Cape Cod Fishing Report - April 30, 2020

We had two glorious days this week, surrounded by several windy, cold, and rainy ones. Both of those days, which flirted with 60 degrees, started out so cold I had to chip the ice out of my kayak for the morning’s fishing.

April was unkind for many reasons. In a normal year, we’d be lamenting the lack of warm, windless days, but considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and related issues that are affecting the fishing community, the weather was the least of our concerns this past month.

We turn the calendar page this weekend, and can at least be certain that the weather and the fishing will improve, and can be hopeful that the other aspects of our lives will soon improve as well.

The water temperature is running cold in Buzzards Bay and the Sounds, which has delayed the arrival of squid and scup. As of Thursday, I’d only heard rumors about the Nantucket Sound squid bite. All first hand reports suggested that they had yet to arrived.

Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sport Fishing hit some of his favorite spots for scup this week, and found them empty as well. He recorded water temperatures of 46 degrees, which could explain why the scup are dragging their tails.

The tog fishing improved this week. I notched my first keeper of the season, and found them biting a little better on Thursday morning, but still not as hot and heavy as I would expect for this time of year. Maco’s Bait and Tackle reported more keeper-sized tog being taken Buzzards Bay as well. Green crabs are working, but with the water cold, some softer baits, like clams or seaworms might give you an edge, per the advice of Captain Jeff Viamari of Bad Influence.

Striper fishing is steady, but Coombs said all of the action he found is inside the estuaries, not in open water. That is where he’s finding the warmest temperatures.

Kevin Blinkoff, editor in chief at OTW, broke out the fly rod to catch his first few stripers of the season.

Both Kevin and Brian noted that the bass have been small, 12- to 15-inchers, but that there are some 20-inch and better fish around.

Plenty of fishermen around the Cape are catching stripers, with the South Side and Buzzards Bay having the most fish at the moment, but with fish beginning to stir along the Cape Cod Bay side as well. Small soft-plastic paddle tails are tough to beat, but a few fishermen have been having luck with topwater plugs as well.

I didn’t do much with largemouth bass this week, and I blame the weather for that. I stuck with big swimbaits, and the most excitement I had was when an osprey took a swing at the lure.

 

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Aerial assault. OTW’s @jamestfee thought the warm, sunny weather today would increase his odds of getting hit on a big swimbait. Of course, he expected that attack to come from below. #onthewatermagazine #swimbaits #swimbaitfishing #bassfishing #osprey

A post shared by On The Water Magazine and TV (@onthewatermagazine) on Apr 25, 2020 at 3:04pm PDT

Smallmouth bass continue to feed well ahead of their spawn. Jerkbaits and tubes will cover all your bases.

Trout fishing is steady, but you’ll need to cover ground to find them. Spoons and stickballs are still working, but tossing some small panfish jigs or Maribou jigs may give you an edge as the surviving trout wise up.

Haddock fishing is going well, but it’s a long ride from the Cape to the best bite, which is concentrated toward the north end of Stellwagen Bank.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

The weather will be warming up over the next week, and with it, the water and the fishing, on all fronts. Bottom fishing for tog and scup will be improving, squid will be moving in, and, though out of season for a few more weeks, sea bass should begin to make an appearance.

For striper fishing this weekend, focus on finding warm water and you’ll find hungry schoolies. As the water warms, the bass will spread out, and more and larger fish will be arriving from the south.