in the late night and early mornings. Swimming plugs like the SP Minnow and Savage Manic Prey Minnow did damage in the evenings. Many quality bass were caught, with a couple approaching and exceeding 40 pounds and many more 30-pounders. Topwater poppers worked as well, though mostly with smaller fish—however there were some 30-plus-pounders fooled with pencil poppers.

Todd at Falmouth Bait and Tackle had his luck on blue-and-white pencil poppers, which were likely a close match to the sea herring that were being chased through the canal by hungry stripers.

Canal action persisted through Thursday morning, and the rough weather could extend the action into the weekend. According to Mike at M and D’s in Wareham, the East End has been the most productive stretch of the Big Ditch.

Stripers aren’t the only option in the Big Ditch, however. Mike said sea bass are spread out throughout the West End of the Canal, and Todd at Falmouth Bait and Tackle mentioned that some big scup are being caught at the Maritime Academy. Catching a few bottom fish for the cooler might be a nice way to round out a morning of striper fishing on the Canal.

As usually happens following a good run in the Canal, Barnstable Harbor and the canal-adjacent waters of Cape Cod Bay should hold some excellent fishing for striped bass as soon as the seas allow the boats to get out there and try. Based on the most recent forecast, that looks to be Saturday.

Plymouth’s nearshore waters are teeming with stripers, ranging from 12- to 18-inch schoolies to 36- to 38-inchers. Bull at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay has been getting into these South Shore bass by trolling weightless Slug-Gos behind his kayak. He said catching two or three dozen fish in a few hours has been pretty routine lately.

Buzzards Bay and Elizabeth Islands Fishing Report

Trolling wooden plugs and throwing topwater poppers has been a reliable tactic for fooling Elizabeth Islands bass and bluefish this week. The striper have been quality, with most keeper-sized and quite a few exceeding 20 pounds.

Bottom fishing is excellent in Buzzards Bay. Mike at M and D’s said catching a limit of sea bass (4 fish) is just about automatic, and anglers are selecting for only the biggest. Plate-sized porgies have also added some fun to the bottom fishing scene.

Bull from Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay has been getting after the sea bass and scup in his kayak. He and a friend even had a surprise the other day when a brown shark grabbed one of their rigs.

South Side Cape Cod Fishing Report

Fluke fishing is picking up on the South Side reported Mike at M and D’s. Lucas Shoal is paved with small fluke, but persistent anglers are finding keepers in the mix. Here’s a hint—look for the deeper drop-offs.

Bluefish are storming the South Side beaches on a regular basis. Todd at Falmouth Bait and Tackle found fact action at South Cape Beach this week while the boys at Sports Port in Hyannis heard of bluefish biting at Oregon and Loop beaches. Stripers are still being caught on the South Side beaches as well.

Boaters are finding quality stripers on Bishop and Clerks, with 15- to 20-pound stripers hitting trolled lures and live baits. A live bunker drifted through the structure might even call up a much larger bass.

The salt ponds and estuaries from Bourne’s Pond out to Bass River all have schoolie stripers taking up residence. Light tackle and small jigs or poppers should be enough to entice these fish. Keeper bass are also popping up in these backwaters.

Outer Cape Fishing Report

The red hot Race Point bite seemed to have died off by Sunday, with many boats motoring around on an otherwise dead sea. The bait, large sand eels, was still abundant, but the bass were nowhere to be found.

Some fish did start showing up again later in the week. Jim at Nelsons Bait and Tackle in Provincetown put several nice bass in his kayak by jigging, fish in the 18- to 20-pound class. Herring Cove is a popular launching spot for kayak anglers because of it’s ample parking and (relatively) short paddle to productive water.

Some stripers have even hit the beaches early in the mornings and in the evenings. Jim had heard of bass to 20 pounds coming off the beach. Bluefish have started to mix in as well. The best is yet to come for the Outer Cape, and Jim said the fishing should really heat up over the next two weeks.

Freshwater Fishing Report

The freshwater fishing is unchanged. Trout are still biting very well, but anglers in a boat or kayak have a better shot at them as they retreat to deeper, cooler water.

Largemouth fishing is still great. With lilypads and weeds up in most ponds, anglers are having good luck fishing hollow-body frogs. Largemouths go crazy over these topwater baits, attacking them just like a striper attacks a pencil popper. If the stripers don’t cooperate, this is a nice change of pace.

Bluefin Tuna Fishing Report

Corey at The Hook Up in Orleans was stoked about the bluefin bite saying lots of fish were caught this week, both by trolling and by casting with spinning tackle.

Best Bets for the Weekend

There’s good reason to be optimistic about the Canal this weekend. Fishing has been pretty good in the East End all week, and definitely worth a look. Go there with the intention of fishing the bottom with jigs, but have some poppers handy in case some fish show on the surface.

For light tackle fun with schoolies, hit the South Side ponds with small soft plastics. A dropping tide would probably be best, but this time of year, the incoming can be good as well.

Try South Cape, Oregon or Loop Beach for a crack at some bluefish and maybe some bass. Pack some metal lures and popping plugs.

Boat fishermen and kayakers look to Plymouth or Race Point as both areas have good numbers of bass close to shore. Weightless soft-plastics appear to be the ticket in Plymouth, while weighted soft plastics or metal jigs are doing the trick in Provincetown.

Buzzards Bay is the hotspot for scup and sea bass, and Lucas would be the place to be for fluke. Be prepare to cull through some undersized fish, but if you stick with it, the keepers will come. If you’d like to do some bottom fishing but don’t have a boat, hit the Maritime Academy with some squid strips or sand worms and small hooks and enjoy a steady pick of porgies.