Cape Cod Fishing Report - May 26, 2016

What makes the striped bass fishing fun (and frustrating) this time of year is how the hot bite moves dramatically from week to week, even day to day.  Last week we were talking about big schools of stripers in Nantucket Sound, and this week, Cape Cod Bay is the hot spot. In addition to stripers, sea bass, scup, fluke, blackfish, and a few bluefish were caught around the Cape this week, and things are shaping up to be a great long weekend.

Cape Cod Canal

The Canal fishing has been hit or miss. Fishermen are seeing surface feeding stripers in the early mornings, but catches have been spotty. Some stripers larger than 30 pounds were caught in the Canal this week, but most fishermen were left scratching their heads at the slow fishing.

The tides this weekend are what most consider “off” tides, that is they aren’t the “breaking” tides when the east turn coincides with sunrise. Nevertheless, these tides still have good fishing, as stripers move into the Canal from Cape Cod Bay chasing mackerel, sand eels and other baitfish. The stretch from the Herring Run east to Scusset is a good place to look on the west-moving morning tides this week.

Cape Cod Bay

While the Canal action has cooled, Cape Cod Bay action is hot. Scott at Sports Port said the bay is loaded with schoolies, with some keepers up to 40 inches mixed in. The bass appear to be feeding on sand eels reported the guys at Forestdale Bait and Tackle, making diamond jigs, Slug-Gos, and SP Minnows good lure choices. At times, the stripers were even taking topwater plugs.

The fish have been caught on Brewster Flats, Billingsgate Shoals, outside Barnstable Harbor, and some have even moved up to Provincetown.

The fishing isn’t strictly a boat ordeal. Paul at Blackbeard’s Bait and Tackle weighed in a 20-pounder taken from a bayside beach in Eastham.

Lower Cape

Beyond the reports of stripers in Provincetown, schoolies are feeding in the Outer Cape surf in good numbers. Small swimming plugs matched with a teaser are the top producers right now.  One fisherman casting this combo even landed, and then carefully released, a small Atlantic sturgeon this week.

Buzzards Bay

Black sea bass season opened with a bang this weekend. Boats found easy limits of sea bass by fishing squid and clam strips, or jigging with small bucktails or diamond jigs.

Scup fishing is also on fire in Buzzards Bay reported the crew at Macos. Fishermen have been catching them incidentally while targeting sea bass, but fishermen scaling down their hooks and using clam baits around mussel beds and rough bottom are doing very well. Many of the scup have been good size, but the 5-pound, 2-ounce hubcap caught and released by John Sousa was the biggest reported this week.

Striper fishing is fair in Buzzards Bay. Most of the fish are schoolies, but have been fun to catch on light tackle. No word of blues in the Bay.

There have, however, been fluke. The crew at Maco’s reported keeper fluke caught in the upper reaches of Buzzards Bay outside the Canal. Switching over to fluke rigs and trying some deeper water would be a great way to add some fillets to the fish box after filling your black sea bass limit.

South Side of Cape Cod

Bluefish to 16 pounds were reported on the South Side beaches this week. Unfortunately, there weren’t very many of them. Bluefish action was slow on Wednesday, but on Monday and Tuesday, a few were caught. The guys at Forestdale said some smaller blues have been showing, and were hopeful that this might be the start of a stronger run of the 3- to 6-pound blues.

Nantucket Sound black sea bass fishing has been on fire. Fishermen are catching easy limits around the rough bottom, and are even picking a few tog. Scott at Sports Port weighed in a 5.3-pound tog this week.

Some stripers continue to be caught off the South Side. The schoolie action in the estuaries is slowing down a bit, according to the report from Forestdale, but fishermen are still catching some fish in the late afternoons. Scott at Sports Port said Cotuit Narrows is still giving up schoolies, with a few keeper-sized fish mixed in.

Martha’s Vineyard

The Edgartown Harbor squid bite is “epic” reported Peter at Larry’s Tackle on the Vineyard. Fishermen are filling buckets in the middle of the day. Despite all the bait, bluefish remain scarce on the island. Some are being caught around Menemsha, but Wasque, the perennial bluefish hotspot, has been quiet.

Larger stripers have hit the Vineyard, with fish up to 20 pounds being caught off the North Shore. Surfcasters will have to work for them, Peter advised, but the bigger fish are there. The South Shore is producing some better bass as well.

Fly- and light-tackle fishermen continue to have fun with schoolie stripers on Chappy.

Black sea bass were caught in big numbers around the island this week, with fishermen finding no trouble filling their five-fish limit.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

Boat anglers would be wise to set their sights on Cape Cod Bay this weekend. Bring an assortment of lures from topwaters to heavy jigs, and be prepared to do some running. While the waters outside Barnstable Harbor are a good bet for finding fish, adventurous anglers may want to take a run around Race Point to see if any stripers are blitzing off the back side with few, if any, boats on them.

From shore, try the middle to East End of the Canal on the west tide at daybreak. The outer beaches are a good bet for schoolies, with the shot at keeper-sized fish after dark.

Don’t give up on the bluefish yet. These warmer days could heat up the bite and bring more blues to the islands and the South Side of the Cape.

Last, but not least, bottom fishing for sea bass and scup is great off the South Side and in Buzzards Bay. If it’s fresh fish for a Memorial Day BBQ you’re after, a small jig tipped with Gulp is the best way to fill the cooler.