Cape Cod Fishing Report
For the first time this year, we’ve had temperatures reaching and surpassing 70 degrees on Cape Cod. June is here, and summer is in the air (and in the water). Fluke fishing is beginning to ramp up on Nantucket Shoals, bluefish of all sizes have invaded Cape waters and, oddly enough, some big bonito are making an early showing in Buzzards Bay, Vineyard Sound, and beyond.
Since last week’s report, more bonito were caught from Nantucket to Buzzards Bay and they’ve all been of healthy size. Earlier this week, Captain Brian Kelly’s charter caught a nice one in Vineyard Sound, and late last week before the blow, Captain Cam Faria and friends pulled in a 7.8-pound bone that hit a Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow in Buzzards Bay. Knock on wood, but hopefully, these are early signs of another stellar inshore bonito run, because this amount of large bonito in late May and early June is unprecedented.
Bluefish from cocktail to gator size are available on the south side beaches from upper to mid Cape. I spent some time casting metals off the beaches in western Nantucket Sound yesterday and found a few nice eater-size bluefish around 2 to 3 pounds—they were just large enough to be considered “cocktails” instead of snappers. There were terns working up and down the shoreline over micro bait, and lower in the water column, sea robins were loaded. I could not keep them off my tins, even on a faster retrieve. Kind of a bummer. Further east, there are greater concentrations of bluefish closer to gator size, and they too have been keyed in on metals.
As far as bass fishing from shore on the south side of the upper and mid Cape, it’s still slower than it should be. I fished live eels the other night and had only a handful of fish up to 28 inches or so in a few hours. After moving spots a couple times, I decided to throw a glidebait around the outer edges of an inlet during the bottom of the ebb tide, and it was promptly smacked by a solid fish that gave me a couple of writhing head shakes before spitting the hook after just a few cranks. When I brought the eels back out, nobody was home, which I found strange. That said, a few friends of mine are catching stripers in and around the slot as they feed around the mouths of salt ponds and bays; shore fishermen are catching on soft plastics like RonZs and Slug-gos during the morning hours. During the night tides, swimming plugs like Mag Darters and smaller SPs are also getting it done, along with live eels.
The rips are the best place to be if you’ve got a boat in the water. Hedge Fence and Middle Ground are fishing well, but according to some local anglers and tackle shops, it has been a parking lot out there. It might be worth burning a little extra fuel to find your own fish, and potentially larger fish. With the full moon on the way, it’s always worth scoping out the Elizabeths for fresh arrivals working their way north.
Up in Cape Cod Bay, there are still great shore/surf fishing opportunities, but it seems that some of the XL stripers we had on metal lips, darters, and needlefish up there have moved on. However, there are good numbers of sand eels moving in, and mackerel and bunker are still fueling some good topwater feeds further offshore. Boat anglers continue to do very well in the Bay by trolling Rapala X-Raps in open water to locate schools of fish, and when they find them, large walk-the-dog style topwaters have been bringing bass up to around 30 pounds to the surface.
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 that the Canal has some fish, but it has not been lights out. Having a bike, he said, has been the key to finding fish this week as schools of bass seem to pressing through the ditch. Most anglers are having better luck toward the west end for bass, while big blues are stacked up in the east end holding tight to bottom. In Buzzards Bay, stripers are being caught on flutter spoons and Docs when the fish latch onto random pods of pogies that have been popping up throughout the bay. There are enough bunker available that the shop has fresh bunker in stock as of this morning, so chunking at night by boat or from shore would not be a bad idea. The sea bass bite is picking up in Buzzards, slowly but surely. Connor advised fishing the end of the incoming tide around peak high, and into the early ebb. Higher tides, for whatever reason, have been producing more keepers. Bluefish have thinned out in Buzzards Bay for the most part, although there are some schools of small cocktail blues in the lower bay feeding beneath diving terns. He anticipates another wave of bluefish and bass moving in from the south as we head toward the June full moon.
Alex MacMillian of FishLinked Charters in Wareham reported: “The blow seems to have moved a few things around this week…but we aren’t complaining over here. Pogies have arrived and so have some much bigger stripers. The pogies were staying down low for the most part, which barred us from live-lining, so trolling billed X-Raps did the trick to bring the stripers up. The sounder was lit up like a Jackson Pollock painting, and the action was consistent with fish upwards of 35 inches. A few snapper blues have joined the party as well, so don’t forget to have at least a few wire leaders on hand. Black sea bass have scattered, and finding keepers is a matter of filtering through some smaller guys, but there is still plenty of table fare around. Fluke have been popping up on the flat grounds, but we haven’t seen too much size inshore as of yet. Dinner-plate scup are the norm right now and the mixed bag seems to be keeping everyone happy. We also ran a scouting trip offshore this week, and let’s just say some of the hot spots are primed up with bait; there are already a few pelagics poking around, but things haven’t fired off just yet. When it does, it’s looking like it’s going to pop pretty hard. If you aren’t already prepped for offshore, it’s time to get on it.”
From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports: “The Boys of Summer did well on the east tide as “Bill on the Grill” Prodouz started last week with a 32-inch striper on his line. By Wednesday he had another the same size before landing a 40-inch linesider that fell for a herring Mystic glider, and then a 41-inch powerhouse with a Yo-Zuri bone hydro twitch bait. John “Seadog” Schmidt brought a 35-inch fish to the rocks with his white Savage, “Mashpee Mike” LaRaia had a productive day reeling in numerous slots and Tim “Hollywood” Petracca had fish up to 35 inches with stick shads. “Insane Wayne” Cole worked his 10-foot 1208 RainShadow rod to bring in a 39-inch beauty that attacked his herring Magic Swimmer. “Bloodhound Steve” Colleran coaxed a high-end slot to hit his favorite Al Gags soft-plastic pink jig on an early west rising tide, and Paul Sroczinski fooled a 31-inch striper Thursday with a green mac Savage on an early east flood tide. Kevin “R & D” Blaise used his angling skill to convince 25- & 16-pound bass to hit his white Guppy Jobo pencil while splashing through the east ebb tide. Last weekend went well for Glenn “Lucky Cigar” Lindsey catching a slot on his green mac Savage sand eel and Henry Chong from Canton, reeling in a nice 34-inch fish that fell for his black & purple long soft plastic jig during a west dropping tide before dawn.”
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Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said striper fishing on the south side has drastically improved for the boat crowd. He got out with a friend on Tuesday morning and caught about 20 fish up to 36 inches at Middle Ground on amber-colored Hogy poppers; the squid, he said, were visible in the waves as they eluded stripers. Evan added that there have been some smaller fish on top down near Woods Hole, and a few charter guys are doing well jigging wire in around 30 feet of water. He was hearing great things about the action in Buzzards before the stormy conditions last week, but since then the bass reports have quieted down a bit and small bluefish have been prevalent. The places to be now, at least for boaters targeting bass, are the rips in Vineyard and Nantucket sounds. There are also some large bluefish off the east end of Martha’s Vineyard hitting topwater. On the bottom fishing front, the sea bass bite has been good in Vineyard Sound. Slow-pitch and butterfly jigs with larger hooks are weeding out smaller fish, but anglers are still working to get their limits. Evan said jigging in 50 to 70 feet of water seems to be producing the best results.
Amy at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said there are lots of bluefish of all sizes on the south side, and anglers casting metals from the beaches are doing well; it’s not much of a topwater bite. Striped bass fishing in Nantucket Sound has been just okay in the rips. Squid imitations are the go-to lures right now. Up on the Cape Cod Bay side, there are still some decent size fish poking around out there, and the general consensus is that if you have white topwater plugs, you’re liable to raise a few solid fish—it’s just a matter of finding them in open water. Regarding bottom fishing, Amy said her friend went out to Nantucket Shoals and did very well on fluke, and that bite is only going to improve heading into the summer months. Scup fishing remains very good locally, and black sea bass is still producing mixed bags of shorts and keepers. Compared to Buzzards though, it does seem that the south side is hosting the better sea bass fishing this year.
From Nantucket, Rick Ramos reported: “Once dubbed the “Elusive Bonito,” the Atlantic Bonito has shed its mystery thanks to last season’s epic run, and has become one of Nantucket’s most exciting fisheries. Early signs point to another strong showing this year. The first beach bonito of the season was landed on June 2nd at Great Point by Noah Karberg, and just today, June 4th, Brian Conlon reported landing one along the south shore. If this pace continues, we could be in for another full-on bonito invasion! Larger bluefish are also making their presence known, with gator-sized blues prowling the beaches around Great Point. Meanwhile, striped bass fishing continues to improve, with over-slot class fish showing up in greater numbers. Dave Small landed a new personal best, a 40-inch striper from the south shore, boosting his team’s standing in the Spring Sea Run Opener. In the junior division, Eli Holland currently leads the pack, and with the final weekend ahead, there’s still plenty of opportunity and prizes up for grabs. The season’s heating up. Now’s the time to get out there and wet a line!”
George Sylvestre of Sylvestre Outdoors in Brewster shared: “Reporting as always from a fly fishing perspective, we are starting to see some improved consistency on Cape Cod Bay from Barnstable to Brewster to Eastham. Plenty of reports during May of fish being caught in deeper water had fly anglers wondering why more weren’t being caught in the shallow. In the last few days, it looks like things are starting to change for the better with at least more opportunities at fish across size classes (getting them to eat is sometimes a whole different thing). Was it water temperature, turbidity, bad luck, or something else? We may never know, but the fact that more and more schools of sand eels are showing up is currently pumping the optimism. The difference between last May/June (gangbusters) and this one (head scratchers) is pretty big. As always, when June rolls around we are watching and waiting for the Monomoy rips to start to heat up, and there have been some reports of bass chasing squid there. Feeling bummed about the Bay? Head south, young man…”
Captain Matthew Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters in Dennis reported: “Bass are chewing good in Cape Cod Bay; we’re doing a lot of open water fishing, just covering miles for piles. Rapala X-Raps are working great to cover the water needed to find them. Once you are able to locate these open-water fish, large topwaters and Magic Swimmers seem to get them fired up.”
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham reported: “We are now seeing decent fishing on both tides with pulses of bait allowing for some lulls from time to time. The bass fishing is not wide open. Keep trying new edges as fish will be widespread. No need to cozy right up next to someone if you are seeing gulls and other birds up and down the rip line. Typical baits and approaches are working and it feels like summer all of a sudden, even though there’s still a bite in the air early in the day.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “Striped bass fishing offers some intense activity, as recent fishing charters encountered schools of stripers frenzied on squid which produced multiple quad hook-ups. Anglers danced around the boat landing keeper-size fish and above. Topwater was the name of this game, with the Hogy Charter Dog Walker in amber generating many strikes. On other days, the pogy piles will be the key for getting into bigger bass. Multiple areas providing tight lines makes this an excellent time to be fishing the Cape. Openings starting tomorrow and can be found here.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Depending on what you’re looking to catch, the best bet for the weekend is to plan what I call a “parlay trip” in either Buzzards Bay or Vineyard and Nantucket sounds. If the rips are packed, or the stripers uncooperative, it’s always nice to have a fallback plan. That plan may come in the form of jigging for sea bass and scup, casting metals and poppers to blitzing bluefish, or hunting down some less-pressured stripers along the Elizabeths. With the amount of squid around, fishing the rips is pretty reliable, but finding available real estate on the rip line—not so much. Thankfully, the sea bass bite has been better in the sounds this spring than it has in Buzzards, so pack a bunch of slow-pitch and epoxy-style jigs or some Gulp and bucktails, and work those 50- to 70-foot wrecks and rock piles. There may even be some keeper fluke around; we’re seeing short fluke fill in the salt ponds, harbors and bays, so it’s only a matter of time before some larger, keeper-sized specimens move in.
If none of those options tickle your fancy, hitting the Canal at first light or the Bayside beaches at night is also a safe bet for some striper action.
Best of luck out there. Be courteous and respectful to one another, and have fun catching ’em up.