New England - Cape Cod and the Islands Fishing Reports

Larry from Maco’s Bait & Tackle said the canal gang arrived at the Maritime early and cast for four or five hours before taking a break and shortly thereafter the bass came to the surface in a flurry of action. Pencils, poppers and jigs were taking fish that were almost all well over 35 and many to 40-plus inches. The west end of Buzzards Bay has been giving up some good tautog and black sea bass fishing and they have all the bait and rigs you need to score.

The canal has been providing action according to Howie at Red Top Sporting Goods who said there has been action up and down the canal at all times of the day from the east to west end. Much of those fish are well above the slot limit and are being taken on jigs, shads and eels as well as chunked mackerel and squid. The topwater bite has not been predictable but when it begins there is a lot of traveling along the shores of the ditch to reach them. Since the storm there has been little in the way of blues and bones but there were reports of them in Buzzards Bay and along the West Falmouth Shore to Woods Hole. There has been an uptick in freshwater fishing and with trout stocking getting started this has been a great alternative during stormy weather.

We spoke with Steve from Dick’s Bait and Tackle who said the action has been steady in many locations but the sharks have not yet gone. The night before our conversation he and Doug got sharked five times while chunking for blues off one of their favorite beaches. Dana and Steve Norman returned to the Vineyard to fish the Derby and caught five over slot stripers and some sea bass. They didn’t find any contest eligible blues but enjoyed a great trip. Steve’s son Chris fished with a friend off Nantucket and scored a Derby leading 17.28 pound blue that only lasted one day on the leaderboard until an 18.74 replaced it the following day. Sounds like the glory days of blue fishing off Nomans in the 70’s when if you had a few 16-pound blues on poppers it was no big deal. As a point of information for those who might not live on the Vineyard or have not fished the Derby, both Steve and his son Chris have won the Derby grand prize.

It was another good week in the canal as Jeff from Canal Bait & Tackle related that he sold a load of their Ghost White Bullet Pencils to anglers reaching out and catching stripers from just over slots to 45-inches in the canals east end and down to the Herring run. Some anglers had given up on the canal but that gauntlet has been producing stripers, some sea bass and a few tog in the holes in the rip rap. The mackerel have been moving in and out of the east end, some around towards Barnstable then back in the ditch with the bass on their tails. There have been some blues in the east end and his customers have been reporting back on the action and locations. Stop in and see what Jeff and Bruce can do for you.

Christian from Falmouth Bait & Tackle said the local bite consists of schoolies along the Falmouth shore and some blues and bones working from Hyannis along that shore to the Woods Hole entrance. We heard of some decent blues and a few slot bass taken around Nobska on topwater and metals. A few of the bigger boats got out after the storm and ran into some nice yellowfin action, along with Mahi and El Bandito had tuna as well as a smoking Wahoo that went 79 pounds. Schoolies are beginning to move and some blues and a few big albies close to 18 pounds were caught this past week. Tautog fishing is improving and they have green crabs in stock.

We spoke with Nate from the Sports Port who told us the bass were back in the Monomoy rips and some customers were catching bass in the canal. Blues showed up again at Craigville Beach and along the ocean shoreline on both sides of Hyannis with some small bones mixed in with them. A few of their customers were fishing squid along the bottom of the Sound and catching a few stripers and the occasional bluefish. They are open seven days a week so stop in and say hello.

Capt. Rich Antonio from Black Rose Fishing Charters said he was running out of Bass River and catching a mixed bag of tautog and stripers and running into the occasional pod of blues, albies and bonito. Give him a call for some great fall fishing before the fish move on.

Ian at the Goose Hummock Shop fished hard all week long and had some very good bass fishing along the ocean beaches and inlets. His primary target was albies and he finally found them on the last two days of the week, with a few going into the mid-teens. There is decent bass fishing in Cape Cod Bay up around Billingsgate and Wood End and we had reports of some slot bass taken inside of Pleasant Bay. This has been a great year for winter flounder fishing with Ian seeing some of those big flatties taping out at 22 inches. That’s a big blackback!

With limits of tog and sea bass all week long Capt. Jason of Little Sister Charters said the water cleared much earlier than expected after the storm and it’s been limit catches of tog and sea bass although the topwater bite may have temporarily been blown out by the rain and wind. With all the stripers still on their way down from Maine and Boston there will be plenty of topwater action during the coming weeks.

The tautog and a few legal sized sea bass have moved in a lot closer to the Westport rockpiles according to Capt. Carl with Westport River Outfitters who said the bottom fishing was good but the wind and rain and sudden drop in temperatures had temporarily quieted what was a good topwater bite. The next six weeks should produce very good fishing from Buzzards Bay to Newport. Give the skipper a call and get in on some great fall fishing.