Albie insanity. After getting off to a slow start, the false albacore run has hit the Cape in full force, and the fishing is as good, if not better, than last year. While previous weeks had reports of scattered schools of finicky fish, by Thursday this week, fishermen were reporting catches of two dozen albies or more as the fish gorged on spearing, bay anchovies, and peanut bunker.
Cape Cod Canal and Cape Cod Bay
There have been mixed reports coming from the Canal reported AJ at Red Top Sporting Goods. Big blues have been roaming through the East End with some stripers mixed in. AJ said smaller bluefish have been running the length of the Canal feeding on small baitfish.
There have been rivers of silversides along the Canal banks, keeping schoolie stripers happy. The small bait could bring in some false albacore as well, but as of Thursday, there were only rumors of albies being spotted in the Canal.
Some larger stripers have been taken after dark by anglers fishing near the bottom with jigs. AJ heard of fish up to 30 pounds caught on paddle-tail jigs like the Savage Gear Sand Eel and the Al Gag’s Whip-It Fish.
The fishing on the Cape Cod Bay beaches is much the same as it has been over the past few weeks, with small fish being caught consistently on plugs and teasers. Fly fishermen have been catching schoolies as well by using spearing and sand eel imitations.
AJ reported that boats are still finding big schools of bass roaming Cape Cod Bay. Eels are producing at night and tube-and-worm trolling is best during the day. The fish aren’t quite as thick as they were over the summer, so it may take a little more searching to locate the schools.
Buzzards Bay
There have been way fewer reports of albies in Buzzards Bay, but with all the bait, including silversides and peanut bunker, it’s just a matter of time before the false albacore move in. In the meantime, fisherman have been loading up on snapper blues inside West Falmouth and Mengansett Harbors, catching the 6- to 8-inch bluefish on small trout spoons.
Larger blues are occasionally popping up in the main bay, feeding under diving birds.
There wasn’t much news of bottom fishing in the bay, but it’s getting close to tog time. The water may still be on the warm side for tog, but scup fishing is still reliable.
Casting eels into the rocks along the Elizabeth Islands is producing some stripers for the fishermen trying it. Not many anglers have been giving it a shot, but a few quality bass have been taken this way over the past couple weeks. As the striper migration gains steam (possibly after the upcoming full moon), more fish are likely to filter into this area.
South Side and Islands
False albacore are thick from Falmouth to Hyannis said Bill at Sports Port, and some are popping up as far east as the Monomoy Rips according to Mort at Fishtale Sportfishing.
The albies are feeding on a mix of small baitfish, which can be easily imitated with the ½-ounce Daddy Mac Albie/Bonito Jig, the ¾-ounce Deadly Dick, or a small soft-plastic stickbait like the Zoom Fluke or Albie Snax. Albies are even popping up close to shore. OTW’s Anthony DeiCicchi nabbed one from the sand at Menahaunt Beach during his lunch break on Thursday and had shots at several others.
Striper fishing is steady on the South side, with schoolies from 24 to 28 inches hitting plugs and swim shads, reported Ben at Forestdale Bait and Tackle. Big bluefish are also being caught on the South Side. Ben had heard of a couple big choppers taken on Dowses Beach.
On the Vineyard, albies fishing is steady reported Cooper Gilkes at Coop’s Bait and Tackle. Coop said Menemsha and Lobsterville were the better bets right now, but with all the bait in Edgartown, he expects that to light up very soon. Medium-sized bluefish have been blitzing at Wasque just about every day, Coop reported, making for some fun and reliable action for surfcasters. Stripers are being caught at Squibnocket and the North Shore. The fishing isn’t on fire, Coop said, but fish into the 20-pound range are being caught. The current Derby Leader in the shore division is a 27-pounder.
Bonito are sparse around the Vineyard, Coop said, but a few are being caught from shore. Cooper suspects that the storm pushed out most of the bones.
Lower Cape
The striper bite has picked up off Chatham with fishermen catching good numbers of fish in 80 feet of water on diamond jigs reported Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle. Ben at Forestdale has also heard to good report.
Tuna fishing off Chatham has been slow reported John at Fish Chatham Charters. A few tuna are being taken off Nauset, but for the most part, fishermen seeking bluefin need to look farther north.
Fishermen in the Nantucket Bluefin Blast this weekend only weighed 3 tuna for the 33 boats participating reported Steve of Chaser Offshore Fishing.
The tuna fishing on Stellwagen has been good with live mackerel, with fishermen seeing decent numbers of 40- to 60-inch fish, along with a few giants. Rich Antonino of Black Rose Charters landed a 93-incher this week.
Traditionally, right now is prime time to walk the Outer Cape beaches in search of a big bass. On the downside of the full moon, on a night with a southwest wind, it could be worth hitting beaches like Nauset, Head of the Meadow, or Ballston with live eels, needlefish, or minnow plugs. The fishing is a shadow of what it once was, but big stripers still visit Cape Cod’s Outer Beaches. Fishermen who put some time in on the sand could be rewarded with finding a school of migrating fish all to themselves.
Offshore
Before Hermine, there were yellowfin, mahi, and wahoo south of the Vineyard, but since then, the fishing had been slow reported Steve of Chaser Offshore. The canyons are on the slow side when it comes to tuna, but boats fishing the edge are loading up on mahi and catching some swordfish as well. Chris Megan and the OTW TV crew landed a swordfish this week while filming in the Canyons. The swordfish hit while deep-dropping baits into more than 1,000 feet of water during the daytime. Also on the trip, they hooked a blue marlin, landed a white marline, and lost two tuna.
Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
With the full moon this weekend, it’s high time to get in on some furious fall-run action. Albies on the South Side, stripers in Chatham, tuna off P-town, and blues all over. Stripers will be moving on the moon, and could bring some great action to the South Side, the Canal or the Outer Beaches.
When I hear u ask ur buddy how to tell the difference between a core and a bone it’s never a good sign for the poor fish u just landed. To all SPIN fishermen if u want to see the albacore swim away don’t keep it in ur lap on ur yak for 10 min while u take bad pictures, please drop it or shoot it headfirst in to the water on the release. Don’t throw it like a horse shoe from the jetty or revive it like u would a trout. I’ve seen these examples play out year after year trip after trip. Smarten up and smarten up fast!!
Also, don’t use ultralight tackle that takes over 7 minutes to get these fish in. Sure, it’s a great fight and some even consider it sporting. Not if you exhaust every fish to the point of death it isn’t!
OK, so what’s a core & bone. Also, do you know how to cpell?
Always informative and always helpfull . Thanks .
Anybody seeing snapper blues in the Lower Cape estuaries?
Very few and far between….
We caught one off cut 3 on Nauset on September 18th, 24 inches, but not even a nibble from anything else.
We had killer 15lb+ blues a half mile to the left of Head of the Meadow.
Phenomenal fun on light tackle. Lasted about half hour, then…
….the deluge of seals.
Game over.
Guess I’ll have to try for sailfish at the East end.