Cape Cod Fishing Report- August 3, 2023

August is here, and we’re slowly settling into late summer on Cape Cod and the Islands.

This week, more reports of bonito came in, with scattered appearances from The Hooter as far north as Cleveland Light in Buzzards Bay. Time to bring out the epoxy/resin jigs, grab a couple of casting eggs and flies, and keep a lightweight inshore rod on board at all times.

Striped bass are still being caught all around the Cape, with concentrations of fish in the Monomoy Rips, off the beaches of Provincetown, along the Elizabeth Islands, and the Cape Cod Canal. Anglers fishing the south side of Cape Cod from Falmouth to Hyannis might find some schoolie to slot-size bass cruising around the inlets at night, where bluefish have also been taking minnow plugs and bucktail jigs intended for the stripers. Those bluefish are ranging from 4- to 6-pounds and have really stuck around for longer than expected. Larger blues are stationed out along the Elizabeths, and are also being caught down at The Hooter where bonito have been popping up. Large walk-the-dog style topwater plugs and deep-diving trollers are attracting some of the hefty blues out there, while pencil poppers and tins are catching blues for the surfcasting crowd when the sun is up. I continue to see those cocktail bluefish either finning or leaping from the water on the south side during the early mornings, and even though they’re tons of fun, my focus has remained on dialing in a few more shore fluke spots.

Fluke fishing may have started off slow this season, and based on what I’ve heard from other locals, that has been a repeating trend over the past few years. However, in the past several weeks, we’ve seen a good mess of fluke up to 6 pounds caught on charters in Vineyard Sound. And while I can’t say I’ve fished in Buzzards Bay a ton this season, the guys at Maco’s Bait and Tackle in Buzzards Bay have been finding their share of flatties out there over the past 3 to 4 weeks. If you live near a sandy shoreline on the south side of Cape—and especially if you live near an inlet—it’s worth taking a few walks down the beach with some lightweight bucktails and a pack or two of Gulp to try your luck. Use a sensitive, 7′ to 7’6″ inshore rod, keep imparting action onto the jig with short and fast pumps of the rod, keep tension on the line by slowly reeling in any slack, and be ready for a fluke to gently grab your bait rather than strike it. After a few seconds of lightly pumping the rod, let your jig find bottom again. The bites often come right as the jig drops. If you feel sudden weight, set the hook. Sometimes that weight ends up being weeds, and other times it’s a stealthy swipe from a fluke. I’ve even had stripers take my fluke rigs several times, which makes for a fun surprise that is also slightly deflating upon realizing that it’s not a doormat.

Scup are still grabbing just about any bait that you can get in front of them, although the bulk of the bunch seem significantly smaller than those large, platter-size porgies we get earlier in the summer. Now is the time of year when you might reel in a New England “exotic”, like a northern kingfish or northern puffer. If the kingfish are large enough, in the 10- to 12-inch range, keep a couple for fish tacos. I think their little fillets make the best fish tacos I’ve tried, although that could have also just been the work of Andy Nabreski in the kitchen. Puffers are equally as delicious, though I have yet to see any myself this summer.

And of course, tuna fishing is as good as ever when conditions allow boaters to get out safely. There have also been some more reliable reports of small mahi south of the Vineyard and out toward The Dump. For more in-depth coverage of what’s happening offshore near you, check out our most recent Offshore Fishing Report, brought to you by SiriusXM. New offshore fishing reports are published each Friday.

The first full moon of August passed on Monday, and as a result, the fishing heated up back at the big ditch while the weather (thankfully) cooled off a bit. From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports:

“It’s August already, the only month this year with 3 moons. The full moon like we had this week appeared larger than usual because of its close proximity to earth, thus named supermoon. The other supermoon, on August 30, is even closer and mid-month we will experience the new moon, so let’s hope the fish react favorably. “Paulie the Painter” Gravina got into some stripers including a 44-inch powerhouse that almost pulled him off the rocks. Then, a couple of days later, he reeled in 18 fish up to 38 inches with green mack soft-plastic paddletail jigs.  MIT nuclear physicist Dr. Johan Frenje fooled a 40-inch bass with a 3-ounce green mack Al Gags jig. Vinny Rosata landed some linesiders on an 8 a.m. west tide bite with fish up to 38 inches breaking periodically, and Rick Roy fought a 35-pound bass to fruition that chomped down on his green mack Savage bouncing off the bottom. Mark your calendar for August 8 at 7 p.m. to attend the Canal Striped Bass presentation by legendary Canal Rat, Bill “On the Grill” Prodouz; he’ll be speaking at the Cataumet Schoolhouse, 1200 County Road where light refreshments will be served. Bill’s last seminar at this venue, about Cuttyhunk, was standing room only so don’t miss this outstanding free event!”

Back toward the West end of the Cape Cod Canal, my buddy Connor at Red Top Sporting Goods reported some slow fishing in Buzzards Bay this week. According to the Red Top team, there’s been tons of small bait out there in open water, and while they could neither confirm or deny bonito in Buzzards just yet, they had a customer come into the shop who claims he caught one in the West End of the Canal earlier this week. Stripers are still active in the Canal, though most of the action has been at the east end, and the fish have been schoolie- to slot-size with the occasional 40-inch bass in the mix. The water temperatures in Buzzards Bay are around 75 degrees, which is about as warm as the water in some heated backyard pools. It’s unsurprising that the surface activity from stripers and bluefish has died off, but it seems quiet on the bottom fishing front too. Connor found one 18-inch fluke among a handful of shorts, and he said there are almost too many short sea bass around. Those reports are consistent with the word from the guys at Maco’s Bait and Tackle, who also said there are plenty of fluke biting in the warm water of Buzzards Bay, but the bulk of them are below keeper size. A few fish over 16.5 inches come in here and there, but those keepers are almost always caught in the morning with Berkley Gulp being the bait of choice. They also said that striped bass activity has been reserved to the middle and east end of the Canal, and has recently seen a slight uptick in action since the full moon.

On the topic of fluke, and bottom fishing in general, Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha’s Vineyard told me that on all of their half-day trips this week, they have targeted fluke and sea bass. The Captain said: “Bottom fishing has continued to be productive, with fluke to 24 inches and sea bass to 22 inches. But the highlight of the week was a 6-hour trip on Monday with Christian Chamblee and family. The longer trip gave us time to travel to Squibnocket and Noman’s where we trolled some monster bluefish and enjoyed a spectacular whale show.”

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

When I spoke to Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys, he said that they bass and bluefish in Cape Cod Bay haven’t been as aggressive this week, requiring a little more work, but there are still some gator blues taking topwater plugs early in the morning. He emphasized the importance of getting out there extra early because once the sun has fully risen, the bite noticeably slows down. The fish don’t shut off completely, but they spread out, and some retreat to deeper water as more boats arrive. The bass are in the 30- to 40-inch range, as are a majority of the bluefish. When they’re not running around Cape Cod Bay, Captain Ross is hiking down to the Elizabeth Islands where they’ve also found some quality bass and blues on top; but, like the fish in Cape Cod Bay, they tend to go down after the initial sunrise bite. That’s when his homemade, hammered-finish diamond jigs come out, which the bass and blues have not been shy about eating. Cape Cod Charter Guys are sailing seven days a week, so give them a call for early morning bass and blues.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cape Cod Charter Guys 508-566-4723 (@capecodcharterguys)

Ben at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis told me that he and a few team members from the shop went south of the Vineyard for tuna on Tuesday and didn’t get any, but they saw plenty of boats hooked up and getting in on the action. He said that some heavy chop made it a challenging day for jigging, but the boats that were hooked up all got bit on jigs. The trip took a positive turn though, because on the way home, they enjoyed a nice all-you-can-catch mahi bite using bucktails and resin jigs. Ben said that inshore fishing has been pretty quiet in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, but that there were some birds working over what looked to be bonito mixed in with schools of big bluefish at The Hooter, and around Middle Ground. Bottom fishing has been a challenge though; other than abundant porgies eating squid baits, fluke fishing around Hedge Fence has been the next best thing. Ben said there were tons of short fluke out there, but a few boats found keepers among the throwbacks.

When I pinged Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Charters, he told me that he had been in on the jig bite south of the Vineyard earlier this week, but unfortunately, he pulled the hook on a giant. He is going back out there today (8/3) to try and capitalize during what looks to be some great early-morning conditions. When he’s not offshore, Captain Cam also does some commercial striper fishing, and mentioned to me that the commercial season will likely close within the next week. At the time we spoke, the quota was 72% filled. He said the bass fishing slowed down at Monomoy with a drop in squid numbers, and that the bass are still there, but they’re finicky. There have been tons of sand eels out there to keep them around, but as is typical for bass on smaller bait, they’re going to have picky appetites. Pack some 1/4-ounce RonZ’s, metals and JoeBaggs sand eels to enjoy the daytime striper bite out east.

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

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

With bass and blues still taking topwaters at the Elizabeth Islands, Monomoy Rips and up around Race Point, there are plenty of options for boaters who want to remain inshore this weekend. Friday and Saturday look slightly gusty with chances of showers, so keep a close eye on the radar if you plan to run offshore. With a solid jig bite for bluefin, plentiful mahi and some large wahoo all reported south of the Vineyard, more boats will be joining the fleet too. Use caution out there, and remember to keep a few lighter setups on board in the event you run into some of those mahi schools.

Bottom fishing might have the least going for it right now, although you can certainly find some keeper scup around your local jetties and submerged rock piles. Fluke fishing is worth a try though, with plenty of short action around Middle Ground in Vineyard Sound. I’d recommend trying to go off the beaten path and put together a fluke bite of your own too. With their big headshakes and unpredictable changes in direction, even just-barely-keepers can be tons fun to catch with a light enough rod. Also, before you leave a potential fluke spot, change up your rig and try both artificial and natural baits. Many times I have nearly decided the bite just wasn’t on, only to switch the color of my Gulp or use a heavier jig and start catching like a switch was flipped. This morning, I enjoyed a beach bite to myself at a Vineyard-facing inlet that I’ve been trying to figure out all season. The fluke cooperated, and I left after releasing 3 good ones; 2 of which were definitely over keeper size. One of these days I’ll keep one for the table.

The Outer Cape beaches have been quiet, but there are still tons of sand eels out there, so the bite could improve overnight. If you’re a surfcaster, think soft-plastic eel imitators, needlefish, pencil poppers and diamond jigs. And of course, keep a couple bucktail jigs ready.

Finally, if the weather really tanks, but you’re just itching to catch something, anything… look no further than your local pond. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are hanging shallow after the sun sets, and anglers are taking full advantage of their nighttime hunting habits by crawling wakebaits over the flats.

Wherever fishing finds you this week, be safe, respect each other, respect the fish, and fish hard. Thanks for reading along. Now, go catch ’em up.