Cape Cod Fishing Report
Welp, it’s getting to be that time of year. The fall run is still going strong, but with autumn storms growing more frequent and heavy wind becoming the norm, many charters and guides are wrapping it up. It’s always tough seeing boats pulled as we begin to close another saltwater season, but there is a silver lining. Tautog fishing is, perhaps, at its best from now through late November, and the nor’easter that hit us early this week brought some excellent striper fishing to the waters around Cape Cod.
Big bass to 50 pounds made their way through the Canal while the weather was at its worst. The west end has been going off this week, but with bass making their way in from the east, a few sharp canal casters have enjoyed consistent action from bass feeding on abundant sand eels.
Believe it or not, post-storm, not much has changed. There are still quite a bit of peanut bunker and mullet packed into the backwaters and along the south-facing beaches of Nantucket Sound. Nighttime is the right time to find bass gorging on mullet especially, but first light may reveal some intense topwater action in estuaries and around bay inlets. Many of the stripers feasting on those mullet fall within the 28- to 31-inch slot, but there are a fair amount of fish in the mid to upper-30-inch range right there with them. Glidebaits, minnow plugs (Mag Darters, specifically), peanut swimmers and paddletails have been key players in the bags of shore and wading fishermen.
Scant albies remain on the Cape side of Vineyard Sound, but before the storm, there were some great feeds reported from Falmouth to Harwich. It’s likely that the nor’easter’s heavy wind pushed them offshore a bit, to the chagrin of shore-bound hardtail seekers. However, there are small pods of fish to be found off the Elizabeths and in lower Buzzards Bay near Woods Hole.
There haven’t been many weather windows to make tautog fishing worthwhile this week, but shore bound tog anglers fishing their local jetties and in the Cape Cod Canal have been able to wrangle a few keepers.
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 Monday at the Canal was insane. Bull MacKinnon from the shop caught 26 fish, all over 40 inches, including a 51 pounder on topwater. The fast-paced, big fish bite has sort of petered out, but there are still schoolie and slot fish with a few overs in there, they’re just moving quick on the west tides. The mid Canal is fishing well in the morning for guys throwing pencils and poppers, while the east end is still seeing a decent jig bite. The nighttime action has been okay, but it’s not as good as it was last week before the nor’easter, he said. While it’s still worth a trip to the ditch, he believes another big push of fish will come through sometime around the new moon on Tuesday the 21st. Tautog fishing, he added, was very good prior to the storm too, but post-storm, it’s been quiet in Buzzards. The few tog fishermen pitching rigs from the riprap in the Canal, however, are doing well toward the west end. Bonito in the Canal have been spotty lately, but you might luck into a one or two if you have the patience to cast metals, epoxies, and small minnow plugs.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said there have been some bass moving along the south side beaches but since Saturday, it’s been real quiet around the shop due to the storm. He did say that live eels are still catching bass in the salt ponds and on the Sound-facing beaches. However, he’s not sure what the nor’easter did to the albie bite yet. Evan said last Friday was unbelievable, with tons of big feeds full of picky albies in Vineyard Sound. He fished for over 3 hours and managed to land only two on a 5/8-ounce silverside Hogy epoxy jig. With more wind in the forecast for this Saturday it’s unlikely many people will be out looking for albies, but he has green crabs in stock and tog are chewing well in shallow, so consider hitting your reliable nearshore rock piles or pitching jigs from the local jetties to see if you can score a couple keepers.
Captain Ben Sussman of In The Net Sportfishing out of Osterville said he had great albie and schoolie bass fishing on Friday and Saturday before the storm with Albie Snax doing all the damage. He found bass blitzing inside the bays and frothy albie feeds out front. However, he has since pulled the boat for the season due to the nor’easter, but he’s got his skiff ready to go for the next 3 or 4 weeks in the event that we are treated to some calmer conditions.
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis told me that Friday and Saturday before the storm brought excellent striped bass and albie fishing across the south side from Mashpee to Yarmouth. There were sustained feeds from albies and bass out front and more bass eating peanuts in the back, where metal-lipped peanut swimmers, minnow plugs and Slug-Gos have been catching lots of schoolie and slot-size fish even after the storm’s passing. The Sound has been rather quiet since, but one of the best bites going right now is for largemouth bass and stocked trout in the kettle ponds. The stocking trucks have made their rounds and they had guys racing back to the shop to re-up on lures and PowerBait hours after their first visit. There were some big bass caught in Sandwich and Falmouth, and lots of rainbow trout landed in the ponds from Mashpee to Marston’s Mills, he said. In the coming weeks, there will be more fishing pressure on those stocked trout and fewer fish as anglers harvest a couple here and there. If you’re yearning for some ultralight action, now’s the time to grab your trout wand and some spoons and spinners and get down to your neighborhood pond.
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Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters out of Vineyard Haven reported: “I did manage to get three trips in on Friday and Saturday before the storm hit. Friday morning, I fished with Nick Lesnikowski and his son, Dan. We were looking for something to weigh in for the Derby. We checked Vineyard Haven Harbor before rounding West Chop and heading toward Tashmoo. Nothing. We searched the North Shore as far west as Cedar Tree. Nothing. We ran across to Robinson’s Hole and tried there for a bit. Nothing. We popped through and searched the back side of Pasque. Nothing. We spent a good amount of time casting into the rocks in Quick’s Hole, and our persistence was rewarded with a striped bass and a bluefish and a few nice sea bass on epoxy jigs and small swimming plugs. After that slowed down, we made our way back east as far as Tarpaulin Cove before heading back across to Tashmoo and back to the Lagoon. We covered a lot of water for a half-day trip and had a good time, but did not have anything to bring to Derby HQ. Saturday morning, I fished with Nick and Melissa Biondi, and we spent the first half of the trip searching for bonito between West Chop and Makonikey, but were not successful. The few breaks we saw were very brief, and though we did manage to get some casts into feeding schools, these fish were very finicky and we could not get a bite. Eventually, we decided to switch gears and head to one of my favorite rockpiles to anchor up and fish for tautog. Bites came quickly and the action was steady. We caught and released a few keeper-sized tog, along with many smaller tog, sea bass of all sizes and a few scup. Saturday afternoon, I was back on the hunt for something to weigh in for the Derby with Lauren Evans and her two kids, Marina and Nico. This time, we headed around East Chop looking for bonito and bluefish. We did see some schools of breaking fish, but again they were fussy and we did not hook up. When that slowed, we headed across to the Cape shore and found some breaking fish between Nobska and Falmouth. I’m pretty sure they were albies, but I can’t say for sure because we didn’t catch any, and I did not see any of the several other boats around us hook up either. However, we did discover that a jig dropped to the bottom would consistently produce a sea bass or scup, and after that, the fussy albies seemed less important. Of course, we released the sea bass, but we did keep two nice scup, which I’m told were delicious. Looking forward, I might take one last shot at the Derby on Saturday, but since there’s already a small craft advisory in effect through Friday afternoon, that might be my only shot. After the Derby ends, I will be happy to focus on tautog for the remainder of the season.”
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters in Chatham said that he’s most likely wrapping up the season before October 25, as the extended forecast calls for mostly big swells and generally unsettled sea conditions out east. He’ll be off Cape for the winter and back at it again in the spring!
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported: “We took advantage of a few favorable weather days before the heavy winds set in to catch a some good-sized stripers still hanging around as well as bonito and false albacore. With the marine conditions becoming more inclement, we have wrapped up our charter fishing season for 2025. A huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who fished aboard our boats this season, supported us on social media and read these reports! While we look forward to a slower pace of life and more time to spend with our family in the coming weeks, we sure are going to miss being on the water everyday. Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the year and remember it’s never to early to book your charter for 2026! Please see our website: fishreeldeal.com for details.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Saturday morning looks a little gusty, with 25 mph winds out of the northwest, but it dies down throughout the day and by Sunday afternoon, the wind does 180 and will blow up to 20 mph out of the southeast. For boaters and kayakers seeking albies, tautog or stripers, your bite window will fall between late Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. Shore-based striped bass anglers should look to the wind-blown beaches of Cape Cod Bay on Saturday and the south side beaches on Sunday. Otherwise, hit the bays, marshes, and salt ponds and toss around 3- to 5-inch topwaters, metal lips, soft plastics, and bucktail jigs to imitate peanut bunker, mullet and silversides. Focus your efforts around falling tides and you should be rewarded.
It will be interesting to see how the tog bite unfolds over the next week. This weekend, I’m hoping to hit either Buzzards Bay or Vineyard Sound with my friend Captain Harvey Russell in search of some white chinners for the dinner table. Water temperatures are finally starting to drop more rapidly, so while you can probably scratch a few fish on the jetties and shallow rock piles, boaters and kayakers will have better shots in 20 to 30 feet of water or more. If it’s not happening in shallow, or short fish are overly abundant, move deeper in 10- to 20-foot increments. As long as you have a library of tog spots, there’s bound to be a meal or two waiting for you out there.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing is another great option, and with trout stocked, you can have a fun day of mixed-bag fishing in our freshwater ponds. Check out the MA Trout Stocking Report to scope out a pond near you.
Wherever you wind up, and whatever you choose to pursue — be safe, respect your catch, and have fun.