Cape Cod Fishing Report - July 3, 2019

Fishermen had great fishing with topwater lures in Cape Cod Bay this week. Photo from Captain Mel True of FishNet Charters

We’re in the midst of our longest stretch of nice weather all summer, and it looks like it will carry through the weekend, giving Cape Cod vacationers and locals alike a chance to get out on the water.
 

Fishing Report for Cape Cod

The toughest weather day was Monday, but that was also the best day of striper fishing, reported Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys. The conditions were brutal, with a big swell rolling through Cape Cod Bay, but Ross said casting Magic Swimmers resulted in fish to 48 inches. Ross likes to fish the bay by drifting and casting Magic Swimmers, and then setting out diving plugs that he trolls while resetting his drift.

Captain Matt of Fishy Business Sportfishing also caught some big bass early in the week both by trolling and by casting topwaters. After Monday’s weather, he said the larger fish became a little tougher to find, but smaller stripers remained abundant.

Captain David of Stripers-R-Us has been enjoying the big number of bass on Billingsgate, trolling up 30- to 38-inchers at will. His two half-day trips on Tuesday produced a combined total of 56 stripers.

Captain Mel of FishNet Charters has been catching big numbers of bass in Cape Cod Bay on topwaters. The majority of the fish are around 30 inches, Mel said, but there have been smaller schools of 30-plus-pounders roving around the bay. These fish have been tricky to weed out of the large schools of smaller bass, but Mel said, persistent fishermen have been finding them on occasion.

WATCH: Proper Catch and Release of Striped Bass – With the large number of mid-size stripers around, make sure you are releasing them in good condition so they can continue to grow and spawn.

Monomoy has been another striper hotspot this week. Captain Drew of Downeast Charters out of Chatham said the fish feeding in the rips have been of mixed sizes, with some days producing many 20-inchers and others producing 25-pounders. Drew said the nicer weather and increased boat traffic has sent the fish deep later in the day, but that early-arriving anglers have continued to catch. Drew has seen a few white sharks in the area, so he reminds fishermen to be careful when landing bass, as white sharks attacking hooked stripers in a very real possibility.

Captain Mort of FishTale Charters said the big number of boats on Wednesday put the stripers down in the most crowded areas, but added that the fish are widespread enough that anglers can find them away from the fleet. Mort’s clients have been catching as many as 25 fish a day, with many in the 25- to 30-inch range, but some as large as 40 inches.

Vineyard Sound is loaded with small bass, reported Jim at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth. Fishermen are finding a few larger fish along the Elizabeth Islands, but many Falmouth-based boats have been heading east to Monomoy in search of larger stripers.

Provincetown has been loaded with bait, and some large stripers found it this week reported Captain Mike of Cee Jay Fishing. His fares caught bass to 48 inches in Provincetown this week, some just a short ride from his breakwater. Live mackerel and casting plugs have been working. There’s been no sign of bluefish around Provincetown just yet, Mike said.

The tides are prime in the Cape Cod Canal reported Sheila at Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore, but fishermen heading to the Ditch expecting a blitz have been a bit disappointed. Most of the action this week happened in the dark, and in a few very crowded areas in the East and West ends. Jigs have been the best producer, particularly paddle tails.

There are still some large stripers milling around the Canal and just outside the East End. AJ at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay weighed a boat-caught 45-pounder this week from Cape Cod Bay, and a Canal-caught 48-pounder. These were some of the first big bass Red Top weighed this year, a sign AJ said, of more fishermen deciding to catch-and-release their large stripers, a trend he hopes will continue.

That said, there have been reports of fishermen, particularly around the Railroad Bridge, keeping more than their limit of stripers, stashing multiple fish in their vehicles. If you see this, you can report it to the Massachusetts Environmental Police by calling 1-800-632-8075 or filling out the online form at https://www.mass.gov/forms/report-a-violation-online-form.

There’s also been good striper fishing from the South Side beaches, according to Ben at Forestdale Bait and Tackle. Chunking with fresh bunker or mackerel has been the best tactic, and fishermen soaking bait off the beaches have also been hooking the occasional small bluefish.

Horseshoe Shoal got a wave of bigger bluefish according to Jim at Eastman’s. Fishermen there caught 5- to 8-pounders, while in the rest of the Sound, small 1- to 2-pound bluefish were most prevalent.

Black sea bass fishing is very good in Nantucket Sound right now, according to Amy at Sports Port in Hyannis. Captain Matt from Fishy Business spent a day catching big sea bass in the Sound this week as well. Sea bass fishing has also been good around Nantucket with Captain Marc of the Just Do It Too had a good week catching keeper sea bass, fluke, and stripers, along with good numbers of cocktail blues.

In Buzzards Bay, the black sea bass fishing is spotty, though AJ from Red Top, said fishermen can still scratch up a limit. The biggest fish have moved off to deeper water at the mouth of the bay where Captain Mel of FishNet Charters continues to catch limits in 35- to 60-foot depths.

Anglers looking for keeper fluke in Vineyard Sound can expect about a 15 to 1 ratio of throwbacks to keepers reported Jim at Eastman’s.

Keeper fluke have also been caught at Monomoy, giving fishermen a backup plan if the stripers get scarce in response to heavy holiday boat traffic.

Bonito were caught at the Hooter this week, and normally, those would be the first ones of the year, but the first bonito was reported almost a month ago now. With fish at the Hooter, anglers can target the bones by trolling deep-diving plugs.

Scup are being caught on the beaches in good numbers around Osterville reported Amy at Sports Port, and in with the scup have been good numbers of northern kingfish, and increasingly common summer visitor to the South Side of the Cape.

Since Saturday, there have been a decent number of tuna east of Chatham reported Captain John of Fish Chatham Charters. He’d heard of six giants caught Tuesday and at least one on Wednesday. The tuna have ranged from 73 to 90 inches.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

It’s going to be a busy long weekend on Cape Cod, but there are enough fishing options to accommodate visiting and local anglers alike.

If you’re shorebound, fish the nighttime hours at the Canal, and fish deep. If the crowds turn you off, soak some bait on the South Side for a mix of bass and blues. It might be wise to have some wire leaders handy, as there have been rumors of large, toothy predators swimming off the South Side. OTW’s Eddy Stahowiak tangled with a car-hood-sized roughtail ray off the South Side this week.

Boat fishermen have their pick of Monomoy, Billingsgate, and Provincetown for stripers, Nantucket Sound for sea bass, and the Hooter to get an early jump of their bonito season.