Cape Cod Fishing Report- July 18, 2024

Cape Cod Fishing Report

It is HOT. But it’s that uncomfortable, humid, t-shirt-sticking-to-you kind of hot. It’s times like these that we should be thankful for the recent incessant wind, because even under cloudy skies, still-calm days on the water can be almost unbearable.

Personally, I sought relief from the heat in the surf and in the backwaters, where striped bass and fluke have been feeding on dense schools of small baitfish during the early morning and after dark this week. The bass have been in surprisingly shallow water and in several instances, they were merely a bycatch of fluke fishing. My friends and coworkers, Matt Ryan and Adam Eldridge, each hooked and landed schoolie bass in less than 5 feet of water, and in both cases, the fish hit the teaser. It makes sense, considering the Falmouth rivers and salt ponds have been loaded with rain bait, but with backwater temperatures reaching the mid- to upper 70s, we’ve been somewhat surprised with the amount of bass around.

After Matt and Adam both landed a bass and I lost one, I decided to try some of the local inlets after dark with small, white bucktails. I wound up catching a handful of bass in the 20-inch range. It was very refreshing to see some smaller stripers in the area because, generally, things have been very quiet for surfcasters around the Cape this summer. I was happy to find fish of any size, and after a spring run that consisted of fewer schoolies than usual (in my experience), these bass were an especially welcome sight.

Depending on where you’re located on Cape, there could be very good bass fishing right now, or things could look very bleak. Nantucket Sound continues to hold stripers of various size classes in the rips and off the beaches of Nantucket, but the common theme is that you’ve got to work to find a body of fish. Squid flies, Albie Snax, and small to mid-size poppers are still catching bass in the rips. Out east in Cape Cod Bay, bass are still actively feeding on top too, which is likely due to cooler water temperatures. There’s almost a 10-degree difference in water temperature between Woods Hole and Provincetown!

Surfcasters have mixed reviews on the bass fishing in Cape Cod Bay, but it seems like there are some larger fish still lurking close to the beaches at night. The same goes for the Outer Beaches, which have been great one night and dead silent the next. According to my friend Brian Larsen, there are a lot of hickory shad feeding in the wash out there. Shad are a great light-tackle/fly target, but whenever they are around, it pays to keep eyes and ears on the surf. Hickory shad, in some cases—especially during the fall run—can bring in some very large bass. It doesn’t look like that will happen at this point in the summer, but you never know if some late migratory ocean-bound fish will pull up to feed.

Back on the south side, that influx of small baitfish moving in and out of the salt ponds, bays, and rivers, has brought schools of bonito within casting range of some Sound-facing beaches. Anglers in both Vineyard and Nantucket sounds have reported what looked like “blitzing albies” not too far from Cape-side beaches—from Harwich all the way to Woods Hole. The feeds are scattered, but there are enough bonito around for some of the local charter captains to pick up a few hardtails, which has been a nice supplement to the general lack of bluefish so far this year. That being said, I did hear of a fresh wave of bluefish moving into Buzzards Bay this week. It would be fantastic if they came within casting range of surf fishermen, but who knows if that will happen, or if they’ll stick around. Last year, bluefish packed into the Canal for much of the summer where they enjoyed a heavy diet of soft-plastic paddletails.

Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said the East End of the Canal has been popping off  in the morning and afternoon with fish breaking on top. This is a recent development; Dom from the shop said he has been catching bass on pencils from slot-size to around 35 inches. A fair amount of bigger fish, he said, are stationed not far from the Ditch in Cape Cod Bay. The boats have been doing well and there have also been a few solid fish plucked from the surf on needlefish and minnow plugs this week.

Gary at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said the fishing has been slow on the south side with super warm weather and water temps this week. Bottom fishing for scup has been pretty good in Nantucket Sound, but fishing for keeper fluke and sea bass leaves much to be desired. Plus, with fewer bass and bluefish around, there’s not much action to be had in the surf locally. However, surf fishing in Cape Cod Bay has been productive this week, and several customers said they found some decent action in the Canal with schoolies blitzing from the West End to the middle of the Ditch early in the morning. What they were feeding on was unclear.

Captain Mike Rathgeber of CeeJay Fishing out of Provincetown reports that they’ve been on a three species day for three consecutive days at Race Point. Anglers on board caught striped bass, huge bluefish and bonito with swimming plugs, chunk mackerel, and Ava-style diamond jigs. The skipper said there are plenty of whales nearby and mentioned that they saw a gigantic white shark out there, too. Check out their website to book a trip.

Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said stripers and blues have moved away from the rips for the most part. Now, those fish seem tov have shifted focus to the concentrations of rain bait on both sides of the Elizabeth Islands. One of his customers ran down toward Woods Hole and the Elizabeths last night and saw birds diving on fast-moving fish, which he believes were bonito, but he pressed on to find slot-size stripers eating tiny little baitfish further south in Vineyard Sound. Time to re-up on small metals and epoxy jigs! Evan also said there’s been a lot of surface action in Buzzards Bay from Woods Hole up toward Cataumet with a recent wave of bluefish hitting jigs and topwater plugs. When it comes to bottom fishing, he mentioned the fluke bite remains better than last year, but still, the fishing has been just okay; most people have really had to work for keepers, which seem to be congregating near the edges of the rips. The best sea bass fishing, he said, remains in 90 to 100 feet of water down toward the Hooter. There, he described acres of sand eels with just about everything but hardtails feeding on them; his friend has been catching stripers, bluefish, sea bass and fluke around the clouds of sand eels, and Evan was gearing up to head out there shortly after we got off the phone.

Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys in Bourne said: “It’s been an excellent week of fishing here around Cape Cod and the Islands. We have been on the water daily, running double and triple charters each day, staying on the fish steadily. We are getting mostly over-slot stripers, but we’ve been limiting out on keeper-size fish as well. Some large bluefish have shown up on the fishing grounds too; we’re catching them in the mid- to upper-30-inch range so far. Plus, just yesterday on the 17th, we also caught two bonito! They usually don’t show up until the early fall season around late August to September, so this was a nice surprise. Even with all the bad weather and wind, we have been able to get out and land some of the best fish of the season recently.” Call or message them to book a trip!

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

Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham reported: “It has definitely been a transitional week out here in Chatham as we start to see fish under bird piles more and more, with birds diving on sand eels. Some wild temperature swings continue as strong winds push out surface water. We’ve got a couple bluefish in the mix now and there are more random bonito showing up at rips.”

Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “The past few days we have been blessed with some relief from the relentlessly gusting southwest winds in the form of an outstanding topwater bite for striped bass and bluefish. While typically reserved for our sunrise departures only, all our trips throughout the day into the afternoon have enjoyed topwater strikes, which is exactly what we love to see! The RD Bomb and Hogy Lures Charter Dog Walker in bone are consistently lighting it up. We’re hoping this trend continues as our customers (and Captains) are delighting in this light tackle fun. We have also been seeing humpback whales everyday which makes for the quintessential Cape Cod fishing trip. We have an opening at 5:00am tomorrow (Friday)! Book here.”

Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha’s Vineyard reported: “There has been some sketchy weather since my last report, and I had to cancel some trips. On the days we have been able to get out, we have mostly focused on fluke and sea bass, especially since the Fluke for Luke tournament was this weekend. Our team, Fishsticks with Charter Sauce, with Hans and Jacob Riis, managed to get a few hours in on Saturday morning before it poured, and we each weighed in a nice sea bass. Sunday’s weather was a lot nicer and we landed several keeper fluke up to 4 pounds and some more sea bass. The wind-against-tide conditions made for tough fluking, but seemed to have less of an effect on the sea bass. Congratulations to my friend, Mark Kokoszka, whose winning fluke was over 9 pounds! The highlight of the week was yesterday’s trip, when we caught my first three bonito of the season. They weren’t big, but they sure were pretty, and a very welcome sight in a season that has been pretty lean in the bluefish department. We caught two of them casting, one on a Swarter and one on an SP Minnow, and one of them on a trolled deep-diver.”

From Nantucket, Rick Ramos shares a surf fishing report, and a boat report:

From the Surf

“I’d be remiss to ignore the concerns we share for the Vineyard Wind project as debris from a broken turbine has heavily littered Nantucket’s shorelines.  Please remain alert and cautious if you are fishing on the south shore as there has been large floating debris washing up in the surf and sharp fiberglass shards in the sand.  Be safe out there.   

Due to this issue, I recommend that anglers explore the north and east side of the island as the south shore gets cleaned up.  I’ve had good luck at Low Beach on a falling tide if you don’t mind working through the weed line.  Two- to 3-ounce bucktails are my go-to lures there.  Tammy King has reported that Eel Point has been productive in the morning.  Bass have been hitting Albie Snax and Island X Hellfires. On the east side, Tammy also reported that Great Point has been holding bluefish in the deeper water column.  Use a lure that sinks quickly to get to those hungry bluefish.  Speaking of bluefish, Nantucket’s annual August Blues Tournament registration is now open at www.augustbluesnantucket.com.  

From the Boat

I had the opportunity to connect with Captain Tyler Shulz of ACKFish Outfitters, who reported the striped bass bite has been doing very well and the blues are starting to make their way in. Unfortunately, the Great Point rip hasn’t been producing as much as previous years and Old Man Shoal has been productive for bass, blues and fluke. The west end has also been doing well off Tuckernuck and Muskeget. 

Captain Corey Gammill of Bill Fisher Outfitters has reported that the eastern edges have remained the most productive with bass, blues, and fluke.  The fluke bite has been solid with great numbers.  Corey also reported that Old Man Shoal has been productive as bass and blues are feeding on squid and herring.”

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

Ready your albie rods, the bonito are in. They’ve been popping up sporadically and unpredictably for much of the summer, but it seems like with a recent influx of small bait around the Elizabeth Islands and along portions of the south side, they are readily available, at least to boaters. They’ve been caught on jigs, on plugs, and on trolled deep divers, so if bass and bluefish don’t cooperate, tie on a small tin or an epoxy jig and get to casting. Heck, I might have to make a couple trips to the beach with a handful of casting jigs and my light 9-foot setup, or even launch my kayak one morning next week to get in on this action!

Bluefish are back in Buzzards Bay. Personally, I will be trying to chase down some blues before I attempt to catch bonito. As crazy as it sounds, I have not caught a bluefish this year. That’s how scarce they’ve been in the surf; it just seems like one of those weird bluefish years, not just here, but for much of the coast. Get after them while they’re here!

If you’re looking to catch bass, the Elizabeth Islands sound like a good bet. But the cooler water in Cape Cod Bay should also ignite some topwater action during the morning hours; 65-degree water is a bit easier on released fish than the 74-degree waters on the south side around the islands.

If you’re bottom fishing in Vineyard or Nantucket sounds this week, aim for scup or fluke. The sea bass fishing will be better in deeper water to the south, where it sounds like sand eels are filling in nicely.

We may even have some fair enough weather ahead to make a run to the canyons for tuna. The inshore/midshore bite hasn’t quite developed just yet, but there has been a good school bluefin bite to the south near the Dump. Perhaps we’ll see some football bluefin push in closer to the Cape over the next week or two.

Enjoy the nice weather over the next few days. Next week looks like it may bring some rain, but it shouldn’t be too windy, making trips to the tuna grounds feasible once again.