Cape Cod Fishing Report
After a week of brutal heat and humidity, the current daytime highs in the low-70’s and cool, cloudy weather are welcome. For now, the summer heat has subsided. But that doesn’t mean the fishing on and around Cape Cod has cooled down at all. From Cape Cod Bay to the canyons, inshore and offshore fishing options for the coming weekend are plentiful and have the potential to be very productive.
Cape Cod Bay/Outer Cape
On the striped bass scene, Cape Cod Bay currently holds the vast majority of the bait and bass biomass. This week, Ian Lumsden at Red Top Sporting Goods reported a very strong Cape Cod Bay bass bite from both the beaches and the boat. Ian and his coworkers have been catching fish into the high-20-pound range from the surf after dark, primarily keyed in on pogies.
Bayside beaches all the way from the outer cape to the east end of the canal have held fish throughout the past week. To narrow your search for a summertime striper in the bay, focus on inlets and estuaries on the bayside, no matter how large or small they are. Any areas with access to strong currents can see an abundance of smaller bait such as sandeels and silversides, providing plentiful forage for stripers if pogy turn out to not be present in the area.
Boaters in Cape Cod Bay have had to work harder to find fast-moving fish, however, trolling deep diving swimmers like Rapala’s X-Rap Magnum has been the ticket to success. Focus on pogy and mackerel patterned swimmers to imitate the most common larger baitfish species in the bay right now. Covering different depths and looking for fish and bait activity on one’s electronics are both proven strategies to find hungry, aggressive fish chasing big bait schools.
On the Outer Cape, the backside beaches have had spotty action. Schoolies and shad are running the shore break at night, while bigger fish seem to be out of surfcasters’ reach. Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “The recent double digit drop in water temperature with the wind change did not drop the volume of bent rods for the Reel Deal fishing charter fleet as recent trips continue to enjoy, at times, non-stop topwater action on blues and striped bass. Given it is late July, fishing conditions have been truly excellent with consistent action each day—if not topwater, then vertically jigging is keeping lines tight off outer Cape Cod. We’re mostly focused on inshore fishing at the moment, with more offshore reports soon to follow as we approach August. We have an opening this Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. and then a couple openings left for next week—check our availability before we’re booked up.”
Captain Mike Rathgeber of CeeJay Fishing out of Provincetown reports excellent fishing for both striped bass and bluefish over the past week. Bluefish invaded the bay and were caught from Wood End Light to Race Point. Striped bass have been solid around Peaked Hill and trollers, as well as plug casters, jiggers, and bait drifters, all had much success with many slot-sized fish. The skipper said the north wind cooled our waters a bit, which actually helped the bite as the water was getting too warm for bass to remain active.
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Buzzards Bay/Cape Cod Canal
Despite the amount of action currently in Cape Cod Bay, it has been the west end of the Canal, not the east end, that has seen more surface feeds this week. With the breaking tides over the past few days topwater action favored west end anglers using small pencil poppers and long-casting epoxy jigs, especially wider-profiled JoeBaggs® resins, to fool finicky stripers. During the mid-summer moons in the canal, fish may move straight through, leaving fishermen-on-foot in the wake of their aggressive feeding frenzies, and beckoning bike-based anglers to chase surface blitzes down the service road.
Cloudy, rainy, and/or hazy mornings on the canal can prolong surface feeds well past the typical short window of topwater opportunity at first light. Focus on these days, when slack tide occurs close to dawn, to cast at more and larger fish moving through the ditch. While most of the bass currently in the canal have been on the smaller side, anglers dedicated to the canal have seen some fish well over the slot limit.
Alex MacMillian of FishLinked Charters in Wareham reported: “Things in Buzzards Bay are hot as far as water temps and fishing-wise. We have had keeper-size fluke moving in, when you can get through the droves of scup in the bay right now. A high-low rig with some squid or Gulp does the trick perfectly. Stripers are ping-ponging between the East and West ends of the canal. We have been focused on the west side with an incoming tide, using Al Gags Whip-It Fish (but we have a rain bait playbook ready to go as well). If you want to find some gator bluefish, hauling out of Buzzards Bay is your best bet. We found the southwest corner of Stellwagen producing double-digit blues on a quick troll.”
From the Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reported: “The 3-hour flood tide blitz started at 6am in heavy rain toward the east end, producing mostly slots, but some striped bass up to 39 inches. Chuck “Coca-Cola Kid” Franks reeled in 31- and 33-inch bass and “Breakin Bob” Weir battled a 20-pound striper to the rocks with both surfcasters throwing the same plug—a white spook that was hit hard. Jimmy “Kells” Kelly brought a slot to the shore after enticing it with his yellow Striper Gear Rocket. Many said that the fish were finicky including “Slap Shot Scottie” Ewell who hooked a slot with his white pencil. The next day this typist was casting in the middle of a crowd of surfcasters aiming at medium size schools of breaking fish that would ride the east tide without hanging around, then be replaced by another moving school. Vinny “The Patriot” Rosata picked off a healthy 32-inch bass from the splashes with his white pencil. The breaking fish turned up their noses to many plugs including mine, but as the current took my Striper Gear white Rocket away from the boiling salt water, a 10-pound bluefish on the edge swallowed the tail hook. After fighting the fish through a couple of tarpon like surface dances and an aerial performance, it measured out to 36 inches and was great on the grill that night! A nice crowd gathered for a memorial ceremony for “Wild Bill” Lytle at his favorite spot, pole 245 Cape side. RIP brother.”
Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds
Christian from Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis gave an interesting report of not only small stripers and blues on the Nantucket Sound side, but also bonito! This is the second week in a row that bonito have been reported in Nantucket Sound, keyed in on minuscule rain bait. Christian said that the fish have been fast-moving; they are spread out across the sound, but anglers have caught them from Dennis to Harwich.
According to Christian, Nantucket Sound is also a prime location for bottom fishing. The scup bite has been on fire, and fluke have been an additional target for anglers to take home for the dinner table. Lee Boisvert of Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth managed several shorts and a few keeper fluke in the sound this past weekend. Those willing to go further out to Nantucket Shoals for fluke will certainly be rewarded with better fishing on days when the wind and weather allows. Bucktails and rigs tipped with Berkely Gulp® are a sure bet to fire up hungry fluke on the bottom.
The crew at Riverview has also been hard at work restocking popular lures used to target bass and blues in the Monomoy Rips. From trolling baits like the aforementioned X-Rap Magnum and Yo-Zuri Hydro Squirt to topwater plugs like the Drifter Tackle Doc, anglers hitting the rips when the weather permits have caught fish to 40 inches. Fast action has been relatively easy to find with topwaters early in the morning, or on subsurface and trolling lures during the daytime.
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham reported: “The rips continue to produce fish out east. It’s been a special year for bass out this way. Even Point Rip and the west edge of the Powder Hole had fish this week. We’re starting to see big bluefish come around the corner and up the beach as well, and they’re usually under flocks of terns. Out front there’s some fairly inconsistent giant tuna fishing, but there is bait present and some whales around.”
Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha’s Vineyard reported: “It has been a busy week, and productive, too, with at least one bonito caught on 4 of the 7 trips, along with a couple of big bluefish. All the bonito and bluefish have been caught on trolled X-Raps. When not focused on bonito, we have taken some time to fish for fluke and sea bass, with some success. We’ve had to work through a lot of smaller fish, but managed to cull out several bigger fish. In addition to sand eels, we have been seeing birds working over schools of small (1/2- to 3/4-inch) baitfish. I’m not sure what they are, but they are deeper-bodied, like maybe baby scup. Casting to these schools has only yielded sea bass so far. This season, I have been performing the Ike Jime technique that I learned from chef Michael Cimarusti on all the fish we keep. It’s a way of dispatching fish by not only bleeding, but also disabling the brain and spinal cord to reduce the release of stress hormones and lactic acid, thereby vastly improving the quality of the fish. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned so far, and maybe include some photos in next week’s report.”
From Nantucket, Rick Ramos shares a surf fishing report, and a boat report:
With July soon ending, anglers are gearing up for the annual August Blues Nantucket tournament (www.augustbluesnantucket.com).This is quite the event as it embodies the fun spirit of our fishing community in all the right ways. Right on time for the event, bluefish are beginning to arrive. We are starting to see better numbers and larger ones, too. Blues are now storming the south shore and Great Point beaches. We have also received reports of bonito being caught. So, get out there and throw your favorite metal or reach for Nantucket’s very own, Island X Hellfire, to give yourself the best shot at getting tight. If you are targeting bass, there have been reports of fish caught in the south shore beach line troughs with finesse tactics such as crab flies and sand crabs on a circle hook. Fisherman’s and Nobadeer beaches are also holding bass close to shore on an early morning bite.
From the Boat
Captain Corey Gammill reported that fishing has been much better this week. Great Rip Point has finally turned on with a mix of bass and blues. Bonito are starting to show with more consistency around the island. The Bonito Bar has been fishing well for bass, blues and bonito as bait is plentiful across the bar. The eastern edges and Monomoy Rips also continue to fish well, so get out there and wet a line!
Offshore
On the pelagic front, both Ian at Red Top and Christian at Sports Port corroborated that there is a good tuna bite to be had. The primary challenge for charter captains this past week has been dealing with windy weather. If a canyon trip is a possibility, Christian mentioned that mahi-mahi, yellowfin, and bluefin tuna were available targets. If a canyon trip isn’t in the cards, Ian said that the tuna fishing in Cape Cod Bay offered shots at both recreational-class fish and giant, 100-inch plus tuna.
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
If the 2024 fishing season has a singular, key tactic for success thus far, it is that the anglers who take advantage of the best weather windows to get on the water will find the best action. Finally, the wind forecast now includes several breaks from the relentless southwest breeze that has plagued Northeastern boaters all summer. Saturday and Sunday could be the best days to hit the beach or get out on the boat if the current forecast holds true.
Boat-based anglers would be well-advised to pay attention to the wind forecast, and focus on either Cape Cod Bay, or Monomoy during the next week. Bass, bluefish, and bait are present in strong numbers in both areas. Anglers looking to catch a few bass with their wading boots on the sand, in the suds, have a fairly good chance of doing so on any Cape Cod bayside beach after dark, throwing plugs, soft plastics, or even small sandeel or silverside-imitating flies. If one can only be satiated by the thrill of a drag-screaming pelagic predator, targeting tuna in Cape Cod Bay or on a run to the canyons could prove to be very rewarding as long as the wind conditions make it safe to do so. Above all, stay safe on the water, have fun, and fish hard with the faith that the catch of a lifetime is at the end of every cast!