Cape Cod Fishing Report
I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription, is more ‘core.
Just about every angler with a boat, kayak, or pair of wading boots has come down with albie fever following Labor Day weekend, and while some have been able to remedy their ailment, others have been left frustrated, fishless, and flat-out worried. While there are signs of a good albie season in concentrated pockets of water around Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, many historically reliable areas are barren. That’s not to say the bait isn’t there; in fact, our waters are flush with small silversides, peanut bunker, sand eels, and bay anchovies, but for the most part, little tunny have yet to arrive in more targetable numbers.
Vineyard Sound looked like a parking lot last weekend, which was expected. When the unofficial final weekend of summer brings the prospect of false albacore and bonito, inshore anglers flock to the south side of Cape, where some large albies have been ripping through schools of 1-inch silversides in faster-than-usual fashion. I had my shots at Albert on Sunday and Monday mornings from the kayak, well outside the fleet, and although I was able to pattern where they were likely to pop up, I found it nearly impossible to fire off a dart of a cast in time to connect. Even bonito were quick to disappear after 3-second surface feeds. Bluefish, and go figure, big sea bass, were the only ones to swipe at my jigs up top. The shots I did have at albies could not have been better. But due to tons of pressure, boat noise, small bait, and unsustained feeds, my fever—along with many other anglers—rages on.
The biggest albies, it seems, have been stationed off Nantucket where OTW’s Jack Larizadeh and Johnny McIntyre got into them good on Monday. Even out there though, the albies were very quick up and down, which Johnny and Jack attributed to their diet of tiny squid. According to Johnny, finding birds, whether diving on bait, hovering, or sitting, was the key to their success. Blind casting around the birds was a productive approach when the fish weren’t showing on the surface. They wound up hooking a total of 6 and landing 4. Later on, they spent some time vertical jigging bonito, which are all over Nantucket Harbor—no secret there. If you found bonito, Johnny said, they’d hit anything you put in front of them. Must be nice!
Back on the Cape side of Nantucket Sound, there are rumblings of scant albies from Harwich to Falmouth, and again, they are few and far between. On the bright side, it’s the first week of September, and in years past they’ve stuck around until the first week of November. In other words: there’s still time to cure your fever.
To touch on a few other fish that are worth your time this week, fluke are available from deep shoals and channel edges to salt ponds and bays. While shallow-water fluking is a shadow of the mid-summer bite, the colossal amounts of bait in the backwaters have some flatties—yet to begin their journey offshore—feeding heavily as those water temperatures have taken a noticeable dive. Wet-wading season is coming to a close, but we’ve got a few weeks left on fluke. If you find peanuts schooled around choke points in bay waters, creeks, or salt ponds, spend some time casting small bucktails, metals/epoxies, and even small minnow plugs around the school. Fluke have a long swim ahead of them, and like stripers, they’re fattening up before they go. Expect a fair amount of short fish, but don’t be surprised if you hook a back bay doormat.
Speaking of stripers, it’s good to finally see some schoolies in the high-teen to low-20-inch range back in force. These little bass are currently staging in areas where small baitfish, crabs, and worms are tumbling by, which makes for easy meals. Inlets, outflows, channels, and rips along the south and west sides of Cape Cod are producing good numbers of bass, as are areas in Cape Cod Bay. And just because the fish are sub-slot, and most of what they’re eating is 2 to 3 inches long, doesn’t mean they’ll turn down a big bait. Rigged Slug-Gos and 5-inch swimming plugs yielded me a surprising number of school bass in very shallow water last night while they were clearly picking off micro baits on the ebb tide. Assuming we get another decent mullet run this year, those 5- and 6-inch finger mullet can bring in some really nice bass that will readily eat an 8- or 9-inch plug or soft plastic. For now though, eels continue to be the best bet for larger fish, but don’t overlook tossing topwater plugs at your local honey hole around sunrise or sunset. Schoolies will feed the soul until bigger migratory bass start heading south in numbers, and they can even stave off albie fever until more of them arrive.
Here’s what our local shops and charters had to report heading into the weekend:
Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said fishing has been pretty good across the board following a busy Labor Day weekend on the water. However, as far as little tunny, he hasn’t heard of or seen any albies in his home waters of Buzzards Bay. There are tons of bonito blitzing in the Canal every morning, though. They’ve been loaded in the west end, hitting anything silver; Deadly Dicks, Kastmasters, and standard epoxies should all do the trick. Small bluefish are mixed in too. Striper action, he added, has been quiet, but there were a lot of bass following deep mackerel schools in Cape Cod Bay during his giant tuna hunt earlier this week. As far as bottom fishing, a few shop regulars are going out for tog recently since sea bass closed, and that bite will get better as the water cools. Buzzards Bay, the Elizabeths, and Vineyard Sound should host some solid shallow-water tog action going forward, and the shop will have green crabs in stock for the weekend ahead.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said the albie fishing hasn’t been great so far, but they are around locally. They’re popping up sporadically in the middle of Vineyard Sound and off Cape-side beaches, and while some anglers have gotten their first taste of albies in 2025, small to mid-size bonito are picking up the slack. Labor Day weekend is always a tough weekend for hardtails; there were a lot of boats and a lot of bait, but not a ton of fish that were willing to eat. Evan is still hopeful for more albies to fill in over the next couple weeks. On the striper front, Evan said he’s selling plenty of eels to anglers who are pitching them into the rocks along the Elizabeth Islands, and with all the bait we have in the ponds, we should be in for better striper action with more cool morning and evening weather. Likewise, tautog interest has picked up with the recent drop in temps, and 10 to 30 feet of water is the best bet for some action.
From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reported: “Finally, some good fish! After “Everyday Al” Mazeiko started things off a couple of weeks ago with a 40-inch striped bass that ate his pink Spro bucktail during the early flow of the east dropping tide, happy faces lit up around the Ditch. The east flood tide produced a 33-inch striper for Joe McNamee, from Attleboro, using his homemade white bucktail. “Bull” MacKinnon landed nice fish for 3 days in mid-week. Beginning before first light, the famous surfcaster launched his 4.5-ounce parrot colored Wally’s pencil to the outside of breaking striped bass, bringing 7 to the rocks that tipped the scale from 15 – 19 pounds. Bull fooled a few more fish with his bone SP Minnow on the early east tide. Joe “Green Gloves” Moneghan landed a half dozen stripers up to 38 inches feeding on bunker during east, west and slack tides with a variety of lures including a Shaddy Daddy. He cast into what he thought were more stripers, but brought a bonito to the rocks in a topwater bite. Huge schools of bonito have been in and out of the east end. Glenn “Lucky Cigar” Lindsey, John “Seadog” Schmidt and this typist were all good for some schoolies. I released mine after removing the green mack Shaddy Daddy and asking the fish to tell his grandfather that I was looking for him!
Harold Skelton, founder of Fishing for the Mission 22 to help veterans in need, received some interesting news. 22 black seabass had been tagged May 27, 2025 with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and released into Buzzards Bay for his tournament. A participant catching a tagged fish during the weekend tournament wins a $1000 prize at the awards ceremony, held along the Canal in Buzzards Bay Park. Skelton learned recently that one of the tagged fish swam a long way before being caught on August 15 – by a fisherman in New Jersey!”
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis told me that it’s all about albies and bonito at the shop this week, so much so that we barely had time to chat. He said there were bonito blitzing from Woods Hole to the Elizabeth Islands this morning with bluefish mixed in. Meanwhile, a couple charter captains on Nantucket are catching big bluefish and enormous albies to roughly 12 pounds. However, closer to home, Nantucket Sound remains somewhat quiet on the hardtail front. As the fall run begins to kick into gear, other customers of the shop are raving about the excellent freshwater bass fishing recently. There’s been a really strong bite for smallmouth and largemouth in the local kettle ponds; the bass are on the move and feeding in a range of depths as the fall transition begins. Chatterbaits, swimbaits, and craw imitations like Ned rigs and jigs are the top-performing baits right now.
Tyler Huckemeyer of the Helen H out of Hyannis reported steady fluke fishing on the shoals this week, and while the window for a jumbo doormat is pretty much closed, there are plenty of keepers and shorts keeping rods bent on those 8-hour trips. The yellowfin tuna bite, he said, is red hot in the canyons. The Helen H just returned a few hours early from their first 3-day trip after catching a limit. They’ll be running more canyon trips going forward, so visit their website or give them a call to book your spot or inquire about availability.
From Martha’s Vineyard, Stephen at Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown reported: “The big news this week is that albies have returned to Vineyard Sound! Although they’re a little behind schedule from the past two years, their return is a welcome sight. A few of the albies caught on our charters this week have spit up squid, so this is a good time to throw some larger profile pink or amber-colored flies before they start to key in on small bait. Still, my favorite fly right now is a Mushmouth tied on a size 2 hook in olive, chartreuse, pink, or yellow.
Our waters are currently filled with the Holy Trinity of fall baitfish—peanut bunker, silversides, and sand eels—serving up a feast for bones, albies, bluefish, and striped bass. Often, the action is very close to shore, especially in the early morning hours. For the boatless fly angler, your best bet for success is a morning outgoing tide, when baitfish are getting flushed out of the estuaries. Expect to find gamefish pinning sand eels and peanuts up against jetties and shallow beaches.
Whether you’re fishing from boat or shore, the start of the fall run is one of the most magical times of the year. It is officially ‘happening’ and I wouldn’t wait much longer to make plans to fish the Vineyard if you haven’t done so. The Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby starts on September 14th and runs through October 18th, so now is a good time to get after it before the Derby crowds fill in.”
Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters out of Vineyard Haven reported: “Bonito continue to be our primary target this week, and the fishing has improved over last week. The fish seem to be staying up longer, giving us more opportunities to get a cast into the action. And the bonito have been joined by some small bluefish. While epoxy jigs are the go-to lure for most anglers seeking bonito, and they certainly do produce, we have been having good luck with small swimming plugs as well. You do give up a little casting distance, but when you can get a swimmer into a school of breaking fish, it does get bites.”
From Nantucket, Rick Ramos shared the following report: “The albies are here and they’re big! A strong surge of hard-charging false albacore has pushed into our waters, running the east side up through Great Point and flooding the harbor on the morning tides. Bonito also remain in the mix with many also tipping into larger sizes and keeping anglers active on every outing.
August wrapped up with a run of hefty bluefish, adding plenty of excitement to the finish of the August Blues Tournament. In the surf division, angler Raf Osona landed two impressive 34-inch fish in the final hours to tie David Tribble for first place. In the boat division, 2024 champion Heather Unruh finished strong, boating three blues totaling 108.25 inches to secure back-to-back wins as the Triple Strike 2025 Champion.
As we roll into September, the Nantucket fishing scene has heated up with big hardtails, gator blues, and migratory bass settling into their fall patterns. All of this sets the stage perfectly for the 20th Annual Nantucket Inshore Classic, running September 7 – October 11, 2025. With the bite turning on and the community ready to compete, this year’s Classic promises to be one of the best yet. Don’t miss it!”
Captain Tom’s Charters on Nantucket reported: “Fishing is improving after Hurricane Erin dirtied up our waters in late August. There are large bluefish off Great Point and the east side. Small blues and bonito are fishing well off the west end in the usual spots. Mr Albie has started to make his presence known this past week with fishing around the island hot some days and sporadic other days. Some of the areas that have seen most action are the jetties and Great Point. There have been some large schools along the east side of the island as well, and some surf sharpies have been sniping them this past week. The Island X Hellfire and Game On Exo jigs have been the hot lures. There is also no shortage of brown sharks around, and they love albies.”
George Sylvestre of Sylvestre Outdoors in Brewster reported: “This is when it gets real, real good. September fishing can offer some the best and most consistent action (and weather) of the year. Take today for instance—leaving from Chatham we purposely ran past small schools of bonito early to chase albies off a south-facing beach (and even got 2 to eat). Once the action died down, we steamed east and found piles of feisty bluefish on the east side of Monomoy. Coming back around we marked bass off Monomoy Point and finished up where we started, this time stopping and hooking bonito around Saquatucket Harbor and back into Chatham. Plenty of action in the water!”
Captain Matthew Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters out of Dennis told me that he’s been focused on giant tuna fishing this week. According to the skipper, Cape Cod Bay is seeing slower action this week, but is holding some true monsters. Out east, he said, giant bluefin tuna fishing has been good, but each day is truly different. His report holds true with what OTW’s Robbie Tartaglia and friends experienced over the weekend; tons of life around first light, a quick bite window, and less activity as the morning continued. If you have a commercial bluefin permit, heading east certainly seems to be the better bet for consistent results.
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Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham reported: “Scatted bass and blues this week made for a few real tough days out front. That said—this morning, the fishing was great and bones were in the mix again as well. Bring the whole arsenal of rods and keep at it. Don’t sit on dead water, put the boat in gear and cover some ground to find transitioning fish.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “Outer Cape Cod most likely has some of the best striped bass fishing available right now as we welcome September with its cooler water temps, later sunrises and decreased boat traffic. While topwater is still bringing in some mighty blues, the striped bass are mostly slamming live bait as they surely are on their fall feeding patterns already. With many fish over slot and some in the keeper range, our clients are immensely enjoying these light-tackle battles. A great month has just begun, so be sure to get your fishing charter booked today!”
Captain Mike Rathgeber of Cee Jay Fishing Charters out of Provincetown reported that striped bass fishing remains very good with limit and near-limit catches coming in for both their private charters and public trips. The skipper said there’s still no real sign of bluefish, but mackerel are everywhere and a fair amount of bonito are showing up in the catch along with a few keeper fluke coming over the rails. September is a great time to fish the outer Cape with continued summer weather but a lack of summer crowds and excellent fishing that should carry into the fall.
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
A windy weekend is sure to bring some sloppy seas, and while it may keep small vessels docked, snotty conditions just might lead to more favorable albie fishing. With Labor Day in the rear view, there will be even less boat traffic and vessels that can withstand the rough stuff might find albies and bonito with their guards down. When the weather gets nasty and fishing pressure drops, surface feeds last and the fish get fired up. If you can get out, hit your hardtail honey holes and hope for the best.
This is a great weekend to explore some nearshore striper spots in Cape Cod Bay, in the lee of the southwest wind, before it shifts to blowing out of the north on Sunday. Likewise, wading or kayak fishing in protected areas, like salt ponds and bays, during the morning and evening hours should bring a few stripers to hand. It’s topwater season, and a little bit of chop will only help to entice bass to eat. If your walk-the-dog lure of choice isn’t “walking” in the chop, clip on a popper and give it a few good chugs to see how the fish react. And if you don’t have the luxury of electronics to help you find fish, casting poppers or light bucktails and soft plastics around points and bottlenecks are great places to start.
For a change of pace, consider hitting your local freshwater bass pond. I’ve leaned on largemouth and smallmouth a handful of times in recent weeks, and this is a great time of year to catch a big bass. Plus, it’s a nice change of pace when saltwater conditions are unfavorable.