Cape Cod Fishing Report
The remainder of fall’s saltwater fishing opportunities continue to be mired by nor’easters and hurricanes, but anglers who are timing their outings between weather systems are being handsomely rewarded.
Excellent tautog fishing continued this week from the south side of Cape to Buzzards Bay, and a few keepers are being plucked from shore in the canal and Cape Cod Bay. However, cooler weather and dropping water temps have sent some tog to deeper structure as we head into November. Harvey Russell of My Brother Charters in Falmouth continued to fish deep this week and reported great results with a limit of keepers for a recent charter, and fast action with keepers to 23.5 inches on his personal rec. trips. Green crabs on jigs and rigs are getting the job done.
Most of the big tog being caught lately are coming from 50 to 70 feet of water, but according to my friend and captain of In The Net Sportfishing, Ben Sussman, there are some decent keepers being pulled from 15 to 25 feet of water in Buzzards Bay and Nantucket Sound. Unless you have keepers coming over the rail/gunwale off the bat, a good rule of thumb is to cover a variety of depths and types of structure until you find a steady bite. Consider small, untapped rock piles close to shore, or wrecks in deeper, open water, as early season spots such as Cleveland Ledge have likely been picked over.
As mentioned in last week’s report, hardtail action is dwindling, but the season isn’t finished yet. Although most anglers have shifted focus to tautog, or catching a few more stripers on their way out, false albacore and bonito are still available for the few who are putting the time in to search. OTW’s Jimmy Fee is one of those few, and he managed to intercept a big albie earlier this week while casting epoxy jigs from shore.
It’s getting a little too chilly to splash kayaks at daybreak in search of blitzing albies and bonito, but anglers who still have boats in the water would be wise to pack their epoxy jigs, metals, and small minnow plugs in case some late fall speedsters pop up while tog fishing. There were reports of albies in Vineyard Sound, and Nantucket Sound between the Cape and Vineyard late last week. In recent years, we’ve been treated to bonito blitzes into mid November. Here’s hoping the impending storm isn’t the nail in the coffin for our hardtail season.
Stripers are thinning out, but there are resident fish in the backwaters beginning to hunker down for the winter and schools of migratory bass still coming through in waves to pick off the remaining peanut bunker and silversides—of which there are plenty—being flushed out of estuaries on the south side. Adult bunker have also been moving down the outer Cape beaches, and with the full moon on November 5 fast approaching, there’s potential for some great late-season bass action for shore and surf fishermen. Even if the bunker bypass your area, not all hope is lost for some November striper action. Soon, young-of-the-year river herring will be dropping out of the kettle ponds and our populations of resident bass, along with small migratory schoolies that some fishermen deem “death rats”, will be waiting in the backwaters and tight to beaches to pick them off as they tumble from the rivers out to sea. Although our striper fishery is not in a good place, we can also reasonably expect smaller schools of late migratory bass to push through the Canal up until Thanksgiving. Between tautog, stripers, and some late season hardtails, there’s still plenty of action in the salt as we head into the eleventh hour.
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With boats being pulled, tackle shops shifting to off-season hours, and yet another autumn storm moving through, reports are very slim this week. Here’s what’s happening as we head into the weekend:
AJ Coots at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said not too many people have been fishing this week, which is somewhat expected with the weather we’re having, but there are bass, bonito, and even some mackerel in the Canal still. Bonito are not as plentiful as they have been in recent weeks, and they’re noticeably more lethargic. He mentioned that most of the bonito are being caught on Albie Snax and soft plastics, like flukes, rather than your standard epoxy jigs. Slower presentations seem to be the key lately. On the striper front, the daily canal casters are catching on a mix of topwater and jigs. This week, most of the fish landed have been slot-size and under, with topwaters like pencil poppers and Little Neck poppers most effective around first light. Buzzards Bay remains a hotspot for tautog, he added, but the west end of the Canal is giving up some shorts and keepers as well. The action has been steady enough that they’ve sold through every bushel of crabs they’ve gotten. AJ said they will try to get more crabs for the weekend, and if they can, it will probably be their last batch of the season.
From the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reported: ““Mashpee Mike” LaRaia & “Paulie the Painter” Gravina fished together 3 times last week with the best day producing 9 fat striped bass between them. Most were over slot, reeled in from the bottom with white & green paddletails heavy enough to accommodate the strong east tide. Glenn “Lucky Cigar” Lindsey got into a nice bonito bite with a small Kastmaster and a 3.5-ounce Striper Gear green mack Shaddy Daddy, bringing 10 hardtails to the rocks. “Bull” MacKinnon was good for some slots and a couple of bonito with his 4-ounce Wally’s white pencil and Rob “Fishsticks” Pesa had his 6-ounce white Spro bucktail with a red Fat Cow jig strip working deep into an east rising tide, landing 6 stripers from 30 to 38 inches. The 30 inch provided a fresh fish dinner for the Pesa family that night. US Air Force combat veteran Harold Skelton, founder of Fishing for the Mission 22, announced a new Veteran Rod Building Clinic with funding for 4 Veterans per month for the 3-day event. Upon completion, America’s heroes get to keep the finished product!”
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said the striper action in town was good at the tail end of last week, with multiple boats catching 10 or more fish in short order off the south side in Vineyard Sound. That bite has since settled; he heard from those customers that there wasn’t even a sign of bass the next day, which is somewhat expected as the fish continue to march south. Tautog fishing is the best thing going right now; Evan said there’s been some good fish taken in 20 to 40 feet of water in lower Buzzards Bay, from West Falmouth to the Weepeckets. He also mentioned that there are still some bonito kicking around off the Vineyard, so if there were an area to fish for bass, bonito, or blackfish this weekend, it’d be the waters around the Elizabeth Islands.
Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters out of Vineyard Haven reported that he fished for tautog on the last nice weather day (Sunday), and while the action was a bit slower than other recent trips, he managed a personal limit of keepers up to 19 inches. The skipper said he’s planning to get out again as soon as the wind lays down, and he is available for tog charters through November. Give him a ring to book a trip this month!
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Our saltwater options are slowly but surely diminishing. Good tautog fishing should continue through the month of November before the fish slide further offshore and angler participation drops off a cliff. We’ll still be feeling the wrath of the passing storm through Saturday, but Sunday’s conditions look great if you’re hoping to sail for some tautog fishing. The water will be a bit churned up, and even though tautog are visual predators, I believe they rely heavily on scent to find baits near their craggy quarters. The biggest challenge for tog anglers this weekend will be finding enough crabs to make a trip worthwhile. Reach out to your nearest tackle shop in advance and secure your baits ASAP.
The best bet for stripers this weekend is the Cape Cod Canal, or your local salt marsh/salt pond. There are still fish kicking around back there, and if you come up empty, take a gander on the nearest beach, preferably where the wind will be in your face. It may be unpleasant, but stripers will be looking for any advantage over their prey as they continue to migrate out of our rapidly cooling waters, and rough surf grants them that advantage. If topwater isn’t getting it done, consider casting metals, bucktails, paddletails—lures that can be worked slowly, and lower in the water column. In Woods Hole, the water is just below 60 degrees, which is still in that magic window of 55 to 65 degrees when striped bass tend to feed most aggressively. If you instead opt for the Cape Cod Canal, pack a few soft plastics with your metals, jigs, epoxies and striper plugs, because bonito are still ripping around.
Of course, there’s always freshwater bass, pickerel, and trout, but even in the ponds it will be challenging to cast and maintain contact with your lures in such strong winds. Check out the MA Trout Stocking Report here.
The worst of the storm will hit us on Friday, with wind gusts to almost 60 mph. If you’re taking the kids trick-or-treating, leave the umbrella at home. Have a safe and happy Halloween and thanks for reading.