Cape Cod Fishing Report
This spring has been strange. It was a slow, chilly start to the striper season with a lack of schoolies, weakfish never really appeared, bluefish are back but they’re mostly small, shortfin squid came in from the canyons to fill in the gaps where bunker and other baitfish are MIA, and sea bass fishing has been rather poor across the board. Now, we’re just beginning to settle into early summer patterns and things seem to be a bit more predictable and stable.
Bonito are here, and their numbers continue to rise with the increase of small baitfish like sand eels, spearing, and sea herring. Right on time for the summer solstice, stripers are slowly vacating the rips of Vineyard and Nantucket sounds as the action around Monomoy and the Outer Cape improves. Fluke are becoming much more prevalent on the edges of those same shoals in the Sounds, where they’re eating any remaining squid and sand eels. And more fluke are pushing into the backwaters with each passing day, although so far I’ve encountered mostly short fish. The outgoing tide has produced best for me, which is interesting because I usually find that the incoming brings faster action as fluke move into the bays.
While the bass fishing is becoming very hit or miss around the upper Cape and Martha’s Vineyard, it’s largely due to water temperature. The bait is still there, which bodes well for fluke, bonito, and bluefish, but as temps climb into the low 70s I’d expect the striper action to take a dive in the Vineyard Sound rips as the June full moon approaches. It’s a different story for striped bass anglers to the north and east. From eastern Cape Cod Bay up to Provincetown and down off Monomoy, the bite is good. Squid are still the main course, but mackerel, rain bait (likely sea herring), and small sand eels are fueling the fishing.
Surfcasters on the bayside beaches are catching bass in the 10- to 20-pound range when they move into the shallows to lounge and digest after dark. Meanwhile, the backside beaches remain quiet for the most part. Surfcasters should anticipate the outer beach bite picking up around the next moon at the end of the month.
If you’re looking for some action on the south side or in lower Buzzards Bay, bluefish in the 4- to 6-pound range are around. They are hanging on the flats and beaches mid Cape, taking tins and poppers, and they occasionally move into the inlets to blitz on bait during outgoing tides. Those areas are good places to cast bucktail jigs and teasers for fluke as well.
Here’s this week’s local rundown:
AJ Coots at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said the Canal has been fishing pretty well—it’s taking some time to recondition people to typical ditch fishing after the crazy squid action a few weeks back. That said, AJ mentioned there are still some squid kicking around in there, but they’re not beaching themselves in the rip rap. The guys who are jigging are seeing the most action from predominantly over-slot fish. Yesterday, there was some short-lived topwater action from 28- to 35-inch bass on top in the morning, but surface feeds have been pretty sporadic lately. AJ also mentioned that bonito are filling in; they popped up in Canal this week, and now they seem to have worked their way back into Buzzards Bay. It was a quick in and out appearance, but based on what some local charter captains and guides are seeing (and the amount of sand eels further south in the bay), it’s setting up to be another great early hardtail season just in time for summer.
Captain Ray Jarvis of Salt of the Earth Sportfishing out of Westport reported that he is still seeing bluefish, both big and small, on his recent trips. Striped bass fishing, he said, is good when they can find the bait, which is mostly sand eels—the bass and blues have been closely relating to them. The influx of sand eels has also equated to some great bottom fishing for fluke and sea bass, with weakfish in the mix. Ray even mentioned that they’re seeing more bonito recently; his charter on Sunday caught a couple of bones. Assuming the sand eels stick around, they should continue to fuel some good summer fishing locally. Give Ray a call to inquire about open charter dates.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth told me the rips are still holding fish, but not anything crazy quality and the numbers are definitely down. The striper bite is getting slower locally as water temps warm and the squid filter out. However, there are some fish holding around the Elizabeths and live eels and scup, fished deep, are doing the trick. The rips out east at Monomoy, he said, are really firing up. One of his customers made the run out there earlier this week and reported fish on nearly every cast. The bass bite is just as good in Cape Cod Bay, where the striper crowd continues to crush it on the troll, casting topwaters, and jigging plastics. Sea bass fishing, Evan said, is still frustrating for most people. A lot of the keepers seem to be holding deep further south, but there have been some keepers near Lucas Shoal. It’s been a much better year for bluefish though, from down off the Vineyard to the Cape beaches of Nantucket Sound. Right now you can troll SP Minnows and Rapalas or cast poppers off Wasque, or head toward Hyannis and cast poppers and tins over the flats for some reliable bluefish action.
From Martha’s Vineyard, Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters out of Vineyard Haven reported: “Last Thursday, I had a great trip with Kurt Lockwood and friends, and we lost count of the number of striped bass we landed. Soft plastics like Hogy and Albie Snax, as well as topwaters like the Jumpin’ Minnow, were all producing fish. After that, the bass in the rips seemed to suddenly get very fussy. We saw plenty of fish swirling and squid jumping, but could not get them to bite. On Friday, Joe Reynolds and son Jack worked the rips at Middle Ground and Hedge Fence very hard without a strike, but Joe finally connected with a bluefish at Wasque. We’ve been filling in during slack tides by jigging sea bass, and on Sunday, Eric Gustafson and family made a respectable catch of fluke, sea bass and scup to provide a fish taco dinner. It feels a week or two early for the fish to be settling into their summer patterns, but that feels like what is happening this week.”
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Captain Ben Sussman of In The Net Sportfishing out of Osterville has been bouncing around the south side from Vineyard Sound to Monomoy, and he’s had good success on bass in the rips from west to east. Ben and I made a long trip east early last Saturday morning and had stripers on pink or white XL Albie Snax, Super Snax, and Z-Man HeroZ up top, along with Super Strike Poppers when the tide began to slow. When the fish weren’t hitting topwater, we rigged Z-Man HeroZ and DieZel Minnowz on 1.5-ounce jigheads to stay in the game. Stripers to 35 inches were hitting our jigs when we were swimming or jigging them just off the bottom in the rips, while smaller bass in the low-20-inch range were more actively pursuing topwater presentations. While the bass bite is becoming somewhat spotty back in Vineyard Sound, he’s been able to put his charters on a few slot-size fish over the past week. Ben has also been into some small to mid-size bluefish on poppers and metals along the beaches of Nantucket Sound; they max out around 4 to 6 pounds, which is a great size for the table. On the bottom fishing front, he’s still finding keeper sea bass on diamond jigs or squid in about 40 feet of water, and scup are even shallower. He’s got some availability coming up, so give him a call to book a trip for stripers, sea bass, or both.
Captain Matthew Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters out of Dennis reported that he’s been running nothing but striped bass trips in Cape Cod Bay this week and the action has been steady. He’s had anglers of all ages and abilities aboard the boat and everyone has connected with quality stripers, mostly on topwater or casting plugs/plastics. Fluke fishing, he said, is picking up too, but he’s got nothing but bass charters booked going forward. Give Capt. Matt a call to get a striper trip on the books, or let him know you’re interested in fluking for a change of pace!
Noah Lamperti at Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth reported: “The Riverview crew has been busy keeping shelves stocked with topwater plugs and soft plastics; both have been crucial tools to capitalize on a better bass bite in the Monomoy rips. Fish have shown a particular preference for squid-profiled Fish Snax and Nomad Jerksquids. Riverview’s owner, Rob Delaney, has been keeping rods bent in Cape Cod Bay, capitalizing on an unusually strong winter flounder bite this season on clams and seaworms. Stripers are still being caught in numbers in the bay, but catches are lacking in size. The shops’ crew have struggled to catch any over-slot bass in the bay from the boat and beach lately. Fishing live eels after dark remains the best way to tie into a late-spring cow on either side of the Cape.”
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters out of Chatham reported: “Bass bite has been up and down this week with morning flood and midday ebb tides. The north running tide has brought waves of squid and birds to a lot of edges while the midday ebb tide has been much tougher to find consistent action. A lot of that might have to do with the challenge of high sun and some lighter winds on those nice days on the water this past week. Moving and covering water seems to be a formula to find a few fish. Hopefully this gets better as the tides will swap places this week and water temps seem perfect in the mid 50’s on the east side rips. Squid continue to be the dominant bait present.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters out of Truro reported: “The striped bass fishing remains strong off the outer Cape and for that we are very thankful! With the increasing boat traffic as we make our way closer to the start of summer, if the topwater bite gets spooked then switching to live bait has kept lines tight. For those who chance into a sunrise blitz with no pressure, the amber and olive Hogy dog walker lures or other bright pink topwater plugs are getting strikes. Late afternoon trips are still producing with vertical jigging (A17s and the like). The light-tackle bite has been great and while we are still catching mostly big fish, we are also starting to see a push of smaller bass in the mix. Be sure to spend time with Dad on the water for the upcoming Father’s Day weekend! We have one opening left for Sunday—check it out here.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
The weekend weather looks decent, but not great. Per usual, it’s going to be a windy one—at least until Sunday, when things calm down a bit. Depending on the wind direction, which will be shifting throughout the weekend, there are a few potentially productive plays to make.
Cape Cod Bay has been fishing well for stripers on squid, but there are loads of boats out there and the fish have reportedly been a bit more finicky as a result. If you go up there with only squid presentations like soft plastics and topwaters, you may be disappointed. Especially if you show up late morning. Prepare to jig metals/epoxies and soft plastics as a Plan B, and keep a few sabiki rigs and inline circle hooks handy for Plan C, which would be live-lining mackerel.
Monomoy is a safe bet for some consistent striper action, too. If you are taking a small craft out there, be especially cautious of the wind speed and direction. Be prepared for the worst, because the forecast has not been accurate lately. On what should have been a calm Saturday morning last week, Ben Sussman and I wound up battling 20-knot-plus northwest winds and 5 foot waves on the way in, which made for a long, uncomfortable, and sketchy ride. All that said, if conditions are cooperative and you head to Monomoy prepared to throw topwater and subsurface presentations that remotely resemble squid, you’re almost definitely going to catch some bass.
Bluefish and bonito are kicking around, from Buzzards Bay to Nantucket Sound, so don’t go out without packing a few epoxy jigs, tins, and small minnow plugs to cast at breaking fish.
Be safe out there, respect one another’s space, and enjoy some early summer fishing.