Cape Cod Fishing Reports

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Latest Reports

Cape Cod Fishing Report: 5/24/2024

May 25, 2024
By saltycape

Cape Cod Fishing Report: 5/24/2024

I fished a number of shoals in Nantucket Sound between Falmouth and the Vineyard today, as well as inside Woods Hole, but the action was very disappointing. I don’t know if it was just me, but the currents seemed surprisingly sluggish and it took much longer for the rips to set up. Ultimately, I was so desperate to explain the pick of small fish on both poppers and soft plastics that I fell back on the old saw about things being slow the day after a full moon because the fish were feeding all night. On the other hand, I did see a charterboat out of Falmouth stemming the tide down around Nobska and dropping wire lines back into and beyond the white water line with some good results, so I am once again reminded that I have to mix things up as you can see Capt. Mike do in his video on the Hogy website titled Fishing for Striped Bass at Nobska Point in which he demonstrates how switching to a subsurface approach – in this case with the Hogy Thumper Jig – can put you into bass that aren’t on the surface pushing squid or other baitfish.

If I recall correctly, in that taping the fish were apparently feeding on herring, which I don’t recall being in the typical May rip scenario, but a discussion I had with Doug Asselin at Dick’s Bait & Tackle in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard reminded me that no matter what fishing journals and predictions based on past experience may suggest, the reality is that every season is different. In this case, Doug said that in the 17 years that he has been working at the shop – and folks who have been fishing the Vineyard a lot longer than that – he has never seen mackerel linger for more than a month in pretty much every harbor, both down island like Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and Vineyard Haven as well as up island inside Menemsha. Owner Steve Morris said he remembers catching tinkers inside Oak Bluffs when he was a kid, but Doug said it was possible to catch mackerel of all sizes pretty much any day you wanted to, from boat or shore. I mentioned a while back that I ran into some microbait down along the Elizabeths that I could not identify and Doug said the mackerel were feeding on something very similar and I sure would like to know what it is.

Oh, and the mackerel are still around as Steve picked one up this week while jigging for squid, which is just starting to pick up in these parts and the presence of more Loligo Pealeii at this end of the sound as helped to create more action – mainly with 24 to 26-inch bass and the occasional slot fish – around Middle Ground and Hedge Fence, to name a couple of the more popular spots. And I can tell you, based on what I experienced this morning, that you are going to have plenty of company in these locations and prepare to play bumper cars as boats jockey for position and race to be first to where some fish popped up on squid or gulls signaled where fish were holding.

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Cape Cod Fishing Report 5/23/24

May 24, 2024
By saltycape
Cape Cod Fishing Report 5/23/24
I sure am glad that I wasn’t on the water this morning in upper Buzzards Bay, especially around the west entrance to the Canal, as we got his with a long stretch of strong thunderstorms up here in Pocasset. My friend Gerry told me that in Woods Hole they got some heavy rain, but no noise-and-light show. Go figure. Speaking of which, I double checked my weather forecast site that I used and they had the same info as last night – some light rain – even as my dogs were running for cover.
That’s why it’s always a good idea to check the radar before venturing out as it shows you what is happening and what is coming as opposed to some prediction.
Connor Swartz at Red Top in Buzzards Bay said a customer came in and picked up another pair of those popular shad body umbrella rigs; they were both white and he has been trolling them on braid around the west entrance to the Canal. I’m not familiar with these rigs in terms of weighting, but apparently the combination of the weights of the lures and the metal frame are enough to get down where he has found the fish holding.
I know in spots like Woods Hole umbrella rigs are often fished on wire due to the combination of current and water depth, and at an ASMFC striped bass hearing hosted by the state Division of Marine Fisheries last November a number of charter captains out of Falmouth and the Vineyard said they had been doing well trolling these rigs on wire somewhere down around Gay Head as they were targeting larger bass in deep water.
Mark Tenerowicz told me that there have been some big fish hanging in the deep water outside Mattapoisett back west towards Fairhaven and there a few boats targeting them using umbrella rigs on wire.
And remember that a change in tide and current direction can change your fortunes as Ken Shwartz and his friends discovered earlier this week, especially if you are targeting surface action. They ran from Dartmouth to the west entrance of the Canal in the morning on Tuesday with little to show for the run, but Ken suggested that with the change to a dropping tide, he wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t run into some flocks of terns that have been helpful in marking schools of bass feeding on small bait.
Now, Mark is one of my favorite anglers since he likes topwater fishing as much as I do and he understands that his kayak allows him to get in skinny water studded with rocks and other obstructions where a boater dare not venture – unless he has unlimited funds to spend on props and/or lower units. He has been consistently finding surface feeding bass up inside his home waters and around the corner inside Fairhaven; there are some slot fish mixed in as well as a fair number of genuine schoolies from 16 to low 20-inch range, which is news I really welcome. At times they have been willing to hit the smaller Hogy Charter Grade Popper, but especially up in really shallow water soft plastics in pink or amber have been more effective.
Mark has also caught at least one large bluefish in this area, which of course hit and destroyed one of his plastics as opposed to falling for a hard body plug, but I’m sure it was easier getting the single hook out of those toothy jaws as opposed to wrestling with sets of trebles.
There are schools of pogies up inside Wareham and around the west entrance to the Ditch and Connor and others have been targeting the bass show up each year in these waters this time of year. This is one area where big spooks like the Hogy Charter Grade Dog Walker XL produced some super-sized bass on this style of plug which got its start as a musky slayer. Connor did point out that at times the bass will knock a spook around or shadow it without committing and in those situations a change over to a pencil popper, which has more of a splashing, erratic movement unlike the rhythmic slide-and-swing of a spook, can pay dividends by almost forcing a fish to eat it. Sliders, whether jointed or one piece like the Hogy Charter Grade Slider, are another plug style to try and draw out fish that are holding around pogy schools. These are versatile plugs that can be fished with a fast retrieve close to the surface or allowed to drop down deeper and worked with a more deliberate side-to-side action.
This is not blindcasting, but rather targeting specific pieces of structure – whether visible or beneath the surface – as described in Capt. Mike’s Boulder Fields & Reefs Approach.
The plug action is best in the early morning around first light and again at dusk with things slowing as the sun gets higher in the sky. Cloudy days can extend the plug action, but if you opt for livelining pogies, Connor acknowledged, then the bite can be good all day. At this point in the season, you will find pogies in shore, typically from dusk to early morning, but overall the schools in Buzzards Bay can be found in deeper water during the day, Connor noted.
Folks can continue to find good numbers of smaller bass up inside areas such as Monument Beach, Barlow’s Landing, Megansett, Nye’s Neck/Wild Harbor, and West Falmouth, but don’t be surprised if you encounter some slot and larger fish that wallop your smaller lure, with the small Hogy Charter Grade Popper and small spooks, with the Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow and Heddon Zara/Super Spook two of my favorites. White or bone are always great colors to start with, but for whatever reason, a clear plug can fire up spooky fish.
Connor said his friend managed five slot fish in the evening up inside Phinney’s Harbor yesterday evening using a white, plastic Finnish style swimmer; numerous tackle companies have produced their own version of this style that originated with the Rapala – which is why I insist on labeling them Finnish – and they do each have a unique swimming motion or pattern. The one issue I have with them is that their action is often dependent on the multiple treble hooks – sometimes as many as three sets – they are rigged with, resulting in foul hooked with damage to gills, eyes, and bodies of fish that are going to be released. Unlike topwater plugs such as poppers and spooks that can be catch-and-release rigged – with one belly hook and a flag – swimmers must be tuned to maintain the action their designer intended.
Ultimately, of course, using soft plastics such as the Hogy Originals or jigs such as Hogy Pro Tail or Slow Tail will do less damage as well as fish every layer of the water column.
Unlike Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds where the black sea bass bite is garnering the most attention of the ground fishing crew, the water is still on the colder side in Buzzards Bay, according to Connor, which is fine with folks who prefer to target tautog around the myriad pieces of rocky structure in the bay and therefore find BSB’s an annoyance since they are so aggressive and have no problem going after a green crab bait. While many folks immediately head out for spots such as Cleveland’s Ledge, Bird Island, or Southwest Ledge, just to name a few pieces of popular “sticky” structure in Buzzards Bay, there are still some good tog to be had close in around Wing’s Neck, Scraggy Neck, Nye’s Neck, and West Falmouth. And the entire north or B-Bay side of the Elizabeths – and we’ll toss Woods Hole for good measure – harbor some great tautog fishing.
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Cape Cod Fishing Report 5/22/2024

May 22, 2024
By saltycape
I just got off the phone with Evan over at Eastman’s Sport & Tackle on Main Street in Falmouth and he offered up an interesting observation and a confirmation of a Hogy plug that is a must have this time of year. A lot of folks have opined that the early season fishing in the Nantucket Sounds rips has been slow to shape up, with Evan believing we are about a week to two weeks behind. Fortunately, as I mentioned in my earlier report, things are starting to round into shape in Nantucket Sound.
There is a series of rips that start about a mile east/southeast of Nobska Point and run towards L’Hommedieu Shoal and many people lump them in with the latter, but I typically refer to them as the rips off Nobska and I have also heard them called No Name Shoal so this can lead to some confusion when folks talk about where they were fishing. According to Evan, he and his dad, Chuck, started at L’Hommedieu yesterday afternoon, but I suspect they might have been more towards Nobska as this area is a short trip from Falmouth Harbor and very convenient to check out before heading to areas such as Woods Hole or Middle Ground. In any case, things were quiet thereabouts, although Evan noted that a number of local charter captains have been jigging wire near these waters and catching some solid stripers deeper in the water column.
In fact, you can find a video titled Fishing for Striped Bass at Nobska Point on the Hogy Lure website; it features Capt. Mike casting the Hogy Thumper Jig to get down to where some larger fish were holding in deeper water and stronger current.
Due to my love of topwater plugging and fishing surface flies, I fully recognize that I am potentially missing out on solid action when the fish aren’t showing on top and this video is a great way to see how you can get down in the rips if snapping wire isn’t your thing.
I will, however, never apologize for throwing poppers when fish are busting squid or other bait on top, as was happening at Middle Ground this morning.
But Evan found this area quiet yesterday on the east tide, so he moved over to Hedge Fence and hit the jackpot, with plenty of bird action – mainly gulls surveying the water before dropping down to grab dinner.
There wasn’t much in the way of squid showing, but if you think that is what the fish are feeding on, Evan agreed that a must have plug is the 1 5/8 ounce Hogy Charter Grade Popper in amber that is perfect for Capt. Mike’s Casting A Rip Approach. From back in the 40’s when Bob Pond introduced his Atom 40 swimmer in a transparent amber color and then re-invented it as the Reverse Atom by removing the metal lip and moving the line tie to the skinny end, this color has been at the top of the heap when it comes to imitating panicked squid. By working it back a couple of waves into the rip, he wasn’t necessarily able to see the takes, but he sure could feel them.
Last year, Capt. Mike introduced the Hogy Surface Eraser in clear amber as well and it can be fished at different levels of the water column, while the Hogy Charter Grade Popper is designed to float. Sometimes when the rips are really rocking, a subsurface approach will do the trick, which is why casting the amber Hogy seven-inch Original rigged on a weighted swimbait hook or a jighead will result in more hook ups since a floating plug in heavy water can be tough to keep contact with.
Evan added the sea bass bite out on the wrecks off of Oak Bluffs is starting to pick up, with some larger purple heads in the mix; tautog fishing remains good, but fewer people seem to be looking for green crabs as their attention has shifted to the more aggressive BSB which will take a wide assortment of jigs, including Hogy’s Epoxy Jigs, Heavy Metal Jigs, and Squinnow Jigs that will cull out larger fish, but many anglers opt for a traditional bucktail jig combined with a scented soft plastics.
Up inside the various salt ponds, harbors, bays, and rivers that dot the southside shoreline, Evan has heard from a number of folks that there are fewer large bass up inside but there are still a good number of stripers to be caught on light tackle or a fly rod. While many flyrodders who fish these areas seek worm hatches, the east/northeast winds and cooler temperatures last week put a damper on them, Evan said, with no reports from likely locations. But the warmer, southwesterly winds combined with more sunshine this week and significantly warmer air temperatures, as well as a full moon tomorrow, could result in more worms doing their procreation thing.
Finally, this morning Amy Wrightson from the Sport Port in Hyannis reported that along with the squid she jigged up recently were some spike mackerel and it can’t be coincidence that Evan spoke to someone who told of catching small mackerel off of Cotuit.
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