Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Report | October 23, 2014

As this bit of nasty late-October weather leaves the Cape, fishermen are wondering what will be left of the striper fishing in its wake.

Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay

Tons of schoolies were biting everything that swims in the Canal this week.  Most fish were well shy of keeper size, but fishermen were catching the occasional decent fish among the shorts. Stan at Red Top had heard of fish up to 30 pounds, as did Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle.

After Wednesday night’s storm, the Canal water was dirty and weedy, and with more North wind forecasted on Thursday night, it might be late in the day Friday before the Canal is clean enough to fish. A Nor’easter at this time of year could do one of two things—it could push baitfish as well as more and potentially bigger fish into the Canal, or it could clear out the Canal completely.  We’ll have to wait for the water to clean up to find out which it was.

Before the wind turned on, the tog fishing in Buzzards Bay was very good.

South Side and Islands

The jetties on the South Side of the Cape are producing decent fishing reported Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle.  He hasn’t heard of any cows, but there have been keeper-size fish in the mix. Small plugs and eels have been the ticket.

Big schools of small stripers have been feeding on the surface off Cotuit according to Bill at Sports Port.  Anglers are catching them on topwater plugs and soft plastics.

The striper bite on the Vineyard has been nonexistent, reported Steve at Larry’s Tackle. Bluefish also have been absent from Vineyard waters. Fortunately, both bonito and albacore are filling in the gaps. Bigger bonito, 8- to 9-pounders have shown up in recent days, and are being caught from shore and boat. False albacore have extended their visit, and are still being caught, probably because of all the bait still around, Steve said. One 11-pound albie, weighed in at Larry’s, had three pounds of bait in it. That bait included a 7-inch herring, a 4-inch peanut bunker and a mess of sand eels.

Squid continue to be stacked in Edgartown Harbor. Fishermen caught them on nearly every drop Tuesday night Steve said. A few stripers have been seen ghosting past the dock lights, but as mentioned, the striper fishing on the Vineyard right now is slow.

Outer Cape and Cape Cod Bay

It’s fair to assume the Bay and Backside beaches are a mess of brown water and thick weeds after Wednesday night’s storm. The striper reports had been few and far between in this area prior to the storm, reported Dan at The Hook Up.

A few keeper-sized bass were taken on chunk baits on Sandy Neck in the past week, and small stripers continue to feed from Sagamore Beach to Barnstable Harbor.

Freshwater

Trout fishing has been very good for weeks, and this week it crank up another notch as the holdover brown trout seem to be moving in from the deep waters where they spent the summer, and into range of fishermen. Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle said several 3- to 4-pound browns were taken this week. Dan from the Hook Up caught a few himself. Dan’s action has been coming on stickbaits after dark, although the browns seem to be biting in the daytime as well, especially if it’s cloudy and rainy. I saw a report of an 8-pound Massachusetts brown trout on Facebook, but as of this writing, it had not been specified whether that fish came from Cape Cod freshwaters.

Bluefin

The last tuna action Dan heard of was over the weekend. There’s no telling if the fish will be there when the seas calm.

Best Bets for the Weekend

It’ll still be a little breezy this weekend, but it looks fishable. There could be big things headed our way if some big stripers moved in with this storm. The Canal, the Elizabeth Islands and the South Side are all worth a look.  If you still have a need for speed, there is still the chance to hook up with albies and bonito, both from shore and the boat, on Martha’s Vineyard. It’s also time to start packing a trout rod in with the saltwater gear. The big brown trout are biting, and right now is the best time to catch them. Stickbaits are the best lure, but a live shiner can be hard to beat.