It seems like the forecast hasn’t changed for 10 days now. Southwest wind 10 to 15 or 15 to 20, clouds, rain and chance of thunderstorms. Over the long weekend, it looks like we will be seeing some sun, however.

Regardless of what the weather has been doing, the fishing has been pretty good. Stripers have been moving around a bit, and while some areas are cooling off, others are heating up. Tuna catches are on the upswing once again, and it appears that a new batch of fish has moved in. Bluefish, scup, sea bass and fluke are all on the menu for this weekend, read on to find out where.

Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay

Once again, it looks like the Canal has gone cold. Last week’s flurry of activity had mostly subsided by Saturday morning, and the past few days have seen few fish caught in the Big Ditch.

Mike at M and D’s in Wareham said the canal has been slow, but the fishing in Cape Cod Bay is picking up. Stan at Red Top in Wareham said the best method the past few nights has been chunking with either mackerel or bunker. Fishing bait on the bottom has picked up some keeper-sized bass when all other techniques have failed to produce a strike.

Anglers sticking it out with plugs have had success with SP Minnows.

Buzzards Bay bottom fishing hasn’t missed a beat. Big scup and sea bass continue to feed over rocky structure and mussel beds. Scup are biting best on squid strips, clams or sea worms fished on small hooks. Sea bass are biting all of the above, plus bucktail jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp.

Fluke action is improving in Buzzards Bay according to Stan at Red Top. Fluke have been fond of bucktail-and-Gulp combos. Sand eels have been the best bait, reported Mike at M and D’s, but these slim baitfish have been tough to come by.

Better striper fishing has been taking place around Sakonnet Point and in the New Bedford/Fall River area. Mike at Bucko’s Bait and Tackle in Fall River said bass from 30 to 40 inches have been around in good numbers. It seems like a good supply of bunker has held the bass in the area.

Big bluefish have also been schooled up between Sakonnet Point and the Tauton River.

At that end of Buzzards Bay, big scup are plentiful. Mike at Buckos said that 14- and 15-inch porgies have even moved into Narragansett Bay.

Cape Cod Bay

Brewster Flats continues to produce stripers for sight-fishing anglers reported Dan at The Hook Up in Orleans. There have been reports of bass up to 48 inches caught by anglers trolling tube-and-worm rigs in the Bay.

Shore fishermen working the sandy beaches in Sandwich and Dennis are catching good numbers of schoolie stripers on small swimming plugs and teasers. Fly fishermen are catching as well. While most fish are under 28 inches, the occasional keeper-sized fish is being taken as well.

South Side and Islands

The constant strong southwest wind have made fishing difficult on the Vineyard. Coop at Coop’s Bait and Tackle said dirty water and weeds have created challenging fishing conditions. Striper fishing has slowed on the island, but the blues are still biting well. Scup fishing is off the charts, with big panfish biting well. Fluke and sea bass fishing is so-so right now according to Coop. He is hoping that the wind will let up just enough to allow the water to clean.

Some anglers are managing to find stripers off the south side of the Cape, however. Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle said the shoals and rips in Vineyard Sound have been producing 30- to 40-inch stripers fairly consistently. Middle Ground and Halfway Shoal were two of the hotspots he mentioned. Trolling has been working well, but for big fish, live scup are the ticket—just make sure you are using legal scup. Even though you are using them as bait, the scup still need to measure 10 inches or greater. A couple weeks ago, stripers as large as 48 pounds were pulled from Vineyard Sound on live scup.

Chunking is turning up a few nice stripers off Gay Head. Also off Gay Head, the black sea bass bite has been great.

Fluke fishing is decent, but expect to pick through a lot of shorts before finding one for the cooler. Lucas Shoal is the top spot at the moment.

Boats fishing the south side are finding plenty of bluefish in the Popponesset and Cotuit areas according to Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle in Sandwich. The fish are occasionally hitting the beach as well. Jeff said the tides look great for evening and afternoon fishing over the holiday weekend.

Keeper bass are still popping up on Popponesset Spit, and in Cotuit, though school-sized fish are far more numerous. For the schoolies, small soft-plastics or topwater lures are working best. Sunrise and sunset have been the best times.

Scup are also abundant in these areas as well. Jeff said anglers using bait have been catching a mix of scup, stripers and blues in the cuts and channels leading from the harbors and ponds into the sound.

Lower Cape

The hotspot this week has been the rips off Monomoy Island. Squid have moved into the rips and stripers and blues are hot on their tentacles. The action with soft-plastic stickbaits in bubblegum and amber has been awesome. Topwater plugs are drawing strikes as well. Most fish seem to fall into the 30- to 40-inch range.

There are still fish off the Race. Bigger fish showed up Friday into Saturday with 30-pounders being taken by both boat and beach fishermen. The bite continues to be inconsistent as to when and where it’s taking place, but most days there has been a good striper bite. Even better, much of the action has been on topwaters. John from Nelson’s Bait and Tackle in Provincetown says the topwater action suggests that the bass are still feeding on sea herring or mackerel, and have not turned their attention to sand eels. When the bass begin feeding on the sand eels, the jigging bite will be much better, but the topwater bite will die off.

Bluefin Tuna

The bluefin bite off Chatham is picking up again. Eric Stewart of the Hook Up trolled up a 75- and a 71-inch tuna on Tuesday of this week. On Wednesday, he landed a 55-inch bluefin, which suggests a new group of smaller fish has moved into the area. This is consistent with last July’s pattern, when a school of smaller tuna moved into the waters East of Chatham and provided consistent action throughout most of the month.

Freshwater

The largemouth bass bite is still outstanding on the Cape’s ponds. A shiner under a bobber is almost guaranteed to get eaten. Many 4- to 5-pound largemouths are being caught right now. Lures are working as well—wacky worms, supending jerkbaits, weedless frogs and poppers, to name a few.

Trout are holding in deeper water, but will still strike PowerBait or live minnows.

Best Bets for the Weekend

While the wind isn’t going anywhere, it should be manageable on the tuna grounds for larger vessels. Troll spreader bars east of Chatham sounds like the best bet for connecting with a bluefin.

For stripers, boaters will do best in the Monomoy Rips. This fishing has been a bit more consistent that in Provincetown, though fishing the waters off the Race and down to Highland Light provides the opportunity to run into a big topwater bass blitz.

The bass fishing around Sakonnet Point and Fall River is good as well. Live or chunked bunker will just about guarantee action, especially if you can find the schools of these baitfish.

From shore, bait is best in the Canal. A chunk of fresh mackerel or bunker will give you the greatest chance of connecting with a Canal cow. For light-tackle fun, the sand beaches from Sandwich to Chapin Beach in Dennis have plenty of willing schoolie stripers. Small swimming plugs and teasers will get the most strikes.

Bluefishing seems to be best off Cotuit and Popponesset, both for shore and boat anglers. Check the beaches in the evening to see if any of these blues move into casting range.