July 20, 2026 - 10:32:59
Alex at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay let us know that two hefty largemouths were weighed-in at the store recently. One scaled 4 pounds, the other, 8 pounds. The anglers who caught the biggies were “tight-lipped” about where the lunkers were taken, but Alex was able to “squeeze” a little information out of them and get them to reveal it was a pond in Plymouth (probably Long Pond). They also disclosed that one bass fell for a wacky worm while the other hit a deep-diving crankbait. Alex also heard from numerous fishermen that Long Pond has been consistently good for bass. Hot weather has driven bass into deep water in ponds on and just off the Cape, so lures that run deep or bounce bottom in the depths are recommended. Live shiners early and late in the day are also working.
July 20, 2026 - 10:32:52
AJ at Red Top Sporting Goods said the successful anglers who are still taking bass are usually chunking and using macks or pogies. The canal is loaded with bait in the form of big mackerel and some of the biggest tubes on squid most canal anglers have ever seen in the ditch. The bass bite has been very good from Plymouth to Barnstable all the way to the tip of Provincetown. Other than a few 2- to 4-pound blues they have been scarce. Customers are reporting good tuna fishing in Cape Cod Bay and in the area of the windmills, with a few saying the giant bite on Crab Ledge fell off quite a bit. The heat has not killed the freshwater fishing with customers working their favorite lakes and ponds under low light conditions and catching a good mix of trout, largemouth, pickerel and an assortment of panfish. Next weekend the tackle showcase will include Shimano, Century rods and Ron-Z. Stop in and ask for John Paul.
July 13, 2026 - 10:43:00
Alex at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay said that the Fourth of July heat wave drove largemouth bass into deep water, and fishing for them has been challenging since then. He shore-fished a couple of Cape Cod ponds, one being Flax Pond inside Nickerson State Park in Brewster, and managed a few decent largies on finesse-size Ned Rigs and drop-shotted plastics. He tried larger baits, but the bucketyaps were not interested in a big meal. To reach the deep water where the largies were holding, he had to wade out almost chest deep and fire long casts. Alex has been fishing during the day. Reports from other anglers indicate better action early in the morning and at night not only for largemouths but also crappies and big bluegills.
July 13, 2026 - 10:42:54
Cooper from Red Top Sporting Goods said the canal was slow but not dead. There were loads of mackerel and squid all along the ditch but primarily in the east end which was where some stripers were caught on chunks of mackerel and pogie. I don’t know of anyone who has caught a bluefish in the ditch but there were some caught in upper western Buzzards Bay which were in the 4- to 5-pound class. The black sea bass bite in the upper portions of Buzzards Bay was a much better mix of keepers over shorts and some blues feeding on sea herring fry made an appearance there. I hope those fish move down into the west end and give the anglers fishing that area some well-deserved action. The shop weighed in a few more doormat fluke from the Nantucket Shoals area which were entered in the state contest. Freshwater fishing remains good after dark and the pre-dawn hours.
