Cape Cod Fishing Report- June 1, 2023

The best nights (or days) on the water are the ones where you crack the code.

Don’t get me wrong, stumbling onto a full-blown blitz is invigorating, but when the bass are right in front of you and they won’t touch a thing, you’re left with two options: quit and try another spot, or figure it out. In my opinion, there’s nothing more satisfying than figuring it out.

One night earlier this week, I was wading in a sandy estuary and the tide had just flipped from incoming to outgoing. The air was still, and the only thing interrupting the eerie silence was the unmistakable popping of bass on the surface. Like little mines, there was one explosion ten feet to my left, the next one 50 yards to my right, then a bass across the channel erupted perfectly within casting range. The only problem, they wouldn’t touch anything in my bag. Small minnow plugs, Mag Darters, swim shads, Albie Snax, bucktails, I even resorted to a spook at night—something I rarely find success with. Not even a swipe.

Perplexed, I clipped on the last plug that has been living in my bag since late April, waiting for its spotlight moment—a small Scabelly peanut glider that was gifted to me almost exactly a year ago. It almost perfectly matched the size, action and profile of the mudminnows that were “blitzing” on grass shrimp around my ankles. Even the 3-inch No Live Bait Needed paddletails hadn’t worked though, and I’ve been trying to figure out glidebaits this spring, so this seemed like a good opportunity to try again. I cast the mini glider toward the last pop, which was just down current and across the channel on the edge of a shoal. “Crank… crank… crank—BOOM”.

I had finally figured out the cadence to generate strikes from these finicky bass sitting in the channel before me. By no means were they the largest bass I’ve caught this season, but they were easily the most rewarding. After landing a handful of bass up to only 28 inches, they caught on to my tactic and shut me down. While the success was only temporary, it reinforces the old fisherman’s adage: “Never leave fish to find fish.” They were there all along, it just took some patience in figuring out the bite.

I hope you all had a safe and fish-filled Memorial Day weekend. The weather was near perfect, and the fishing was just as good. Black sea bass season is off to a hot start with bigger fish coming over the rails each day for local charters—many of which are in the low to mid 20-inch range. Buzzards Bay is the hotspot right now per usual, but anglers seeking a mixed bag of bottom fish will find good fishing in western Nantucket Sound, where jumbo scup are intercepting sea bass rigs like they’re being paid to.

There have even been some scattered reports of fluke in the mix! The fluke season is open, but they’ll become more abundant as the water warms up in the coming weeks of early June.

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

Striped bass are still biting well in the estuaries and out front, with good fish reported in northern Buzzards Bay closer to the Canal, and loads of fresh 30-inch class fish all over the south side. Mixed in with the bass, anglers are finding big bluefish that are gorging on any remaining squid and the hordes of juvenile scup in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. I enjoyed a good topwater bluefish bite last week with my buddy Ryan. These blues were super fat, and while most would have probably been around 7 pounds on average, they pulled the scale down to 10 and 11 pounds each time.

And while we have “blue” on the mind, I’d be remiss to gloss over what may have been the first bluefin tuna landed off Cape Cod last weekend. OTW’s Andy Nabreski made the offshore voyage with Captain Skipjack, a.k.a. Captain Larry Backman, to West Atlantis Canyon in search of swordfish, and they were handsomely rewarded for the first trip of the season. Andy reported:

“West Atlantis Canyon is getting its first push of Gulf Stream water. The color was blue/green with some good visibility and temperatures around 62 degrees, which is still cold for out there. We caught a bluefin that was 54 inches and about 75 pounds, which hit a squid that was rigged for swordfish with a disco light on it. We later hooked and landed a sword that measured 83 inches and weighed approximately 250 pounds. It’s worth noting that we also tried for fluke on Nantucket Shoals on the way out for about 2 hours and only got two dogfish… the water south of the Vineyard to the shipping lanes was still cold, around 54 degrees on way out and 56 on the way in. I would guess bluefin will be rolling in there in another week or two.”

Meanwhile, Cape Cod Bay is alive and well with big bass in the 30-pound class. They may stick around, or they may slowly file out and head north with this full moon approaching on June 4. I’ve been tracking some large fish in the Long Island Sound this past week, and I’m hopeful they’ll make a break for the Canal using these full moon tides to their advantage.

From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports:

“Canal Rats are smiling all along the Big Ditch! There was a 4 hour bite near the West End that produced 8 striped bass for Blackstone’s Mike Deryck, 2 in the mid 20-pound range and one that was well over 30 pounds, all on a large green mack Savage. Tim “Hollywood” Petracca of Bourne continues with his hot hand catching 8 fish over 40 inches this season, including another 45-inch bass on an east tide at sunrise with a 3-ounce white Guppy pencil. Rob Stork from Sandwich brought several above-slot fish to the rocks including a 43 inch on a white Hogy Charter Grade Slider and Rick Easton from Lakeville landed a 43 inch on a green mack Savage.”

Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay reports:

“Over the weekend, fishing in the Canal definitely slowed down compared to what we saw last week. The topwater bite has died out, as the jig bite has stayed relatively consistent. Hitting key spots and deep holes is the key to success when jigging the Canal as fishing continues through early June. Sea bass fishing out in Buzzards Bay has been absolutely stellar. If you can find deeper water in areas like Cleveland’s Ledge, you will have more success in locating big blue heads. As the weather gets warmer and water temperature increases, these larger seabass will move closer to large rock piles and drop offs surrounding the Mashnee Flats. As the year goes on, the fishing is only going to get better so don’t get discouraged by one slow weekend. A big thank you to those who have served in our US Military and your sacrifice for our country. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend and tight lines!”

Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis reports:

“South side of Cape Cod is seeing lots of bluefish this past week, so we’re selling a ton of wire leader, minnow plugs and topwaters. There’s good striper fishing to be had but the fish are on the move right now so you’ve got to bounce around to find them. Bottom fishing has been great we’re selling a lot of bait both natural and artificial for the sea bass and scup fishermen. We should see another good couple waves of stripers move into our area before things starts to slow down for the summer. And perhaps the most interesting story this week, we even got a report of someone catching a sea run brown trout up in Cape Cod Bay!”

From Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore, Captain Dave Peros reports:

“The word from Bruce and Jeff Miller at Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore is that people are catching plenty of fish from low end of the slot all the way up to 50-inch-plus bass throughout the land cut on both tides.

For years, Canal sharpies have known about the benefits of loading the Cotton Cordell pencil, a plastic version that has a “chambered” body, allowing for the addition of BB’s, water, or even mineral oil to allow for a significant increase in weight. In some cases, loading a plug is more about casting distance, but with a loaded pencil like the Bullet the added ounces allow it to sink down to the water level where the fish are holding.

Last week, Jeff explained that allowing a weighted plug to sink and then starting a slow retrieve will cause it to rise towards the surface, mimicking a panicked baitfish trying to flee from a bass pursuing from below. One mistake, Jeff added this week, that inexperienced anglers will make is to quickly retrieve the plug as well as opposed to letting it swing in the current and using just enough lift of the rod tip to move it upwards lightly and reeling only as much as is needed to maintain contact. Anything with more “oomph!” behind it will typically pull the plug out of the strike zone, both horizontally and vertically.

Plugs are fun, for sure, but Jeff added that paddletail jigs can be even more effective, especially in the hands of less experienced anglers. First off, that paddle will vibrate on its own and doesn’t require any great skill in working it, just as the old big double-jointed lipless crankbait that once ruled the Canal since you just cast it and retrieved it, most often as fast as you could.

Bruce said there is just an incredible amount of bait in the Canal, from mackerel of various sizes to pogies, alewives (river herring), shad, and squid. Although there are plenty of soft plastic paddletail jigs to choose from – and everyone seems to have their favorite – one thing to keep in mind is to have on hand a wide selection of weights to deal with the speed of the current. Now, logic would dictate that a heavier bait would be larger all around, but not necessarily, and apparently this week having the right size soft plastic to mimic the bait was really important. Add in color – with blue a hot option this week given the herring and shad the fish are feeding on – and it becomes clear that options are many.”

Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth reports:

“The last time I fished was Friday morning in Vineyard Sound and it was excellent. We fished from just before 6 a.m. til about 10 a.m. and the biggest bass I caught was 40 inches. We caught a bunch in the low to mid 30-inch range and all the fish were pretty fat. I was throwing an amber popper and it was extremely effective. We could see sizable squid leaping from the water to try and escape the bass and saw seagulls drop a few as well, so think amber, pink or white when fishing in the Sound this week. The rips have been fishing well too, with squid and some decent size fish chasing them. It seem like more bluefish have arrived in the rips over the past few days, as people have been catching them in numbers. Sea bass fishing has been good but not as great as it was in years like 2019 or 202. The wrecks off of Martha’s Vineyard have been holding some good sea bass as well as Cleveland’s Ledge.”

Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys in Bourne reports:

“Over the weekend the crowds were insane, it looked like a parking lot out there! We had a slow pick of stripers but knew we had to move to find our own bite, so we did. At the next spot we began catching without another boat in sight. The larger bass were hitting  paddletails and walk-the-dog plugs.”

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

Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha’s Vineyard reports:

“Often, at this time of year, our focus is on striped bass, and rightly so, because the bass fishing has been great. We have been doing really well on bass from 24 to 32 inches in the rips on soft plastics, topwater plugs and swimming plugs. But there are a lot of other species available right now, including some big bluefish that are mixed in with the bass. Bottom fishing has been very good too. We have had a lot of fun with big scup, sea bass up to 22 inches and a few fluke mixed in. While I prefer jigging for these fish, sometimes drifting with bait is the way to go, especially with my younger guests.”

Macos Bait and Tackle in Buzzards Bay reports:

“Sea bass, sea bass, sea bass, scup, scup, scup (and stripers). The Buzzards Bay sea bass fishing is on fire and it’s all anyone’s been coming in for, aside from the Canal crowd coming in to re-up on leader and lost plugs. We’re selling mainly squid and mackerel for bait. There are some massive 3- and 4-pound class scup mixed in with the sea bass. In the Canal, there are some decent sized stripers in the West End that will surface around sunrise each morning, but it’s quieted down since the hot bite a week or so ago with guys mostly catching on jigs now. Fish are on the move and we should see more good fishing this weekend.”

Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reports:

“The Reel Deal boats are staying on the striped bass, although they have been moving around quite a bit. Classic example of can’t catch yesterday’s fish as previously productive areas are a desert the next day. When the jigs aren’t doing it, drifting mackerel is producing more consistent results and once on them we’re seeing double, triple and quad hook-ups. Our new Centaur Angler’s Choice rods are perfect for this light tackle fun!”

Captain Cam from Cambo Charters reports:

“It was a great week of fishing on all fronts. Tuna opened today and I did some scouting this weekend. We found signs of life and even marked a couple fish but they had lockjaw. However, we found some big codfish to 12-plus-pounds so that was a lot of fun. Over the weekend we didn’t do too much sea bass fishing but found some pogies in one of the harbors nearby and got into some good size stripers after filling the live-well.”

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

This weekend is shaping up to be another great weekend for fishing on Cape Cod. Heavy Northeast winds and rain might keep boats at the docks, but surfcasters can likely find some good fishing in Cape Cod Bay as the sustained winds and strong tides push fish closer to shore.

While conditions may be poor, sea bass and scup aren’t going anywhere. Grab your bait, or diamond jigs, or Gulp, or whatever works best for you on the bottom fishing grounds, and if there’s a weather window, enjoy the fast-paced action that’s happening from Buzzards Bay to Nantucket Sound.

The Cape Cod Canal tides are looking prime for the weekend, and with bunker schools pushing north, and big bass in tow, the breaking tides could bring more lights out topwater action.

Bluefish are here in numbers, and in true bluefish manner, their schools are dense but scattered and constantly on the move. I’ll be looking for a more consistent bluefish bite this coming week. Pack some strong leader if you plan to chase blues. I have already lost a Super Strike Little Neck Popper and a Gibbs Pencil in the last week. That’s what happens when you forget to swap 25-pound leader for the spool of 50-pound fluoro sitting in the back seat.

The bait is here, the bluefin are here, but water temperatures are not quite where they should be. Hopefully some of that warmer Gulf Stream water will flood in with the full moon tides on Saturday.

Keep in mind, Cape Cod’s Family Fishing Day is approaching. It’s a great opportunity to take some young ones out on the water, so they can learn about surfcasting and all the tools needed to do it yourself at the event in Provincetown. All the information you need can be found below.

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.

Have a great weekend and fish hard!