Cape Cod Fishing Report
The official start of summer is just less than 2 weeks away, but here we are in mid-June with plenty of fluke, striped bass, and yep—more bonito available.
Anglers in Buzzards Bay are catching quality bass up to 45 inches on flutter spoons and live pogies, which have been otherwise tough to come by. The pogies moving in and out of the rivers and the bass are hanging back in deeper water, picking them off. The sea bass bite in Buzzards Bay took a turn for the better this week in both the quality and quantity departments, and there are still plenty of jumbo scup to go around. And while bluefish may be scarce around those parts, bonito continue to pop up in more targetable numbers. A few boats and kayak anglers reported bonito blitzing just outside of the Cape side harbors earlier this week, so it seems like they’re here to stay.
On the south side, fishing the shoals is the name of the game for striped bass enthusiasts and fluke fanatics. Keeper fluke are being pulled from the edges of the shoals while stripers of mixed size classes chase bait up top in the rips. There are bluefish feeding alongside the bass in Vineyard Sound, but they aren’t super plentiful. However, the south facing beaches from Falmouth to Hyannis have seen a marked improvement in the way of blues—and it’s not all cocktails. There are some choppers chasing down pencil poppers and metals with their smaller counterparts. Good sea bass fishing also continued from Vineyard to Nantucket Sound, and further offshore, fluking at the Nantucket Shoals has yielded some double-digit flatties.
In Cape Cod Bay, it’s all about big bass on top and flatfish of the winter variety. Following some slightly warmer weather this week, there’s something for everyone as we start to settle into early summer inshore fishing patterns.
Here’s what some of our local tackle shops and charters had to report heading into the weekend:
Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay told me Buzzards Bay is fishing well. Sea bass has picked up tremendously; Howie from the shop caught easy limits with his family in just a couple hours this week. Striper fishing has been good for larger fish in Buzzards too, but they’ve spread out once again. At night, shore fishermen are doing well with eels. In the Canal, the fishing has been good but challenging, which is just part of the game. If you put the time in and bounce around, you’ll catch plenty of bass. Connor said there are pogies, sand eels and mackerel, so there’s more than enough bait to go around. He did say the pogies are thinning out, but there are more in upper Buzzards Bay so keep an eye on the ditch in the days to come. Cape Cod Bay has been fishing better for stripers further east toward Outer Cape. There are some smaller fish in the harbors, too. Down on the south side, Connor said you can reliably find fish in most of the rips in Vineyard Sound. If they’re not up top, cast bucktails and swim them back a little lower in the water column. If you can reach bottom, you may even pick up a few nice fluke.
From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports: “It’s nice to see brothers fishing together. Last week started with “Westport Jim” Almeida happy to watch his brother Mark catch a 37inch bass with a Striper Gear green mack Shaddy Daddy on the west ebb tide toward the west end. “Bill on the Grill” Prodouz had his gray FishLab working to the tune of a 34-inch striper and a slot as the week continued with Paul “Sparky” Yuskaitis, while offering cut macks & pogies, reeled in a well fed, chunky 34-inch linesider from the early west tide. Joe “Green Gloves” Moneghan did well landing 40- & 41-inch stripers as well as a pair of 38-inch bass early in the week followed by more on Friday including a fat, yet still hungry 42 incher all on a Striper Gear 5.5-ounce green mac Shaddy Daddy jig during the west tide. Since the surfcaster, with the strong Celtic name of Moneghan, was causing that lure to dance off the bottom—it can now be called an Irish Jig! Canal Rats are hoping for more action as the breaking tides are ushered in by the full moon this week.”
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said good striper fishing continued in Vineyard Sound this week. Guys jigging wire are producing the best results, but all the rips have fish, it just takes some bouncing around to find cooperative bass. A few bluefish have been mixed in with the bass here and there. Evan hasn’t heard a ton about Buzzards Bay since the weekend, but one customer today did really well with flutter spoons in Buzzards Bay, catching bass from 36 to 45 inches. A friend of Evan’s has also been live-lining 10- to 11-inch scup by the Elizabeths and he pulled some very big bass in the process. Last Saturday, a customer came into the shop after catching two bonito off Falmouth in Buzzards Bay, but there’s been no word of them popping up since. Some of his bottom fishing customers headed to Nantucket Shoals and reportedly crushed big fluke, while a couple others caught keepers on the shoals in Vineyard Sound in 45 to 50 feet of water. On the backside of the Vineyard, he added, there’s been some great striper fishing and the sea bassing sounds like it’s been very good down there as well.
Ben Sussman at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said black sea bass has been good on the south side and in Buzzards Bay. He had them in 15 to 20 feet in Vineyard Sound the other day, and they were almost all keeper size. Last he checked, which was on Sunday, there were good numbers of bass and a few bluefish in the rips, too. They were finicky and feeding on very small bait, but he managed to land a handful of slot and over-slot fish. On Tuesday in Cape Cod Bay, Ben said he caught a dozen big bass that were blasting squid on the surface; it excited him to see some larger fish so fired up after experiencing mostly picky topwater feeds in recent weeks. Back on the south side, he added, there are bluefish of mixed sizes along the beaches and more, bigger blues out by the Vineyard.
Tyler Huckemeyer from the Helen H in Hyannis reported that the fluke season started off on a high note at the Nantucket Shoals. The first drift of the season produced two 11-pound doormats and one 13 pounder. Anglers on board started out fishing with last year’s fluke bellies and Gulp, which both produced great results. While the action has been steady, he said it has not been super fast-paced lock-and-load fluking just yet, but they’re still managing plenty of keepers. In Nantucket Sound, sea bass and scup action has been fantastic. Scup fishing, especially, is red hot, with some XL specimens coming over the rail. Sea bass takes a bit more work to get keepers but there have been some very nice fish in the mix. Up in Cape Cod Bay, winter flounder fishing is still very good, too. There are plenty of options going into the weekend, and fluke fishing should only continue to improve from here. Check out the Helen H website to explore their schedule of available dates.
From Nantucket, Rick Ramos reported: “Bonito are still making a showing at Great Point, with anglers connecting consistently using Hogy epoxy jigs. Small bluefish are mixed in with the same schools, providing steady action on light tackle. Bass fishing remains on the slower side, but signs of improvement are emerging. Over-slot striped bass are beginning to show more consistently along the south shore. Meanwhile, the Harbor continues to produce after dark, with anglers having success on soft plastics during the evening tide. We had an excellent trip last Sunday aboard Albacore Charters, working the eastern edges of the island. The highlight of the day was a 40-inch striper landed by Nick Whitbeck of IslandX Lures on the IslandX 180 Hellfire—the amber color proved to be the ticket. A healthy mix of 20- to 24-inch schoolies rounded out the day, which is an encouraging sign for the fishery’s future.”
Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Fishing Charters said he’s been fluke fishing in Vineyard and Nantucket sounds this week. They’re hopping around on the shoals, and Cam said his rule of thumb is anywhere they see people bass fishing, they’re pulling up to catch fluke. If there’s bass there’s bait, and if there’s bait, there’s fluke. That said, he is still doing a ton of bass fishing out east near Chatham as well. Cam said his bass charters last weekend were very productive and the fish have been crushing squid. When they were able to move away from the fleet, they found larger over-slot fish up to 42 or 43 inches. Give Cam a call to book a trip for stripers or fluke!
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Captain Matthew Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters in Dennis said that they’re still catching some really nice bass up in Cape Cod Bay. According to Dempsey, big fish are smashing squid at first light in the shallows. Once the first light bite slows, he said, finding the birds is key. There are a lot of sand eels and mackerel around, and the birds are revealing which schools of bait have fish on them.
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham reported: “We’re seeing bass of all sizes down here now. They’re really widespread though, and bait is ranging from tiny stuff under terns to bootstrap squid, butterfish, and the occasional pogie school. Fun fishing! No monster bass yet, but a whole lot of decent-sized fish in the area.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “And may the striped bass surface frenzy blitzes begin! Recent fishing charters enjoyed epic displays of large striped bass schools boiling all over the surface generating non-stop topwater activity on the outer Cape. Truly something awesome to see in person! Be sure to treat Dad to a fishing charter during the upcoming Father’s Day weekend as we still have a few openings, which can be viewed here.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
I for one, am not a fan of the conditions Mother Nature has dealt us Cape Codders over the past few weeks. A few days of beautiful weekday weather have been followed by rain and wind almost every weekend. Nothing we can do about that. We’ll just have to play the hand we’re dealt.
It’s looking like heavy east wind and rain in Saturday’s forecast with lower east wind and overcast conditions on Sunday. For boat anglers, the best bet for action this weekend will be fishing the leeside of Buzzards Bay or Cape Cod Bay for striped bass. Bonito just might pop up in the calmer waters along the Cape side of Buzzards, and with sea bass, scup, and potentially, fluke available in 30 feet of water, it’d be wise to pack tins, epoxies, slow-pitch jigs and jigheads (to be tipped with Gulp) for a mixed bag of bottom fish. Don’t count out shore fishing on the south side either. With mixed size classes of bluefish running along the beaches in Vineyard and Nantucket sounds, a little bit of rough “surf” and east/southeast wind just might find them corralling bait tight to shore. There’s a good chance some smaller bass will be on the prowl down there as well.
Of course, there are always the sheltered waters of the harbors and bays too, where smaller fluke, schoolie bass, scup, hickory shad, weakfish, and even some summer visitors like northern kingfish are beginning to fill in.
Plus, with pogies stacking up in portions of Buzzards Bay, and some 40-inch-class stripers hot on their tails, the Canal might see a good push of fish as these full moon tides begin to subside.
Once the windy conditions settle early next week, check out the rips on the south side where bass and bluefish have been stationed feeding on squid. If they are picky and unwilling to play ball, swim bucktails along the bottom of those shoals for fluke, or bop around some rock and reef structure for sea bass closer to the Elizabeth Islands.