Cape Cod striper fishermen are going to hate to see this summer end. The fishing took a while to get going, but once it did, it has barely slowed down—in some places.
Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay
On of the places that has been consistently good is the Canal. The fish this week were a little smaller than the ones during the late July blitz, but most are still a respectable 30 inches, and there are enough 30-plus-pounders mixed in to keep anglers on their toes. White is the best color according to AJ at Red Top Sporting Goods, whether it’s white Sebile Magic Swimmers, white pencil poppers or white Polaris-style poppers. Several nice fish were taken on Wednesday on mackerel-pattern Guppy Lures Pencil Poppers.
The Canal action has been in the mornings and afternoons, but the hotspot has been changing from day to day. The best bet is to stay mobile until you find the fish.
There hasn’t been much news from Buzzards Bay. Fluke fishing is slow, sea bass are around, but throwbacks are greatly outnumbering the keepers and there hasn’t been much talk about the striper fishing—except along the Elizabeths. Fishermen casting eels around the islands at night are picking away at keeper-sized stripers.
Outer Cape and Cape Cod Bay
After being the most reliable summer striper spot for the past few summers, Chatham has been unusually quiet this year reported Dan at The Hook Up in Orleans. That school of fish did yield a huge percentage of the Massachusetts commercial striper quota the past few summers, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if the school of fish that used to summer in Chatham was simply fished out. Although, rumors have been circulating about a big school of stripers far offshore of Nauset and Chatham, so perhaps the stripers are just finding the offshore conditions more to their liking this summer.
Provincetown continues to have excellent striper fishing. What changed this week is that the stripers have actually moved into Provincetown Harbor, reported Jim at Nelson’s Bait and Tackle. The fish have been finicky, but live eels, live mackerel and cut mackerel have all been producing. On Thursday, some big blues mixed in with the stripers, providing some variety and fast fishing.
Beach fishermen are catching fish too, Jim said. Most are schoolies, but some bigger stripers are mixed in after dark. Mung has been a bit of an issue lately with all the east wind, Jim said, but it’s manageable.
Light tackle and fly fishermen have been enjoying decent action with schoolie stripers in Barnstable Harbor and along the sandwhich beaches. Small soft-plastics or sand eel and spearing flies have been working well.
South Side and Islands
The bluefin south of the Vineyard slowed down a bit over the weekend, but some boats, particularly those trolling ballyhoo, still hooked up.
Decent-sized bluefish are feeding on Horseshoe Shoal reported Chris at Black Eel Outfitters. Snapper blues are stacking up in the bays and ponds according to Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle.
Schoolies too have been biting well in the ponds.
Scup are pretty much a sure thing for fishermen casting bits of clam on small hooks at Cotuit. Jeff at Forestdale reported one fishermen in Cotuit took his clams, fished them after dark, and hooked into a keeper striper. Jeff advises that fishermen fishing clams for stripers on the South Side go after dark, otherwise scup will steal the bait before a striper can find it.
Several anglers tried shark fishing from the beach this week and connected with big brown sharks. Dead eels were the bait of choice.
Best Bets for the Weekend
With school starting all too soon, this is a great weekend to get the kids on the water. The South Side of the Cape is the best spot for reliable action, especially around Cotuit where snapper blues and scup are providing fast action.
For striper hunters, the Canal is the top spot from shore. Try the mornings, and if the bite is slow, grab breakfast and head back out. Some fish have been popping up long after the sunrise crowds have left. From the boats, Provincetown Harbor is the place to be, but don’t forget to bring the eels!
I returned from the lower Cape yesterday (8-18-14)after 10 days. I fished Wellfleet harbor from my kayak hoping for some bluefish but all I got were 2 sea robins. One was so small the bait was bigger than it was! I got bit off at Sunken Meadow while I was drifting for fluke. Seals are everywhere and stealing fish left and right. I’ve never seen so many. All the tackle shops I went to said the fishing was really bad on the lower Cape. One person told me ” If you go fishing, you might catch a seal.” I surf fished Coast Guard beach and got nothing, and neither did anyone else while I was there. The mung was tolerable but at Head of the Meadow it was horrible. I never made it up to Ptown. I did the best fishing in Nickerson Park where I caught a mess of yellow perch, some of them were very good size. I wasn’t all that dissapointed since I consider August to be the worst fishing month for sea fish (except winter). I hope to return in September when a few fish can be found.