Cape Cod Fishing Report - May 3, 2018

I was out of town for most of the past week, and in the time of my absence a lot has changed on the Cape Cod fishing front—for the better. Schoolie bass are working their way through Buzzards Bay,

Jeff at Canal Bait and Tackle said the herring run on the Canal is loaded with herring, and schoolie stripers are in hot pursuit. Fishermen have also been catching schoolies in the West End of the Canal in the evenings. Jeff recommends herring-imitating lures, like minnow plugs in black/silver, blue/silver, and all silver. He also said that Tsunami Swim Shads have been catching good numbers of schoolie bass.

Jeff also mentioned that mackerel have moved into Cape Cod Bay. Boat fishermen are catching them, but they haven’t yet moved toward the Canal, although that should happen soon, Jeff says. All in all, Jeff says that the table is set for the fishing to break wide open.

At Red Top Sporting Goods, AJ has heard of schoolie stripers working their way through the Canal, but no word of keepers just yet. Tog fishing is improving in Buzzards Bay and down the Elizabeths as the water warms up.

The tog fishing still hasn’t started in Nantucket Sound, where the water is a bit colder, reported Amy at Sports Port Bait and Tackle. But the squid have arrived, and are being caught at night in Hyannis Harbor.

The squid haven’t showed on Martha’s Vineyard yet, reported Peter at Larry’s Tackle Shop, but the stripers have. The fish are concentrated around the pond openings on the south side, but as the waters warm, the fish will spread out around the island.

Freshwater fishing is excellent on all fronts. Big trout, big bass, and big panfish are being caught. Red Top weighed in a 4-pound brown this week, and Amy from Sports Port caught her personal best largemouth bass.  The largemouths aren’t on their beds yet, but expect to see them bedding up within the next week.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

For your first fresh-caught dinner of the season, look to the lighted docks for squid or the Buzzards Bay rockpiles for tog. For light-tackle fun, focus on schoolies throughout Buzzards Bay and the Canal. The south side is still a little cold to see steady striper action, but that is changing fast. And to marvel at nature’s bounty, head to a local herring run, where the migration seems to be at its peak as these silver bullets swim for their freshwater spawning grounds. No spring is complete without an evening spent marveling at a herring run turned black with hundreds of alewives while listening to a chorus of spring peepers nearby.

And if you were looking for a lunker pre-spawn largemouth, your days are numbered. The bass are shallow and feeding now, and have begun to strike topwaters, so there is still fun fishing left on the freshwater front before it’s time to switch exclusively to salt.