Cape Cod Fishing Report - October 29, 2015

The scariest thing about Halloween every year is that the striper season is just about a wrap on Cape Cod. Catch reports were few and far between this week, but that owes equally to the reduced number of fish and the reduced number of fishermen on the water.

Canal continues to produce small fish at first light, reported AJ at Red Top. Until Sunday, sunrise is after 7:00, which makes getting up for first light considerably easier than it was back in June. Small white bucktail jigs and swim shads are working best, but topwaters are taking fish at times.

AJ had also heard a report of stripers being caught on the South Side, specifically South Cape Beach. Casting eels from the beach in the evening was working best.

The rivers and bays of the South Side are the best bet for catching a striper right now, reported Lee at Riverview Bait and Tackle, but almost all of the fish have been schoolies. These backwater bass have been biting best on the outgoing tide. Small soft plastics on a jighead like the Zoom Super Fluke or Fin-S Fish are working best. Some of these small stripers will remain in the Bass River throughout the winter.

Lee also reported bass being caught in Chatham Inlet and the new cut. The fishing was good last weekend, but faded throughout the course of the week.

Some schoolies were taken off Race Point and from the beach at Herring Cove earlier this week on small swimming plugs. The Outer Beaches will still produce some schoolie stripers, and there’s always the chance—albeit remote—of a late-season monster like the late Tony Stetzko’s November 3^rd 73-pounder in 1982.

The big news on the Lower Cape has been the tuna fishing. Tuesday, the last good weather window produced fantastic fishing for tuna from 100 pounds up to giant size. Live mackerel and trolling was working the best on the big bluefin. Fish were taken on the Southeast Corner of Stellwagen, Peaked Hill Bar, and in the waters east of Chatham. The fishing had been so good, that most fishermen expected the tuna to stick around after the Wednesday storm, through the weekend, which looks perfect for a run to the tuna grounds. John Clothier of Fish Chatham Charters took a giant on Tuesday, and broke off a big one during the short weather window on Wednesday morning.

Tog fishing in Buzzards Bay is excellent right now reported at AJ at Red Top. While finding tog has been relatively easy, securing a day’s supply of green crabs has been a little tougher. The best bet is to head to the Canal, or another rocky shoreline and start flipping rocks to gather green and Asian shore crabs. It shouldn’t take more than 90 minutes to get enough crabs for a couple hours of fishing.

Cleveland Ledge is the most popular tog spot in Buzzards Bay, and as a result, it gets hit pretty hard. Anglers may have more luck doing some exploring to find smaller pieces of structure that attract less fishing pressure.

Freshwater fishing continues to be excellent. Trout fishing is on fire, with anglers catching rainbows on PowerBait, nightcrawlers, and flies. Brown trout are being caught on stickbaits and live shiners. Pickerel fishing is great, and big largemouth are being caught on swimbaits, jigs, and occasionally on topwaters.

Best Bets for the Weekend

For nearly assured action, freshwater is the way to go. Trout ponds like Peter’s, Cliff, Ashumet, Mashpee-Wakeby, and Sheeps are producing good numbers of rainbows. Any number of smaller ponds are a good bet for pickerel and largemouths.

For stripers, the Bass River is a good bet for schoolies, but if you’re still looking for a keeper, try the Canal at first light or the sound-facing beaches after dark.