Every fall, there is a week when the tackle shops that provide the intel for the fishing forecast have more good things to say about the freshwater fishing than the saltwater fish. After being dominated by striper, sea bass, bluefish and tuna news, the report transitions to trout, largemouths, pickerel and perch. Fortunately, this week is not that week, but we’re getting close.

Saltwater fishing is hanging on here on the Cape, with stripers still plentiful (albeit small) and blackfish, sea bass and even bluefish still kicking around.

Cape Cod Canal

Plenty of surface activity from very small stripers in the Canal this week. Many fish between 10 and 18 inches are harassing small baitfish throughout the Canal, usually with birds pointing the way to the action. Bigger fish are still around, however, and fishermen are still catching keepers daily. There was even a 46-pound striper taken from the Canal in the late morning one day this week.

Metals and soft-plastic jigs are getting most of the hits, but fishermen are catching stripers on topwaters as well.

Daybreak has brought a lot of fish to the surface, but the fish have been biting into the late morning and even the afternoon.

Cape Cod Bay Fishing Report

Not much to report on the Bay this week. There were smaller stripers roaming the sand beaches in Sandwich and Barnstable this week. Fly fishermen have been having good luck, but with the northwest wind cranking up, fly fishing could prove difficult along this stretch. Spin fishing will still be a viable option over the weekend. If fishermen can find clean water with little seaweed, they stand a shot at some fun fishing. Try casting small metals or jigs or even minnow plugs.

On the other side of the bay, there have been reports of large stripers working along the shoreline in Plymouth. OTW’s Pat Donovan caught his biggest ever striper from shore in Plymouth last weekend, a 30-plus-pounder that hit a large soft-plastic bait. After admiring the catch, Pat then released it to grow even bigger.

Buzzards Bay

Tog are taking top billing in the bay right now. They are stacked up on many rockpiles and wrecks and are eagerly attacking green crabs. Shore fishermen are even getting them in areas like the Maritime Academy on the Canal.

Black sea bass are still around as well. Most fish are shorts, but you can weed through them to find a couple keepers. Black sea bass season closes on 10/31, so if you want a few of these delicious fillets for a late-fall dinner, you’ll have to sneak in the sea bass fishing this weekend.

South Side Fishing Report

Tog are also showing up on the jetties flanking the south side pond and harbor entrances reported Christian from Falmouth Bait and Tackle. Drop a green crab into the rocks for the best shot at hooking up.

Small stripers are also hovering around the harbor entrances. Outgoing tides flush out the bait, so this is when you are most likely to catch the stripers in a feeding mood.

The Bass River is stacked with schoolie stripers reported Lee at Riverview Bait and Tackle. In Nantucket Sound, Bishops and Clerks is holding both sea bass and tautog.

Lower Cape Fishing Report

Stripers are still cruising the sandy beaches of the Outer Cape. Weather has kept the boats in, but surf fishermen are reliably finding fish on swimming plugs and teasers. Night time and first light have been best.

Tuna Report

Dan at The Hook Up in Orleans reported that there are still bluefin outside Chatham, but the weather has kept boats from getting after them in the past few days. Sea conditions are going to be challenging until Monday, so hopefully there will still be tuna around on the other side of this blow.

Freshwater Fishing Report

The sweetwater bite is on fire. According to Tom at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay, the largemouth bass are aggressively hunting down baitfish in open water right now, making them vulnerable to crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

Smallmouth are also biting well, and I can attest to that one myself. I hit Peter’s Pond over the weekend looking for trout, but ended up catching a bunch of smallies instead, which was perfectly fine by me.

Other anglers got it right when looking for trout, and tallied good numbers of nice-sized rainbows. Spoons are working well, but PowerBait and shiners are getting the job done as well. No word on big brown trout yet, but as these cold nights drop the water temperatures in the ponds, the big holdover brownies should start to cruise the shoreline.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Schoolie stripers are plentiful in the Canal and the Bass River, but some of these fish are smaller than the rainbow trout being caught in the ponds. If you get into a big school of these tiny bass, crush the barbs on your hooks so these fish can be unhooked with less damage and allowed to grow to cow size.

There is the shot at a bigger bass in the Canal, especially when fishing jigs on the bottom.

Tog fishing is another option for shore anglers. The Maritime Academy on the Canal or the jetties of the south side both offer a shot at tog.

Don’t forget freshwater either. You can’t go wrong whether you target largemouths, smallmouths or trout. All should provide good action over the weekend.