Boat fishermen were just beginning to get back on the water on Thursday after a few lay days, courtesy of Hermine. We don’t have a full picture of the fishing just yet, but given the time of year and the amount of baitfish around, fishing is looking good for the weekend.
Cape Cod Canal
After some big bass blitzes in the Canal toward the end of last week, the fishing fizzled when Hermine arrived reported Gordon at Red Top. While the stripers were running a little smaller this week, the bluefish were running huge. Bluefish up to 15 pounds were taken in the Canal this week. Tuesday was the best day as blues blitzed through the Canal from east to west. The blues were taken on jigs, swimming plugs and poppers.
Cape Cod Bay
The boats that ventured onto Cape Cod Bay this week did not see the big schools of stripers that had been roaming around the lower bay since late July. Some theorized that the fish had already moved south, starting their fall migration, while others thought they’d moved out to deeper water in the bay to ride out the storm.
Along the bayside beaches, there are big numbers of small stripers. Schoolies from 12 to 24 inches are hitting topwater plugs and swimming plugs. Ben from Forestdale Bait and Tackle reported that one angler was catching the schoolies when a 20-pounder came up and ate his small topwater.
Ben also heard of some big blues roaming the flats at Brewster, giving fly and light tackle anglers a chance to sight cast to them.
Buzzards Bay
Schoolies and small stripers are biting well in Buzzards Bay. The blues are running from 4 to 10 pounds, while stripers to 32 inches were taken by boat anglers in the bay this week. In the harbors, snapper blues are biting well, making for fun action on trout tackle. They also make some fine eating.
There’s been no reports of albies in the bay, but it is loaded with bait. There have been some peanut bunker, and loads of spearing.
South Side and Islands
The albie action has been sporadic, but reports on Thursday made it sound like things were breaking open a bit off the South Side of the Cape. Ben from Forestdale reported that one fishermen looked all day on Wednesday for albies, not even finding a swirl, until afternoon, when a blitz popped up and he was able to catch six. More boats reported action on Thursday, looking from The Elizabeth Island’s to Craigville. It sounded like bay anchovies were the primary bait, making the amber colored Albie Snax from Long Cast Plastics one of the hot lures.
On the Vineyard, the albie bite hasn’t recovered since the storm. Peter from Larry’s said the fishing has been spotty this week. It was the same story from Coops. Both are hopeful that the albie fishing will bounce back in time for the Derby.
Striper fishing is improving off the South Side with more keepers showing up in the ponds. Ben at Forestdale heard that eels are taking fish off the Popponesset Spit. He’d also heard of fish to 33 inches being caught on shads and swimming plugs after dark.
Snapper blues are in the South Side bays as well, as they blitz on spearing and bay anchovies.
Lower Cape
Stripers are being taken around the Monomoy Rips reported John at Fish Chatham Charters, but few boats had been trying as of Thursday. With the weather improving for the weekend, he expects more boats to get out.
Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
With limited intel going into this weekend, it’s a good time to play a hunch. For albies, it sounds like the South Side is beating the Vineyard and Nantucket right now, but the fishing along the islands could pick up any day. The Elizabeth Islands might be a good bet for fishermen hoping to connect with a big striper, as the stripers that blitzed through the Canal last week may be scrounging around those rocky islands for an easy meal. For bluefin, the waters east of Chatham were running hot and cold before this storm, but there wasn’t any new information as of Thursday. The fish could have filled in a little better after the storm, or they may have moved out. A better bet for tuna is probably Stellwagen Bank.
Albie lives matter!!!!!!! A kind reminder to all fisherman who Practice catch and release for albacore, these fish need to be dropped head first or shoot into the water head first on the release. They will croak if u try to revive them like a bass. If you notice a novice releasing them the wrong way a kind reminder isn’t a bad idea.
A novice won’t catch one! More likely be the one we are all screaming at to stop chasing them around like a mad man. Notice to all Novice fishermen stop driving your boats over schools of fish and hooking birds!
Thanks for adding that part about the googans driving into the schools. I had a good laugh a few weeks ago when they were running and gunning little schools of bluefish.
AMEN!! I have lost so many fish the past few weeks in Boston to dumbasses cruising right through the middle of a school of bait/birds over and over again.
Thank you hippy dippy and John for your years of wisdom and wealth of knowledge. I will bring this up at this month’s meeting of Novice Fishing for Dummies as #1 on the agenda.
Thanks for the lesson from such experienced fisherman. This will be the #1 agenda item at this month’s Novice Fisherman’s Club.
Albies are fun for sure when I find them by chance on a run to fishing grounds but trying for them with an armada of boats chasing them is a sh#% show I would much sooner avoid. Kind of like the canal on weekends.
We novice fishermen surely appreciate the advice from such experienced master fishermen. This will be the #1 agenda item at this month’s Novice Fisherman Club.
You should post this comment a few more time
So last week, there several posts where the F word was directed at people, as well A**hole, and some very angry attacks from poster to poster.
I try to have some good-natured ribbing in a friendly and clean manner, but my posts are not allowed.
As a long time magazine subscriber to OTW, I would appreciate a response (email bumkneex2@yahoo.com or jburch@oxps.org) explaining why my clean posts are not allowed, while just last week, there were expletive directed posts and angry attacks on other posts that were up all week.
If I do not here back, I will subscribe to The Fisherman and not renew OTW.
Hey Ned u r soooo cool! u must slay fish on spinning gear at the ditch. Or maybe pan fish in ur Jon boat? Like u r probally better than the best ever, how did u get sooooooo fishy!???? Next time u get a treble in ur hand or better yet ur face it’s not karma it just because u r sooo good at fishing. When u pattern em on electric chicken or even more challenging live bait u have really found out something new never before has that been done. U really r the man!!!!!