New England - Cape Cod and the Islands Fishing Reports

The boats are in the water and sea trialed, so Capt. Sebastian of Fish Linked Charters is ready for his first tog trips of the season in locations which are the first where tog move into the inshore waters very close by the family tackle shop. By the time you read this he should be catching tog and cutting fillets. Give him a call to get aboard.

He was selling green crabs to shore guys, but Tony at Maco’s Bait & Tackle said he has not seen or heard of a legal tog being caught yet. There is a great deal of freshwater action with stocked trout and some very good largemouth fishing as these bass are now much more active after a few days of warming sunshine. Tony put his schoolie rod in the truck which means we can expect some fresh run fish by next weekend.

We spoke with AJ at Red Top Sporting Goods who reported that their instore and online sales were both very successful. Most of their inventory has been replaced and they are ready for what everyone hopes is another great season in the canal. All the local runs are seeing herring, even the much colder canal run has herring now and in many places the runs are very good. A few guys are picking away at holdover schoolies but by this time next weekend there should be fresh run schoolies in the Wareham and Weweantic Rivers, along with some tautog at the Maritime and other west end blackfish hot spots.

We spoke with Steve from Dick’s Bait and Tackle who was stocking inventory and selling bait and lures to his freshwater customers. For some reason the white perch and holdover stripers are biting but the trout seem to have developed a case of lockjaw unless the cormorants ate them all. Last November an angler caught a 41-inch striper in the great pond where bunker have wintered this year. He will have a large delivery of green crabs by the weekend as the north side of the island should be giving up some tog by then.

Bruce from Canal Bait & Tackle said that the new shop boss, Clark, calls him Papa. What more could he ask for? It’s been cold and windy along the canal but the first scouts should begin making an appearance before the last week of April. Trout and largemouth bass fishing are in full swing, and the largemouth bite is improving with every sunny day. Stop in a say hello and get fitted for a custom canal rod.

The crew from Falmouth Bait & Tackle has almost completed putting all of their new stock on shelves and pegs. The last few days of warm sun were enough to get the freshwater guys out after trout and an improving largemouth bass bite. Christian has a lot to show his tuna clients in the way of new and improved gear so stop in or give them a call.

Capt. Skip Bandini of Fish Bandit Charters should be filleting tog this week as his favorite spots are usually giving up blackfish after the 15th of the month. In another week he can add school size stripers to his menu before black sea bass and jumbo scup show up in his waters. A call to the skipper will put you on the list for some of the best fishing of the season.

We spoke with Gary from the Sports Port who told us most of the action was in freshwater lakes and ponds and the shiners have been accounting for some big largemouth and trout. They are selling green crabs as tog are moving inshore and we also heard of some nice holdover stripers in the back of Bass River.

Capt. Seamus Muldoon of Jailbreak Charters made his spring Pilgrimage to Federal Hill in Providence for his Cannoli’s and related pastry then a visit to our house for a trip to Fall River to load up on Portuguese chourico and pork tenderloins and all the fixings for those pre-striper hunting breakfasts with eggs and ground linguiça. The boat is scheduled to come out of the water the last week of May for bottom painting and polish and its back in for stripers, black sea bass and jumbo fluke off Nantucket. Give him a call

The word from Ian at the Goose Hummock Shop was of some good holdover fishing in the backwaters of some Cape rivers and some excellent trout and largemouth fishing in freshwater bodies not far from the shop. He fished a Sandwich location where he caught several high flying smallies, a big pickerel and some of the biggest yellow perch he had seen in years. That was the size he and Danny were looking for when they were ice fishing in the Nickerson State Park. He has been setting up numerous fly rod customers both new and old hands as well as helping others select the right tuna gear for their boats. He suggested small paddle tails with light heads for the shallow water stripers so they can be worked slow and naturally. A visit to the Goose will put you in a place where everything fishing and boating is there for the asking.

Investing in expensive fuel, Capt. Jason of <strong>Little Sister Charters </strong>headed for offshore waters in search of cod and late migrating tog. After a thorough search in numerous locations that had previously provided action at this time of year they came up empty with only an ‘up close and personal’ view of the ugly windmills now covering our oceans. There is no return on any venture unless you first invest your time and effort. Starting May 1, the skipper will be catching prized blackback flounder in the waters off Sesuit on lower Cape Cod. If you want a place in this historic fishery, give him a call and get on his email list.

Before Capt. John of Grey Dolphin Sportfishing takes out his first charter he will already have made a few exploratory trips to those locations that have been so productive for him over decades of Cape fishing. Give him a call and get on board for a trip where you can catch a double header then slip back into the cabin of the big Downeaster for a sip of hot coffee. Give him a call.