Cape Cod Fishing Report - September 6, 2018

Cape Cod Fishing Report

Where are the albies?

That’s the question on everyone’s lips this week, as many fishermen begin their hunt for these fast-swimming miniature tunas right after Labor Day. There are some albies around, but they haven’t hit Cape Cod in any great numbers just yet.

But all that small bait that’s been stacking up along our beaches and bays isn’t going unnoticed. Schoolie stripers are feasting on the peanuts and spearing within casting distance of beaches on the South Side, in Buzzards Bay, on Martha’s Vineyard, and in Cape Cod Bay beaches reported James from Sports Port Bait and Tackle. Most of the bass have been shy of the 28-inch mark, but they have been great fun on light tackle and fly rods. Small topwaters and jigs (with the barbs crushed to help ensure the survival of the small stripers) are all you need for some fast action right now.

Small to mid-size bluefish are doing their best to wipe out the Cape’s peanut bunker population as well. These 1- to 5-pound blues are in Nantucket Sound, where at times, they are so abundant, “you could walk across them to the Vineyard,” said John from Eastmans Sport and Tackle. They are also all over Buzzards Bay, where they’re ravenous feeding has been attracting big flocks of terns.

Cameron from Larry’s Tackle Shop on Martha’s Vineyard said he’s never seen so many bluefish around the island, but he’s still been able to work around them to hook some false albacore this past week. The albies are starting to fill in around the island, with a few even being spotted in Edgartown Harbor. Bonito are still feeding around the Vineyard in big numbers, and boat fishermen are doing very well with them reported Cameron.

While the fishing for bonito in Nantucket Sound slowed, according to John at Eastmans Sport and Tackle, they are still being caught in Buzzards Bay, reported David at Red Top Sporting Goods. David said the early part of this week offered a good chance to catch a “grand slam” of an albie, bonito, bluefish, and striper in Buzzards Bay, but that the hard tails seem to have moved out. He did hear reports of good albie action in eastern Rhode Island, so there should be more albies on the way.

For larger stripers, Captain Mort of Fishtale Sportfishing says early mornings at Monomoy have been productive, but with the water warming up recently, the bluefish have taken over many of the rips.

Cape Cod Bay is fishing well, reported Captain Mel of FishNet Charters, who has been catching big numbers of 30- to 33-inch stripers on live mackerel, with some larger fish in the mix.

Cape Cod Bay has a lot of life right now. Mel has been seeing mola mola, leatherback sea turtles, great white sharks, and of course, striped bass.

Another surprising visitor to Cape Cod Bay has been the big schools of baby bonito. Fishermen are catching them from the beaches and mixed in with schools of mackerel. Thes bite-sized bonito are only 8 to 10 inches long, but are very aggressive, and put a good bend in a freshwater rod.

The Canal has been slow, with the exception of some fish being caught on jigs at night reported Jeff from Canal Bait and Tackle. The East End has been best Jeff said, as fish dip into the Canal from Cape Cod Bay.

The tuna fishing showed more improvement this week reported Captain John from Fish Chatham Charters. He’s been catching fish from 73 to 90 inches east of Chatham, and heard of fish to almost 1200 pounds this week! John reported a slow day on Wednesday, but chalked that up to the glass calm conditions. With north winds bringing some chop this weekend, he expects the bite to pick back up.

South of the Vineyard, mahi remain the only option reported Steve from Chaser Offshore Fishing. He’s hoping that the warm water pulls some yellowfin inshore of the Canyons.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

In reviewing the September 7, 2017 report, the albie fishing was just getting started, and by the September 14, 2017 report, the albies were everywhere. The bait is just as thick, if not thicker, than it was next year, so I think by this time next week, we’ll be talking about the big numbers of albies that have invaded Cape Cod.

The reliable schoolie and bluefish action is the top pick this weekend, as we wait for the fall run to really begin. Bare feet, a bathing suit and a light spinning or fly rod will get you all the action you can handle with small bass and blues both at sunrise and sunset.

It’s also worth noting that the black sea bass season is closing on September 12, so if you want to keep one last limit of these great-eating bottom fish, you can do it at Horseshoe Shoal according to John at Eastman’s, or off Westport according to Captain Mel True.