Cape Cod Fishing Report
The headline across Southern New England this week: Where Are the Rest of the Albies? It’s almost as if we swapped our false albacore season for one long, killer run of bonito.
Albies are available, but there are not as many of them as there should be by mid September. The hotspots seem to be the Elizabeth Islands, parts of Martha’s Vineyard, and eastern Nantucket Sound. The Cape side of Vineyard Sound, for the most part, has been very quiet. Bonito continue to pop up from Buzzards Bay to the Elizabeths, and Woods Hole to Hyannis and beyond, with scant albies and Spanish mackerel in the mix. Buzzards Bay still has loads of small bluefish up to 2 or 3 pounds, too. Weakfish have also been reported. Grab your bubblegum-pink paddletails and epoxy jigs.
There’s no shortage of bait around Cape Cod, that’s for sure. Silversides and peanut bunker are in thick from Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay and the south side. There have also been schools of pogies seen on the outer beaches, so look out for bass sliding south along the back side as these cooler overnight conditions persist. Local striped bass are becoming more active in the estuaries and along the beaches adjacent to inlets, where a smorgasbord of the aforementioned baitfish are piling up at night. Finger mullet have even been in the mix. I spotted a whole bunch of them on an outgoing tide earlier this week, and low 20-inch-class stripers were waiting just down current to scoop them up. Those bass were pretty fired up, but also very cautious. They were taking white Mag Darters and bucktails almost exclusively. Over the coming weeks, look for mullet to be dropping out of the rivers and salt ponds in your neck of the woods.
Larger bluefish have shown up in some areas of the south side of Cape, too, although not in big numbers. Here’s hoping the fall brings some true gators through the Cape’s waters to make up for the spring bluefish run that just never really materialized. The good news is, if you like eating bluefish, there are more than enough snappers and cocktail blues to go around. Marinas and harbors are the place to look for snappers. A standard popping cork rig or a basic 1/4-ounce Kastmaster should do the trick. The cocktail blues will have no problem eating a regular ol’ epoxy jig.
Bottom fishing in Vineyard Sound, Nantucket Sound, and Buzzards Bay yields a mixed bag. Scup of all sizes are taking bait, Gulp, epoxy jigs—you name it. There are also a fair amount of fluke around, and it’s still the time of year when you may hook into an unexpected doormat. Sea bass are out of season, so of course, they’re chewing pretty well now that they’re safe from the fillet table. Sea robins are also enjoying the hordes of baitfish—I hear they’re good eats, but never felt like keeping one—and if you’re fishing bait, northern kingfish and northern puffers are still out there. The best way to catch them is with small strips of squid threaded onto long-shank, Aberdeen-style hooks that are tied on hi-lo rigs with a bank sinker. These fish are also available in shallow, so try your local docks and marinas with the kiddos.
Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod Bay & Outer Cape
Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said south of the Vineyard, the jig bite just popped off for bluefin tuna. Pink RonZs, almost exclusively, have been producing fish from 40 to 60 inches. There’s not much going on in Buzzards Bay, but Connor did find picky bonito on Monday. While he was out there, he spotted albies popping up to feed intermittently every 20 minutes in the northern end of the Bay, but they were up and down too fast to cast into, and unpredictable as to where they’d pop up next. He knew they were albies only because a few visibly cartwheeled out of the water. Fluke fishing is still going well in Buzzards Bay. Connor said a couple of guys went out today and got their limit of 18- to 22 inch fluke in a few hours. Tog are being caught here and there in the bay, but not in numbers yet. The tog fishing was good in the Cape Cod Canal for a few days last week though. The Canal is fishing slightly slower this week than last, but there’s still a good amount of smaller stripers and a good bunch of bluefish. At this point in the season, Connor says, we should just continue seeing waves of fish through there. Keep an eye on the tide charts around the upcoming full moon on 9/17.
From the Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports: “Mackerel, squid and bunker are providing plentiful forage for stripers preparing for the southern migration. Most stripers caught recently have been swimming in an east tide and are being described as fat. “Paulie the Painter” Gravina & Tim “Hollywood” Petracca caught close to 20 bass up to 35 inches with various lures at every level of the water column. Slots or better found the hooks of John Doble, “Slap Shot Scottie” Ewell, Jack Gagnon, Bill “Slots” Walsh, Sage Nicholson and this correspondent. Vinny Rosata reeled in a 36 inch and Joe “Green Gloves” Moneghan landed a pair of 37-inch stripers as well as a 36 and 38. Rob “Fishsticks” Pesa was exploring the bottom with a diamond jig when fish started breaking in front of him, not having time to switch to a pencil he threw his metal in front of the school and caught a fat 33-inch linesider. Hot lures this week included the Bill Hurley Canal Killer, Al Gags paddle tail jig, Yo-Zuri twitch bait & Striper Gear Rocket.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “Rolling into mid-September we are in the peak weeks of Cape Cod’s football season for bluefin tuna fishing! Recent fishing charters have enjoyed landing mid-60-inch fish mostly on live bait, with last weekend’s wind stirring up some great fishing activity. The angle of the sun and waning daylight becomes more dramatic as we capitalize on these invigorating moments still to be had on the water. While the bluefin always take the spotlight this time of year, the striped bass fishing is still extremely good! Anyone looking for a slightly more relaxed fishing adventure, please be sure to check in as the light-tackle activity for striped bass stays strong as well. Full calendar is available here.”
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Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds/The Islands
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said 10-inch bunker out front with tons of bass around them. Funny enough, they’re not feeding on the bunker, probably because the bass aren’t big enough to eat them. Instead, Christian said epoxies, Deadly Dicks, Monomoy Tackle Sliders and Hogy Surface Erasers are doing the trick. He also said that there are snappers all over the harbors, and they’ve been selling through spoons and popping corks as a result. Big blues, he added, are starting to stack up off the Outer Cape and offshore around the cans, where guys are trolling them up on umbrella rigs. But on the Cape Cod Bay side, fishing has slowed down significantly. There were fish hanging off the western CCB beaches but they seem to have moved on. It’s possible those are the fish we’re seeing trickle through the Canal now.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth told me he was out on Tuesday after hearing of albies on Monday around Naushon Island. The conditions were a bit sloppy, but he found albies popping up across the south side as far east as Mashpee. Evan said that although there were a lot out there, they’re very hard to catch. He said the wind died down and they disappeared before putting on the feed bag again in the late morning. Evan talked to multiple customers today and yesterday who have been getting albies locally on the south side. They’re eating tiny, tiny baits. Evan said they were puking up juvenile bay anchovies, around 1/2-inch long, when he was out there. These super sunny conditions have made them especially difficult to catch, but it’s still early in the grand scheme of things, Evan said, noting that last year they were here til early November. In additions to albies, lots of people catching keeper sea bass which, unfortunately, are now throw backs. Evan also said he’s selling a few green crabs; a friend of his caught his limit of tautog the other day near the Elizabeths, including a solid 20-inch fish. Since the bonito came in, Evan has heard few reports of fluke, but one customer from Vermont who comes down to fish every few weeks recently hooked a jumbo fluke from shore near Falmouth Harbor that he couldn’t land. Evan said he was fishing a jetty, and he couldn’t lift the fish with his rod, and couldn’t get down the rocks to land it, so it inevitably shook the hook and swam off to fight another day.
Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sport Fishing has had a completely different experience than Evan Eastman. He relayed to Jimmy Fee that albie fishing has been terrible on the south side for his charters. Captain Coombs had some bonito save the day on more than one occasion, including a few that spit up finger mullet, which is always a good sign of things to come.
Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha’s Vineyard reported: “Bonito fishing has continued to be very good, with good numbers of fish very close to home, often right in the harbor. They’ve been joined by some really big albies and even some bluefish, which bodes well for the MV Derby, which starts this Sunday.”
From Nantucket, Rick Ramos reports: “The Nantucket Inshore Classic is now in full swing with island-wide competition for adult and junior anglers representing beach, boat, all tackle and fly divisions running through October 12th. Overall, fishing has improved since last week, with the east side of the island being the mainstay of the fishery from the boat while beach anglers focusing on Great Point have caught bass running the troughs mixed with bonito and blues further out. Albies have yet to make a strong showing on Nantucket. Neil Krauter shared that small bonito are consistently hitting small-profile epoxy lures as vast numbers of small peanut bunker arrived in force around Great Point Tuesday. Tammy King reported that there has been a midafternoon bluefish bite at Smith’s Point if you are looking for an alternative spot from GP.
From the boat, Captain Corey Gammill of Bill Fisher Outfitters reported that fishing has seen a noticeable improvement recently. The action around Great Point is picking up, and although it’s still a bit inconsistent, there’s been some good action near the beach. Concentrated schools of bonito and blues are showing up closer to shore rather than further out. Fishing has been relatively quiet on the west end of the island, so the focus has shifted more towards the east side. Sankaty has had a very good bonito bite along with a strong presence of bluefish. A steady southwest breeze is expected to blow this week, which could improve fishing conditions further.”
Offshore
Out East, bluefin tuna in the 60-inch class are being caught on live mackerel and the occasional chopper bluefish when they’re available. Meanwhile, south of the Vineyard, the jig bite has picked up, with pink RonZ lures doing the heavy lifting. Most of the bluefin to the south are in the 40- to 60-inch range.
Further offshore, yellowfin tuna in the 70- to 100-pound range are being caught on jigs and chunks in the canyons, with some bluefin tuna of similar size in the mix.
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Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Depending on who you talk to, the albie fishing is either great or terrible. There are small pods of finicky fish that seem to be constantly on the move, staying concentrated only in a few select areas in Nantucket Sound and along the Elizabeth Islands. In my area, they’ve been here one day and gone the next, and when they are here, they’re not hitting jigs on account of the tiny bait.
Bonito are still out there, and while they aren’t as exciting to catch as albies, we’re lucky to have them around. If the bonito don’t show in the same numbers next year, we’ll all be complaining about how slow the fishing is through the late summer. They’re pretty much everywhere from Buzzards Bay to Nantucket Sound, but they have certainly thinned out along Cape Cod Bay beaches.
If you’re looking for some meat for the table, bonito are great. Otherwise, if flaky, white meat is more your taste, fluke are your best bet, with a backup plan of porgies (scup). I always say this is the best time of year to catch a doormat without having to run very far from home. Sea bass are out of season, but tautog fishing will soon start to improve. This weekend, it may be worth bringing a bucket of crabs on the boat with a few tackle trays full of casting jigs and tog jigs.
Start looking for stripers in your local skinny water. There’s more than enough bait around, including spearing, peanut bunker, mullet, bay anchovies, and even some schools of adult bunker. The weather ahead looks a little warm, but we’ve been blessed with some cool nights and mornings, which should find stripers a little more fired up with each passing day. I watched bass busting on top out of casting range in a local salt pond this morning—it gave me high hopes for the fall run ahead.
Your best bet for the weekend is to find some stripers on soft plastics, small plugs, or eels off the Sound-facing and Atlantic-facing beaches, or in the ponds and bays. Bonito and small bluefish are a close second to a sure-thing, and if you’re lucky, some albies will show themselves—just hope they’re not eating juvie bay anchovies.
Lastly, if you find densely-schooled peanuts, enough that you can net them and keep them in the livewell, consider doing just that. Dropping a peanut bunker (or two) to the bottom on a circle hook or standard baitholder hook is a great way to stick a keeper fluke before the season ends.
Best of luck out there, and thanks for reading.