Jeff at Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore says the fishing picked up this morning and the east end of the Canal has been fishing pretty well. Mackerel and peanut bunker have been showing with squid mixed in at night.
Jim at Eastman’s Sport & Tackle in Falmouth says the bass fishing is slow locally. There are a few bass coming from the Elizabeth Islands at night on eels. There are also reports of bass being jigged up from Quicks and Robinson’s Hole. The hooter had some bonito last week, but they’ve disappeared, and the boats have been catching black sea bass and bluefish. Bluefin have moved to the northeast corner of the claw. There aren’t too many tuna over 42–they’re mostly 28 to 40 inches. White marlin have been popping up in the same waters. There are big tuna at Crab Ledge in the 80 to 95-inch range for boats live lining mackerel. Buzzards Bay has a lot of small fluke and some keepers once in a while. The Canal has been slow the past few days, but the full moon tides could bring some good fishing.
Captain Mel True of Fishnet Charters out of Buzzards Bay says the striper fishing has been really good towards the entrance of Buzzards Bay. His charters are hooking into slot and over slot fish. They’re also jigging up sea bass to 4 pounds and getting into some bycatch fluke of legal size.
Peter at Larry’s Tackle Shop on Martha’s Vineyard says the brown sharking is epic with 90 to 110 pound fish being taken. Bluefishing has been good with fish ranging to 4 to 6 pounds and some bigger ones mixed in to 12 pounds. Bass in the 20 to 25 pound range have been reeled in on the north side at night by anglers using plugs and eels. Black sea bass are holding in the rips.
Capt. Mort at Fishtale Sportfishing out of Harwich Port says his charters have been catching a lot of bluefish the past couple days and they’re limiting out on stripers, but nothing huge.
Grady at Maco’s Bait and Tackle in Buzzards Bay says the Canal has been quiet this week. There have been a decent amount of fluke in front of Onset and near the Elizabeth Islands.
AJ at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay says the Canal has slowed down, but there are still slot fish for anglers not chasing reports. Offshore, there are jumbo tuna at the Regal Sword and wreck tuna south of the Vineyard, and all the way out of The Claw and The Dump. Sea bass fishing is best between Martha’s Vineyard and Noman’s Island in 50 to 60 feet of water.
Ross at Cape Cod Charter Guys in Bourne says striper fishing in Cape Cod Bay has been slow. He’s been covering a lot of ground, but is having difficulty finding over slot fish. The past couple days have featured pods of breaking bluefish.
Cape Cod Forecast
Brown sharks are a sure-fire way to hook up on the south Cape beaches with a dead eel, bunker, or bluefish. Good reports continue to come in from charter captains targeting blues in Cape Cod Bay, Vineyard Sound, and Martha’s Vineyard. Keep an eye out for birds working on the surface or blues finning—sometimes they can be mistaken for bunker.
Striper fishing slowed down but in between moons, but the tides are picking up, and the fishing should as well. I received credible reports of peanut bunker and mackerel in the Canal, so it’s not out of the question that the breaking tides could bring some solid action.
7 Lures for the Cape Cod Canal
Riverview bait and tackle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rte 28 Yarmouth ma ??????
I just read the companion report from Massachusetts (everything north of the Cape). What a difference. Whatever happened to our once great fishing grounds in Vineyard Sound and the surrounding areas? I recall fishing with my grandson when he was four or five (he’s 11 now) and getting all kinds of fluke in the shoal between Falmouth Inner Harbor and Nobska Light; Woods Hole held all sorts of big stripers; Lucas Shoal held really big fluke. Large groups of birds close to shore off Falmouth’s west side signaled large schools of blues beneath them. What changed? Is it the draggers? I wish this magazine would explore this situation. Or am I just wrong about this?
The traditional ways of surfcasting are, for the most part, all but forgotten. I have had too many conversations with anglers lately, regarding the fantastic fishing off our local beaches that I have been experiencing. The darter and needlefish bite has been superb. The response I get is, “What’s a darter, how do you work it and what do they look like?”.
Unfortunately, we have come to a time where the majority of anglers solely know how to throw a magic swimmer in a 7-mile funnel. No longer are there anglers studying the cuts, rips, troughs, and so on of our local beaches. It is sad to see the industry turning in this direction and generally speaking, turning into a couch sitter’s “activity”.
Get off your @$$, put in your time, enjoy the solitude, and maybe you will start to learn a thing or two in regards to the excellent surfcasting opportunities along the Massachusetts Coast.
P.S- Fishing 4 days of breaking tides in a month is not “putting in your time”…
Well said H.T get bent !