Week of July 3

Once again the storms and east winds of the past week have put off the fishing across the Cape, but not so much around the Islands. Good keeper fish are mostly being taken off the shore by boat and wire lining or jigging in the bay or by the Elizabeths. Shore fishing is hampered by little bait and a lot of loose weed but is clearing up daily. Take a look at the reports for more information.

Nantucket Sound and the south shore  Andy Little at Powderhorn Outfitters in Hyannis reports that the south side has shown a lot of bluefish at night along the beaches. Cotuit and Popponesset continue to have striped bass. Cotuit also has been producing some good fluke fishing from boats offshore using B2 squids (pink and white) and drifting with squid and chubs. Horseshoe Shoal still has good bluefishing and the scup fishing has improved somewhat.
Nantucket Mike Nonte at Barry Thurston's Tackle on Nantucket says that the bluefish and stripers are hitting in the surf at Great Point. There is also a mix of fish at Eel Point and folks at Dionis are catching stripers in low light and blues in the day. Mike adds that the harbor is full of fish all the way up to the top but not much is happening offshore for tuna and the like.
 Falmouth Alex Ainsworth at Eastman's Sport and Tackle says that not many folks have been fishing in the recent winds but some good fluke in the 5-pound range have been caught near shore along Popponesset.
 Cape Cod Bay  Capt. Chris Morissette, of Seaduction Charter services in Rock Harbor, has been fishing Billingsgate Shoals and doing well jigging in 20 to 30 feet of water there. Ditto at the wreck buoy, using Andrus jigs for stripers. He also reports that the bluefish are still topwater off the path in Wellfleet. Another good spot recently has been the rock pile near the Brewster/Dennis line right off the lobster traps, trolling umbrella rigs for striped bass.
 Harwichport  Larry Nickerson at Kildee Hill Bait and Tackle in Harwichport reports the shore fishing has been very quiet since the wind last weekend. Things ought to be picking up now that the southwesterly winds have returned.
 Elizabeth Islands Capt. John Christian, who charters around Woods Hole and the Elizabeth Islands, reports that Cuttyhunk and Quicks Hole has been producing good stripers with the tube worm and, but that the shore fishing remains poor. He thinks the bait isn't in yet; the keepers he cleans are still full of small scup, sea robins and crabs. There are also small bluefish in schools off Quicks, and fishing is at least average to good overall.
 Martha's Vineyard  Cooper Gilkes, guide and owner of Coop's Tackle on Martha's Vineyard, says that Wasque is giving up a lot of nice bluefish and stripers. The east beach has slowed for all but the fluke fishing, which has improved. Cape Poge has small bass and Eel Pond has small bluefish lately. The big bridge still has very nice stripers at night and folks are doing well on the Middle Ground with eels. Gay Head has slowed down but Squibnocket is okay, and there are bluefish off Menemsha Bight.
Barnstable Harbor  This week, Steve Shiraka, who fishes and guides out of Barnstable Harbor, reports that the harbor has shown some big bass when trolling. Sandy Neck is also good, but only when using small baits and from boats. The creeks remain dirty from runoff, and Steve points out that the tides are wrong anyway. He's heard of good fish breaking at the east end of the Canal on topwater plugs, too.
 Chatham  The author charters on Pleasant Bay and Monomoy for Cape Cod Outdoors, and reports that the fishing has slowed down due to the lack of bait in the bay. There is an increase in 2-inch sand eels and the bite may pick up over the weekend. Monomoy has keeper-sized fish when the wind is down, and the fly-fishing remains good off the shore there.
 Cape Cod Canal  Sheila, up at Canal Bait and Tackle, writes, ``This past week has brought some beautiful fish. The biggest one 29 pounds-plus. All of them from shore, with 8 ranging from 22 to 28 pounds. Most on the early morning tide - with Gibbs Pencil poppers and Polaris mackerel, white and yellow. A few nice boat stripers in the high 20's from Cape Cod Bay with bait. Two nice ones caught with mackerel in the canal as well - (tinker mackerel in the canal.)''

This week the action appears to be on the islands, at least until the wind settles the shorelines down. The holiday should see better fishing with every passing day, and as soon as the bait shows the fishing should explode.

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