Cape Cod Fishing Report - July 2, 2020

There’s a great variety of fishing available for the long holiday weekend here on the Cape, from freshwater bass to bluefin tuna.

Striper fishing hasn’t changed too much over the past week. The fishing throughout most of the Canal has been slow. As Jeff at Canal Bait and Tackle put it, you’ll need to work for the fish now. He recommended fishing after dark with dark-colored jigs.

Jacob at Red Top Sporting Goods said most of the action in the Canal has been concentrated in a small area that’s attracting a big crowd. He’s been venturing away from the crowds, but said the fish simply aren’t spread out.

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That seems to be the story with the big stripers this year. There are small concentrations of them, but they aren’t nearly as widespread as in years past. So it was encouraging to hear Jacob report that there were a couple schools of big stripers roaming Cape Cod Bay. He saw some topwater action with fish into the 40-pound class on Wednesday, but couldn’t tell what bait they were on. He did see bunker out there, but the stripers did not appear to be feeding on them. He’d heard other reports of schools of good bass in the Bay, as did Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys.

Ross has been covering ground in the bay, and catching plenty of schoolies with a few “slot” size fish in the mix. He thought that school of big stripers might have slid south from Boston, where there’s been exceptional fishing for big stripers for going on two weeks. Wherever they came from, it’s good to know there’s some big fish in Cape waters.

Jeff at Canal Bait and Tackle heard bunker spoons were cleaning up in the bay as well.

Off the South Side, Middle Ground is producing the occasional 30-inch with all the schoolies in there eating baby squid reported Jim at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle. Wasque is fishing the best it has in years, and there’s a better shot at a slot-sized striper over there, Jim said. Topwater lures are working at both locations. The salt ponds are all loaded with schoolies, and they can be seen feeding on the surface at sunset.

The sand beaches of Cape Cod Bay and the Outer Cape continue to produce stripers, with some over 28 inches, and a few that are too big to keep, that is, over 35 inches.

Monomoy continues to produce big numbers of bass, reported Captain John of Fish Chatham Charters. John said at times, the bass have been on tiny sand eels, making them very picky, but he said fly-fishermen have had an easier time matching the hatch. Most of the fish are 24 to 27 inches, and there are only a few “slot” fish in the mix. Perhaps the full moon tides this weekend will draw some bigger fish into the rips.

John did some sea bass fishing as well, and said it was excellent around Nantucket, with limits of big sea bass. He even had a few keeper fluke.

Elsewhere, the sea bass fishing varies. Nantucket and Nantucket Sound seem to be producing well. Buzzards Bay has slowed down. I fished with Captain Mel True of Fishnet Charters on Sunday out of New Bedford, and while we caught our limit, we had to work for them, and weed through a lot of shorts. The deeper waters off the north side of the Vineyard are producing keeper sea bass and some fluke.

Jim at Eastman’s said there are a lot of fluke off the South Side of the Cape, but you’ll have your work cut out for you weeding through the throwbacks to get some keepers. Buzzards Bay has produced some good fluke this week, though, with fish to 6 pounds reported.

On Martha’s Vineyard, Julian at Larry’s Tackle said the blue fishing has been good at Chappy and Wasque. He’d heard of another bonito this week, this one hooked by a fly-fisherman. Boat fishermen are doing well with schoolies in the rips, and he said the surf fishing for stripers has been fair.

There was a run of bigger blues off the South Side beaches and jetties this week, reported Amy from Sports Port. The fish ran 8 to 10 pounds, and were taking topwater plugs. Beyond that, Amy said shore fishermen were enjoying fun fishing with scup in the Osterville and Cotuit areas.

There’s a lot of tuna around, reported Captain John from Fish Chatham. He had his first trip of the season Monday, and hooked a pair of giants in the 800-pound class on live bait. John said fishermen are catching tuna on bait and on the troll, and even casting, though that’s been tougher. He’d heard from some harpoon boats that there are some numbers of “recreational-sized” fish around as well.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

There is a ton of bait around the Cape, and overall, the fishing is looking good for the weekend. Getting a couple keeper fluke or sea bass for a Fourth of July Fish Fry should be no problem. There are plenty of schoolies feeding on top in the bays to make up for the lack of fireworks this year, and larger stripers are around for those willing to burn some fuel trying to hunt them down in the vast expanse of Cape Cod Bay.

The full moon may send one last wave of big stripers up from the south, which could fire up the Canal, Monomoy, Race Point, or all of the above! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed. I’ve had some quiet nights fishing the surf lately, and if I don’t catch some stripers soon, I may have to break out the wire leader, big hooks, and heavy surf rod to tangle with some of the big, toothy creatures that reportedly showed in Cape waters over the past week.