Cape Cod Fishing Report - May 24, 2018

The saltwater fishing around Cape Cod is so good for most species right now that many fishermen haven’t even noticed the lack of bluefish.

Just about every shop noted that the spring bluefish run has been all but non-existent, but I’m holding out hope that the big schools of blues are just behind schedule. In New Jersey and New York the blues showed later than usual, and while the run fell short of last year’s in New Jersey, Long Island is seeing big numbers of big blues.

The best bluefish action on Cape Cod right now has been in Buzzards Bay, where boat fishermen have been finding mixed schools of bass and 5-pound blues tearing through sea herring and other small baitfish. On the South Side, there have been fewer but larger bluefish reported. Amy at Sports Port heard of a 12-pounder taken at South Cape Beach this week. Fishermen around Cotuit have reported a few blues as large as 15 pounds recently. John at Eastman’s did mention that he’d heard of large crowds descending on one South Side beach where they were catching good numbers of 5- to 7-pound blues. Walking a few beaches this week after work, I found no fish and the fishermen I talked to had only only been catching stripers. But that’s not so bad, is it?

The stripers on the South Side are eagerly hitting top waters and jigs in the rips reported John. Amy at Sports Port heard of fishermen live-lining bunker for stripers as large as 36 inches this week. Most of the fish seem to fall in the 14- to 32-inch range.

And that’s been holding true at the Canal as well, where Chris at Red Top said the west-to-east tide changes have been producing good fishing in the West End, and that both tides are producing well in the middle around the Herring Run. Chris said most fish are short, but that there are enough keepers mixed in to keep it interesting. He’d also heard of a handful of larger fish taken this past week.

Jeff at Macos Bait And Tackle said the good fishing continues in the Canal, where some large mackerel have entered the East End.

Jeff also said the black sea bass fishing is excellent in Buzzards Bay following last Saturday’s opening day. The sea bass have been running big, and supposedly, the bite is even better out in Nantucket Sounds. John at Eastman’s weighed in a 5-pound sea bass this week.

The scup and tog fishing is still very good – with tog up to 10 pounds hitting the scaless at Red Top this week – and fishermen out bottom fishing in Buzzards Bay are just as likely to run into a surface feeding school of bass and/or bluefish like Andy Nabreski did on Tuesday.

Stripers have Martha’s Vineyard surrounded reported Peter at Larry’s Tackle, but once again, the fish seem to be maxing out at about 34 inches long. The first bluefish was reported on Martha’s Vineyard last week, and only a few have been caught since, mostly in the ponds, Peter said, where they’ve been chopping up the small stripers. In Edgartown Harbor, hickory shad and mackerel and providing fun light-tackle action, and the squid are biting well around high tide.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

Fear not, fans of the bluefish. Friday and Saturday are bringing a big shot of southwest winds, and that may finally put those yellow-eyed demons on our beaches in numbers. But if not, you’ll just have to settle for stripers. And those stripers should just keep getting bigger with the full moon coming up and big bass arriving from the south.

But while you wait for blues, and bigger bass, take advantage of the top-notch bottom fishing happening in Buzzards Bay and Nantucket Sound. This shallow-water big sea bass action is the best in the Northeast, so take advantage before the prime structures get picked over and the big male sea bass move back offshore.