Cape Cod Fishing Report
Is it safe to declare the fall run over on Cape Cod? It feels like the last few migratory stripers have vacated the bays and salt ponds, and I don’t know many folks that are plying the beaches these days. But that does not mean there aren’t fish out there.
Still, tales of epic late-season blitzes and outer beach bites rattle around in the back of my mind, battling the voice that says, “It’s too cold. I’m too tired. The fish are gone.” With each passing tide cycle, the odds of an encounter with one more migratory bass diminish… and then I remember just how much bait there is around Cape Cod right now.
Many local harbors and marinas remain loaded with small silversides and peanut bunker. Juvenile river herring are dropping out of their sweetwater dwellings into the streams and, subsequently, into the bays and salt ponds. Extra-large squid have been showing up in the east end of the Cape Cod Canal at night. There are plenty of tinker mackerel in the east end, too (I know because I have already resorted to catching them for fun). And the bycatch of tommy cod, harbor pollock, sea herring, and whiting continues. I introduced one of my friends from Long Island to mackerel jigging last Saturday morning, and we pulled in a few full trees with herring in the mix last Saturday morning.
It may be downright silly to hold onto hope for another small wave of stripers, but the point is if they’re out there, there is plenty for them to eat on their way through our neighborhood. So, if you find yourself down at the big ditch fishing for macks or tog, just remember it’s never a bad idea to bring a striper rod.
There are resident bass still actively feeding on those peanuts, silversides, and herring in the backwaters, but tautog fishing is the main draw in the salt. With water temperatures hovering around 55°F “out front”, you should be able to catch some tog from shore, although many will likely be short of the minimum keeper size. If tog chowder is on the mind, there’s still plenty of time to get out there on a friend’s boat or a charter. The Helen H’s Captain John & Son II continues to sail (weather permitting) for tog in Nantucket Sound every weekend until the end of the month.
Tog can be found across a wider range of depths at this point in the season. From a boat, it’d be wise to focus on structure in 40- to 60-foot depths—and possibly even deeper—not only because dropping water temperatures will have the tog slowly heading offshore, but because many shallow pieces have been picked over. That said, Alex at Red Top Sporting Goods has been catching keeper tog from shore in 10 to 25 feet of water. And Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Fishing Charters told me he’s been into keepers tight to shore over in Buzzards Bay, but catching them requires finding smaller, less obvious pieces of structure. Evan Eastman from Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said people are still catching tog off the jetties and piers, too. By all accounts, the tog bite since last weekend’s storm has been excellent from shore and boat, shallow and deep, so let’s hope that’s the case again after this weekend’s blow.
Speaking of good post-storm bites, trout fishing in the kettle ponds was at its best since the stocking trucks made their rounds—at least in my experience. Heavy rainfall over a short period of time equals a lot of runoff carrying insects and worms into the water, which really had the rainbows chewing. On top of that, there are plenty of juvenile river herring keeping the stockers well-fed in a handful of ponds. The water quality could have been better, but a bit of suspended dirt and sediment is expected after a storm like we had last Friday. Despite the cloudy water, fish were all over the shallows and feeding aggressively on the wind-blown shoreline. As pleasant as a glass-calm morning on the pond can be, the best trout fishing always seems to be when you have the wind right in your face. 1/4-ounce spoons and Z-Man Micro Finesse baits caught all of our fish. We even caught a couple smallmouth bass, which was a nice surprise.
Following last weekend’s storm, the largemouth bass bite was good, not great. A lot of smaller fish have been active since we received some much needed rainfall, and they seem to be beating the biggins to the bait. Surprisingly, wake baits are still an option despite the cool-down this week. I dropped two decent fish one night earlier this week. The daytime bite has been a bit more productive, with large soft swimbaits, glide baits, chatterbaits, and jerkbaits responsible for most of the catching. The only issue with daytime bass fishing is you’re likely to encounter plenty of pickerel. Find a pond without a slime dart population, and you’ll be in good shape to catch numbers—and maybe even a 5-pound-plus bass—during the day, when the water is warmest.
Alex at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said tog fishing has been very good from shore lately in some rather unassuming spots. He’s been he’s catching keepers between 18 and 22 inches on a 7’3″ MH Jigging World Night Ranger paired with a Tsunami Forged 4500 spinning reel to get the fish up and out of the structure fast. He encouraged readers of the report to scope out their own local spots, whether it be a pier, a jetty, or a nearby rock pile that you can cast or pitch a jig into. Alex also said that sabiki rigs continue to catch all sorts of stuff down at east end of the Canal, including mackerel, sea herring, harbor pollock, tommy cods, whiting, and small bonito. Once night falls, the squid are coming out to chew beneath the lights. The squid bite, he said, is decent because they’re coming through in waves which makes for spotty action. Either everyone is hooking them at once or nobody is. However, some of the squid are extra large. There were also rumors of a few schoolies caught on top in the ditch this week, but those reports were unconfirmed, Alex said. The shop is already gearing up for their Black Friday Sale, which begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts through the weekend, so mark your calendars if you’re looking for some great holiday gift deals.
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Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Fishing Charters out of New Bedford told me that when the weather permits, tautog fishing has been great. Most other boats are off the water now, so there is much less fishing pressure and the tog chew hard this time of year. The best day of tog fishing he ever had was on a Black Friday, so he is confident that they will continue to chew through the end of the month, maybe longer—especially with all the mild weather we’ve had until this week. Surprisingly (to me at least), Cam is still finding good action in less than 30 feet of water, which he attributes to water temps hovering in the mid to high 50s. He’s found that the deeper he goes, the more sea bass interference there is. The skipper plans to continue fishing shallow as long as he can find keeper-size fish on smaller pieces of structure that haven’t been picked over. He’s got some availability through the end of this month, so head to his website and give him a shout to get a date on the books.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth told me it’s been a surprisingly busy week, especially with Veteran’s Day yesterday. A lot of people were out fishing before the weekend brings more foul weather. He’s sold a ton of crabs lately and according to the customers buying them, tog fishing is very good in Buzzards, down the Elizabeths, and in parts of Nantucket Sound. No surprise there. What did surprise me were the multiple reports of bonito he received. One customer ran into them blitzing down off Woods Hole and relayed to Evan that they were fired up, coming clean out of the water. He wound up catching only one, but another customer spotted fish blitzing further east off the south side of Falmouth, which also appeared to bonito but could have been small striped bass. The big question is: will those few bonito stick around through the nor’easter, or is this the end?
Evan also mentioned that schoolie stripers have been active in the local salt ponds. Just a couple days ago, his buddy caught a handful of fish on small, lightweight metals, which is a good way to match the silversides, juvie river herring, and peanuts that are still around. Freshwater fishing, he added, is a big draw right now too. Trout fishing in the ponds has been good since last weekend’s rain, and the largemouth bass bite is holding up nicely as temperatures fall. Swing by the shop after this storm rolls through to pick up some green crabs or freshwater gear.
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Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said the striper season ain’t over yet. At the shop, they’re still hearing of fish pushing down the beaches just south of Boston, and some of their regular customers are catching schoolies on the south side of Cape in the Sound, and in the backwaters. Togging in Nantucket Sound, he added, has been great. There are a lot of short fish around, but if you pick through them there are keepers to be had. Even the guys fishing from the jetties are catching tog this week. Meanwhile, the kettle ponds are fishing very well for stocked trout, and largemouth bass have gotten a little tougher to catch but should be willing to hit jerkbaits, chatterbaits, jigs, and even larger soft swimbaits.
Noah Lamperti from Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth reported: “With the cooler weather, saltwater fishing is slowing down in the mid-Cape area. Tautog are still a viable target for boat-based anglers in Nantucket Sound, but short fish abound. According to shop staff Mike, the Elizabeth Islands and Buzzards Bay are a much better bet for a bigger tog. Striper fishing is also beginning to subside, but shore-based anglers are dialing in a holdover bass bite in deeper backwater estuaries along the sound side. The shop is still well-stocked with both green crabs for tog, and live eels for striper if you’re not yet ready to hang up the saltwater sticks!
“For consistent and fun fishing, freshwater trout is tough to beat this time of year. Freshly stocked trout from this fall’s stocking rounds are hammering Berkeley PowerBait, shiners, spoons, and spinners. Bigger, holdover browns can be caught in the deeper kettle ponds on the shop’s selection of jointed Rapalas and jerkbaits. Our selection of Megabass Vision 110 Jr. jerkbaits are especially effective for browns this time of year. Jerkbaits, as opposed to bait and metals, are an effective multi-species presentation that can catch any species of trout, smallmouth, and largemouth swimming in the Cape’s ponds as the waters cool.”
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
There might be a bit of residual chop from the nor’easter on the Sound or the Bay this Saturday and Sunday, but if last weekend’s storm was any indication, the tog bite shouldn’t suffer whatsoever. I’d venture so far as to say the tog bite has actually improved since last weekend. The fish seem to be much more spread out across different depths. Check out small pieces of shallow structure and if they are plagued with short life or no life at all, move along to deeper water,
Striped bass fishing in the salt ponds and back bays is not a bad choice this weekend either. Silversides and killies are going to be the main drivers of backwater schoolie action, but peanuts and juvenile river herring are also on the menu.
The east end of the Cape Cod Canal is a good place to be this week if you’re into squid and mackerel, or if you need to amuse a few kids with some micro pollock and whiting for a few hours. Otherwise, freshwater fishing for trout, bass, panfish, and pickerel is the best bet for some consistent action.