Fly fishing Cape Cod for striped bass and other saltwater gamefish. Including: fly fishing charters and guides, fly fishing tackle, saltwater and freshwater flies, freshwater flyfishing, and saltwater IGFA records, flyfishing tips, tactics and more.

Saltwater Flyfishing Cape Cod and the Islands

Flyfishing the Cape usually means an 8/9 weight rod, intermediate sinking line, a 12 lb. leader and Clousers or Deceivers. It's that simple.
With that combination of tackle and . . . an atlas to show public access points to the shores of different bays, rivers and coasts, the fly fisherman can explore most of the Cape's best fisheries. While there are additional reports you can check for specific and timely fishing information from up and down Cape, it is important to keep a few local principles in mind. ( Some charter operators , like myself, will also share information. )
Striper psychology 101. They think like minnows and eat like catfish. That means they are shy, so depth or cover like grass and channel banks keep them comfortable during the day. At night, they often feed with more abandon and come very close to shore and into the shallows. Large stripers sometimes come so shallow that their dorsal fins are exposed and they can be seen behind you and between you and the shore when you're wading.
Striped Bass are omnivorous in their diet and also opportunistic. While clousers in chartreuse/green/yellow are a favorite when fished near the bottom and deceivers are popular in a current; stripers also regularly eat crabs, worms, sand eels (lances) and bigger forage fish. Secondary patterns for the flyfisher would include; crabs (drifted over bars); "snake" flies in black and brown; sand eel patterns; and bigger bunnies for a larger profile in white and black . Supplemental patterns would include a few: squid in pink and red, smaller clousers down to #6 when they are fussy or on the flats and (a bonito fly).
Uninitiated saltwater flyfisherman sometimes forget that stripers are neither big runners nor fierce fighters. But they are heavy fish that use the current and their bulk to resist. Very big stripers can be landed on light tippets if you take your time. However, the purpose of using a heavier tippet is to land the fish quickly so as not to kill it with exhaustion. (I've never broken a 12 lb. tippet on fish up to #40 pounds unless I was straightlined to the fish and setting the hook when he shook his head.)

Stripers are also not jumpers and so don't really require a barb. Barbless hooks are also safer when throwing those big hook flies, especially at night. (However, the bigger the striper the more likely it is to shake its head while fighting . Figure 20" minimum if you feel your line throbbing with powerful head shakes.)
As I mentioned above, an intermediate sinking line is just about right for striped bass fishing, especially from shore. The exception to this is a shooting head system for flyfishing the canal or on windier days. The canal provides very little backcast room, usually 30' or less. Throwing a 25' shooting head is the answer to getting offshore to the deeper water and bigger fish. A shooting head is also handy for driving casts into the wind (Chatham is about the third windiest place in the United States) and can be a real advantage for getting the necessary depth quickly when fishing from a boat in channels and rivers. It is a worthwhile second line to bring to the Cape (or bring four heads to cover all conditions you might encounter and rest easy that you are properly prepared: floater, intermediate, sinking and rocket sink). You'll be glad you did.

The saltwater flyfishing reel is critical. You must have a saltwater reel with a smooth drag. Stripers are strong, not fast, but once you've had your knuckles rapped by a reel handle from a big fish run, you won't want the experience again. Furthermore, you never know when you are going to get a pick-up from a Bluefish (read, strong and fast) or one of the Bonito or False Albacore hanging around in the summer (read, very fast and very strong). You just never know in the salt whether you are about to catch another 14" schoolie bass or 150 pound brown shark. Come prepared with quality machinery.

Learn to cast at night. Stripers do most of their feeding at night and that is the time you have the best chance at bigger fish unless you are out in a boat. Even so, boat or not, big fish come shallow at night unless they are spooked by light or noise. If you find a place that produces schoolies during the day, then it should be even better at night for bigger fish on the same tide.

Flatten your barbs for Striper fishing. They rarely jump and no barb means an easier hook set and less damage before a trouble free release. It also means that when you plant that clouser in the back of your shoulder or head, it will come out that much easier.

Fight your fish to the shore or boat as quickly as possible without jeapardizing your tippet. Do this to prevent exhausting the fish. Bigger fish in waters with less oxygen like bays and coves are especially at risk of mortality from protracted battles on light tackle. Try not to drag your fish up onto the beach if you intend to release it. This only scrapes the protective mucous from its scales and makes it more vulnerable to disease and infection. It also leaves the tired fish out of the water and suffocating until you remove the hook. Similarly, support the fish's whole body if you are handling it for photos or to measure. You wouldn't want to hang from your lower jaw for any amount of time, would you? Finally, don't forget to resuscitate any fish that isn't still fighting when it's released. Resucitating all fish until they swim free is only reasonable.

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