I’d love to kick off this report with a note about false albacore fishing, but the fact is, the albies just have not arrived on Cape Cod in any appreciable numbers…yet. Encouraging reports from down south are giving Cape anglers reasons to hope the albies are just going to be fashionably late this year.

In the meantime, stripers have been doing an excellent job keeping fishermen occupied. Opposite of last week, when the canal was hot and the rest of the Cape relatively slow, this week, it’s the Canal that is slow while the striper fishing in many other parts of Cape Cod is heating up.

Cape Cod Canal Fishing Report

The school of trophy stripers that thrilled Canal fishermen last week has swam off to parts unknown, leaving behind big Canal crowds and a small number of smaller fish. Stan at Red Top Tackle in Buzzards Bay described the Canal action this week as slow, as did Mike from M and D’s in Wareham. There have been some fish in the mornings, and the occasional nice fish, weighing more than 30 pounds. The fishermen catching fish this week have been doing best with Savage Sand Eel jigs and Daiwa SP Minnows. Bait fishing with chunked mackerel or bunker has also been working.

A trip-saver at the Canal this week, according to Stan, has been fishing cut mackerel for fluke and sea bass. Some quality sea bass have been moving through the Canal recently.

Another fun option in the Canal this week has been the mackerel. Fishermen using light tackle and small jigs around the Scusset Fish Pier have been catching mackerel lately. Some anglers, no doubt, are taking those mackerel and live-lining or chunking them for stripers.

Buzzards Bay Fishing Report

Mike at M and D’s said the sea bass fishing in Buzzards Bay is picking up again. He believes the fish are moving back down from Cape Cod Bay. This theory seems to jive with the report from Red Top about sea bass being caught in the Canal.

Fluke fishing is slowing down in Buzzards Bay, Mike said. Scup are still active and plentiful however.

Snapper blues are still stacked up in the harbors, providing fun ultralight fishing and a tasty meal.

Cape Cod Bay Fishing Report

Some good reports came from Cape Cod Bay this week as boat fishermen working the stretch between the East End of the Canal and Barnstable Harbor. Big stripers up to and exceeding 40 pounds were taken on tube-and-worm rigs and live eels. Both day and night have been producing, but the fish have been moving farther offshore during the day.

Barnstable Harbor has been producing good numbers of stripers reported Stan at Red Top. Fly- and light-tackle fishermen are hooking up with sand-eel and silverside imitations.

There has also been some good bottom fishing happening off Barnstable Harbor. Dan at The Hook Up in Orleans drifted some bait rigs and jigs and caught a number of keeper sea bass, a tautog and even a 21-inch fluke.

South Side of the Cape Fishing Report

Sounds like there’s some early fall-run fishing happening on the South Side. Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle in Sandwich said stripers are stacking up around Popponesset, Cotuit and Waquoit. Many fish have been 15 to 18 inches, but the occasional 28- to 30-inch fish is mixed in. Jeff said there are even some bigger fish in the mix. He weighed a 22-pounder from the South Side, and was fishing with an angler who dropped another large striper.

Fishermen are also catching stripers in Vineyard Sound and along the Elizabeth Island, primarily with live bait, be it scup, bunker, or even snapper blues.

There haven’t been too many bluefish on the south side, with the exception of the snappers, which are still thick in many of the harbors and bays. The Cotuit dock has been a reliable place to find the snappers reported Jeff at Forestdale.

Coop at Coop’s Bait and Tackle in Edgartown reported decent striper fishing around Martha’s Vineyard, but said he’s hoping things will pick up soon. Bay anchovies are thick around the island, so “the table is set,” according to Coop.

Shore-bound anglers have an opportunity to take some keeper fluke, according to Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle. Beaches near outflows, like Menahaunt, are producing the occasional keeper flatfish. Boucning small jigs (sweetened with some Berkley Gulp) off the bottom is a good bet for catching fluke from shore.

Some Spanish mackerel made a brief showing at Succonesset Shoal this week, reported Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle. A number of these fish were caught, but they’ve since disappeared. That’s not to say they couldn’t show up again.

Bonito fishing at the Hooter is still very good. Hedge Fence also is holding some bones, Christian said.

Lower Cape Fishing Report

Finally, the fish have returned to the tip of the Cape. After a very slow month of fishing around Provincetown, the bite turned back on this week. Bluefish are thick at Race Point, Herring Cove and even along the Provincetown Jetty. The blues running the beaches have been 5 pounds or so, but the jetty-caught bluefish have been running larger, at 10 to 12 pounds.

The striper fishing is improving as well. Right now, it’s mostly happening at night. Fish are ranging from just over keeper size to nearly 40 inches. Swimming plugs are working best, and since the fish are primarily eating sand eels, adding a teaser above your plug can only increase your odds.

Bass are also running the beaches along the backside, down to Nauset. Needlefish and minnow plugs are working best right now.

Bluefin Tuna Fishing Report

The best tuna action is still around the Regal Sword, reported Dan at the Hook Up. Trolling and jigging has been working well. Captain Eric Stewart was able to capture a few bluefin this week for the fish-tagging crew at UNH. Off Provincetown, the tuna have been virtually nonexistent.

Offshore Fishing Report

The bluewater continues to be red hot. Christian from Falmouth Bait and Tackle said the canyons, the Dump and the Shipping Lanes have all had fish. Coop from Coop’s Bait and Tackle on the Vineyard had a memorable canyon trip this week where the crew boated 19 yellowfin to 80 pounds. Unfortunately the weather has made getting to the offshore grounds impossible this week, and it looks like we’ll be getting even more weather over the weekend.

Best Bets for the Weekend

We’ll have to see what tropical storm Gabrielle throws our way in terms of swells, but the fishing this weekend should be great along the south side of the Cape for shorebound anglers. A mix of fluke and stripers are hitting around the beaches and outflows there.

For boaters, a solid gameplan could be looking for a trophy striper in Cape Cod Bay at first light, and then heading over to Barnstable Harbor to fish for fluke and sea bass or smaller stripers.

Surfcasters may also want to check out Race Point or the backside beaches as it seems a school of nice-sized stripers recently moved back into these waters, perhaps on their way back south.