Cape Cod Fishing Report
The holiday weekend was hot—almost painfully hot. But hey, at least the wind laid down for an entire weekend for a change. Without those gusty conditions that we’ve grown so accustomed to, pleasure boaters were out in force and popular fishing spots were exponentially busier. Aside from the extra boat traffic, and the striper bite hitting a slight lull following some heavy east wind earlier this week, fishing has been pretty good across the board.
There are some large bluefin tuna east of Chatham and smaller bluefin south of the islands, working their way north. With a calm weekend forecast, it might be worth poking around for fun-size tuna on the midshore grounds south and west of Martha’s Vineyard.
The striper bite off Monomoy is holding up nicely when conditions aren’t slick calm and sweltering, but there are also bass beginning to slide up the back side of the outer Cape where they’re eating sand eels and mackerel. In Cape Cod Bay, schools of quality over-slot bass are still ping-ponging leftover squid back and forth, and more recently, some bunker have joined the party. That said, the pogie numbers are sparse. When squid, bunker, and bass are tough to find, trolling X-Raps or jigging around deep schools of sand eels have been the most productive techniques in the bay.
Shallow water fluke anglers continue to experience tougher-than-average fishing in the bays and salt ponds, although there keepers being caught by ardent jiggers who are drifting around the shoals in Vineyard and Nantucket sounds. Anglers targeting sea bass and scup are picking up fluke, too; however, the overwhelming consensus is that short fish dominate the catch. Of course, those who are making the long haul to Nantucket Shoals are seeing double-digit fluke come up, but even on those fabled fluke grounds there have been hot and cold streaks lately.
I’ve spent my free time searching for some better shore-based fluking and it is still a grind to say the least. There’s something contributing to the lack of quality fluke and general abundance in the backwaters, and I’m not quite sure what it is. Water temps are right where they need to be, and historically, early July has been prime time to catch fatties on light tackle in the shallows. Other shore and wading fluke fishermen I’ve spoken to have echoed the same sentiment—there just aren’t as many fish, especially keepers, in the areas where we are used to finding them this time of year. Maybe they’re just slow to come into range of shore anglers, because my friend Ryan Henry caught a near-limit of fluke last week while drifting bucktails and Gulp (and small diamond jigs) from his kayak over sharp contours in 20 to 30 feet of water in Nantucket Sound. Maybe it’s time I splash the kayak!
Shore-based shark fishing on the south side continues to attract anglers looking for a bit more of a battle than any fluke or striper could offer. There are a lot of folks doing it for good reason—brown sharks are all over the Sound-facing beaches. They pull hard, and it’s pretty laid back fishing (until a shark finds your bait). Of course, just because your group has a solid lineup of baits out doesn’t always equate to fast action. I did a bit of brown shark fishing with some friends in Nantucket Sound last night and while we didn’t receive a single take, the group down the beach from us fought what I can only imagine was a massive roughtail stingray that just would not quit. A couple of curious bumps on our eels kept us on the beach for hours, with hawk eyes on the lineup of glow-stick-tipped, sand-spiked rods, but we came up empty. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I like to think that for every couple of skunks, you’re paying dues for a night of fast-paced shark action in the near future.
It’s been a while since we’ve received any word of bonito locally, but there’s a wave of cocktail bluefish that just moved in and they’re kicking around off the Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands, where good numbers of sand eels are still present. Say a prayer that the blues either stick around (for once), or that bones begin to fill in over the next few weeks to fuel our summer inshore fishing. Water temperatures are warm, and good striper action is going to be very concentrated to areas of cooler water. The Elizabeths are giving up some boulder field bass for the few anglers who are out slinging live eels, but outer Cape Cod Bay, Monomoy, Provincetown, and hopefully, soon, the backside of the outer Cape, will be the best areas to focus on as stripers transition into midsummer patterns.
Here’s this week’s rundown from a few of our local shops and charters:
AJ Coots at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay told me there are some good fish to be had in the Cape Cod Canal, but it hasn’t been easy to convince the bass to eat artificials because there is so much bait in the ditch. Mackerel and some form of rain bait, either small sand eels or silversides, are plentiful right now. The chunk bite is still going on, he said. This morning, mackerel chunkers caught fish up to 40 inches. Drifting chunks with a light weight, like a rubber core sinker, to help the bait get just a little deeper is the ticket. Over in Cape Cod Bay, AJ said the bass bite off P-Town is still pretty good, but it seems like anglers who are trolling umbrella rigs are picking up more fish this week than those who are searching for surface action or a jig bite. Down south, the bluefin tuna bite getting good on the midshore grounds, and a lot of folks have been running to the canyons where the yellowfin fishing has been excellent.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said he’s had several customer reports of bluefish since the holiday weekend, with fish popping up between Hyannis and the Elizabeths. One customer ran into blues busting on sand eels up top at Horseshoe Shoal, and he caught a bunch on epoxy jigs, which is encouraging. Over off the Elizabeths Islands, Evan added, the striper fishermen who are pitching eels into the rocks had bluefish nipping off the tails of their snakes, but they were also able to catch some slot an over-slot bass. There are still a few fish kicking around in the rips, but eels along the islands are producing better results now, especially in low light just before dusk and after dark. Shore fishing for fluke has been decent in Falmouth, he said. His customers are catching a lot of shorts with a couple of keepers here and there. And there are still striper fishermen catching from shore at night, but they are going out of their way to avoid the shark fishermen on the beaches. He recommended focusing on areas with faster current and hard structure, and trying eels or soft plastic eel imitations, and minnow plugs. For the offshore crowd, Tuna Ridge is holding some bluefin and there are big rec-size fish east of Chatham.
Captain Ben Sussman of In The Net Sportfishing out of Osterville reported a good week of fishing in Cape Cod Bay, although he had to move around to find schools of bait and active fish. Ben said every day was something different—he found bass feeding on a variety of squid, sand eels, and bunker. Most of the time, he was able to use his binoculars to find birds and fish on top by casting Docs, but when the fish were eating squid, Ben noted that they would hit anything in front of them. When the bass went down, or he found them suspended mid column, his charters had the most success throwing Savage Gear Sand Eels and letting them sink to the level at which the fish were feeding. Live-lining bunker, he added, worked very well when they were able to locate large enough schools to snag and re-hook them. Despite a good mix of bait and fish being spread out, the captain relayed that it doesn’t seem like there are a ton of fish out there—you have to be willing to burn fuel to get away from the fleet and find your own fish. More than once, Ben and his charters encountered bass on the surface in unpredictable areas with nobody around. He’s got some availability coming up, so give him a call to get a date on the books this summer.
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From Martha’s Vineyard, Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters out of Vineyard Haven reported: “We enjoyed some nice warm weather over the holiday weekend. On Friday, I fished with Jeff Dallenbach and family, and we split our time between casting in the rips and jigging for fluke and sea bass. Jeff landed a chunky 8-pound bluefish and the group put together a nice catch of sea bass. On Saturday, Glenn Schorr and buddies opted to focus on fluke and sea bass, and paid off with a bunch of sea bass and a 23-inch fluke.”
Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said the Nantucket Shoals are fishing very well for fluke lately, but closer to home in the Sound, the bite continues to be pretty lackluster; there are good numbers of short fish around, but finding keepers is hard work. Black sea bass fishing in the Sound has been good, not great, but scup are rounding out the catch when the sea bass aren’t biting well. Out east at Monomoy, he said, the action has been up and down from day to day depending on the conditions. Bright, high sun and warmer weather and water is making it tougher to trick the fish, but the bass are still there. If they’re being picky, try downsizing your baits—opt for 5- and 6-inch topwater plugs that cast well, or stick to soft plastic squid imitations like 5-inch Albie Snax, rigged weightless. Striper fishing in Cape Cod Bay has slowed down a bit too, but anglers who are marking schools of sand eels and diamond jigging around them are still pulling in fish, albeit at a slower rate.
Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth reported: “Fourth of July weekend has come and gone, but fishing is still strong throughout the mid and outer-Cape. Sharkin’ remains strong off the sound side beaches. We expect action will improve with the SSW winds in the forecast for the next few days. Striper action is off and on at Monomoy. Pressured bass that have seen many a Doc sail over their heads in the past week are responding better to lightly weighted Fish Snax soft plastics and Nomad Jerksquids rigged on BKK Titanrider/Titandiver hooks. Bottom fishing is slow inshore, but still firing on all cylinders for fluke-focused customers and charters headed to Nantucket Shoals. Both inshore and shoals anglers will benefit from upsizing their offerings, using 6″ Pink Shine Gulp grubs to tempt trophy fluke instead of the abundant shorts in the sound. When not on the water, the Riverview crew is focused on stocking an array of new products that have just arrived. Noah and Dana have been busy tossing and testing the shop’s new line of Megabass lures! Come on in and check out our freshwater selection if the winds don’t permit a full send in the salt.”
Captain Matthew Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters out of Dennis said Cape Cod Bay is still fishing strong, and topwater plugs like the Hogy XL Dog Walker and Doc continue to be the top-producing lures for his charters. The topwater bite is mostly an early-morning thing, but there are occasional surface feeds even once the sun is up. Later in the day, his anglers are catching well on SP Minnows when the fish are more hesitant to hit surface plugs.
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters out of Chatham reported: “Week filled with dichotomy as crazy heat and calm seas gave way to east/northeast seas and unfishable conditions over the bar and down at Monomoy. The calm days and high sun through the fourth made the early morning tides super important to get a shot at fish. Midday was very challenging and bait made it a touch better. There are some signs of bass moving up the beach and to deeper water—summer patterns where they are keyed in on sand eels and macs. I spooked a few schools on the surface up there and in the mackerel grounds. Further east, pretty widespread tuna bite for giants. Definitely a nice push of fish and in a lot of areas. No smalls caught that I heard of. We will see how it shakes out tomorrow after a reboot on the grounds from this blow.”
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters out of Truro reported: “Alas, all good things must come to a close as this week’s heavy east winds seem to have stifled the long running topwater striped bass bite, which consisted of huge schools feeding on squid (as seen in this video from just before the blow). Time to pivot! We have our customers back on the bite now, mostly with vertically jigging green-tube-tailed diamond jigs or pink jigs, but with a returning SW wind we’re optimistic that the strong topwater bite will return. Given the only guarantee in life is change – our team is ready to keep tight lines for our clients! Be sure to check out our upcoming openings to experience the best of Cape Cod fishing.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Heading south and west of the Vineyard in search of bluefin is worth the effort this weekend. The forecast is mostly calm with some gentle wind out of the east/northeast… but the weatherman has been wrong before. Take whatever precautions you need to ensure a safe trip should the conditions take a turn for the worse.
A wave of bluefish moved in on the south side of Cape this week, but with the way this season has gone so far, there’s no telling whether or not they’ll stick around. If you’re bottom fishing in Vineyard or Nantucket sounds, keep an eye out for birds and breaking fish between Hyannis and the Elizabeths and keep some epoxy jigs/tins tied on and ready to rock. Striped bass anglers casting eels along the islands may have to deal with some interference from pesky blues.
A few stripers may be kicking around in the rips, like Middle Ground or Hedge Fence, but the better bet for some bass action is to head east to Monomoy or toward Billingsgate Shoal and Provincetown in the bay. It’d be wise to keep some smaller, finesse-style presentations on hand in case the bass are finicky. With mostly calm conditions in the forecast, fishing pressure will be high and the bass out east are already a bit picky according to captains like Drew Downing of Down East Charters, who spends plenty of time plying the waters off Chatham.
For those interested in fluke, check out steep contours and channel edges on the south side. Transition areas—where the bottom changes from sand to rock/gravel—near inlets can be productive and might yield a few more keepers than the sea bass and scup grounds, which are giving up mostly short fish.