It’s the busiest weekend of the summer on Cape Cod, but even with the increased traffic on the water (and on Route 6), there are plenty of fish to go around.
Huge schools of stripers are still holding in the waters off Provincetown, even with a massive commercial fleet chipping away at it every Monday and Thursday. Live mackerel are an automatic, and catching the macks for bait has been relatively easy lately. Jigging with Daddy Mack spoons or casting with SP Minnows is also working on the 15- to 30-pound stripers. Drifting eels after dark in these same areas is also catching suggested Tommy at Maco’s Bait and Tackle.
While there haven’t been any specific beach reports, it’s a fair assumption that some of these stripers are hitting Race Point beach under the cover of darkness. Needlefish, SP Minnows, and Bombers are a good bet for the beaches after dark.
There were some reports of stripers along the back side beaches as well. Usually around this time of year, the stripers holding at Race Point follow cooler water and baitfish to the waters off Chatham and Nauset. This hasn’t happened yet, but anglers moving down along the outer beaches are coming across some big schools of bass.
Off Monomoy, 36- to 40-inch stripers are moving into the rips reported Annie at Sports Port in Hyannis. Squid imitations are working best on the bass at Handkerchief Shoal.
Fish Chatham Sportfishing got into some great mid-Cape bass fishing before the end-of-the-world thunderstorm hit the Cape on Wednesday morning.
Ben at Black Eel Outfitters said fishermen are pulling bass from the beaches and inlets around Chatham. Most fish are schoolies, but some big ones are mixed in.
There were mixed reports coming from the Canal this week. The full moon and breaking tides should have brought excellent fishing to the Big Ditch, and according to Tommy at Maco’s it did. “Canal is loaded with bass,” reported Tommy. The report from Red Top suggested that some bass up to 40 inches are being taken while jigging on the nighttime tides, but that the morning and daytime fishing is slow. The way the Canal has been fishing this year, the action has varied wildly from one end to the other. An angler at the Herring Run might not see a single fish, while just a couple hundred yard away, the fishing at the Sagamore could be on fire. The good tides will continue through the weekend, so the Canal action could pick up. For the best bet at action however, it’d be wise to show up in the dark and fish some jigs on the bottom rather than count on the daytime action.
Middle Ground has been producing stripers to 38 inches for fishermen on the South Side of the Cape reported Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle. Jigging has been the hot tactic. Jeff said stripers to 37 inches were caught off the South Side beaches this week. Fishermen working the mouths of bays after dark or at first light stand the best chance of encountering one of these larger fish. Eels are working, as are swimming plugs and poppers.
In Cape Cod Bay, bass have been blitzing on Brewster Flats reported Ben from Black Eel Outfitters.
Bluefishing is picking up along the South Side. Annie at Sports Port said Oregon Beach and Cotuit are producing blues. Horseshoe Shoal is producing blues to 11 pounds reported Jeff from Forestdale. The crew at Red Top said some very large bluefish have hit South Cape Beach, including a 13-pounder. Along the South Coast, big blues are all over, mixing in with the stripers from Fairhaven up through the West End of the Canal.
Fluke fishing is improving all over the Cape. In Buzzards Bay, most of the fish being caught are short, but there have been some doormats taken, including a 9-pounder reported Tommy at Macos. Horseshoe Shoal is giving up keeper fluke reported Jeff at Forestdale, and Lucas Shoal flatfish action is picking up reported Cooper at Coop’s Tackle on the Vineyard.
On the Vineyard, medium to large bluefish are all over the island, reported Coop, but the action is best at Wasque and Chappy. Lobsterville Beach is heating up with striper action. Small to medium stripers are also being caught around West Chop.
Peter at Larry’s Tackle reported that fishing on the Vineyard remains good. Good numbers of smaller stripers with keepers mixed in are being caught at Cape Pogue, Wasque, and Menemsha. Bluefish action on East Beach has picked up recently with fish up to 11 pounds.
Boat action for stripers has been a little “hit or miss,” but when the bite is on, some really nice fish have been caught in the 35-pound range. Inshore bluefish action remains very consistent. Ther have been reports of “football” bluefin south of Noman’s.
Best Bets for the Weekend
No matter where on the Cape you’re having your fourth of July barbeque, there are stripers nearby. Race Point and along the back side beaches seem to have the biggest numbers, but Monomoy, the Vineyard, Brewster Flats and the South Side all have fish as well. If you fish off the South Side, you can mix in some fluke and blue fishing as well. Regardless of where you fish, I recommend fishing under some Fourth of July fireworks—I promise it will be the highlight of your weekend, regardless of whether or not the fish are biting.
Let’s hope it’s another good year for the funny fish. Should know in about 50 days or so.
Sorry. That sounds like the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.
I was in many of these locations on the South Side on Tuesday. NOTHING. Did not even see a fish caught. Many beaches were so jam packed with tourists, you could not fit another 5-year old on the sand.
And so all this happened Wed? And today?
How much does the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce pay you? A disgrace.
You have to take Bait and Tackle shop remarks with a grain of salt, remember, they tell us these great reports to attract people to their stores.
Right. The report for the pic above will be “a bonito was weighed in by so-and-so.”
Meanwhile, the bonito is the size of a twinkie. LOL.
On the south side I have not gotten any thing for the past two days I tried horscue shoal, wreck shoal and socounessent
I caught 8 blues today at wreck shoal
Mick, that comment is a disgrace. You couldn’t have been everywhere at once, so don’t hem and haw when you don’t catch. Take your lumps and move on.
O please! I have taken plenty of lumps. I reserve the right to call a spade a spade.
I put tons of miles on the beast, and hit multiple spots from SCB to Bass River. It was ROASTING on the beaches — even at sunset — so you can imagine the day. EVERY parking lot was JAM packed. Children as young as 5 were crawling on Jetties, pretty much unsupervised — not a good idea. So DON’T tell me. I was there. I put in the work. The South Side was DEAD DEAD DEAD.
P.S. I also have a network of a few guys who live down there. IT WAS DEAD, DEAD, DEAD.
Who is the disgrace now?
There’s plenty of fish at Joe’s Market on the canal Mick.
I settled for 2 Filet O Fish for $3.33. How can you beat that deal?
Decided to give the bay another shot for sea bass, not that great few hits but the ones caught are quality fish time to give Buzzards Bay a rest, and head to deep water
I went to billingsgate this weekend and caught 1 40 incher and 1 46
i was down there off billingsgate the 4th and 5th and the place was on fire. two days over 80 fish 12 of which were from 30″ to 40″….and a 36″ bluefish
Had a great morning yesterday off a couple of rips at one of the Chatham beaches during the tide change. All schoolies, but got one on every two or three casts. Lots of fun.
Canal light up Thurs+ Fri east end 100 guys shoulder to shoulder a lot of guys keeping more one it was pitaful
People who do that should be persecuted to the highest extent. You give everyone a bad name an no wonder the striper fishery is in the condition it is. Total scumbags and if I saw someone do that they would hear it from me personally!!! At the minimum! If I was an EPO I would nail your ass!! That crap sets me off. Plus the lack of courtesy at the canal ads to it. I love watching people get nailed for that stuff. For any of you who took more than one your a complete scumbag and you’ll get caught. Go feed your welfare family because your too lazy to work.
No way was I going near the Canal this week end!! but today at 0 dark thirty the fishing was just so/so, black/red soft plastic swim bait tails on a good jig head doing the trick
I have been to the Race twice in my boat and once with a friend. The fact that it is crowded does not mean that fisherman should disrespect their fellow fishermen and other boaters. I can’t tell you how many times other boats tried to wedge themselves between me and another boat with little or no room available. Even worse are the idiots who elect to go close to full throttle as they change position and blaze through the fleet. If you need to blow a few gallons of gas moving down the lane to a new spot, then at least have the courtesy to take it to the outside and then cut back in. I’m not interested in surfing your wake swells, moreover, there’s plenty of room for everyone out here if you just use some common sense. Finally, Bass have no teeth. You can grab them in the lip or, if you must, use a net. I saw some guys gaff a few “maybe” barely legal fish rather than bend over and bring them in…Stripers are the best gamefish we have, don’t keep shorts, and don’t gaff questionable fish. I’d like to be able to take my grandson to the Race 20 years from now to catch some stripers… if we don’t conserve them, there won’t be any left! Bottom line a little respect to your fellow fishermen and the fishery itself will go a long way.
Canal Mouth from boat was insane this weekend. Live macks were killing it. Caught 75 stripers in 3 days, mostly all keepers (although we let em all go). Boat traffic was pretty bad with a lot of clueless folks out there but I could only imagine how bad Race was…
I have only been fishing the canal for about 5 years and I maybe have caught 3-4 fish in the 40lb class, I had a great time fishing thursday and friday one day in the east and the other day near midgate, i got one fish about 27 and another just at 30 lbs. I have never fish pole 20 or pole 175 mainly because the pack mentality and the arrogance of some of the “badass” canal vets is a major turnoff. I took up fishing to relax and enjoy. I have to say it is evident that some individuals identities live and die with their self indulgent entitlement to spots on the canal and the right to bully other fisherman. I have seen a few examples in my short time fishing the canal of these bullies receiving the natural consequences of being asses. My most memorable a marine kicking the ass of an arrogant local that got mouthy with this class act of our nation and was humbled by someone who possessed a real identity and desire to share, enjoy and experience the privilege of fishing such a great fishery!
Gaffing a striped bass is illegal
Gotta love when you get to the canal at 2 am to fish a spot for the tide change at 5 am when simeone just shows up at 459 and decides to start fishing 5 ft from you!! That happened!! ONCE!!!! Needless to say it didn’t last long. I took 15 mins of my time to ” educate him””.and went back to fishing. Alone. Idoits!!!
One final note. Getting a fishing license ,having kids, getting an LTC, buying a home, owning a boat and many other things should require a common sense test. Guarenteed fail rate of 80%. Im being generous. Cheers to all folks with common sense and respect.
These comments are better than the report itself! I like that others want to bag the one + jerks I have no problem telling someone they are a disgrace but how exactly can you get someone to go bag them? More people should speak up and tell the dirtbags they are going to be reported. Whether or note you report it maybe they’ll think next time. Going this weekend I’ll report back.
Was at the race yesterday morning. The commercial fleet was there, probably a hundred boats in the area the size of a football field. You could have just about walked from one boat to the next. A disgusting display of probably thousands of bass being killed for money. Sad
I was also at the race on Monday and I saw zero fish floating dead(which is incredible considering all the boats there).I am a lifelong fisherman . Been casting a rod since I was 4 . Have always obeyed all laws and regulations on the water. As far as killing bass for money goes is a crock of BS . The quota is getting filled weather or not I do it or the guy next to me or next to him so if filling the quota is what your speaking of when you say”being killed for money” complain to the fisheries not OTW no one wants to hear you . I f you don’t like the way idiots are operating their boats go find your own fish like I do at times they are everywhere. It’s called “fishing” for a reason don’t think for a second that your gonna pull up to the race and catch. If it were that easy everyone would do it and if you think it’s bad now wait another couple weeks when the mac’s are gone and everyone is pulling wire on the same ledge.Suck it up stop being such a baby and if you don’t like it don’t go fishing on a commercial day there’s 5 other days to go. To everyone not crying keep em tight and play hard !!!
Cap’ n Ron…. no issues with you (if applicable) or the other pros catching bass and making a living at it. However, a commercial license does not mean that those who have it can act without any common sense or that they have a license to disrespect those of us who fish for sport and who share the same waters. Not saying that this applies to you but since you are at the Race a lot, you’ve seen what I’ve seen there. A little common sense goes a long way.
Yup