Cape Cod Fishing Report
Cue that terrible 2007 radio tune, “It’s Not Over” by Daughtry.
We’re almost halfway through November, and with colder weather as of late, things are starting to wind down in the salt. However, bonito, small bluefish, and schoolie stripers are still peppering the south side of Cape Cod, and surface feeds continue to pop up in Vineyard Sound down to the Elizabeth Islands. Just earlier today, on my lunch break, I pulled into the beach parking lot to read a few pages of Zeno Hromin’s The Art of Surfcasting with Lures, and I was pleasantly surprised to see birds working over breaking fish out of casting range. After a couple of minutes I looked up and noticed eruptions right off the jetty tip, so I sprinted down the beach in my Hey Dude’s, like a complete googan, skipped to the jetty tip, and got to casting. While my 1.5-ounce Fat Cow jig never connected with a fish, I got a few casts through the bait schools and noticed a strange mix of what looked to be spearing and peanut bunker spraying from the waves. It was a fleeting moment of pure joy, even though I returned to the office fishless.
Although the bass and bones have shown almost no interest in my 1- to 2-ounce epoxy jigs as of late, lures like small spooks, jerkbaits, and soft-plastic paddletails are still getting looks along the beaches. Last weekend, Jimmy Fee and I made a few casts from a local jetty and he ended the morning with 2 bluefish and 1 bonito on freshwater-style jerkbaits. The fish were in much tighter to the rocks that morning than they were on my impromptu lunch outing, so even though Jim’s lures casted like a feather, the fish didn’t seem to mind. Another angler on the jetty had a few swings and misses at bluefish, which we surmised when his soft-plastic paddletails came in, well, tail-less. Water temperatures in Vineyard Sound are still hovering around 55 degrees, but over the next two weeks, with more northerly winds likely, and lows in the 40s every night, the “mild” November water temps won’t last. If the weather is moderately fishable this weekend, which it looks to be (at least on the south side), it’s a great opportunity to cast around for bass, bluefish, and bonito.
In addition to the Sound-facing beaches, there are stripers kicking around in the estuaries and further up the rivers, where they’re feeding on small schools of peanut bunker, which will likely be on their way out in the next week or so. On top of skinny-water stripers, the outer beaches continue to see hit or miss fishing for bass in the surf, where the water is approaching 50 degrees and baitfish are thinning out. But as Daughtry said, it’s not over. My friend Brian was out there earlier this week and managed to land one slot-size fish on a diamond jig with a green tube for only an hour of effort. It ain’t much, but we’ll take what we can get this time of year!
Back west, tautog fishing has been absolutely excellent when conditions allow. We’ve had lots of strong northerly wind this week, but I had the opportunity to get out with Harvey Russell of My Brother Charters out of Falmouth Harbor last Sunday morning before it got gusty out there, and the tog bite was superb. We were joined by a few members of the gym we go to, so it was nice to get out with a few Falmouth locals and be back at the dock before the NFL’s Germany game kicked off at 9:30 a.m. It quickly became apparent that the better tautog fishing is happening in deeper water now. As a rule of thumb this time of year, start looking in 30 to 40 feet of water and work your way up to 70 feet plus. We had the best catches of the day in around 70 to 80 feet of water, but because the skipper timed our outing around sunrise, which lined up perfectly with slack tide, we were still able to get 2-ounce jigs with halved green crabs to the bottom with ease.
Rigs would have worked well, but if I can fish a jig, I’ll always opt for that. The less hardware there is clanging around against the structure, the better (in my opinion). That said, by the time the tide started moving, we were able to land a few fish on rigs as well.
There are still some pesky sea bass in the deeper water, which we had to throw back, but they were not as plentiful as I expected, which was nice. It’s disappointing to come up with a big knucklehead when you think you’ve got a decent tog on the line, but some of the sea bass were the biggest I’d ever seen. It’s a shame our sea bass season doesn’t last a couple extra months.
Salt water aside, I’d be remiss to overlook the fishing in our freshwater ponds and lakes. Largemouth bass have been chewing well in the smaller ponds, while anglers with Bass Trackers and kayaks that have been fishing the deeper kettle lakes are picking up quality smallmouth bass on jigs with low-profile trailers. The fish are getting lethargic, so to sense those delicate bites and pick ups, opt for braided line with a light, fluorocarbon leader.
Trout fishing is good for anglers playing the bait-and-wait game with shiners and PowerBait, and for those that are trolling from kayaks and Jon boats. Shore fishing and wading requires covering some ground in the kettle ponds, but with a few schools of juvenile herring still kicking around, you could stumble upon a lights out trout bite. That’s maybe the most exciting way to catch stocked trout—on spoons, small plastics, and hair jigs when they’re feeding aggressively within casting range.
Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said things have really quieted down at the shop this week. There’s not a whole lot going on, as the incessant northerly winds have deterred most people from togging in Buzzards Bay. A lot of boats have bee pulled locally, a few people are trailering their boats here and there, and a few guys are catching tog from shore, but they’re pretty much all short fish. The bright side is, the Canal still has some schoolie stripers feeding on top toward the east end, but they too, have noticeably thinned out. Meanwhile, mackerel fishing is good in the east end from the bulkhead. Standard sabiki rigs will do the job.
Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Charters was in a tree, deer hunting when I called him, but he said he’s still tautog fishing out of Westport in around 40 feet of water and it’s producing steady results. They are coming across cod every now and then, which is a nice surprise for relatively shallow water at this point in the season. Remember, cod season is only open south of Cape Cod right now, so anything north of here will have to be tossed back. Cam anticipates running into more cod as the fish move deeper and the fall season progresses. Call or text the number on his website (linked above) to book a trip while the fishing is good!
From Martha’s Vineyard, Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters reports: “This Sunday saw a break in the wind and I took advantage of the opportunity to do some tautog fishing with my Fishsticks with Charter Sauce teammates, Hans and Jacob Riis. Jacob was home from college for the weekend and eager to spend some time on the water. It was a beautiful flat calm morning but the breeze did come up after noon. Still, a great November day on Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay. Fishing was good but not as good as last week. I am sure the fish are still around, but are probably moving to deeper water as temperatures drop. It’s likely that I just didn’t find the optimal depth. However, we did manage to land 4 keeper tog to 19 inches and a bunch more smaller tog and sea bass.”
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said the wind has been so bad this week that there hasn’t been much to report out their way. It’s getting to be the time of the season when most anglers resort to fishing the ponds for bass and trout, which Christian happily reported, has been productive. They’ve been selling lots of bass lures as of late, along with nightcrawlers and shiners for bass and trout, which have been chewing well in the sheltered corners of the kettle lakes. There’s also been a mean pickerel bite as the water temperatures continue to drop. They’re not a fan favorite, but the bigger ones put up enough of a fight; shore anglers are just happy to be bending a rod at all.
- Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Cape Cod and the Islands!
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Your best bet this weekend will be to try and sneak out to the tautog grounds in Buzzards Bay or Vineyard Sound. If conditions allow, target depths of 40 feet or more and switch between rigs and jigs depending on the type of bottom structure. Gravel, pebbly bottom is more conducive to dropping a jig, while rigs generally fish better around larger boulders near the Elizabeths. There are some big tog out there right now, and you may even come across some keeper-size cod.
For anglers up for a challenge, you can try some small-scale run and gun fishing along the beaches from Falmouth to Cotuit, as stripers and bonito continue to pop up sporadically to feed on silversides and peanut bunker. Look for low-flying, diving birds and keep a pair of binocs in your vehicle, as conditions should be clear. Typically, I’d recommend casting epoxy jigs and metals to these surface feeds, but jerkbaits (or small minnow plugs) and paddletails seem to be getting more looks. Don’t be surprised if you reel in a 3- to 4-pound bluefish, or your paddletail comes back chomped just below the hook.
Other than tautog, a few stripers and mackerel in the Canal, and the scattered, fast-moving bass and bonito blitzes in Vineyard Sound, your next best bet for weekend action lies in the ponds. Smallmouth and largemouth bass should still be accessible from shore, but a kayak will do wonders, especially if you’ve got it rigged up with electronics—something I’ve always told myself I’ll get to. Fish jigs low and slow for smallies, and for largemouth, start casting around those suspending jerkbaits. Pickerel may beat the bass to your bait at times, but playing catch and release with snot rockets is better than going home skunked. In the kettle ponds, fish small plastics, spoons, spinners, or hair jigs beneath a float for stocked trout.
Thanks for reading. Get out and fish when you can!