Cape Cod Fishing Report- April 20, 2023

I don’t know about you, but I have been crabby this week. It’s partially due to the fact I’ve spent 4 nights casting into pitch-black nothingness in an effort to readjust to long nights on the water; the other contributing factor to my crabby demeanor, is the stench of green crabs that still lingers on my fingertips after finding my first few tautog of the season.

The sun peeked through my cheap bedroom-window blinds on Saturday morning and I immediately felt a burst of energy, which is very unlike me (despite being an early-rising angler.) Vitamin D coursed through my veins and forced me out of bed with the drive of a migratory bass heading toward spawning grounds. I was elated by the sight of dandelions sprouting from the otherwise dreary, unkempt lawn in my apartment complex. If the sight of dandelions wasn’t the deciding factor in my plan for the day, it was the cloudless sky and weather that screamed “put on a t-shirt and get outdoors, stupid”. Boy am I glad I did.

Spot-hopping produced a handful of short tautog and 4 to 5 keepers, but I released every tog I caught. As much as I love fish tacos, I just didn’t fee like putting one on the table. Many fisherman avoid keeping tautog in the spring because they’re so vulnerable when they come into shallow water to spawn, and I like the idea of giving these slow-growers a break. I just needed to put a hook into something in salt water, and the tog were willing to oblige.

I recommend giving tautog fishing a try this weekend. Fresh migratory stripers are still slowly moving into Cape waters, and should be around in numbers over the course of the next week, so wait it out with some consistent blackfishing.

Here is all you need: A simple hi-lo rig tied with 25-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon. Add two Gamakatsu 3/0 or 4/0 bait holder hooks to the dropper loops and a 2-ounce bank sinker to the surgeons loop on the bottom of the rig. Cut the legs off your green crabs for chum, then cut each crab in half with some cruddy shears, and you’re in business. Just be prepared to re-bait the hook a lot. There will be plenty of small fish tapping away at the crabs, but when the line moves or tension decreases, set the hook. I used a medium-heavy fast action Fenwick spinning rod and a size 3000 Shimano Nasci spooled with 10-pound PowerPro Super8Slick braided line. Connect the hi-lo rig to the braid via swivel or your favorite low-profile knot and you’re in business.

OTW’s Andy Nabreski also did some toggin’ this week, although he said it was a very slow pick. In Andy’s own words: “Five guys fishing, 5 hours, 5 tautog total, 3 of which were keepers to 17 inches, fishing with Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters.”

If you need to be swayed further, Mass. Maritime Academy’s Underwater Cape Cod Canal Camera has been flooded with tautog this week, and some quality tog at that. I can’t get enough of this feed.

Back to word of migratory stripers, Stavros Viglas (@south_of_the_vineyard) sent me a text on Saturday morning— a text I was anxiously awaiting— sharing that the first migrators of 2023 had reached the surf on the south side of Martha’s Vineyard.

 

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A post shared by Stavros Viglas (@south_of_the_vineyard)

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Cape Cod and the Islands!

Maybe it was the sunshine, or good tautog fishing, or Stavros’ text, but I have a pep in my step this week.

Freshwater continues to see great fishing across Cape Cod too. Earlier this week, OTW’s Ed Giordano sent me this photo of a fat 4-pound largemouth caught by Ricky Kempton in a nearby kettle pond. The warmer the weather, the more active the largemouth have been. If tautog fishing doesn’t work out this time of year, you can always rely on Larry.

With so much extra daylight, OTW’s Patrick Washburn and I went out after work this week to try and catch a couple 4 pounders of our own. I scooped up 3 dozen shiners from the bait shop in town and we got to work. The action was slow at first, but as the sun dropped, the fish started biting. Within a few minutes of the sun dipping below treeline, Patrick reeled in a healthy bass to break the skunk. Mission #1 accomplished.

The action continued, with small pickerel and mid-sized largemouth galore. Then I tied into a big pickerel that crushed my shiner on the surface and swiftly dove for nearby beds of milfoil. Unfortunately for me, at 24 inches, it measured only one inch short of being recognized as a “pin fish” by the state’s Recreational Sportfishing Awards program.

And pickerel weren’t the only fish coming out of their spawning period; yellow perch were also chewing well this evening. Normally I’d find yellow perch eating my shiners to be a nuisance, but it was nice to catch something besides a little slime dart or a mid-sized bass. These yellow perch were big, and although they dwarfed an average perch, their once bulbous bellies were clearly emptied of eggs.

After about 4 yellow perch, 5 pickerel and countless largemouth bass, Patrick and I called it a night so I could go home and watch my NY Islanders lose Game 2 of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes on account of poor officiating. A terrible way to cap off an otherwise great night.

On that note, let’s check in with our local tackle shops:

Connor at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay reports:

“Southern Buzzards Bay around Fairhaven and Marion had migratory stripers earlier in the week, so they’re slowly moving in, but no word of stripers this far north yet. However, there’s lots of good tautog fishing to be had. A few anglers are finding good success over in the West End of the Canal, and there are keepers in the mix but no real eye-opening biggins. Out in the freshwater ponds, the state is stocking broodstock brown and tiger trout this week. We had a couple 2 and 4 pounders weighed at the shop. Water temperatures are up so lots of guys are also chasing largemouth bass in the herring run ponds, which is fun because a 20-inch bass that should weigh 3 or 4 pounds ends up weighing 5 or 6. There’s plenty of options for anglers going into the weekend.”

Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth reports:

“Tautog fishing is picking up in Buzzards Bay right now with most of the action happening close to shore on green crabs and sea worms. The Elizabeth Islands are also producing some good tautog catches. Soon enough, the bass will be moving north toward the Canal and the south side of Cape will receive its first push of migrators. With the new moon tide, we should see fresh fish on Cape any day now. In freshwater, we’ve been selling lots of shiners to guys targeting largemouth, and one guy who came in twice this week has been doing well with bass up to 4 pounds. By this time next week, we should see more stripers around.”

Morgan at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis reports:

“There are tons of pogies around right now, we just got in a fresh bunch yesterday. We got a bunch of reports of squid in the harbor from customers this week and they’ve been cleaning out the squid jigs, so come grab your squidding gear while it’s available! Tautog fishing has also been good recently, we have people coming in for green crabs daily and we’re hearing of some quality fish being caught despite slow action. A few local anglers also reported catching 15- to 20-inch schoolies on the south side of Martha’s Vineyard, and most of the fish were covered with sea lice. It’s only a matter of time before those bass reach the Cape! And to tide us over, freshwater fishing is great. There’s lots of activity from brown trout right now as the water warms in our kettle ponds and stocking continues, and one angler came in with a picture of a 6-pound largemouth he caught from a Martha’s Vineyard pond. The fishing options are abundant!”

Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore reports that tautog are biting well in the west end of the Canal (when they’re biting) and stripers are being caught to the south around the Rhode Island/Massachusetts border. The tog action in the Canal sees flurries of good fishing with a fair amount of shorts, but the keepers are there.

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Cape Cod and the Islands!

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

 

Remember, our friends at Goose Hummock Shops in Orleans are hosting a Kid’s Fishing Festival on Saturday, April 22 on Flax Pond in Nickerson State Park! There will be food, prizes, and plenty of fish caught. Keep it on the calendar. We hope to see you there!

We want to hear from you! If you’d like to contribute to our fishing reports, reach out to me via email (mhaeffner@onthewater.com) or via Instagram (@hefftyfishing) with a sentence or two reporting your experience on the water, along with any fish photos related to your report.