Cape Cod Fishing Report - September 17, 2015

Albie fever continues to grip Cape Cod. The fever spiked this week on Martha’s Vineyard and in the Cape Cod Canal. Striper was hit or miss this week, but some quality fish popped up in surprising places.

Albies galore on Martha’s Vineyard reported Coop from Coop’s Bait and Tackle. Melissa at Larry’s Bait and Tackle listed Chappy, East Beach, and Edgartown Harbor as the albie hotspots this week. Big schools of peanut bunker continue to fuel the fishing.

The albies have been a little thin from Hyannis east to Chatham, but some fishermen are finding and catching them reported the crew at Sports Port. The mouth of Waquoit has been producing albies on almost a daily basis reported Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle. In between the albie action, fishermen are dropping jigs or squid strips to the bottom and catching scup off Waquoit. Upper Buzzards Bay, in particular the West End of the Canal, is holding false albacore. Some false albacore have even made the run all the way through the Canal where they were spotted busting baitfish off Scusset Beach reported Tom at Red Top. Tom said a few albies were caught by canal fishermen in the East End.

Striper fishing in the Canal was spotty this week. Fish were caught at first light on topwaters, Tom reported, and as the sun climbed the fish went deeper, making jigs the best choice. Tom said most of the Canal fish this week have been in the 10- to 15-pound range with the occasional 20-plus-pounder being caught. Last Saturday, Canal fishermen were treated to an all-day blitz as stripers chased mackerel into the Canal. Many of the fish were over 20 pounds, a some as large as 40 pounds were caught. By Sunday, those fish seemed to have left, most likely continuing their migration south. Before long, however, another southbound school will hit the Canal.

The striper fishing on Race Point and the Outer Cape continues to be spotty. Only a few stripers are being taken, but the bluefish are providing some action. There have been giant bluefin, some as large as 700 pounds, taken off Provincetown and in Cape Cod Bay over the past week.

Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle caught a handful of big stripers while fishing the South Side of the Cape this week. He was walking Popponesset Spit at sunset and found a school of quality stripers. Using swim shads he caught several fish over 37 inches, the largest going 25 pounds. With all the peanut bunker in the South Side Bays, catches like this may become a regular occurrence on the South Side as the water cools.

Small bluefish are all over on the South Side reported Sports Port. Larger bluefish are a little tougher to come by, but boats fishing deeper water, or perhaps by Nantucket, caught blues to 16 pounds this week. Snapper bluefish are showing up in the bays of the South Side and Buzzards Bay in stronger numbers. Fishermen can hit the boat docks and piers with small spoons and catch a handful of these tiny bluefish.

South Cape Beach was quiet this week, both for fishermen casting lures and fishermen using chunk bait on the bottom.

Bonito fishing is going strong at the Hooter. Fish to 9 pounds were caught this week by fishermen trolling minnow plugs.

Bluefish action on the Vineyard was spotty this week reported Melissa at Larry’s. The blues have been running small, and have been few and far between. Coop at Coop’s says some more bluefish seem to be moving in from offshore, so he expects that action to pick up. Striper fishing on the Vineyard has been slow.

Captain John of Fish Chatham Charters had more success trolling squid bars east of Chatham this week. He landed a 64-incher on Tuesday, releasing one of the same size. Weather was tough early in the week, but when he was able to get out, he found bluefin in the 64- to 70-inch class.

Best Bets for the Weekend

The tuna fishing is very good right now. Lots of big tuna are holding southeast of Stellwagen, with some even moving into Cape Cod Bay. One giant was even spotted breaching in the Cape Cod Canal on Saturday. East of Chatham seems to be reliable right now when the weather allows a trip. Trolling squid bars has been putting tuna on the deck.

Who knows how long the albie fishing will continue at this fever pace, but with striper action on the slow side this week, focusing on false albacore would be my recommendation. Upper Buzzards Bay and Martha’s Vineyard and the hot spots right now. Showing the fish something different has proven beneficial lately, with soft plastics like the Albie Snax accounting for more albies this week.

For stripers, the South Side estuaries are a good bet. You may not find 20-pounders, but keeper size fish should be readily available feeding on the peanut bunker schools.