Cape Cod Fishing Report
This week’s impending nor’easter has put a bit of a damper on the albie and bonito fishing for boaters, but it’s been an excellent week for surfcasters chasing striped bass in the slop.
Conditions have been building for 3 days and still, the northeast wind hasn’t yet reached peak gusting strength. It looks like we’ll be getting the worst of it on Saturday, when it could be blowing up to 60 mph. It could be downright dangerous (and nearly impossible to cast) in those surf conditions, but for another night or two, shore-based striper fishermen should get after it on the bayside beaches and in the Cape Cod Canal.
Before the blow, we were seeing a typical late-season push of “lost” summer exotics inshore. Small blue runners, jack crevalle, and mahi all were caught along the south side of Cape over the past week by anglers casting epoxy jigs to blitzing albies, bonito, and bluefish. The craziest part is how close to shore they were caught. I’ve heard of mahi moving in close to Nobska Light, but I’ve never actually seen or caught one—until last weekend. Through the grapevine, I received a photo of a chicken mahi caught just outside Woods Hole. Pretty cool. But don’t get too excited; any mahi that had moved in from the wind farms to our south have been blown right back out by these nearly Gale force winds.
Albies should stick around, though. It was just starting to get good—or at least better—when Mother Nature threw us a curveball. I, for one, love a fall nor’easter, but I’m sure albie fanatics might disagree. I just haven’t been chasing hardtails like I typically do. With a vacation coming up, I’m afraid the fall run is going to fly by all too fast, so I’ve spent most of my free time in wetsuits and waders on the hunt for bass after dark. Judging by reports from my fellow employees and friends, and tackle shops and charters, the albie bite remains sporadic throughout Nantucket Sound. They’re bouncing around quite a bit, but seem to return to areas from that historically produce good albie fishing. The south side of upper Cape, the Vineyard, mid Cape and lower Cape have all had their moments, and there’s still plenty of bait around. Whether the bite will pick up where it left off before the storm remains to be seen. This weather is sure to shake things up, so be prepared to go hunting around for albies if zones that produced pre-storm are devoid of activity. If the fish aren’t showing up top, search for clean water, followed by birds and bait.
Bonito were a bit more fired up earlier this week, with reports of steady action and more cooperative fish from mid Cape to the mainland side of Buzzards Bay. However, it has quieted down since the wind picked up. The better move this week is to give the albies and bones a break. Spend some time casting for striped bass in the backwaters and along the beaches on the south side, in the bigger surf in Cape Cod Bay, or at the Canal.
The Cape Cod Canal is fishing well recently. A massive body of fish pushed in on Tuesday night and the action carried into Wednesday. Those are the same bass that had been stacked in Cape Cod Bay earlier in the week. For a couple of nights, surfcasters enjoyed a solid bite on bass that ranged from schoolie size to 30 pounds. What remains to be seen is whether those fish will push all the way through the ditch or hang tight and ride out the storm. We’re all hoping for the latter.
From a surfcaster’s perspective, Friday and Saturday are going to be downright gnarly in the best way possible—aside from some potentially serious coastal flooding. We’ve got a cocktail of epic fall run striper fishing conditions:
- autumnal equinox just passed and temps are steadily dropping
- nor’easter creating excellent (but hazardous) surf conditions
- full moon on Saturday = stronger, amplified tide swings
A few years ago, the first day of fall was on a Saturday and lined up with a nor’easter, which resulted in excellent striper fishing on the bayside beaches. The surf stood tall and dirty, but the bass were feeding on peanuts so aggressively that water quality didn’t matter. I’ve already got a good case of bass thumb from the past several nights, and now that On The Water’s StriperFest is officially canceled due to safety concerns, I’m planning on resuming the striper hunt on Saturday. I encourage you to do the same, but exercise caution and don’t put yourself in any dicey situations.
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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 said there has been off and on action in the Canal since last Thursday with fish to 30 pounds. Some days have been a jig bite, and other days the fish are crushing topwaters in the morning. The west end has been productive, but fish are being caught from end to end—you just have to intercept schools as they move through. Yesterday was very good in the west end. A late night jig bite turned into a swimming plug and topwater bite by day that carried into the early afternoon, and AJ and the Red Top crew are expecting more fish to move into the ditch over the weekend, assisted by full moon tides and heavy northeast winds on Saturday. There haven’t been any bonito or blues around lately, so jigging soft plastics should be a safe bet. All of the cocktail blues seem to have pushed out into upper Buzzards Bay. Swing by the shop this weekend if you’re headed to the canal.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth told me it’s pretty much the same story as last week on the inshore front. Striper fishing has been much better locally; his customers that are fishing from shore are catching quality stripers on eels. Albie fishing, he said, was very good in Vineyard Sound over the past week until the wind kept boats tied up at the docks. However, the albies are within casting distance along the south side beaches at times and the feeds have been sustained because there is no boat pressure on them. If you’re fishing from the beach, you’ll have the wind at your back assisting casting distance. In other news, Evan has green crabs at the shop for anyone interested in tog fishing after the blow. The tog bite has been ok so far—a little slow to start, but the action should be much better once the wind lays down and the water cleans up a bit. Stop in this weekend to pick up some plugs and jigs for the rest of the fall run.
From Martha’s Vineyard, Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters out of Vineyard Haven reported: “There’s been a lot of windy weather since my last report, so I only have one charter to report on. I took father and son Gareth and Evelyn Ross out fishing on Sunday. Since I picked them up in Falmouth, we opted to search the south shore of the Cape and since we started at around the high tide, the plan was to head east and ride the falling tide back to the west. We stopped where we saw some birds working off a nearby beach. The birds were clearly on bait, but we only saw some very small splashes to indicate feeding fish. Evelyn landed a small jack, which we later identified as a blue runner, before things went completely quiet. We then scouted the Cape shore from Waquoit to Nobska without seeing any further signs of feeding fish. From there we went through Woods Hole to explore Buzzards Bay and marked plenty of bait schools on the sonar, but no signs of surface action. We jigged a few small sea bass and scup and one keeper sea bass before the rain sent us back toward Falmouth.
The other news I can report this week is that I have set out my green crab traps and harvested my first catch of green crabs of the season on Monday. So I am ready to start tog fishing. I’ll be booking tautog charters from now until mid-November.”
- Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain on Cape Cod & the Islands
From Martha’s Vineyard, Stephen D’Angelo at Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown reported: “The fishing has really started to come together over the past week, so it’s a bit of a bummer to have a Nor’easter bearing down on us just as things are getting hot. Bonito are still around, but they’ve been getting picky. Small white flies have been the ticket when you can get them to eat.
The albie fishing has picked up substantially. Fish are pushing bait right into the shoreline, and we’ve even seen albies nearly beach themselves chasing bait. Natural-colored Albie Whores have been working particularly well. The incoming tides in the harbors have been especially productive, creating some excellent opportunities for shore anglers. With the albies pushing bait so close to land, anglers fishing from beaches, jetties, and harbor shorelines have a good shot at getting in on the action.
The storm will shake things up, but it could also push new bait and fish into the area. With the amount of life around right now, we’re optimistic that once things settle down, the fall fishing could really hit its stride.”
Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth reported: “While winds are howling across Cape Cod this week, albies, bonito, and striped bass are biting when you can get to them from the beach or boat! Cape Cod Bay and the far eastern beaches of Nantucket Sound have held schoolie to slot-sized bass for the past week. They’ll hit any smaller presentation fished from shore, but Fish Snax soft plastics, small metal lips, and needlefish have been top producers.
The real news that has invigorated our crew and customers comes on the albie and bonito front. The funny fish have kicked their feeds into high gear this week; customers are catching both albies and bones with more regularity than at any point so far in the season. Shop regular Chip Rich got into a fantastic bonito bite last weekend from the boat, and many others followed suit. Unfortunately, this weeks’ NE winds will put a damper on any boat fishing in the short-term; we can only hope that when the wind subsides, the fish will still be biting! Meanwhile, you can stop in the shop anytime to check out our well-stocked wall of epoxy jigs, small soft plastics, and anything else you’ll need to target your PB albie or bone when the weather clears.”
Captain Matt Dempsey of Salt Reaper Charters out of Dennis said he’d been seeing more normal fall run activity prior to the blow this week. Fishing closer to shore with Docs and, when the fish are hanging subsurface, needlefish, has been very effective for striped bass and bluefish during his recent charters in Cape Cod Bay. Down in Nantucket Sound, his charters were throwing epoxy jigs and Albie Snax for cooperative bonito, including a jumbo—one of the biggest Capt. Matt has ever seen. Lure color, he said, has not been a concern as much lately for the bonito. He’ll be back to fishing next week as conditions settle, so give him a call to inquire about open dates after the storm.
Captain Drew Downing of Down East Charters out of Chatham told me he pulled the boats (temporarily) and got out of dodge for some vacation time to ride out the nor’easter. He’ll be back to running charters sometime next week once sea and weather conditions settle, and will continue to run trips for albies, bonito, and striped bass until late October. Give him a call to inquire about his end-of-season availability.
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters out of Truro reported: “Right before northeast winds took over the Cape Cod fishing grounds, we were excited to have a stretch of trips with recreational-sized bluefin tuna activity! The first consistent sign of these football tuna settling into our area, as multiple trips landed fish in the 40- to 50-inch range. Also fantastic was the striped bass returning to our area, reducing the need for long ocean runs. Recent trips produced keepers on live bait and diamond jigs along with some really big fish, including a 47 incher landed aboard Reel Deal with Captain Brady Rice. It would be wonderful to pick up right where we left off once the seas lay back down early next week. Either way, our Captains are ready to scout and find more tight lines before the season is out. Check out our upcoming openings here.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
If you’re hitting the surf for stripers over the next 4 days, bring your big water plugs and jigs. Heavy paddletails, bucktails, darters, bottle plugs, bottle darters, needlefish, and metal lips that can dig—like a well-made Danny, Donny, or Surfster—along with a minnow plug or two, should cover most scenarios. And if it’s daytime, pack a few sinking Super Strike Little Neck Poppers. Best topwater plug for nor’easter conditions (in my opinion).
Speaking of sinking plugs—remember those sinking SP Minnows you accidentally bought 3 years ago and never really needed because everyone fishes the floating models? Well, now’s the time to pack them in your bag. They punch through the wind like a heavy epoxy jig and won’t blow out as easily as a floating SP in turbulent, roiled surf.
With StriperFest 2026 canceled, I will be out and about looking for a nor’easter striper bite and I encourage you to do the same. Enjoy the first storm of the fall run, and above all else, use good judgement. Don’t put yourself or others—including rescuers—in a dangerous situation over some fish. Have fun, be safe, and go catch ’em up.