Cape Cod Fishing Report
Usually, when people talk about summer fishing, they mention the “doldrums”. But here on Cape Cod, where we’re surrounded by water, there are so many different fisheries worth exploring even when the outdoor thermometer reads 87 degrees, as it did yesterday in Falmouth.
Striper fishing at the Monomoy rips is as good as it’s been all year. There are still plenty of squid, and sand eels continue to fill in the gaps on edges where the squid are scant, so there’s no shortage of bait around. Sand eels and mackerel remain abundant east of Monomoy, and there’s word of a developing bluefin bite out there. But the hottest tuna action right now is south of the islands, where bluefin from 40 to 60 inches (and some over), have been taken on spreader bars, daisy chains, poppers and jigs.
More locally, fluke fishing continues to be excellent across the south side of Cape from the beaches to the bays. It’s been an especially solid fluke season here in Vineyard and Nantucket sounds, and while there are fluke to be caught in Buzzards Bay, the hotspots have yet to produce any real doormats.
There are also cocktail bluefish chasing small baitfish off the south-facing beaches, so grab those 1- to 2-ounce metals and epoxy jigs and get to casting. There’s always a chance at bonito, too. After a brief lull in hardtail action, bones are making their presence known once again in Nantucket Sound, from the Harwich and Chatham area to Great Point on Nantucket. Since last week, there have even been some bonito mixed in with bluefish and bass off Provincetown, according to Captain Mike Rathgeber on the CeeJay.
Striper fishing has definitely reached a mid-summer lull on the upper Cape, but just because they’re not cartwheeling in the rips out west doesn’t mean there aren’t fish to be caught. Anglers pitching eels among the rocks around dusk and dawn—from Woods Hole on down the bay side of the Elizabeths—have been doing well with bass ranging from around 25 inches to just over slot. Meanwhile, those slinging eels from the south side beaches at night continue to play catch and release with brown sharks and the occasional ray. So far this season, sand tigers have been less common.
On a different note, we can’t forget about the Cape’s excellent freshwater bass fishery. Our kettle lakes and bog ponds hold some quality largemouth and smallmouth bass, and they’re getting a whole lot of attention lately despite plentiful and productive salt water options. Sometimes, a trip on the sweet water is a nice change of pace. So, I joined my friend and coworker, Robbie Tartaglia, for a late evening bass session on an upper Cape kettle lake Tuesday evening. The fishing was a little tough after some very hot, sunny weather this week, but we used forward-facing sonar—my first time seeing it in action—and watched two aggressive 3- and 4-pound-class largemouth chase down and eat his lures over deep patches of grass. Meanwhile, ticking a Z-Man Jackhammer Chatterbait across the top of shallow grass was the ticket for me.
Whether you run south to jig for tuna, head east to cast topwaters at stripers, or hit the sweet water to pitch Senkos and jigs at deep largemouth, there are ample opportunities to wet a line around Cape Cod this week.
Here’s what some of our local tackle shops and charters had to report heading into the weekend:
AJ Coots at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said tuna fishing to the south has been ridiculously good lately. Bluefin have been popping up anywhere from just inside of Nomans on down to The Dump. Late last week, he said they even got a report of schoolie bluefin in Quicks Hole. Sea conditions look a little rough on Friday (7/16), but if you have the means to get south of the islands, there have been plenty of fish in the 40- to 60-inch range. Back inshore, scup and sea bass fishing has been decent but not great. The sea bass are congregating in deeper water further south in Buzzards, but scup are still available in about 30 feet. The fluke bite in upper Buzzards Bay is worth the effort, he said. It requires picking through shorts, but there are some nice fish well over keeper size coming up. The canal bite, AJ added, has consisted of mostly schoolie bass. Last week, there were a couple days of solid action from over-slot fish, but their presence has been inconsistent, which is the theme so far this season. There are bay anchovies, mackerel, sea herring, and squid in the ditch; AJ said people are crushing mackerel off the pier and the bulkhead, and the amount of squid at the bulkhead at night has been remarkable. The stage remains set for a good bass bite to develop.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth reported that most of his customers heading south in search of tuna this week were getting them by trolling spreader bars and daisy chains. Purple and black have been the hot colors during first light, with a switch to green later in the morning proving productive. Evan also said a fair amount of people were catching fish on poppers, but he heard today that the jig bite has significantly improved over the past few days with the warmer weather and surface temperatures. Inshore, Evan said he found blitzing bass and blues on the bay side of the Elizabeths late on Monday morning once the fog cleared a bit. He battled heavy fog, but he could hear the fishing breaking, and when it was finally clear enough to spot birds, epoxy jigs were the key to getting bit. Most people that are striper fishing are chucking eels along the Elizabeths and down near Woods Hole, and they’re finding fish to be right around the slot or just over slot. Evan’s employee, Rob, said he recently crushed sea bass in deep water down by Nomans, although there was some interference from sharks. Lastly, Evan mentioned that it sounds like there are plenty of bluefin in the mid-40-inch range out by The Claw, Coxes Ledge, and beyond.
Captain Ben Sussman of In The Net Sportfishing in Osterville has been all over the map lately, running bottom fishing, bass, and tuna trips. Ben said he’s been on a solid topwater striper bite out at Monomoy, and the scup fishing has been very good in the Sound which has allowed his charters to put some meat in the coolers. Down south of the islands, he’s been able to stick a few bluefin on both jigging and trolling gear this week. Give Ben a shout to inquire about availability and book a trip!
From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reported: “The full moon finally came through for frustrated Canal Rats! Baitfish are everywhere with large schools of juvenile herring so prevalent that “Jiggin’ Jimmy” Rakowski couldn’t help snagging them with his lure. Slots and bigger bass were breaking over the weekend with expert angler Bob “Bull” MacKinnon successfully casting his Wally’s heavy white pencil, mostly into an east ebb tide. The experienced surfcaster landed 10 fish, one morning, that were all slots or above up to 17 pounds. Fish were caught by Todd Silvia, 7-year-old Sage Nicholson and Ben “The Potato Manager” Sivonen whose mackerel fillets continue to entice stripers. Dale Johnson did well with his small green Epoxy jig, Rob Stork had his Magic Swimmer working and Jim “Sidecast” Belcher reeled in 5 nice fish with his black & white Left Hook on his birthday! Congratulations to “Insane Wayne” Cole on the birth of his healthy grandson Jameson. The new grandfather can easily be spotted riding his Canal bike, a deer head skeleton with antlers mounted on the handlebars! My bride took what she thought was chicken out of the freezer and started to defrost it in the microwave. A foul odor ensued, permeating the kitchen so she removed it only to discover that it wasn’t chicken after all – it was a box of squid that was supposed to accompany an Eagle Claw circle hook to the bottom of the Canal! Her father was a charter captain so she knew what she was getting into when she married this fisherman! Don’t make the same mistake as this typist – be sure to label frozen bait with big black letters!”
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said the tuna bite’s been wild down south, but locally, the fluke bite is excellent. They’ve had customers fishing the area beaches, catching a mix of shorts and keepers on bucktails, Gulp, and more recently, sand worms. The sand worms, he said, have been the hot bait this week, which is possibly due to hotter temperatures making the fluke less willing to follow or chase down moving baits in shallow water. Cocktail blues are around on the beaches, but the bigger ones everyone wants to catch from shore seem to be holding out in the rips in Vineyard Sound. Saltwater fishing aside, largemouth bass have attracted a lot of attention this week as well. There have been some big bass caught locally on topwater lures around dusk, as well as on Senkos and jigs fished in and around grass.
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Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha’s Vineyard reported: “This week, fishing for fluke and sea bass has continued to be very good and bluefishing has improved. We have concentrated most of our effort on fluke and have landed some quality fish, with fluke up to 5 pounds and some chunky sea bass. But we have also carved out some time to search for bluefish or some days just take advantage of schools of breaking blues. This weekend, our team, Fishsticks with Charter Sauce, fished the Fluke For Luke Tournament. We fished hard and put in a respectable showing, but we were up against some truly great anglers who made some impressive catches. Chris Reimann took first place with a 9.05 lb fluke, Martha Montesion had the biggest sea bass at 3.18 lb, and team Three Buoys & A Gull, who seem to be up on the podium every year, won the team competition with a total weight for four fluke and one sea bass of 30.91 lb. Do the math! That’s an average weight of over 6 pounds per fish. Tuesday’s trip was probably the most productive of the week. We landed 4 bluefish up to 12 pounds and 6 keeper-sized fluke (though we released half of those) up to 5 pounds, along with many sea bass, all released.”
From Nantucket, Rick Ramos shared the following report: “From the Boat: We had a fantastic trip on Sunday with Captain Brooks Robbie of Bill Fisher Outfitters, working the eastern rips of Nantucket on light tackle, topwater action. IslandX lures and the new Yellow Star line-up from Outcast Lures were especially productive, with amber and natural wood colors drawing consistent strikes. The single-hook setup makes for safe and easy releases.
Captain Corey Gammill reports that fishing continues to improve, with solid bass action to the east and a strong bite around Monomoy. Bonito have returned for a second push near Great Point, and larger bluefish are starting to fill in, feeding on schools of herring and sand eels. Bottom fishing remains excellent, with fluke and black sea bass showing up in good numbers. To the south, the tuna bite is heating up where Captain Bob DeCosta of Albacore Charters landed a 105-inch bluefin tuna this week, which weighed in at 567 pounds at the Nantucket Anglers’ Club—a true trophy.
From the Beach: Anglers have found the most consistent action along the south shore. Anglers Nick Whitbeck, Tammy King, and Nate Skerritt all reported bonito catches this week, mixed in with a steady run of bluefish. Bass fishing remains reliable to the west, especially if you work the edges on your walk out to Smith Point. With fewer mole crabs observed this season, fewer bass are foraging tight to shore, so focus on longer casts. Many bass are being caught near the outer wave breaks. Soft baits such as Fish Snax and Hogy Lures have fished well, along with the classic bucktail.”
George Sylvestre of Sylvestre Outdoors in Brewster reported: “Monomoy rips are a solid bet for consistent fishing, as they usually are this time of year, but there have been some bonanza days recently. Loads of bait, loads of fish. Squid flies tend to do the trick but be on the lookout for any new bait showing up and don’t be afraid to change flies. Sharks have also been more plentiful out there, so keep your net handy. While fishing has been consistently good, can’t say the same for the weather. Will cool, foggy days in July extend the good fishing into August? Only time will tell…”
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham reported: “Fishing pulsed up a notch this week locally at the rips with good flood tides in the morning. Lots of squid coming through and plenty of bent rods on most edges. Bird piles are now being seen at the end of the tide both north and south of the rips, and are definitely worth checking out. Sand eels are filling in more and more. Offshore, Crab Ledge seems to be heating up but it’s nearly all giants on bait out there. Lighter tides should help the bite.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “The outgoing morning tides this week have produced perfect conditions for some awesome striped bass fishing! With a strong shift to artificials, our team has been getting keepers and over-slots on green tube-tail jigs and on topwater with needlefish and soft plastics. It is an excellent time to be fishing the outer Cape as there are some gator bluefish mixed in, which offer epic battles. We have openings starting tomorrow and the weekend forecast is looking good. View booking details here.”
Captain Matthew Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters in Dennis reported: “”Cape Cod Bay has been holding some good fish on pogies, but you have to keep moving from pile to pile to find which one is holding fish. Docs, flutter spoons, and X-Raps have been working the best.”
Captain Mike Rathgeber of CeeJay Fishing in Provincetown reported that both his large private charters (10-30 passengers) and his public open trips enjoyed outstanding striped bass fishing this week, and very close by in Cape Cod Bay. Sprinkled in with the bass were bluefish and even a few bonito. Great weather and great fishing with a very short ride to the fish is a winning combination right now!
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
This weekend, shore anglers would be wise to spend some time casting bucktail jigs and Gulp, as well as tins and epoxy jigs from the south side beaches. The best chances for bluefish, or bonito—which seem to be staging a resurgence this week—will be during the early morning and in the evening, when beaches are mostly free of bathers and low-light conditions bring the fish to the surface. Fluke will bite anytime after sun up until sundown. Work the wave break tight to shore, cast parallel to jetties, and search for slight changes in water color that indicate a change in depth, because those holes and small troughs are likely to hold fish. Boat and kayak anglers should drift jig-and-teaser combos around reefs and wrecks, along shoal and channel edges, and through areas of changing bottom composition (like sand to gravel).
For stripers, look to Monomoy and the Elizabeth Islands. Topwater plugs and plastics that imitate squid or sand eels are sure to catch out east in the rips, while live eels are likely to be the top producers along the Elizabeths; however, keep an epoxy jig tied on, as there’s been plenty of small bait around from Woods Hole south, and topwater feeds from bass and blues are not out of the question.
Anticipate crowds on the tuna grounds south of the islands this weekend, and be ready to troll, jig, or throw poppers at a moment’s notice.
And don’t forget about the largemouth bass in your neighborhood pond. They deserve some attention, too. A couple casts of a Senko, jig, or small topwater just before dusk has potential to yield a 3 to 5 pounder. The evening bite window can be magical.
Thanks for reading and good luck out there this week.