The bass action has picked right back up in a number of areas. There are still some schools of mackerel around the east side of the islands and livelining them has been working, with some larger fishing being caught this way.
Monomoy
Capt. Ron Murphy of Stray Cat Charters in Hyannis said that other than some nice, eight to nine-pound bluefish, the shoals have become quiet. This situation most likely is the result of a combination of warming water and weak currents, but Ron advised that with the new moon on Saturday, things should pick up.
Capt. Ron Murphy of Stray Cat Charters in Hyannis put it pretty succinctly: “Monomoy has become a struggle.”
The fishing around Monomoy remains good, as Bob Lewis explained to me after the completion of the Osterville Anglers’ Club Ladies’ Shoal Troll last Saturday, there were a good number of low 30-inch fish around Bearses, with plenty of bird activity and bass pushing squid.
The fishing remains very good around the rips, with Bearses getting a lot of attention, although Stone Horse and Pollock Rip have been holding good numbers of bass as well. It is pretty amazing to see the multitude of methods being employed around these waters, especially on a bass selling day.
Capt. Ron Murphy of Stray Cat Charters out of Hyannis has been finding consistent action around Monomoy; it has been a bit slower last week, but with the coming new moon, the currents and rips picked up, providing what Ron said “are the best conditions of the season.”
Lots and lots of boats have been fishing the rips. Certain tides, such as the one that I fished in the fog on Tuesday with Rich Caruso, John Menzel, and Jimmy Reardon, have produced larger bass, but overall the “recremercial” crew has been frustrated by the large numbers of bass falling below their 34-inch minimum. One important factor to consider is the water temperature in each of the rips, with the fish often disappearing from one spot in favor of another if there is too drastic a drop or rise.
The cool, clear waters of Monomoy make it one of the most unique places to fish for striped bass on Cape Cod. In this video, Capt. Mike enjoys greasy calm conditions and an excellent topwater and jigging bite, as well as gives a few tips for how to entice a bite when the fish are leader-shy.
Lee Boisvert at Riverview Bait & Tackle in Yarmouth said that all of the 2011-year class fish in the waters around Monomoy Island have both charterboat and recreational anglers smiling.
The rips and shoals are back to producing plenty of fish, which has a good number of recreational boats and the majority of the charter fleet from Hyannis, Yarmouth, Dennis, and Harwich headed that way, not to mention the Chatham boats that call this area “theirs.”