Cape Cod Fishing Report: 5/21/2024
Even though I know that the squid will show up in the rips in Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds, when it seems like it is late getting going, I can get a little antsy as Memorial Day weekend approaches.
With some trips on the horizon, I opted to check out Middle Groundthis morning with Gene Bourque and made plans to check out the same area on the opposite tide – it was east or incoming this AM – in the afternoon with Gerry Fine. We made a few casts in Woods Holewith an amber Charter Grade Popper and had a few half-hearted swings and misses, but the incoming/east current was already picking up which typically requires a changeover to a subsurface presentation, whether jigging deep with wire in the navigation channels or using the same approach if you are familiar with the deeper lanes that weave in and around the numerous rocks and reefs. If you prefer to use a dedicated jigging outfit while drifting as opposed to trolling to cover the water in these channels or lanes between the rocks and reefs, the pre-rigged Hogy Pro Tail Paddle or a Hogy Original paired with a jighead are good options at this time of year when the bass are feeding mainly on squid, small scup, or other baitfish that have a meatier profile than say a sand eel. A key is using the right amount of weight for the depth of water and speed/strength of current. A more “precise” way to fish specific areas where fish hold on structure, consider using a Structure Jigging Approach or the Search & Drop Approach using the same lures as you would when covering lots of water in hopes of finding fish as opposed to targeting them because you are familiar with fish holding structure or you have marked it on your electronics. If you prefer to use a Boulder Fields and Reefs Casting Approach, which the Hole is designed for, you can used either lighter Hogy Pro Tails or Slow Tails or the Hogy Charter Grade Slider if you prefer to work deeper with plugs.
As it always does, fish feeding on squid or other bait on the shoals improves my mood and ups my confidence and the rips towards the Vineyard had plenty of both. On the turn to the east, we were the only boat towards the west end of MG and we caught some fish on the amber CGP, but ultimately Gene opted for one of this favorite Hogy designs, the seven-inch Original. We could see the bass and squid – along with the gulls gathered above – and after a few empty casts with the bone color, he switched over to the amber given that the plug of that color drew a number of hits. It was a good move and soon we were into a solid pick of fat, healthy stripers, including a couple in the slot. Although I am a big fan of unweighted soft plastics on offset worm or swimbait hooks, Gene made the wise decision to go with a lightly weighted swimbait hook which did the trick and kept the lure swimming correctly, especially when the wind was up early on and the rip was a bit gnarly.
Amy Wrightson at the Sports Port in Hyannis told me that a couple of anglers told her that they had a solid trip fishing rips over towards the Vineyard earlier this week, with good numbers of bass up to and just over the slot, along with some big bluefish; no specific location was given nor what lures or techniques were used, but Amy got the sense that they were fishing in the sounds as opposed to the waters out towards Wasque.
In any case, it was good to hear about some bluefish being caught as there hasn’t been any news about them from areas – both shore and boat – where they would have typically arrived by this point.
When you’re talking about the rips in the sounds in May and June, the subject of squid is often talked about since Loligo Pealeii – most often adult specimens that have moved in to spawn – drives a large part of the action in these waters. The one thing I have noticed over the last several years is the lack of draggers seeking squid from Falmouth to Mashpee, with more and more commercial and recreational boats found as you move east from Cotuit to Hyannis.
Amy and one of her most dedicated workers, Morgan, got the chance to fish off Hyannis last week on a boat rigged with the kind of lights you need for successful squid jigging at night, which is when the action has definitely been the best. They did well, catching over 100 pounds between the two of them; Amy said the captain was great, offering helpful suggestions on different ways of jigging and encouraging them to switch the colors of their squid jigs when things slowed down. Overall, pink proved to be the best producing color with the rig featuring a leader with a couple of dropper loops that facilitated changing jigs that were pre-rigged on leaders with their own loops, that could be connected loop to loop. Since they were fishing in about 20-feet of water, they only used a fairly light dipsey sinker to get their rigs down to the level where the squid were most prevalent – which is generally towards the bottom from what I gathered.
Amy added that there weren’t many boats in the area they were fishing, but on the way back they saw a larger concentration of boats off of Craigville and a friend told her that the fishing was still good at the beginning of the week, again with the night bite best.
That said, yesterday my nephew Frank reported that there were lots of boats between Cotuit and Osterville that appeared to be fishing for squid later in the afternoon, but he couldn’t tell how they were doing – but you’d assume that if there were that many doing the same thing that they had found something worth putting the time in.
While Frank and his friend Tyler, along with Frank’s five-year-old son, Wes, were out looking for sea bass in the afternoon around Lone Rock and then Wreck Shoal, with the former quiet and the latter holding mostly small fish and a couple just over the legal minimum, Amy and her friend and another member of the Sports Port’s staff, Christian Cook, put some time in checking out Collier’s that morning. They caught lots of throwbacks, including a number of fish just shy of the legal limit, along with a few over the 16.5-inch minimum – and remember that the bag limit is four fish per angler during the open recreational season which started this past Saturday, May 18, and runs through September 3.
Water temperatures in the sound this morning ranged anywhere from 54 to 57 during our morning trip and the word is that it is still cool inside the backwaters as well, with no lack of bass up to the high end of the slot – which is LESS than 31-inches – both in the early morning and again from dusk on. As seems to be the case in many areas, the fish appear to be feeding on very small bait, with pink or amber soft plastics worked on the surface or plugs such as the Hogy Surface Eraser in the same colors a good place to start.
I wish I could tell you that there are bluefish being caught from the southside beaches, but I would never mislead you. I can tell you, however, that Amy spoke to one of her customers who fishes Barnstable Harbor regularly in the early morning and he had a very good trip yesterday fishing topwater plugs such as spooks. The fish ranged from the cookie cutter mid to high 20-inch range as well as handful of larger 30+-inchers. Obviously, the shift in wind direction to the south/southwest is welcome news for folks who fish Cape Cod Bay.
