Cape Cod Fishing Report- September 28, 2023

It finally feels like fall. After last weekend’s wind and rain, the weather has been noticeably cooler and striped bass activity has  increased. With fewer hours of daylight, there’s less waiting around for the night bite, which is probably the most convenient part of fall run bass fishing.

We had a great turnout at StriperFest in Falmouth last weekend, and OTW can’t thank you all enough for showing up in the wind and rain. The event was a true testament to the grit of striped bass anglers, and our willingness to get soaked and cold in the interest of stripers (and in this case, a free boat)! Congratulations to all those who won prizes. We’re already looking forward to next year.

After the gusty northeast winds this past weekend, the fishing has shifted a bit. In the case of albies, the bite has slowed drastically in parts of Buzzards Bay. OTW’s Robbie Tartaglia relayed to me that the bay seemed to be a ghost town in the way of albies earlier this week, but it has since rebounded.

Interestingly enough, there have been better reports of albies in the Canal, and schools of them are even popping up in Cape Cod Bay as far out as Provincetown. Pretty cool! Several of my friends have sent in pictures of albies that were trolled up on SP Minnows and X-Raps in Cape Cod Bay, so if you’re fishing out there this week, keep your eyes on the fishfinder. They don’t seem to be blitzing as aggressively as they would in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds or Buzzards Bay, but they’re out there.

When I spoke to Connor at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay he told me the East End of the Cape Cod Canal went off this morning with a large school of 45-inch bass hitting jigs. They chased schools of big mackerel and some particularly large butterfish into the ditch, where there are also gator blues sitting down deep, slicing up soft plastics. Albies are still being caught all throughout the Canal on jigs and pencil poppers, but there have been minimal reports of hardtails in Buzzards Bay after the sustained winds this week. The albies have been hanging in there for some time, but eventually they’ll have to exit the Canal, which should bring another solid wave south through Buzzards Bay.

A call to Macos Bait and Tackle in Buzzards Bay revealed that there are still albies in Buzzards Bay, although most of them have made their way into the Canal. They said that albies are still taking pencil poppers around dawn, and this morning, stripers ranging from 20 to 45 pounds were feeding hard in the west end with most fish taken on paddletails—namely the smaller, white, FishLab Mad Eels.

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

Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys in Bourne told me that they came across tons of albies ram feeding on their way back from fishing the Elizabeth Islands for bass and blues. The albies were picky but they ended up hooking a few on Exo Jigs, as the albies were spitting up bay anchovies, peanut bunker and what they later discovered to be juvenile whiting. Prior to the albie blitzes, they were banging bass and blues by vertical jigging the skipper’s custom diamond jigs and casting white SP minnows around bouldery shorelines.

Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth reported that he had good feeds from albies in Buzzards Bay south of Cleveland’s Ledge yesterday, but the fish were very spooky. He said they had plenty of shots into breaking fish, however, the albies were up and down in quick intervals which made it challenging. They didn’t land one, but Evan said there were plenty of fish out there. He also reported that there is no shortage of albies on the south side either, with Vineyard Sound hosting the bulk of the action. Evan also mentioned spotting a fair amount of boats anchored up for tautog while cruising around Buzzards Bay and the Elizabeths. He sold a ton of green crabs this week, so now is the time to keep an albie rod rigged and ready while hitting your favorite rocky structure for some tog action.

Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis gave me the scoop on the bite to the east, relaying that there’s plenty of activity from bass, blues, albies and bonito. The beaches and inlets from Hyannis west each have their own bodies of breaking fish in the mornings, and he thinks the fishing is only going to get better on the back end of tonight’s super moon. Christian said there have been a few more bonito mixed in with the albies, which is a nice surprise, but there have also been bluefish involved. They’re also stocked up on green crabs for the tog fishing crowd, and while Christian said there haven’t been any reliable reports of tog just yet, the fishing is sure to pick up over the next week while they’re still in shallow and accessible to shore and kayak fishermen.

Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reports that fall fishing has been excellent for their crew thus far, and the variety of species has been nothing short of fantastic. They recently caught some recreational class bluefin tuna as well as a porbeagle shark jigged up on RonZ! Striped bass, blues and even albies are also being caught in Cape Cod Bay. They’re very much looking forward to getting back out there after a few days of heavy Northeast wind. Elena noted that Reel Deal has openings starting Tuesday, October 3rd – so be sure to get it on the excitement before the season winds down.

From Nantucket, Rick Ramos reports on the surf and fly fishing scene. He said week 3 of the Nantucket Inshore Classic wrapped up nicely with a ton of quality fish caught, including James Musia with a 43.5-inch boat bass and Tammy King with a 32.5-inch beach albie. Meanwhile, Chris Connolly landed a 27-inch bonito on the fly and Pat McEvoy duped a 30-inch striper into eating his fly. Junior category angler Arann Hanlon caught a 33-inch bluefish on the boat and Fisher Sullivan jumped into the lead of the overall junior beach category with a 19.75-inch bluefish. Check the leaderboard here, the contest ends on October 7!

In the Nantucket surf, Rick reports:

“Surfcasting has been challenging with the high winds, but highly rewarding when you connect in these conditions.  Great Point has been red hot with albies, bones and blues being caught in all the usual spots.  Unfortunately, the seal army has dampened angler’s spirits and drained wallets with a lot of lost tackle, as it’s been difficult landing fish.  If you stay east on the outside of Great Point you will connect with less fish but there is much less seal competition than at the light house.  The east end of the island has held a steady bluefish bite over the past week with good numbers at Quidnet and Hoicks Hollow.  The bass bite has also been good on the north and south shores while bucktailing the east and west end rips have improved and is always a good way to connect with a daytime bass.”

Rick also caught up with Jack Larizadeh, an avid fly fisherman visiting from my neck of the woods on Long Island. Rick relayed Jack’s report that the northeast wind has fueled the feeding habits of albies and bonito, both of which have been showing in large numbers at Great Point.  Jack said the North Lot has been better for fly fishermen with a little less seal competition. He noted that while albies aren’t blitzing on the surface, they tend to slide by in pods tight to shore. Thankfully, the north wind has made casting a full fly line pretty simple. Fly patterns of choice have been 5-inch deceivers, yellow surf candies, and green candies with 20- to 30-pound tippet as these fish are large and ready to fight hard!

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

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

This weekend could be hit or miss, particularly for the boat fishing crowd. The weather looks like it should hold up with the exception of Saturday morning’s rainy forecast, however, the winds will remain high out of the east/northeast, making for some bumpy boating conditions. There’s been a decent swell on the south side of Cape Cod with those east winds too. One thing is for sure though, albie fishing will be good. Besides striped bass, I’ve never seen a fish that thrives so much in sloppy, choppy conditions. Vineyard Sound, the Elizabeth Islands and the southern half of Buzzards Bay will be the prime areas to search.

If those winds stay blowing from the east/northeast, the Cape side of Buzzards Bay will be the only fishable water for tautog this weekend unless you tuck away on the western side of the Elizabeths.

The surf scene on the south side has been rather slow. There are plenty of small fish around, hanging inside and just outside of the salt ponds and bays, but there are bigger fish—over slots and cow bass—pushing through the Canal, which leaves hope for surfcasters in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound to get their shots at southbound cows. I’ll be out there, despite this horrid head cold I’m fighting. And with the windy forecast this weekend, I may even spend a morning or two at the Canal. The surf on the Cape Cod Bay side has been giving up some nicer fish that are staging around the harbors too, and with more northeast wind forecasted on the back end of these super moon tides, you can bet there will be bass pushing down the coast toward Cape. Keep an eye on those outer cape beaches! Nantucket surfcasters should also continue to enjoy a stellar surf bite this weekend, with albies, blues, bass and even bonito biting everything from metal jigs to flies.

Use good judgment and listen for small craft advisories this weekend, especially because the strong, full moon currents will combine with those high winds to make for some treacherous boating and surfcasting conditions.