Cape Cod Fishing Report
As I sit down to write this report, my buddy Sean, who is visiting from Long Island for the weekend, is sending me photos of fluke he’s catching on the south side beaches of Falmouth. Since the bass bite has been so tough from the surf, and the blues haven’t seemed to really push in shallow, fluke have been my go-to target for a couple weeks now. They’re mostly shorts, but you’d be surprised by the numbers of just-barely keepers you’ll find in shallow water just off the beach this time of year.
If you’re a meat fisherman, short fluke are no fun. But as most readers know, I enjoy the ultralight tackle approach, and the visual aspect of fishing shallow, clear water for these powerful little flatfish. I’m happy to know Sean got the skunk out of the way for the weekend ahead. Fluke fishing remains reliable in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds this week, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. They don’t move around too much, so when you find some shorts, it’s worth sticking around and dropping larger profile baits or lures to try and pull a few keepers from the mix.
Going back to the touchy subject of bluefish, there are certainly more of them around in the rips this week, where there’s still no shortage of squid. That being said, they haven’t exactly been cooperative in the surf. Last night, I fished for a solid 4 hours and had only one bump between my two spots. Luckily, I wasn’t caught sleeping; I set the hook and fought the fish almost to the rocks before it jumped off the hook. It felt nothing like a bass, which leads me to believe it was a large bluefish that took a swipe at my 1-ounce white Smiling Bill with an XL tail. Here’s hoping the bluefish have finally arrived in enough numbers to fill in the gaps of the bass bite.
Surf fishing hasn’t only been slow on the south side, either. OTW intern Noah Lamperti and our friend Ryan Henry have been plying the outer beaches, and they’ve had a rough go for the amount of effort they’re putting in. However, with plenty of fish still moving through eastern Nantucket Sound, and the July new moon on the 5th, we’re all hopeful the bite picks up a bit out east. Ryan managed one fish on a soft plastic the other night, but this time last year, throwing pencil poppers at dusk followed by swimming plugs and paddletails into the dark hours, yielded some quality fish. We’ll see if that bite develops in the coming week or two.
Back west, the best bass fishing has been reserved to the Cape Cod Canal, where fish of all sizes have been feeding on top toward the west end during the early morning hours.
From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports: “The Magic Swimmer came with 3 treble hooks so its creator, Patrick Sebile, advised me many years ago to remove the 2 toward the rear for striped bass, leaving only the belly hook remaining. Zak “Attack” Baker of Sagamore Beach was slowly reeling his blue mack Magic Swimmer, bearing 2 hooks, through the flooding east tide when his lure got hit hard followed by strong tugs. Zak was thinking he might be fighting a 40 pounder, but the battle ended with a bass of about 20 pounds on each hook! Kenny “Pig Pen” Nevens reeled in 7 stripers up to 38 inches on the rising eastbound tide with a white Magic Swimmer and Donnie “Hawkeye” Willis did well with the same plug, his biggest measuring out to 40 inches through the same tide. Dozens of dolphins swam the length of the Canal together on the surface, back and forth after entering the east end from Cape Cod Bay.”
Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said things have been quiet in Buzzards Bay aside from some fluke being caught in the usual spots around the flats and the old canal channel. Sea bass fishing, he added, was good for 2 or 3 days this week before the bite shut down again and the fish dispersed. There are not many stripers or bluefish to be had in Buzzards unless you’re fishing near (or in) the Canal, which has seen an uptick in activity over the past few days as the new moon approaches. Connor said there were some fish caught on top toward the west end this morning, including a 48-inch bass that one customer was flaunting photos of in the shop. He also said that stripers have been popping up sporadically in the middle of the Canal. Meanwhile, fishing in Cape Cod Bay is a different story; the bay is loaded with pogies and big bass, and most anglers are moving away from trolling with the influx of fish. Instead, the move has been to find some bunker worthy of live-lining, or to match the hatch with twitchbaits and large topwater plugs. Mike from the shop was up there recently and had 35- to 40-inch fish in numbers. Additionally, Connor caught his new personal best surf striper this week—a 38 pounder that was mixed in with fish from 24 to 41 pounds. His buddy stuck a 41 pounder right next to him that same night, and he’s hoping the back side of the new moon will see another wave of fish of the same class move into the area.
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said the move right now is to head east where anglers are catching big bass and bluefish on topwater. He told me the fishing has slowed down locally in the surf, but one customer this morning caught a bonito from shore in Hyannis, which was nice to see in the first week of July; the bonito have been popping up everywhere this year, so keep a few small metals or epoxy-style jigs on hand if you’re fishing in Nantucket Sound, especially. Christian added that local bottom fishing has remained pretty stagnant since last week; there are big fluke being caught off Nantucket and Chatham, with tons of short life on the south side in the Sound. Sea bass fishing has grown even more spotty with lots of shorts and very few keepers out there, but on the upside, scup fishing has been excellent; they’re running through squid like crazy. But, if you’re not heading east for bass and blues, the best thing going right now is the shark fishing on the south side. There have been lots of brown sharks of all sizes caught from shore this week, and of course, plenty of dogfish, so they’re planning a staff sharking trip this Sunday night. On the sweetwater side, he’s been surprised by the demand for freshwater gear and tackle this time of year. The largemouth bass fishing has been on fire in the ponds, and they’re selling tons of topwater lures and live shiners as a result. The shop is open from 7 AM to 3 PM on the 4th, so if you need bait or tackle during the holiday, swing by on the earlier side.
Evan Eastman at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth told me he was out in Vineyard Sound last night and had birds working and fish breaking all over the place. There were still plenty of squid leaping from the rips, and they managed to catch a few small bass and a couple bluefish on topwater despite a large fleet of boats putting a lot of pressure on the fish. Evan said it seems like there are a lot more blues out there, and that’s likely to continue; he mentioned water temps in the rips are around 67 degrees, and once the thermometer hits 70, that’s when the blues really fill in and bass tend to move out. As those bass push out of the rips, they’ll be migrating north a bit more or setting up shop near the Elizabeth Islands. One of his customers said he was catching some bass and blues near Woods Hole on the Doc on Monday morning, meanwhile, others are having success by pitching live eels or jigging wire. Evan said sharking has been okay on the south side beaches too, which is keeping things quiet on the surf fishing front for stripers and blues. On the offshore front, he had one customer run out to The Dump where their group didn’t find much life, but they still managed trolled up a 55-inch bluefin. He also heard that Atlantis Canyon has been stacked with yellowfin tuna, which should start to push in a bit as water temperatures rise. The shop will be open from 8 AM to 2 PM on the 4th, so swing by early to get your bait and tackle for the weekend.
On the tuna front, OTW’s Andy Nabreski had some good news to report. Andy said: “I fished on Friday with Larry Backman aboard the Skipjack out of Falmouth Harbor. High winds the few days prior had left the fleet tied to the dock, so we had no intel to work with. We started trolling at the Claw and went south all the way to the shipping lanes without seeing any good signs of life, other than some unusually small molas, and a pair of 12-pound bluefish. The water temperature was between 65 and 66.5 degrees. We worked our way back north and finally began marking some good bait around the middle of the western edge of the Dump. We finally picked up a 42-inch bluefin that hit a rainbow spreader bar, but none of the other boats found much in terms of life; it was a grind of a trip. Some warmer water has since rolled in and the fishing should start heating up any day now.”
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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 said that bluefish are moving in around the Elizabeth Islands in force. They’ve been finding keeper stripers in Cape Cod Bay while trying to steer clear of the blues, which have filled in nicely on the south side of Cape, too. The skipper said they got into some commercial-size fish this week, so they are spending some time demonstrating to their clients how to release those bigger fish by swimming them alongside the boat, especially since water temps are continuing to rise. Most of the bass they’re catching are on top; they’ve only had to resort to live bait twice. But they’re also finding a fair amount of fish on spoons and his own hand-poured diamond jigs lower in the water column, down to 120 feet. They’re also trolling deep divers when the bite gets tough, which has been pretty automatic when they really need to boat some bass. He said 5 AM is the money window to get on the fish, because the bite could last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, so those early morning hours have been essential to success in this warm weather.
Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Charters said he has not been out to the tuna grounds this week—instead, he’s been focused on sea bass and stripers. Cam said the striper bite has been lights out to the east toward Chatham, where they’ve been throwing exclusively topwater plugs. During his sea bass ventures, he’s finding recreational-sized keepers by fishing in deeper waters of Buzzards Bay, around 70 feet, which has been the ticket to coming home with meat. There are still lots of jumbos, but the smaller fish are filling in with them. He has sea bass charters tomorrow and Friday, and hopes to get out to the canyons next week if there’s a safe enough weather window to make the run. Call or message him for availability!
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From Nantucket, Rick Ramos reported:
“From the shore
The recent winds have made it a bit challenging finding fish from the beaches as anglers need to cover more ground. Reports have come in of fish along pockets of the south shore running the trough where I have also had luck and picked up a decent slot bass on a Yo-Zuri Hydro Twitchbait. Tadas Baliukonis picked up a 42-inch bass this week making this his fourth fish over 40-inches landed this season. Colin Lynch also reported bass at Nobadeer on a recent evening tide while Dante and Tedy Bruschi were on a fast and furious gator blue blitz on the east end with fish up to 35-inches landed.
As we move into the summer months, surfcasting for sharks is popular as there is an abundance of brown sharks around Nantucket this time of season. Local angler, Sam Brandt, reported that shark fishing is red hot again as we roll into July, with the inside of Great Point and the eastern section of the north shore producing best. Sandbar sharks and roughtail rays are back in numbers and size, with bluefish chunks and whole mackerel working best. For first time shark anglers, I recommend hiring a competent guide such as Dan Holmes of ACK Surfcasting. A guide ensures that anglers have a safe and fun experience while also ensuring proper handling, hook removal, release, and the right gear for the job. It’s also important to remember that all recreational shark anglers are required to use non-offset circle hooks. If fishing from shore, be sure to also check with state officials to make sure you follow all local laws. Dan also supports shark tagging initiatives that provide scientists with important information on life histories, population sizes, movement and migratory patterns, all of which are important for shark conservation.
From the boat
Captain Corey Gammill from Bill Fisher Outfitters reported that the west has been excellent through this recent blow. There’s been a nice mix of bass and blues. Although our bluefish migration is way off of what we expect, our bass population is way up. We attribute this to a lot of the wind as we haven’t had the stillness that usually puts these bass down into deeper water. The wind keeps them active, hungry, and up on top, which makes for fantastic bass fishing. Corey also reported that the action has cooled off at the Old Man Shoal. Great Point has been producing bass, blues and bonito.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Bluefish are back. It’s been a spotty run of blues for much of the coast this season, but it seems like they’re here to stay for a bit as there are still plenty of squid for them to enjoy in the rips. The stripers have begun to thin out in Vineyard Sound, but the ones that remain are competing with blues, and are mostly under-slot, which is still a ton of fun on light spinning and fly tackle. If you have a kayak or a boat and you can tuck into some areas of rocky structure, pitching live eels toward around submerged rock piles is a good way to find some striped bass; however, bluefish will take eels, and so will brown sharks, especially on the south side of Cape and in Buzzards Bay. Point being, be prepared to tangle with some toothy bycatch if you’re slinging eels around.
Going into the 4th of July weekend, the best options will be finding breaking fish in the rips, or bottom fishing for a mixed bag of scup, fluke and sea bass. Bluefin tuna are being caught south of the islands on the troll, and there’s been some activity east of Cape Cod with fish in the 50- to 60-inch class taken on the troll, too. However, wind conditions don’t look promising for the weekend, so err on the side of caution and stay closer to home unless there’s a serious weather window.
Even with the wind, you can bet there’s going to be lots of boat traffic, and the wind will have anglers eyeing the same productive areas where it is less of a factor; anticipate crowds and use good judgement when fishing around other boaters. And most of all, be respectful to one another. We’re all out there just trying to enjoy the holiday weekend with friends and family and catch a few fish while we’re at it.
Here’s to a safe and happy 4th of July!