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main page.The wind has been from the northwest for most of the week. Now that it's returning to its usual southwest pattern, the fishing is also returning to familiar patterns. A lot of schoolies are around and bigger fish are being caught on the shoals and in the holes. Check out this week's report from the local experts.
| Capt. Mike Doak, Eastwind Sportfishing Charters out of Osterville, says the south side of the Vineyard is really cookin'. Every rip is loaded with 10- to 30- pound stripers. There are plenty of squid in the water and the bass are chasing these and big sand eels and juvenile scup for forage. He hasn't been anywhere else because the fishin' has been so good there all week. | |
| Barry Thurston at Barry Thurston's Fish Supply on Nantucket reports that over the last week the bluefishing has been slower than normal. He thinks this is the result of the northwest winds we've been having and expects the fishing to pick up once the winds shift around southwest again. The striped bass fishing has been good at Madaket Harbor and Eel Point. On the south side, Hummock Pond has been holding fish in the 14- to 24-inch range. Some notable stripers have been coming off the shoals to the northeast of the island, upper 30s and lower 40s sized fish that are looking even better than previous years. For lures, plugging with pearl bombers seems most effective at imitating the herring. On the east side, jigging with bucktails and parachutes has been the ticket to success. | |
| I run Cape Cod Outdoors charters on Pleasant Bay. The schoolie fishing has been off somewhat the last week with north winds, but the 14- to 24-inch stripers and bluefish in the 4- to 6-pound range have put on a feeding blitz whenever any baitfish have come into the Bay. Average fish can always be caught on a fly with Clousers close to the bottom, and using curly tailed grubs or small spoons around grass banks and channel corners is a consistent winner. Not many keepers are being caught inside as the herring are getting scarce. Recently there has been excellent fishing for bigger stripers by both fly and spin on the Monomoy flats, when the wind was down. | |
| Rich Johnson from The Bait Shack in Orleans warns that the north side of Nauset Inlet has been closed to vehicles so the walk is now about a mile and a half. There have been a lot of medium sized stripers in the surf, usually taking sand eels or rebel-type plugs, in the 12- to 35-inch size. Outside, the overall fishing has been good, but more big fish have been taken from the inside on sand eels. Crabs have continued to work on a drift around Fort Hill. He hasn't heard much yet about the Gorilla Hole, not many boats yet I suspect. The south side of the Inlet has been even better than the north, yielding good catches in areas 2 and 3, with most good fish being caught on the ebb. | |
| Emilio, up at Nelson's Bait and Tackle in P'town, saw a couple of stripers the other evening, weighing 19 1/2 pounds and 28 pounds, that were taken from a boat with bait. There are a lot of sand eels near the beach and everyone is catching 14- to 28-inch striped bass on these. There is also good fluke fishing from the beach off Race Point, and in the harbor too. He says the bluefish have been "spotty" offshore with few herring or mackerel left as forage. | |
| Ed Metterville, at The Black Duck Sport Shop in Wellfleet, tells of consistently good fishing for striped bass and bluefish both inside and outside the harbor. Big blues have been around, weighing 15 pounds and taking plugs, Kastmasters and Hopkins. Most big stripers are being taken on bait: chunks, sand eels and big plugs. | |
| Jim Mardulier charters from Truro and Orleans. He e-mailed me: "Got
out today with my wife for three hours after staining the shingles on the house. We put a bluefish and a 33-incher in the boat trolling off the Path in Wellfleet in deep water. Fish hit an umbrella rig trolled with 250 feet of 40-pound- test wire. Lots of both kinds, as well as fluke down here." Sounds interesting to me. | |
| Steve Shiraka fishes and guides out of Barnstable Harbor. He reports lots of smaller bass in the 18- to 24-inch size around the harbor and up in Old Harbor and Scorton Creek, but the fishing pressure has been getting heavy on the weekends. A few lucky fishermen with live herring have done well near Sandy Neck on bigger stripers. Sandy Neck continues to be closed for nesting. There's a lot of bait, with sand eels around, and good fishing over by the Mill Creek and the East Bar too. The squid are gone since last week and the blues are too thin to bother the fly-fishermen. | |
| Bruce Miller from the Bait Shack in Sandwich e-mailed a report. He
says, "The South Cape's bluefish attack has moved more to Douse's in
Centerville River along with some stripers. Mashnee flats is hot for fluke. The east end of the Canal has some big flounder, a few pollock, some stripers and blues. Some big blues have moved into the Canal on high slack especially around the Cribben - Boston side. On the Cape side try the "Jungle." Start looking this weekend in the morning - break of dawn for big fish in these areas. The tides will be just right - get out your plugs and give them a try." | |
| John Christian, fishing the Elizabeths, reports 15- to 25-pound stripers being taken jigging, with an occasional fish reaching 35 pounds. Black eels are also working well, but the stripers appear to be keeping to the holes and are feeding on everything from squid and baby scup to robins and flounder. A lot of bluefish have been in Quick's Hole, with fish in the 3- to 5-pound range. Schoolies in the 12- and 14-inch size are plentiful. John notes that there aren't many sand eels in the area, and though he doesn't go for fluke he hears the fishing has picked up nicely. | |
| Andy Little at Powderhorn Outfitters in Hyannis hears of good catches of stripers off the southside beaches: Douse's, Oregon and Cotuit on the flood in late evening. One pod of 15-pound blues came through Oregon and were caught mostly on poppers, orange and green. A lot of schoolies continue to hold in the back creeks too. Offshore, there appear to be "tons of blues" on Horseshoe Shoals. More recently, big stripers have been taken on Succonnesset using black eels and cut bait. Bishops & Clerks has also been a good producer using cut bait and live-lining. Andy hears of fluke caught in Barnstable Harbor, but scup and tautog are few and far between in the Sound. He has heard of a few sea bass taken with squid strips off the rocks, though. | |
| Larry Nickerson, owner of Killdee Hill Bait & Tackle in Harwichport, told me a nice story of a fellow who rented two rods and chunk bait and striper hooks, only to return two hours later with a couple of very nice fluke from Red River Beach! He hears that they are catchin' fluke in good numbers near the Bell Buoy a half mile outside Wychmere Harbor, and off the Kill Pond Buoy outside Allen's Harbor too. There are still a few keeper stripers hangin' around the mouth of Herring River, but Hardings Beach may be the better bet lately using chunk bait. There don't appear to be many bluefish on the beaches, but there are plenty offshore twixt the Cape and Nantucket. Recently a fellow had to go as far as the Old Man off Nantucket to get away from the blues! |
That's about it for this week. Best bets appear to be the islands and the Sound for keepers and blues from a boat, and the south shore for beach action. The sand eels look to be coming in, and that bodes well for holding the fish in the Canal and bays. Remember - the fluke are in!
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