Cape Cod Fishing Report- April 25, 2024 - On The Water
Cape Cod Fishing Report
That sunshine feels better than good, doesn't it? A few bluebird days this week, minimal cloud coverage, and of course, a little bit more rain. That's true spring weather. Although, a few colder-than-usual nights by late-April standards have thrown a bit of a wrench in striped bass fishing since they arrived last week. Water temps are still pretty cold, hovering right around 47 to 48 degrees, but with a few more days of pure sunshine like today, Vineyard Sound will reach 50 degrees and more stripers will be swimming into our rivers, salt ponds and bays.
In Buzzards Bay, there are a few liced-up schoolies being caught out front on the beaches, but the small pods of fish are few and far between. Several small schools of under-slot bass have made their way through Cape Cod Canal since last Sunday, according to Bull MacKinnon of Red Top Sporting Goods, who spotted a fast-moving east-bound blitz around sunrise, which quickly retreated to the depths as the sun rose over Cape Cod Bay. More migratory fish should be arriving by the day once those water temperatures climb above 50. There are bunker and herring moving in and out of the Ditch, so it's only a matter of time until more and bigger fish arrive and run right into them.
Meanwhile, tautog fishing has been heating up in Buzzards Bay. Last week, Captain Cam Faria caught a few solid keepers from shore and a couple of my coworkers scratched a few good ones from the rocks down here in Vineyard Sound. So, yearning for my first saltwater fish of the year (because the local stripers are not cooperating), I went out on my lunch break on Tuesday with a quart of green crabs from Falmouth Bait and Tackle and got to fishing. I think it was the best tautog fishing I have experienced from shore. Every drop I got bit, and although there were a handful of swings and misses, I caught 6 tog—5 shorts, 1 keeper—in a matter of 45 minutes, and used maybe 5 of the dozen or so green crabs I had. Not bad! All it took was a good length of 30-pound gold label Seaguar fluorocarbon, a couple 4/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Duty Live Bait hooks on dropper loops, and a 2-ounce bank sinker on a surgeons loop.
I highly recommend trying some tautog fishing this weekend, either by shore, boat or kayak. Once the sun is up, all you need is a little bit of moving water around some submerged boulders and they should be chewing. Try 10 to 20 feet first, and go deeper from there if you don't find them shallow. Or, try deep first, and gradually move shallower to find that sweet spot.
While more stripers are on the way and tautog season is heating up, some anglers can't resist running to the herring-run bass ponds at night. One of the main culprits of this is OTW's Anthony DeiCicchi, who got into a ridiculous largemouth bass bite on Sunday night with Tedy Bruschi and his son Dante. Big baits + herring schools = catching fat Larrys, which they accomplished with ease. Tedy caught his biggest Massachusetts bass, and the triad together had several fish over 4 and 5 pounds with hours of action. They got back after it on Tuesday night with a plus one—Dante's friend, Shane Evans— in hopes of finding a repeat of Sunday's bite. Anthony, who typically hates the full moon for largemouth fishing, was hesitant to go, but with how good the action was, they decided to hit the same pond (and a few others). Dante Bruschi saved the day and warded off the group skunk with the only bites of the night. Anthony said it still remains unclear whether the full moon shut the bite off, or if Shane Evans is just the bearer of bad luck.
My buddy Jack continues to catch big herring eaters, too. He's been throwing jointed wakes, glide baits and soft swimbaits primarily with several fish over 3 pounds and two pushing 5 this week.
And speaking of herring eaters, there are some in the Cape Cod Canal! From the big ditch, East End Eddie Doherty reports:
"The Herring Run has seen fish here and there since the beginning of the month, but is now producing a steady stream of herring entering the Canal. The next day I saw herring being greeted by a dozen hungry ducks that were diving for an easy meal as the fish entered the Ditch. Canal Rat Scott Ewell reported seeing a large school of good-size pogies on Tuesday. There are only schoolies so far, but the heavy flow of striper sustenance will ring the dinner bell for linesiders coming in from Buzzards Bay soon. Don't miss Maco's Blowout Sale this weekend, April 26-28. Jeff Hopwood says some items will be marked down as much as 50%! The latest numbers from NOAA show a 22% increase in recreational fishing gear sales and that 2.3 million US jobs are supported thru the industry according to Captain Dave Monti, exceptional angler and longtime legendary fishing columnist."
Here's the word from a few of our local charter captains and tackle shops:
Connor at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay told me that two customers caught bluefish in the Canal this week. GASP. Yes, I too had a hard time believing it. But where there's bunker, there's bluefish (usually). Along with the huge numbers of herring in the Canal this morning, according to Bull MacKinnon, there are also a fair amount of pogies and a decent body of schoolie striped bass. Connor said they're expecting a week or two of schoolies before slot fish show up in the ditch. Then, come the second week of May, they are hoping to see over-slot and 40-inch-class stripers. Last year, Connor reminded me, the Canal blew up with big fish on top during that second week of May. Outside of the ditch to the west, the tautog bite is really taking off, he said. There are more keepers being landed with regularity, with most fish coming in around 16 to 18 inches.
Evan at Eastman's Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said the tog bite picked up in Buzzards Bay this week, but his buddy went out on the bay side of the Elizabeths the other day and skunked. It's possible that they're still a bit deeper than 25 feet or so. Evan also said he's got out-of-towners calling the shop daily to ask if stripers are in, so expect slightly larger crowds from the summer home owners on the beaches this weekend. Right now, it's mostly schoolies, but once the squid move in, we'll start to see larger slot-size stripers and over, and hopefully, some bluefish.
Amy at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis said they've only heard of holdovers so far, the migratory fish haven't quite reached them yet. One of their employees and resident fly tier, got a few bass in the back bays the other day but the fish had no lice on them. Amy mentioned she saw a few squid boats out off of Craigville Beach the other night, but when the squid come in, there are typically dozens and dozens of boats out there. She said there is tons of bait in the backwaters, including silversides, herring and lots of bunker in some of the south side bays. Christian from the shop talked to a woman earlier this week who caught a hickory shad off one of the beaches nearby. They also weighed in a 5-pound brown trout earlier this week. Bait is moving in, fishing activity is picking up in salt water, and there's still plenty of good bass and trout to be caught in the ponds!
Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys in Bourne reported that he has been out almost daily scouting around for stripers and bait. Over the weekend he scanned the backside of the Islands and didn't see much of any activity, but he believes it will be a matter of days until they intercept some fish coming in from the south or the west. They're hunting around Buzzards, the Elizabeths and Vineyard Sound again this weekend for those schools of fresh migratory fish, and they have a few more dates available in the near future, so give him a call to book your spot before the stripers are here in force and they're booked up!
Captain Kurt Freund of Fishsticks Charters on Martha's Vineyard said:
"I am really looking forward to getting back on the water. The boat is scheduled to be launched on or about May 1. It will have new T-top canvas and cushions and new Simrad electronics. I have a couple of charters scheduled toward the end of May, but I'm planning to spend time aboard before then, learning the new electronics and fishing for squid, scup and tog. I'm also planning a trip with friends Bill and Craig to fish for winter flounder and haddock in Cape Cod Bay. Last year, I added a life raft and EPIRB to round out the safety equipment required for offshore charters. We had a good season last year fishing for fluke at Nantucket Shoals and tuna and mahi south of the Vineyard, and I'm hoping to do even more of that this year, in addition to our usual inshore trips."
Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Charters was loading up the boat and going out for squid when I called him. He went out this past weekend for tautog in Buzzards Bay with Michael Xu and Captain Reilly Wright and they caught easy limits, releasing up to 30 or 40 fish. Cam's got a squid charter coming up tomorrow, so we'll have a better idea next week of what the squid numbers look like out in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds.
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported:
"Another week and more excellent local kettle pond action with largemouth bass fishing and also some large pickerel! In between the fun-filled family canoe trips, the Reel Deal boats are getting all cleaned up, new reels spooled up and everything ready to go for the upcoming saltwater charter fishing season which is rapidly approaching. Looking forward to seeing some activity in the early season striper hot spots soon."
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Tautog are chewing up a storm in Buzzards Bay. In some cases they're shallow enough to catch from shore or by kayak, but if you've splashed the boat, check the deeper rock piles and known hotspots like Cleveland Ledge. It's only a matter of time until the bite picks up around the Elizabeths as water temperatures continue to climb.
The largest concentration of striped bass in our area right now is in the Cape Cod Canal, but that shouldn't be the case for long. There's more sunny and warm weather ahead, squid season is afoot, there are herring and bunker in the rivers and bays, and I am personally seeing more spearing with each passing night. Keep plying those local schoolie spots people. They'll be in any day now. I caught my first fish of the 2023 season on April 24, so I'm a day late, and hoping to find the first one or two of 2024 by tonight.
Get in those last licks on the largemouth ponds. It's going to be hard to turn away from blitzing bass and bluefish over the next couple of weeks, so get after the sweetwater action before those big bass move onto beds.
And if you're looking for some early-season family fun, grab some nightcrawlers and bobbers and take the kids down to any little pond to entertain them with bass, bluegills and more. Or, check out the schedules of some of our local charter boats like Bad Dog Sportfishing, Helen H or Little Sister Charters to do a little winter flounder fishing up in the Bay.
Stay safe out there, respect each other, respect the fish, and fish hard. Thanks for reading!
(If you'd like to contribute to our weekly fishing reports, email me at mhaeffner@onthewater.com with a brief report of your day on the water and what you caught, or message me on Instagram @matthaeffner.)
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