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main page.The wind is back around out of the west where the fishing is best. The fluking appears to be improving all along the islands and the coast if you can find sand eels for bait. Best shore bassing is often at night and the tube and worm is coming into its own again. Blues are thin except for the Nantucket Shoals and Wellfleet Harbor area on occasion. Take a look at the reports for more information.
The best bet this week is the fluke fishing off the south shore and the islands or night fishing for stripers with plugs and poppers. Commercial season has begun so a lot of the close in, keeper-sized fish are being harvested as I write this. Plenty of schoolie and sport keepers remain for the diligent. Don't know where to go? Take Sheila's advice and try the east end of the canal and be patient for a big reward.
| Cape Cod Canal | Sheila at Canal Bait and Tackle e-mailed this report: "The East
(Sandwich) end is alive with big fish. As well as Scusset and Sandwich Beach.
The fish are 40-inchers and in the mid to high twenties! Cut bait - mack or pogies - are working as well as pencil poppers when they are breaking. Pick your favorite east end spot and wait - you'll see. Much better fishing this year than last. Eels are starting to light up - especially at night. Flounder are also in the area. So anywhere from the Herring Run east is where to be. Fluke fishing continues to be the game on the west end as well as some nice stripers intermingled. '' |
| Martha's Vineyard | Coop at Coop's Bait & Tackle on the Vineyard says that the fishing is good for striped bass up to 35 pounds on Middle Ground, using black eels and bunker. The fly rodders are doing well in their own right but with crab flies now. He also mentions that Squibnocket is offering good striper fishing and the fluke fishing has improved to outstanding over the past week. Very few bluefish around though. Coop heard of some bluefin offshore, but no bonito yet at the island. |
| Nantucket | Barry Thurstan on Nantucket reports that Eel Point has seen an increase in striped bass numbers and size lately. The fish are finicky, taking crab flies, but are hitting. The bluefish are at Great Point where surface plugging from boat or beach is effective. On the east side there are big stripers at Sankaty Light; a successful technique is jigging in 20 to 30 feet of water. Of course the harbor is full of schoolies, and will be all summer. |
| Nantucket too | Dave Beaumont tells me that the fishing continues to be excellent on both the north and south shores of the island. Fishing is best at night at surfside for both stripers and blues, with bass ranging from 28 to 39 inches. The west end at Madaket has also been productive, as has Great Point. Fluke fishing has picked up from Great Point to Sankaty and he hears of sharks offshore but within boating range. |
| Nantucket Sound | Andy at Powderhorn Outfitters reports on the south shore of the Cape. He hears of a mix of fish off Popponesset, Cotuit and Osterville. Poppers at night for the stripers and in the morning for bluefish up to 10 pounds. Ocean Shore is giving up 10- to 15- pound blues on hootchie, umbrella and bomber trolling. The B2 Squid is still the lure of choice for Great Island. Andy reminds me that the largemouths and smallmouths are biting well now, both day and night. |
| Falmouth | Jim Young at Eastman's in Falmouth notes that Horseshoe Shoal continues to consistently give up nice bluefish to trolling. Wasque is slow now for stripers, but the fluking is picking up on Lucas Shoal and the Middle Ground. If you can get black eels or chunk bait try Woods Hole for stripers and Buzzards Bay for both bass and blues. |
| Elizabeth Islands | Capt. John Christian reports that casting eels and such along the shoreline is still not very productive, probably because the bait isn't in yet. But the tube and worm is working well at Sow and Pigs and Quick's Hole and the south shore by Cuttyhunk. |
| Barnstable Harbor | Steve Shiraka, fishing Barnstable Harbor, reports the best results on bigger bass at night with black eels. Sandy Neck is still closed but the fishing is for a mixed bag if you can boat there. The fluke fishing is picking up but not quite as well as it will yet become. He adds that the tides are very good now for morning wading in the harbor and the creeks, and the fly-fishers can take advantage of their craft. |
| Harwich Port | Larry Nickerson at Kildee Hill Bait and Tackle reports fishers having good success at Monomoy with Pink Bombers and live eels. And while sand eels are hard to find, the fluke fishing is good if you can get some or use chubs. He also hears of some good stripers landed at Chatham Light, but only a few. He knows of one 300-pound bluefin landed the other day, but only that one. No one seems to be freshwater fishing...that leaves more for the rest of us. |
| Chatham | The author guides in Pleasant Bay and notes no large numbers of schoolies inside the bay. There are fish in the channel bends and on the shoals inside the break, feeding on sand eels and small green crabs, but no heavy surface action. Best bet is drifted baits or small Clousers for the fly-fishermen. There are plenty of stripers on the flats at Monomoy but they are fussy and sensitive to size and presentation. Go light and small for best results; wading may offer quieter approaches than even poling at these times. Good catches of commercial fish are being caught off Burses but they are working for 'em; it ain't easy. |
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