After last week’s “epic” “insane” “on fire” Canal bite, reports returned to earth this week. However, there are still plenty of bright spots in the fishing report, including bass in Cape Cod Bay, bonito at the Hooter, and an offshore bite including tuna and marlin south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Cape Cod Canal Fishing Report
Although the Cape Cod Canal bite has slowed, the guys at Red Top said there was still a good amount of action, especially on the west tide. Jigs and eels at night are producing a few fish, and there are some big blues cruising around as well.
The recommendation from Canal Bait And Tackle is to hit the tide change, when the west current turns to the east. Stronger tides and an early morning east turn next week could reignite the topwater bite. In the meantime, live eels around the nighttime slack low tide could be a good bet.
Buzzards Bay Fishing Report
The folks at Macos reported that most local anglers are switching to fishing live eels at night to pick up bass in Buzzards Bay and along the Elizabeth Islands. Reports have been few and far between, but the fishing should pick up as better tides following the new moon this Sunday will get the water moving.
Buzzards Bay bottom fishermen are picking up plenty of scup and some decent fluke, but expect to pick through plenty of undersized sea bass and fluke along with sea robins and bait-stealing scup to pick off the fluke. Deeper waters with good current off Nobska Light and Lucas Shoal will have less bycatch and better shots at fluke over 20 inches. There have also been some big smooth dogfish tricking fishermen into thinking they’ve hooked into trophy fluke.
Southside Fishing Report
Bonito are in, but the fishing has been sporadic, reports Eastmans Sport and Tackle in Falmouth. There have been some catches at Squibnocket and more sightings at the Hooter. The bite at the Hooter should pick up through the end of the month.
There are plenty of striped bass to be caught along the south side and along the islands, but most of the action is at first light and at night. Most of the fish are 15- to 20-inch schoolies, but there are some small keepers in Woods Hole and along the islands. There has even been some surface action in Woods Hole, with small stripers and blues pushing bait under birds. It’s mostly small bluefish eating sand eels on the shoals from Middleground to Horseshoe.
Patriot Party Boat out of Falmouth Harbor has been doing fine with a consistent scup bite. Charter operation Lincoln Brothers has been targeting deeper areas around Lucas Shoal for fluke and black sea bass.
Amy at SportsPort Bait and Tackle in Hyannis recommended Dowses Beach for scup and cocktail blues, which is great for families. There are good numbers of snapper blues in the southside inlets and harbors; they are about 5 to 6 inches right now but will grow quickly.
Martha’s Vineyard Fishing Report
Larry’s Bait and Tackle reported that the rips have been slow for bass, and fishermen looking for keeper-sized stripers should fish at night with live eels and needlefish plugs.
Fish Chatham Charters made a few trips south of the Vineyard and got some yellowfin, a thresher, and makos. Exact locations are tough to tease out, but most fishermen are simply heading toward the Dump and looking for signs of life.
Captain Kurt of Fishsticks Charters has put clients on great black sea bass fishing, landing abundant 4-pounders and a couple of 5-pounders this week. Bluefishing has kicked into high gear around the island, with blues to 12 pounds smashing topwaters, swimming plugs, and even jigs that we intended for sea bass.
Cape Cod Bay Fishing Report
John over at Cape Cod Bay Charters said the fishing has slowed down a bit from last week, but is still quite good. They had a productive day at Billingsgate, but also noted that the Striped Bass have made a re-appearance in the Barnstable Harbor area. Mackerel are also in the mix, and live-lining them has been a top producer.
Captain Ron Signs of Bucktail Fishing Charters has reported very consistent action for Striped Bass in Cape Cod Bay. Often, they’re managing to land 30 to 40 bass per trip. Most of them are between 26 and 32 inches, but there are some bigger ones around if you’re patient. Additionally, Captain Ron been catching a wide variety of bottom species in Vineyard Sound. By fishing in deeper holes, he’s been putting his clients on large Black Sea Bass with a quality Fluke mixed in here and there. There’s certainly no shortage of way to put a bend in the rod this time of year.
Captain Dan Hannon of Salt Shaker Charters has been encounter similar action, with loads of bass just over the 28” mark. Jigging wire line over Billingsgate has proved very productive, but he’s also come across Bluefish on light tackle in the Sunken Meadow area.
Captain Dan really emphasized the strong numbers of bass that are in Cape Cod Bay right now. Following the fleet of boats hasn’t been necessary, as it’s not too difficult to find your own body of fish right now.
Salt Shaker Charters has also been focusing on the numbers of fish at Billingsgate, and noted that the Sandy Neck bite hasn’t really heated up.
Fishy Business Sportfishing out of Plymouth also said that striper fishing has slowed down, but they’re still getting action along with some great black sea bass fishing.
Outer Cape and Chatham Fishing Report
Schooney Fishing Charters has been working from Provincetown down the backside of the Cape and finding good numbers of 30-inch bass but not many 36-inch-plus fish.
The captains at Reel Deal Charters reported similar action and recommended live-lining mackerel to cull out the bigger fish.
There are bass around Chatham but the bite in the rips has been inconsistent. Fish are starting to show up at Nauset Beach.
What this and other sites have done to the canal and the striped bass as a species is devastating.
I see to many people showing up now and also a lot more bass being killed.
I can only imagine what social media will do to this species of fish.
It is so good now because of what used to be secret information.
@john Sorry dude. It’s the tragedy of the commons. And it’s shocking hypocritical of you to pretend you care because of the health of the species when what you REALLY care about is not being able to fish alone and having to compete with other anglers. More anglers = better for the cape economy and better for the industry. More people having success is a good thing and it gives the recreational industry more power in the balance with the commercial industry.
If you’re so worried about the health of the stocks, lead by example and hang up the rod and reel and go take up golf. But don’t you DARE pretend for one second that you give a rip about the health of the stocks because the information that was “once secret” is now out there for the public.
I don’t mind all the anglers because I don’t fish those spots that a monkey could catch a fish.
All that I ask is to see those 30 40 50 lb fish be released to reproduce.I’ve caught 68 fish this year and a couple scaling 50lbs,I’ve kept 2 30 inch fish.
So I feel I’m doing my part.
Let those big female breeders go guys it will make for a greater season next year,after all how do you think they got so big.
Tight lines.
Yeah john. I habe 30 plus keepers.. 30 plus shorts and get kept 2 during that week long blitz. So dont fool yourself thinking ots only you.
You seem ignorant to the real numbers. Go see what happens to all the bass caught by accident.. and tossed over board. I bet 1 boat beats all the bass in 1 week.. they kill in 1 day. And they cant even keep it. They have to dump it overboard
This magazine has nothing to do with the “kill ’em all” mentality that seems to exist at the canal. The canal is very much historically a put-and-take fishery and a vast majority of the regulars down there make damn sure to keep their daily limit if they can. That practice existed long before the internet and instant fishing reports.
Cmon john. Your statement has no logic.
Are you kidding John.. get serious
correct
Social media doesn’t help the fishery. Nor do computers. What used to be a go out and find your fish is now people getting upset because they don’t know where to fish without a fishing report. Example last reports here. That’s ridiculous. As soon as a boat finds a school he calls his buddies and they pummel it. If they make stripers a gamefish then that would be great for everyone, except the commercial fisheries. The fish would be more plentiful, always has a great stock and grow larger. I love when people say” There was a huge school of pogies but there wasn’t any bass on them”. Well maybe because there aren’t as many. I mostly catch and release. I just like to get out and I do quite often. But let’s face it. This fishery is under such pressure that it really needs to be watched. I was at the Canal today and it really amazes me how people can confuse 20 inches for 28 inches. Reading a tape measure is a dying art!!
Don’t be afraid to “offer up” use of your tape to someone you might think is about to keep an undersized fish. I’ve done so and it forced people to throw back what otherwise would have been a short.
@John in no way has this magazine done anythingto hurt the Species . Its preaches and promotes catch and release. If your talking about the decline in recent years keep this in mind. Virgina and the north Carolina take 100 fish a day 5 days a week by means of gillnet s. On the water is way more then a fishing report.
this magazine has the striper cup. that does not promote catch and release
Paul,
If you call the DEP they can give these people some lessons on how to read the tape measure.
Hopefully they’ll have to pay for that schooling.
I have the number on speed dial believe me. I told them exactly what I thought and that I would (and did) call the EPO. They proceeded to pack up and head back to the camper at Scusset Beach.
I have called on a group of guys that were culling fish keeping the bigger fish and throwing the smaller dead one back into the canal ,I was on the phone for what seemed a hour giving as much info as I could and they never came , and when they left there was trash everywhere
Honestly, the most concerning issue with this website is the exaggeration of the shop owners and charter Captain’s on the number of fish being caught. “they’re managing to land 30-40 bass per trip.” In Cape Cod Bay. Sure.
Spend a day fishing on a charter boat. One of the run-and-gun center console types, not the wireline trollers. They find schools and follow them around. 30-40 fish a trip is not at all unreasonable.
If you don’t like crowds fish at night very few anglers and quality bass. I have fished for over 50 years commercial and recreational I had great fishing in the seventies and no bass in the eighties, the striped bass fisheries has to be better managed bring back the 36 inch limit and the fish will take care of the rest. Great tides
Next week good luck
Hi everyone
I’m gona give this fishing thing another try at the canal tomorow. Bright and early ill be their, I’m trying out a sick set up I bought not to long ago. Its a 6′ medium heavy pistol grip rod and a zebco push button. The person i got it from said it was just what I needed to fish the canal. So stalk line and everything. My secret bait this time around is hot dogs, that’s right. Guy I wrk with over at pay less women’s shoes told me boom they’ll grab a hold of that and that’s it man. Hope fully noone decides to beat me up like the last time. Ill be wearing bright orange streamer pants football cleats and tattoo like tyson on my face. Tight linea guys.
LMAO
@just in time,
Did you get the Barbie pole version or the Star Wars light saber one? I hear the light saber works better at night or Slack tide and the Barbie is better for jigging against the current
Starting to sound like SOL around hear.
Crowds at the canal never bothered me, I
Bring my own.
Different thread.
On July 11 I was live lining by the south jetty on the east end of the canal. I hooked a fish (I thought) and reeled it in without much fight. I realized I had hooked a bunch of line with a nearly dead bass attached to a large plug. I boated the bass and about 200 yds of green line. It was 37 inches and 21 pounds. Can someone describe the plug as I still have it? BTW I landed 9 more fish that morning and all were revived and released; the largest was 39 inches.
Look guys, keeping shorts is wrong. Overfishing a resource, any resource is wrong.
There is a lack of common sense by some. The argument about commercial guys killing small fish is legit but it doesn’t mean keeping shorties is legit. The tackle shops do what they have to do to stay in business. I don’t blame them for grinding out a living. Think of their winters.
I rarely keep a bass. I sometimes, rarely keep a blue. There’s enough fresh fish at market.
Catch a fish, take a pic and let the breeders go. As far as crowds, deal with it or explore. You’ll find fish!
I completely agree with John. Don’t know why you guys are beating up on him. You must be commercial fisherman. The commercial guys always like to put the blame on someone else. Use recreational guys with are FB garbage are no better. Like this weekend at the canal. If it wasn’t for facebook/forums maybe 500 fisherman would have been on the canal. But there was like 5000. Now you can’t tell me that doesn’t hurt stocks of fish. Most of the guys fishing are following instant reports. This means the catch rate goes up 10x. Same thing with commercial guys. Some, gaff every fish they catch. You can’t tell me that the only fish kill is the quota. They all get on a school of good fish and follow each other around till that school of larger fish is decimated. And you can’t tell me they don’t sell fish to private individuals and business’s. Poaching is also a major concern that’s been on the news. Bycatch by commercial netters is off the wall recreational guys seeing acres of dead bass floating.
Another thing, with no learning curve because of FB how many new fisherman has and will this generation bring into the sport? And what impact will that have on a already stressed fishery? Novices anglers keep there fish a good percent of the time cause they don’t know the impact it has. OTW you have gotten better with your no kill section of striper cup and awareness off catch and release you give to new fisherman. More needs to be done though.
I have to say, I don’t ever fish the canal but I do fish all over the place both fresh and salt and I have to say it’s a very complicated issue. The social media and online reports make it much easier to find out where the fish are but is it really that much worse than say a Navionics chip in your fish finder or your best mate calling you up to tell only you where the fish are?
My thoughts are to educate people. I don’t care if 10,000 people show up. If they respect the fish, handle it correctly and practice catch and release then there is less of an issue. For the most part, fishermen are the stewards of their realm and are more aware of protecting their quarry than anyone (Just look at this thread for proof) . Overfishing needs to be discouraged across the board both commercially and recreationally.
Personally I use social media all the time to help me find where the fish are. I still have to show up and figure out how to fish the areas that I go to, but I very rarely keep any of my catch, I always make sure to wet my hands before handling fish so as not to remove any of its protective layer of slime, I ensure that the fish is out of the water for the least possible about of time and I am thankful for every fish I catch. I try to educate everyone I fish with on both the correct handling methods and the life cycle of the fish that they are targeting.
One last thing, not everyone has friends or family that can teach them how or where to fish and I want our great past time to continue and I feel online resources like OTW help with that.
That’s problem. There is so much disrespect of the species is sickening. When you have some moron who has a 30 lb striper on shore for 10 minutes while he fishes for a bigger one. Then he does get one 35 lbs and tosses the other back and expects it to be fine. Complete disrespect. Total greed! If you want to fish for a bigger one get a picture and take your chances. I’m very passionate about this and it really irritates me. Sure everyone can keep there quota. But when you see that or people who don’t know what 28 inches is it’s really hard not to say anything. Which I always say something to whomever. If we don’t take personal responsibility for it, soon we’ll be casting towards empty water. Don’t lay the fish on hot pavement or dirt for 5 minutes as you get your crap together. Get a pic and back in the water. And the penalties for violations are pathetic. If people get caught they should lose everything. End of story. Not, I didn’t know or I’m sorry. You lose your right to fish, your car, fishing equipment , jail and fines. End of story!
Quit ya balling, and get out there….Big fish are back! Tight lines.
It’s pretty simple really. Every fish that’s kept is one less to reproduce. Yes there’s a lot of by catch(aka smaller stripers) from commercial fishing. And with stupid Facebook and other social media yes people will go fishing because they see it posted. There will be another time like before when there’s no stipers around so you can just think back and say “remember when”. And let’s not talk about the southern states where they can keep an absurd amount of stripers per day.
just because they report where the fish is its not likely by the time you get there that the fish are Still there / yesterdays news might bring more fisherman to the spot but usually the fish move on long before you get to the hotspots . They say the fish are everywhere and one of the best seasons in a long time but to my eyes im struggling in spots that where once awesome and are now awful.I still feel the need to bring back 36 inches because last year that the 36 inch rule was in effect i expierenced the best fishing season ever but every year since then its been so bad for me being a surfcaster with no boat that im close to hanging it all up .