Nothing says spring surfcasting like the combined stench of bluefish, fresh mulch wafting over the beach from summer homes, and the unmistakable low-tide smell.
As I stepped over the mounds of mung (that nasty, hair-like seaweed we see each spring) which made a minefield of the sandy beach, I thought about how good it would feel to hook into a big blue. The sun was setting, the sea was choppy and the wind—stiff, gusty and blowing directly from the southwest—had my hopes high for a run-in with gators.
Turns out, the only thing I hooked was a bunch of soft, sticky seaweed. That’s fine. It’s still early. Last year, I wasn’t catching bluefish until late May, but when OTW’s Patrick Washburn told me he saw gator blues finning in Buzzards Bay, I got fired up.
I love catching bluefish. I welcome their frenzied nature and the stress that comes with landing them as they leap and headshake only a few feet away, trebles flailing, just waiting to stick me in the thigh. It’s a true battle. I’ll have more to say about blues once I finally catch that first one of the season. This week, stripers are still the main focus for most anglers around Cape Cod, though I had a couple friends visit who were looking to knock out a couple different species.
My buddy Matt and his brother Marc came into town late last Thursday night and we immediately took to the water in search of stripers. With no signs of life at spot number one, we hauled it to an area with stronger current and deeper water, and immediately found fish. The stripers were selective, hitting only white swimming plugs and nothing else. They weren’t on bottom, but were suspended in the outgoing current along the edges of the rip line. We hooked several and lost them all. It was frustrating to say the least. I couldn’t figure out why they were popping off besides the fact that the barbs were pinched on the lures that had trebles.
The next morning was damp and chilly, so we headed out early to try a couple of trout ponds. On the walk in, we saw fish rising and aggressively chasing small bait. Each of us was equipped with a 1/4-ounce Kastmaster in gold or silver/blue. In almost no time, we each had several trout under our belts. This made up for the lack of stripers we connected with the night before; trout fishing was a good way to break the skunk early on.
Marc caught his first few trout ever, so we decided to try and knock out another species: white perch.
Surprisingly, both my jig and Matt’s jig were taken on the drop of the first cast, before we even had a chance to reel in the slack.
Unfortunately, that was all the action we saw for the next hour or so. We covered water and threw everything I had on me, but we couldn’t buy a bite. The next spot was a bog pond, where we threw small jerkbaits and crankbaits to fool a couple of small largemouth bass before calling it quits on freshwater. With half the day gone and the full moon coming, we prepped for the night ahead with a trip to Eastman’s Sport and Tackle.
Mag Darters and Crystal Minnows were the hot item when the night shift rolled around. With a bright full moon shining through a cloudless sky, the stripers were fired up and we found immediate action using the same techniques as the night prior. Almost all of our fish came on the twitch-and-pause retrieve, and once Matt and Marc had a couple schoolies under their belts, I joined in on the action until the fish stopped biting. We cheered silently before heading out to a final spot on the way home in search of some larger fish, and Matt stuck a solid 27-incher.
And while we were catching on minnow plugs, Mike from @reel508outdoors was catching some slightly larger fish on white Storm swim shads nearby.
There’s a ton of bait around, and it honestly surprised me that I hadn’t really heard of bluefish in the area yet… then I received this photo from Mike, who caught his first bluefish of the year the morning after my unsuccessful sunset skunking.
The blues are in. They’re piled into Buzzard’s Bay right now, but they’ll be making their way to the south side of Cape Cod in the coming days and weeks. Gator blues will join some of the stripers in the Canal, crashing the party for any anglers jigging with soft plastics, and when they’re on top, there are few things as exciting as watching a big blue chase down a rapidly-retrieved popper.
In the backwaters of Cape Cod, there’s been a decent worm “hatch” bite this week. The cinder worms dart around on the surface, especially around dusk, and the finicky bass have been sipping them off the surface with the delicate and cautious nature of a brown trout eating a dry fly. I tried casting to them with cinder worms flies on my 9 wt. fly rod, then with a casting egg on my inshore rod, and still couldn’t hook up. Finally, I figured out that a frantic retrieve with the Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow was still enough to draw a few strikes. It didn’t remotely match the hatch, it seemed like they were swiping at it out of frustration or irritation. It disrupted the calm, muddy back bay just enough for me to hook a couple.
In my experience, the bass in the back are anywhere from low 20-inch range to mid 30-inch range, and they are all eating well despite chasing much smaller bait than the bass out front. OTW’s Patrick Washburn got into a few good fish this week while casting pencil poppers in Buzzards Bay, intercepting some of those fish that may be heading for the Cape Cod Canal.
Speaking of the Big Ditch, local Canal veteran East End Eddie Doherty reports:
“Surfcasters have found success on various sections of the Canal on different days with the breaking tides kicking off a great weekend with mostly slots landed on Magic Swimmers and SP Minnows. Plymouth Canal Rat Joe Eufrazio, throwing a Yo-Zuri bone twitch bait, caught a nice 32-inch striped bass that is now considered over slot. Seventeen-year-old Dylan Campbell, also from America’s hometown, reeled in his first striper of the season with a pogey colored Left Hook and Mike Allaire of Norfolk fooled a slot on top with his pencil. Jim Kelly from Centerville landed a 45-inch bass that fell for a 3.5-ounce Striper Gear Rocket. I caught 9 fish including a 39 inch, 18 pounder all on my green mack Guppy JoBo Jr. Meanwhile, Raynham’s Ed Brezniak, fishing next to me, landed 14 nice linesiders including a 42-inch bass on a green mack Savage. Pocasset’s Bill “On the Grill” Prodouz made the best catch of the week while working his parrot colored Super Strike Bullet. After a tremendous fight with his drag singing the song we all like to hear, Bill reeled in a 35-pound striped bass!”
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Cape Cod and the Islands!
Connor at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay reports:
“The Canal is full of life with stripers and scattered bluefish chasing pogies, mackerel and the occasional squid pod. There have been a lot of big fish (for this time of year) landed in the past 4 days, and it doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down. The key is being down on the Canal when the tide switches directions. It doesn’t seem to matter which end, because stripers are already in both Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Bay, taking full advantage of the Canal’s ability to trap schools of mackerel and bunker. Topwaters, paddletails and bucktails have been responsible for most of the larger fish landed.”
Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis reports:
“Fishing is great and we are busy, busy, busy! We had a guy in store this morning who caught a couple 33 and 34 inch bass in the Sound. It seems like the whole South side from here to Brewster is seeing great fishing. The bass are hitting white swimming plugs and classic topwaters like the Doc. We are also selling a ton of fresh squid and fresh bunker, which have also been producing good fish. Additionally, green crabs are still flying out the door so the tautog bite has been good too! Plenty of options going into the weekend.”
Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore reports:
“Everyone is catching fish. There are mackerel in the East end, bunker in the West end and herring in between. If you hit the Canal during low light you’re almost bound to find some bass. They’re on top when the bait schools are thick but jigging paddletails has been working just as well. There are fish up to 40 pounds in there now, so all is good.”
Captain Ross at Cape Cod Charter Guys reports:
“Stripers are moving in in greater numbers, and we’ve got some good fish in the Canal; they’re moving through and picking off bait in both bays as of right now. The primary forage fish are pogies and mackerel, and there have even been some big bluefish mixed in with the bass, too. We’re catching fish around Buzzards Bay by finding the schools of bait and fishing around them with white Game On! Lures Duratech paddletails, which held up very nicely against those bluefish teeth. When we’re finding fish on top, they are crushing the Game On! Lures X-Walk. Message us to book a charter or go to capecodcharterguys.com.”
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Cape Cod and the Islands!
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Big stripers are here, and as more trophy bass exit Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay and New York Bay (NY Harbor), expect good fishing around the Canal. Later in the month, Vineyard Sound and the Elizabeth Islands should see a good push of large 30+ pound bass.
If you’re fishing with soft plastics in Buzzards Bay, be sure they’re durable enough to stick a couple blues before rigging up another one. Z-Man and Game On both make excellent soft plastics capable of withstanding bluefish teeth. Just be sure to store them separately or they will melt into each other in the heat.
This is a great time of year to go fishing. Bottom fishing season is around the corner, freshwater fishing is about as good as it gets, there are more stripers and blues on the ay, and tautog fishing is still going strong! What do you want to fish for this weekend? The options are abundant.
As a reminder, family fishing day is coming up on Saturday, June 10 in Provincetown. Bring the kids down to the beach and learn how to surfcast! More information below:
And finally, 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. Get out there and catch ’em up.
Awesome report, your reports are only bait shop influenced.
It’s a marketing with the bait shops are not in true with facts.
Basically, you are in collusion with the honest truth
Put a great report on line. But the truth doesn’t match up.
Please, stop putting up a false report up on your web site.
YOU HAVE GONE COMMERCIAL, only you for your pockets. Your gear is over the top. I watched you break 4 rods without blinking an eye.
Get off your high end fishing and bring it down.
I have been fishing the outermost beaches before you were born.. Before that canal, we just drove over it.
Please, make it real . Here’s a challenge for everyone, walk into Walmart or Basspro
Stop with the lies, be honest.
As a community in large, you have been a commercial site only.
Profit driven only !!!!!!!
Are you just noticing this? Who tan the biggest kill tourney in the entire NE?
If you think the cape shops are bad try surfland they lie all summer about trophy bass being caught. There’s nothing but people from Lawrence with 5 gallon buckets on the beach there and old dinosaurs picking off the occasional schoolie.
Relax Lon, it’s never been that deep. It’s the fishing report, they go to X or Y local hub of fishing information (also called a tackle shop) and post what they’re told online. If you don’t find it accurate enough, then maybe just fish better? Their reports are literally free, and they often feature individuals who have something of note to offer. Take a breath, relax, and go catch some fish. There’s nobody forcing you to read the reports so instead of calling “fake news” on the literal fishing forecast, just ignore them like an adult. And google words like “collusion” before you use them, so you can be sure you’re using it right next time.
Don’t expect the early weeks action to hold thru the weekend. With all the boat traffic and marginal tides it’s going to be uneventful, plus shoulder to shoulder combat fishing.
Lon,you have a valid point to a degree.I wish OTW would PLEASE stop burning SPOTS.ie. Pole numbers in the Canal.The newest issue is another BURN.Come on Jimmy.The editor has the power to keep the “challenge” back into the fishing experience.DA*N!
Garbage. (Your comment)
I worked at a cape tackel shop on weekends .The first thing I asked what do you want me to push out the door, and where are the fish.
The standard was too much bait that had to go and fish in the canal are every where.
Some things don’t change.Just like OTW selling subscriptions and fishing contest.