Race Point Beach #601

In the annals of Cape Cod surfcasting no beach is more storied or prominent than the long stretch of sand that runs from the Province Land Visitor Center to Race Point. With the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic running right along the beach and abundant bait both close to shore and farther out, this area is truly a striped bass magnet. For generations, anglers have used their four-wheel drive “beach buggies” to cruise along the long beachfront in search of bass feeding on the abundant sand eels. Permits for off road vehicles are required. But access by foot is also possible from the large parking area behind the Visitor Center. All standard stripers lures work here – some were in fact invented to fish these waters. Hogy Originals in all sizes, Double Wides, Skinnies, Jiggn’ Series, and Sand Eels will also take many fish and fly fishermen use sinking lines to fish the deep, rapid drop off right next to the shore. Bluefish will also be present and amazingly, there are even a few anglers who launch kayaks here and target bluefin tuna, which are often less than a mile off the beach. Bait fishermen like to spike their rods here too and fish chunk or live bait. In short, this terminating point of Cape Cod that sticks out into the Atlantic is a fisherman’s paradise. The only things that deter it from being perfect are the presence of seals that have figured out how to pull hooked fish off fishermen’s lines, water that can be clogged with weed after a strong on-shore breeze or storm, and the presence of biting insects in the summer. In spite of these annoyances, Race Point Beach has always been and will most likely always be the best place for surfcasting on Cape Cod.

Location: Northern end of Race Point Road.

Parking: Large paved lot, fee charged during the day in the summer, free and open all other times.

Access: Easy but a fairly long walk in soft sand is required to reach the water. Wading neither necessary nor advised due to the steep drop-off.