So far the 2012 striped bass fishing season is off to a great start here on Cape Cod.  Over the past few weeks many big bass have been caught which is a great sign of good things to come.

Even more exciting (for me at least!) is the fact that many My Fishing Cape Cod blog readers and members are getting into some awesome striper fishing.  For some of you this season has produced your first ever striped bass or keeper striped bass.  Other readers and members are off to their best season ever.

Hopefully the hot action and productive fishing reports will continue to flow in as spring gives way to summer.  As for now congratulations to the below anglers and crews – keep up the good work!

John D. Silva and crew cash in on a great bite in unfamiliar waters

Over the past 10 months John Silva has become a good fishing buddy of mine.  He’s a real knowledgeable guy when it comes to outdoors writing, photography and everything fishing.

Last week John had some buddies with him that wanted to catch some nice fish.  Needless to say the pressure was on for John to produce!  Fortunately the bass cooperated.

John and his crew slammed bass all morning long on live baits, chunk baits and poppers.  Average bass was in the 33-36 inch range.

Be sure to check out the awesome pics below.  Thanks again to John for checking out the blog – hope to see you guys on the water soon!

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 New boat = big fish and fun times for Jason Mazzola and crew

My long time fishing buddy and friend Jason Mazzola purchased a beautiful 23 foot center console this past winter.  Needless to say he was really chomping at the bit this spring and was eager to christen the boat with some big bass.

I am happy to report that so far so good with the new boat!  Mazzola and his crew of family and friends have been chipping away at bass in the 30-40 inch range over the past few weekends.  Everyone including his fiancee, mother, father, brother, sister and friends have gotten in on the action.

His reports last week helped me out big time when it came to finding the bait and the bass during one of my charters.  I was then able to pass that info along to John Silva (featured above) which helped him zone in on the bass and have a great trip.

It was a great all around team effort which is the ultimate goal of the members’ side of the blog.

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Chris French logs in the first keeper striped bass of his life

I met Chris last autumn.  He’s a very enthusiastic guy who is chomping at the bit when it comes to saltwater fishing.  Over the winter Chris logged in a lot of hours studying up on the best areas to fish from a kayak, and the best techniques to use to catch stripers from the yak.

I’m happy to report that so far so good for Mr. French.  This past week Chris was able to pull some of the first keeper striped bass of his life from the kayak fishing the Billingsgate area.  Congratulations to Chris on a fantastic start to your season!

I’ll be looking forward to receiving more positive reports from Chris in the future as he continues to learn the ropes and improve as a striped bass fishermen.

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Brian T. Atchinson and crew start the season off with a bang

Brian has been an integral part of the blog since its inception.  Last week he wrote up an incredible report in the member’s forum, highlighting the great striped bass and sea bass fishing he and his crew were able to get into off Cape Cod.

The guys found the bass inside Cape Cod Bay up tight to the beach.  They were able to limit out with nice size bass using light tackle, and even caught a few mackerel right next to the beach in shallow water.

The sea bass fishing in Nantucket Sound wasn’t bad either!  For Brian’s full report click here.

Here’s a few pics so far from Brian’s 2012 season.

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Paul Morgan enjoys his best ever start to the striped bass season

Paul and I have been exchanging emails all spring about bass fishing.  He’s off to a great start so far and is enjoying his most productive season to date.

So far he’s logged in a fair amount of days on the water, and has racked up as many as a dozen or so keepers/trip.  He’s also helped me zone in on the best mackerel bite which has been a huge help.

Nice work with the sonar images as well – gotta love seeing those red arches right along the bottom.

Hopefully the nice catches will just keep on coming as spring gives way to summer!

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Rick Spada and son Dominic hook up with estuary keepers

I’ve been in touch with Rick for a few months now.  He’s a real nice guy who is looking to catch a few bass this season from the yak with his son Dominic.

It seems like yesterday that I was fishing the same areas as Rick and his son, with my own Dad from our 12 foot aluminum boat.  I can remember those early fishing memories with the old man as if it was yesterday.

So far Rick and Dominic are off to a great start. Here’s a pic of their latest small keeper caught this past week.

Congrats to everyone for a great start to the season.  It’s great hearing from blog readers and members so don’t be shy and be sure to post something in the forum, send me an email, or ring me on the phone.

The best way to catch more fish, in my opinion, is to develop an expansive network of reliable contacts.  I can already see this happening for a few guys here on the blog, so let’s definitely keep it up!

Tight lines and take care,

Ryan

 

Today was absolutely awesome

I think I have logged in 45 minutes of snooze time over the past 48 hours.  Surprisingly I have never felt so energetic.  I think it may have something to do with fishing in a completely new area.  Right now it is 2:50AM Sunday morning and I am still good to go.  Funny how just the slightest chance of catching a fish keeps us fishing addicts alert.

I woke up this morning at 4:45AM, a full 1.5 hours after the bachelor party cooled down.  I’m not a huge fan of burning the candle on both ends but I had no choice this weekend.  I am wicked glad I sucked it up and crawled out of bed just before sunrise.

I met up with Phil Alberston, president of the Nantucket Anglers Club at 5:15AM.  I was able to connect with Phil because of the fishing blog, which is awesome.  It just goes to show that having a strong network of anglers is again, without a doubt, the most important factor to fishing success.

Phil was nice enough to chauffeur me around the entire island.  I have never fished Nantucket (although I have always wanted to) so it was great having some local knowledge on my side.  Not to mention that hitching a ride in Phil’s F-150 really beat huffing it on my rental bike!

So after a somewhat groggy start on my behalf we made our way to our fist destination.  I’ll dive into more detail about this incredible spot in the members’ report, but I will say that I was really shocked by the standing waves located right on shore.  Put another way this area featured huge standing waves within just a few feet of the shoreline.

There were humungous seals prowling the coast, and an enormous fog bank rolling in from the east.  I was fortunately able to snap a few quick photos before we were completely socked in by f0g.

Phil was a great guide and once he realized things were not happening at the first spot it was then time to move on.

The next area we tried out was right up my alley-a nice little estuary with a lot of potential.

As soon as we arrived we saw two beautiful white tail deer hanging out across the channel.  From what I learned the white tail deer population on Nantucket is booming.  With no natural predators the deer, and rabbits, are thriving on the island.

The area Phil showed me was really nice to say the least.  Although we failed to raise a fish I would not doubt that this area can produce at dusk during late summer and early fall.  For all I know it may be fishing well today!  We just hit the right spot at not the right time which is of course, A-OK in my book.

Phil took me around the entire island today.  One of the coolest areas was a point that jutted right out into the open Atlantic.  This was striped bass fishing at its wildest.  Horseshoe crabs pelted the sandy spit as well as mung-the dreaded weed of surf casters up and down the Cape Cod coast.

Unfortunately once you encounter mung the fishing gets that much tougher.

At around 9AM the fog rolled in big time and we decided to make another move around the island.  At this point I had lost track of my current location.  The heavy fog didn’t help.  Luckily Phil brought us right into another picturesque fishing hot spot.

I enthusiastically cast my pencil popper into the surf wile simultaneously admiring the erosion ridden cliffs behind me.  Long and harsh winters had eaten away at the southern Nantucket coastline.  This area really does display nature at in its rawest form.

Phil and I put in one hell of an effort this morning.  We fished 8 or so different locations scattered around the island.  If you are interested in learning more I will delve deeper into the areas and techniques used in the members extended report.

If the bass were in thick we would have done some damage today.  It just goes to show that you never know what you’ll encounter until you actually get out of bed and give it shot.  We may not have caught a huge bass today, but I learned just how important establishing good contacts is in the world of striped bass fishing.

Thanks to you guys and your emails and forum posts, we have all been able to zone in on the best and most recent bite which is really awesome.  I plan on doing the same one day after I log in a little bit more time on Nantucket.

In the mean time I owe a huge thank you to Phil Alberston for showing me around the island.  I’m looking forward to coming back and giving bonito and false albies a good shot.  At the least I hope to surf cast the Nantucket coastline again for bass and blues.

For more information on fishing Nantucket for big bass click here.

Hopefully you have had a productive Memorial Day weekend.  If not, there is always next weekend!  There are plenty of fish around Cape Cod, so if you put your time in you will most certainly be rewarded.

Tight lines and take care,

Ryan

After a day of not fishing I was starting to go through withdrawals so I made a concerted effort to get out for an hour tonight.  I didn’t have much time to plan the trip, but I still liked my odds of at least catching a fish or two.

I really enjoy exploring new areas so that is exactly what I did.  Once again I grabbed my Dad and headed out for a relaxing night of surf casting.

So far most of the action I have found from shore has been around boulder fields.  I dug way back in the memory bank and recalled an area I had heard a lot about, but had never actually fished.  We decided to head to Barnstable to cast pencil poppers around car-size rocks.

As soon as we arrived the conditions went from warm and sunny to cool and foggy.  We could actually watch as the fog bank rolled in from the East.  Tonight was another strange one weather wise.

To my surprise the current was ripping through this stretch of shore line.  We had made it there for the very last part of the outgoing tide.  Immediately we could see bait fish in tight to the shoreline and birds working a bit farther offshore-all good signs!

It’s not often that the first cast produces action but tonight was the exception.  My very first cast enticed a nice SMACK! from a juvenile bass.  He didn’t get the hook but it felt good to know there were at least a few fish in the immediate area.

A couple casts later I had another miniature explosion on the pencil popper.  After a quick battle I had the fish in to shore.  This bass probably tipped the scales at a whopping 2 pounds.  Hard to believe that in 15 or so years this fish could reach the size of the near 75 pound bass caught the other day down in Connecticut.

I continued wading down the shore line casting as I went.  Every now and then a swirl or footprint would show behind the pencil popper.  Once in a while a small bass would give it a half-hearted swipe.

Not every trip produces unreal fishing and huge bass, but that is A-OK by me.  It’s all about just getting out there, having fun and staying active in my book.

I managed to hook and land another micro-schoolie as we made our way back to the car.  All in all a great night with a couple beautiful fish to boot.

I would like to return to this spot during the incoming tide.  There were so many big boulders and nooks and crannies that I think would fish very well when covered by the high tide.

Another added bonus was being completely alone for miles on end.  Just me, my Dad and a few terns.  Not a soul in sight which was proved very refreshing.

I’m hoping to get some fishing in during this weekend’s bachelor party on Nantucket.  I’ll be sure to report back if I’m able to find an internet connection.  I’ve always wanted to fish Nantucket from shore and now I finally have an excuse to go over there and give it a shot.  Should be fun!

In the mean time best of luck fishing this Memorial Day weekend.  Stay safe out there on the water and try to keep your patience at the boat ramp!

For more information on good areas to surf cast in the town of Barnstable, click here.

Tight lines,

Ryan

It never ceases to amaze me just how big some striped bass grow to be.

Back in the day there were reports of 100 plus pound striped bass being caught up in nets off Cape Cod.  Of course we all remember the recent new world record 80 plus pound striper caught last year on a live eel.

Well the biggest fish I have heard of so far this season was caught just the other day by Captain Blaine Anderson.  Captain Anderson operates Anderson Guide Services down in Connecticut.

I don’t know Captain Blaine personally but I sure wish I did!

That sure is one hell of a nice fish to say the least.

First off BIG CONGRATS to Captain Blaine for an amazing catch.  I’m definitely looking forward to hearing the details.

And if you are interested in seeing the picture you can check it out on Facebook at Captain’s Blaine’s Facebook page.  I would also imagine we will see more pics soon at this website http://fishingct.com/.

Secondly us Cape Cod fishermen still have a TON of big fish to look forward to.

This past week the Canal bite has been solid from what I have been hearing.  I have not been able to fish the Canal much this week, however I plan on getting down there tomorrow at some point and possibly again on Friday.

Earlier in the week another talented angler pulled a 46 pound striper from the Big Ditch.  Needless to say there are some serious cows prowling the land cut.

Yesterday morning was another one of those mornings where you have a hard time rolling out of bed.  The rain was coming down in sheets and the fog was thick.

Still it only took me a few moments to get up and out of bed, knowing that 40 plus pound bass were around.  I arrived at one of my favorite rocky outcroppings by 5AM.

As I walked down along the service road I spotted a small school of mackerel swimming in tight to the rip-rap.  I never complain when I see bait swirling in close to shore.  Odds are larger predators farther out in the center of the Canal scared them in tight.

By 5:30AM I had not yet seen any surface activity but was still having fun launching a pencil popper around.  As I stood there in the water a small school of pogies swam right by my legs.  There were four or five adult pogies, a couple juveniles and some other small bait fish all schooling together.

Just after that school of pogies passed I had one of the largest Atlantic mackerel I have ever seen swim by right in front of me.  There’s certainly no shortage of bait in the Canal at the moment!

Around 6:00AM bass began popping on the surface here and there.  By 6:30AM there was some serious tail slapping and surface explosions going on.  By 7AM more bass were passing by me on the surface – yet all were completely ignoring my plug.

Interestingly enough the bass that I saw were feeding on relatively small bait-especially compared to pogies and mackerel.  The fish I saw the stripers spraying out of the water were in the 2-5 inch range.  Maybe this is why they were so fussy and refused to hit my 6 inch long pencil popper.

I continued casting and dragging my plug right in front of their noses until 7:20AM when I had to call it quits and take care of some land based work.  I felt as if I could have put in just a bit more time I would have been rewarded-oh well, I got skunked!

I’m really looking forward to getting back down to the Canal ASAP.  I did see some impressive bass yesterday morning.  The fish that were slapping around on the surface had some really good size to them.

I’ve also been hearing quite a few reports and getting a decent amount of emails from folks who are themselves landing fish over 20 pounds.  And of course with more reports of big bass to the south of us (like that 70 pounder!) things could get good for the holiday weekend.

There’s a ton of bait around and we have some decent tides to look forward to.  Some of the biggest bass caught this past week were taken during the middle of the afternoon which is somewhat unusual.

On top of that there’s pictures in just about every bait shop in the area with guys (and some gals!) holding 20-30 pound fish.  Even my mom reported seeing someone carrying a bass back to their truck on her way to school.

Click here for more information about what to expect at the Canal this Memorial Day weekend.

I met up with a good friend of mine yesterday to do some surf casting for striped bass.  Garet is a young man from Cape Cod who loves to fish, watch Boston sports and eat at Old Country Buffet.

A few seasons ago Garet joined me on a live eel night fishing expedition.  During that trip he boated 5 bass up to 32 pounds.  That was one heck of a trip that neither I or Garet will be forgetting anytime soon.

Garet was born with spina bifida, so it’s a little difficult for him to sometimes get around/walk long distances etc.  We decided to hit up a spot that is easy to access and doesn’t require long casts to catch a fish.  We both had a good feeling about the trip which was great.

Luckily the rain subsided but the fog was the thickest I have seen it all year.  The fog actually made for pretty cool and ideal shore fishing conditions.

We set up shop at a narrow in a local creek and got to work.  We were banking on the incoming tide bringing in a fresh batch of fish from the open ocean.

I love fishing the back waters of creeks and tidal areas during the first part of the incoming tide.  All sorts of marine life will ride the current up into the estuary.  Opportunistic bass hop on the band wagon and are rewarded with a cornucopia of feeding opportunities.

In the past we have encountered some decent bass fishing utilizing this theory.  I’ve never caught anything incredibly enormous fishing backwater tidal creeks, but fish in the 30 inch range are not terribly uncommon.

A bass like that is what I was hoping for last night.

Around 7PM the tide began flowing in at a decent clip.  Once the current got moving the tidal pools and creek beds began to come alive.  A few birds were diving here and there and we would occasionally catch a glimpse of a bass as it made its way back into the creek.

We cast for a long time with nothing to show until I felt the smallest, nearly undetectable “bump.”

“Was that a hit?” I remember thinking to myself.

A couple casts later I felt the same little bump, leaned back to set the hook and hooked into the first fish of the night.  After no more than 30 seconds I had the bass on the bank.

This guy might have measured 12 inches at most!  Hands down one of the smallest fish of the past couple of years.

A few casts later I hooked up again.  This fish might (emphasis on might!) have measured 8 inches.  This particular bass definitely takes the cake as the smallest striper I have seen in person since I was probably 14 or 15 years old.

Although we didn’t catch anything with any size we still had a great time.  It’s just nice to be able to fish in easily accessible areas where a 20 foot cast has the potential to produce a bass or two.

The fog on the drive home last night was absolutely unreal.  At times I had to slow down to a near stop just to see a street sign or the painted lines separating the lanes.  We’ve had some strange weather so far this week to say the least.

All in all a fun trip.

In other news I’ve been hearing great things about the Cape Cod Canal bite as of late.  A 46 pound bass was taken yesterday with many others in the 20 and 30 pound range.  Looks like this week’s tides at the Canal could be productive.

I hope you are able to get out this week and find some fish.  If I can help in any capacity please let me know – I am just an email away.

Thanks as always for checking out the blog and good luck!

Take care,

Ryan

If only every trip could be this fun and productive!

I met Anthony, Tom and Adrian this morning at 4AM.  The guys were all fired up and so was I.  We had picturesque, flat calm, crystal clear conditions.  Needless to say the morning had a ton of potential.

Both Tom and Adrian were looking for their first ever striped bass.  I had a good feeling that today may be their day, but I held back from saying anything because you just never know with fish.  Thankfully the bass cooperated!

We cruised out to this past week’s mackerel hot spot and I gave the guys a quick lesson on jigging macks.  It took us a little bit to zone in on the mackerel but we were eventually able to load up the live well with big macks and a sea herring or two.

As the sun rose we eased into our first striper spot of the day.  I gave the guys a quick run down on how to fish the macks on light spinning gear and put them to work.

I could ramble on for hours about this report so I’ll just cut to the chase.  Within 5 minutes the guys had 4 keepers, all between 36 and 38 inches flopping around on deck-amazing!

The bass were coming right up to the surface and smacking the mackerel.  Some of the macks would speed along on top, with a bass in close pursuit.  It was quite the show to say the least.

Both Tom and Adrian had caught their first ever striped bass (and nice size ones at that) and it was only 6AM.  Great start!

We continued drifting along, pitching live macks to the left and to the right.  All three guys quickly became accustomed to the technique and had no problem hooking bass.

Before we knew it we were almost in double digits, as far as keeper bass were concerned.  We had quite a few double hook ups which is always exciting.

Around 7:00AM we decided to make a big move and load up on more live bait.

The mackerel fishing this year has been stellar and I’m happy to say that it continued today.  We found macks way out deep beyond the fleet and had about 40-50 in no time.  With a chock full live well we headed back to the bite, hoping the fish were still around.

The tide had changed and the bass had moved but we were fortunately able to find them again in no time.  If only things worked out this well on every trip!

We had a much better class of fish to work with today-the average bass before 9AM was 35-38 inches.  The fish continued to put on quite the top water show, slamming and running with the macks, pulling line from the reels and putting bends in the rods.

The action began to slow mid morning until we made a move in tighter to shore.  By chance we happened to stumble upon a shoal that was absolutely paved with fish.

By now we had just dead baits but the stripers did not care one bit. We bounced dead mackerel along the bottom and had pick ups during each drift.

Due to equipment failure I rigged Adrian up with a light freshwater setup that is better suited for large mouths than stripers.  Sure enough the ultra-light setup produced, and Adrian had one hell of a time battling bass up to 20 pounds on the flimsy rod.

By 11:30AM we had landed somewhere in the vicinity of 25 keeper bass between 28 and 38 inches.  All of these fish were incredibly FAT with huge stomachs and good shoulders.  It was obvious that these fish had been feeding extremely well.

Today was hands down the best day we’ve had so far in 2012.  I can’t wait to get back out there!

The great spring fishing on Cape Cod is showing no signs of slowing up.  Hopefully the bite will continue right on into summer.  For more information on today’s hot spots and techniques, click here for the extended report.

Big thanks to Adrian, Tom and Anthony for making the long drive from Worcester.  I’m looking forward to getting back out there again with you guys soon.

Tight lines and take care!

Ryan

There’s certainly nothing wrong with fishing the Cape Cod Canal or other well-known areas.  These spots are well-known for a reason.  They produce great fishing and big fish.

Yet in my opinion one of the best aspects of fishing Cape Cod is the plethora of incredible, virtually unknown fishing areas.  Almost every rock and sand bar on Cape Cod has the potential to at some point in time, produce great striped bass fishing.

The entire Cape is jam packed with productive fishing areas.  If you are feeling adventurous and would like to spend some time fishing away from the crowds, then pull up Google Earth and start poking around.

Using Google Earth to find productive fishing spots is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do.  Today I spent about 20 minutes zooming in and zooming out, scrolling east and west, tearing Cape Cod apart inch by inch.  Technology is absolutely amazing!

The problem was not finding a productive spot to fish, it was deciding which productive spot I felt like fishing.  Google Earth shows you every single sandbar, estuary and even individual boulders.  It really is awesome and I highly recommend it.  I’ve mentioned it before but I think I’ll put together a handbook for how to find productive fishing spots using Google Earth.  I think that will be a good winter project for me.

My goal for today was to find an area that was really off the beaten path.  I wanted to find a spot completely devoid of other folks, in an area where I have never fished before.  Of course I also wanted to catch a fish, so I made sure to look for some good structure located by an estuary.  Good structure in close proximity to an estuary (that I think also had a herring run) is the fishing equivalent of a 1-2 punch.

With my spot selected I headed out with high hopes.

I asked my Dad if he felt like tagging along and to my surprise he agreed!  Since retiring he’s usually busy riding around in his car, drinking coffee or taking a nap – so I was glad he decided to come.  Reminded me of when I was younger which was nice.

After a longer drive than usual we arrived at the spot.  A long dirt road winded to an abrupt end where we had just enough room to park the truck.  I think we both were impressed by just how gorgeous the scenery was.  A picture perfect beach path through the dunes lead the way to a boulder strewn beach.

These boulders were huge with some easily 8 or more feet in height.  It was an unforgiving terrain to say the least but it just wreaked of fish.

It only took three casts with a pencil popper to elicit the first strike of the day.  The bass caught me completely off guard and basically came hurdling out from behind an enormous boulder.  This fish put on quite the show and catapulted straight clear out of the water.  Unfortunately I completely missed him!

It was a shame because it was definitely a decent size bass in the 34-37 inch range.  Usually I wouldn’t be so sure about my “guestimates” regarding size but this fish came completely out of the water no more than 25 feet in front of me.  I got a good look to say the absolute least!

I continued wading around through the rocks and boulders, casting as I went.  Every 10 minutes or so I would get another SMACK! out of the blue as a decent bass came screaming to the surface to give the plug a whack.  I’m not sure exactly what was going on but I was having some serious trouble hooking a fish.

Finally as I rounded a nice big boulder I got smacked again and buried the hook into the bass.  After a 25 second battle (yes that’s right – 25 seconds!) I had the fish on shore.  A whopping 20 incher!

The bass may not have compared to last week’s 36 pounder but it still was fun to catch my first bass in a completely new area.

I continued casting and getting whacked by the occasional bass as I waded around.  My batting average today was not very good.  All in all I went 4 for 14.  4 hook ups out of 14 hits.

Even though the batting average suffered it was well worth it.  Nothing beats the excitement of watching a bass whack a top water plug.  I just can’t put away the pencil poppers this year – it’s just too much fun.  I’d imagine if I chose a swimmer I could have hooked the majority of the bass.

As the sun set over a flat calm Bay the action only got better.  My hook up ratio still stunk but at this point I didn’t really care at all.  It was just an absolutely gorgeous evening in a brand new spot.  I’ll definitely be venturing back here before the season is over.

For more information on the trip and the area fished click here.

We had another real fun morning today striped bass fishing Cape Cod.  I had two friends with me today, a local Cape Codder Brian and Jim – a native New Englander who now resides in Chicago.  With all the good reports from this past week we all were hoping for some good action.

Luckily we were not disappointed!

The morning started off just like the past few trips aboard the Miss Loretta.  We headed out to the local mackerel hot spots with the intention of jigging up enough live macks to get us through a morning of live-lining.

The mackerel bite this morning was even better than earlier in the week.  Without exaggeration it took less than 2 minutes to catch a half dozen mackerel.  Another 20 minutes of jigging produced more than enough mackerel to get us through the rest of the fishing excursion.

If only the mackerel bite would remain this solid for the entire summer season!  Who knows maybe this will be the year that it does.  Usually the mackerel bite slows considerably once June arrives, so we will just have to cross our fingers and wait to see what happens.  All I can say right now is that if you are looking for mackerel then there is no better time than now to get out there.

With a chock full live well we made our way east towards perennial big fish hot spots.  It’s only a matter of time until the real big bass (25 pounds and up) move into these areas.  Just like the last trip these spots were devoid of bass life.  Not a big deal though and after a little while of trying we reeled up the lines and continued our trek eastward.

High tide today was around 8AM, which was not ideal for what we had in mind for this trip.  Seems like the best bite as of late has come during the last part of the outgoing.  Nevertheless we remained optimistic that we would eventually be able to make it happen at some point this morning.

Out came the light tackle setups and I rigged the guys up with fresh macks.  These macks seemed extra feisty today and we had a hard time initially distinguishing a bass take from an overly energetic mack.  Add in a little wind and current, and detecting bites became that much more of a challenge.

After making a few drifts Brian hooked up with the first bass of the day.  Nothing humongous but a great start to the trip.  Brian has some experience fishing this area with this technique, so he was able to quickly get this bass to the boat.  Another keeper bass in the 30-34 inch range – not complaining one bit.

We kept experimenting with hook placement and different drifts all morning until we finally nailed down a productive drift route and technique.  After Brian boated a few more nice bass it was Jim’s turn to get in on the action.

Jim drove all the way from Chicago to fish the Canal and Cape Cod Bay.  I like this guy’s dedication and determination.  He was able to land a few nice stripers during last week’s Canal action and there was no doubt in my mind that he would land a few nice ones today.

Jim’s first bass put up a great fight in the strong current and windy conditions.  A few deep breaths and maneuvers around the boat and he had his first ever Cape Cod Bay striped bass.

The wind picked up a bit as the morning progressed into afternoon and so did the action.  We had a steady diet of bites and runs, however hooking the fish proved difficult.  I’d say we hooked 1 out of every 4 bites on the macks.

Unfortunately that’s just a part of fishing with such big baits.  These mackerel are average over a foot in length, which is a real mouthful for a lot of the bass off Cape Cod right now.

I think if all these fish were 20 pounds and up our hook up ratio would improve dramatically.  But like I said before – we aren’t complaining!

Finally towards the end of the trip we ran out of live macks.  We did have plenty of freshly dead mackerel so we opted for giving those guys a try.

The bass seemed indifferent to whether our baits were alive or dead.  I think our hook up ratio actually improved a little once we switched to the dead stuff.  One of our last drifts of the day produced a nice double header – a great way to end the trip.

The bass fishing is pretty good right now off Cape Cod.  Hopefully it’ll hold strong for a long time.

There’s plenty of bait around which is a great sign of things to come.  For more information on this trip and how things are looking right now off Cape Cod, click here.

Tight lines and take care,

Ryan

Yesterday was an awesome day and a great cap to an incredible first week of the striped bass fishing season here on Cape Cod.

I met Silas and Dan at 4AM on Saturday with the hopes of jigging up some live mackerel and then live lining them inside Cape Cod Bay for stripers.  We got off to a rough start when I found out that the guys weren’t able to find anywhere to grab a coffee.  They were troopers though and stuck out the entire trip caffeine free.

The air was a bit on the nippy side before the sun came up, but the wind was calm and the skies were clear.  We were treated to a great sunrise and an unreal mackerel bite!  As soon as the sabiki rigs went into the water the macks latched on like they had nothing to lose.  It only took us maybe 25 minutes of jigging to fill up the live well.

With plenty of macks in the boat we started searching around for some bass.  There’s been a ton of fish moving through the Canal as of late with some of the bass well above the 25 pound mark.  Sometimes when this happens certain areas inside the Bay light up with life.  I was secretly hoping and thinking that this may have been the case yesterday.

Unfortunately the areas I had hoped would have some big bass were devoid of life.  No big deal though, when one spot fails to produce just move right on to the next one.

At around 7AM we pulled in to the same area that I had fished earlier in the week with Josh.  Josh and I had been treated to some awesome action on fish up to 35 inches so I was really hoping that those nice bass would still be around.  Fortunately they were and on the second pass Dan hooked up.  Fish on!

Dan’s fish was not a monster but it certainly was a great start to the morning.  Dan and Silas were pumped and so was I – the bass were here.

The guys really caught on with the live mackerel technique.  Live lining macks for bass is one of the most fun ways of fishing in my book.

We started out live lining the mackerel with weight, but when the wind died we removed the weight and let the macks swim freely.  When we did this the bass started chasing the mackerel up to the surface and put on quite the show.  One of our macks would be non-nonchalantly cruising on the surface when out of nowhere SMACK! a nice bass would gobble him up.

The action for Silas and Dan only improved as the day progressed.  After putting around 10 fish in the boat we made a quick run out to deep water to jig up some more macks.  Again it only took maybe 25 minutes to re-fill the tanks.  I’m really amazed by the incredible amount of mackerel present right now.  Hopefully they will stick around for the entire summer!

With a fresh supply of mackerel we got right back to the bass fishing.  The action this time around was even better than before.  By now it was around 11AM, sunny, hot and flat calm.  Perfect conditions for us but not always perfect conditions for bass fishing.  However the stripers only became more aggressive as the sun climbed higher in the sky.

At one point we had a fish on every drift we made.  I’ll be sure to remember trips like these when the bass aren’t so cooperative later this season!

Big thanks to both Silas and Dan for coming fishing.  You guys were a great crew and a lot of fun to fish with!

Final tally for the day was around 20 keepers.  I’d guess that if we hooked every fish that bit we would of had around 40 fish.  This is hands down some of the best spring time action I have ever been a part of!  For more information on the trip, areas fished and techniques used click here.

 

 

 

Cape Cod fishing reports

It has been one heck of an incredible week here on Cape Cod!  If you haven’t yet signed up for the MFCC newsletter, be sure to do so by the end of the day today.  This week’s newsletter will recap this past week’s fishing events and highlight the dramatic increase of big bass in the waters surrounding the Cape.

I’d also like to say thank you for helping to make this first week of reporting such a success.  I’ve been receiving a boat load of fishing tips and reports from blog members which is really awesome.  Your input is a huge help when it comes to finding and sticking with the fish.  Thank you!

Yesterday started off much in the same way as the day before.  I spent the morning soaked to the bone sitting on a rock waiting for the tide to turn – hoping it would bring with it the big bass of the day before.  The rain was incredible to say the least.

Unfortunately I waited and waited, but nothing was showing in the area I was fishing.  I saw a couple pops here and there but nothing major.  By 8:45AM I decided to call it quits and go home to dry up.

Well I hate to admit it but that decision came back to bite me in the butt.  Oddly enough it seemed that yesterday’s best action did not happen early in the morning, as is usually the case.  Striped bass are unpredictable creatures when they want to be, and yesterday my predictions just didn’t line up with what the bass had in mind.

You can’t expect to win every battle!

I was able to at least scoot back out fishing later in the day just before sunset.  I wasn’t expecting much from the last second-late in the day-trip but I ended up cashing in with a small keeper.  At least I avoided the skunk for the day which is always appreciated.

I don’t think I have much of a future in cinematography but I did mange to snap a quick video of yesterday’s small keeper.  If only I was able to get some video footage of yesterday’s 36 pounder – oh well maybe next time.

As mentioned there was a good bite yesterday, it just happened while I was not fishing.

My friend Jeff (who is an incredible striped bass fishermen) texted me this photo yesterday.

Apparently bass are feeding on their own kind.  Once Jeff got his bass up onto the rocks it coughed up a 7 inch long baby striper.  I’ve heard stories about cannibalistic bass but this is the fist documented photo I have ever seen.  Pretty cool stuff to say the least, and I suppose that explains why juvenile stripers rarely travel with full grown adults.

Certain tides have been producing better than other tides as of late.  I think there is a great deal of potential for this weekend’s fishing.  There are big bass around and they are feeding aggressively at certain times and in certain locations.  For more information on yesterday’s events, productive tides and areas click here.

 

 

 

 

Cape Cod Fishing Report

Today was just incredible.

If you haven’t noticed it is raining – torrentially raining!  This morning was one of those mornings where you debate whether or not to get out of bed.  I am sure glad I didn’t succumb to the pillows and covers because I would have missed out on the best fishing trip so far this year.

I figured I would try to keep the good vibes from yesterday’s trip going by ordering the same exact thing from Dunkin’ Donuts.  A medium iced coffee and a blueberry muffin.  I think I even had the same employee take my order-a good sign to say the least.  It was only 4:30AM and things were already off to a great start.

I headed down to the area where Josh and I marked bass during yesterday’s trip.  As the sky began to brighten I watched the surface, eagerly searching for any signs of life.

Unfortunately I wasn’t seeing much.  Around 6:00AM I decided to take a break and wait it out.  I sat there on a rock in my waders, wearing my obnoxiously bright rain coat, just getting absolutely pelted by the rain.  However I actually found the experience quite enjoyable.  I’m not sure exactly what it is but there’s something nice about fishing in lousy weather-even when the fish aren’t biting.

By 6:30AM with no signs of life I decided it was about time to head back.  I packed up my stuff and began heading back towards the truck.  The rain was really coming down good so I figured I would try one more spot before calling it quits.

Before I could get to that spot I bumped into Jeff who is a good fishing buddy of mine.  We started chatting about fishing and how our winters had been.  As we stood there talking a good size bass crashed a bait fish on the surface in front of us.  The talking was officially over – it was time to cast a line!

3 casts later my homemade top water plug got hammered by a decent fish.  The bass missed the plug, came back and smacked it again.  Still no hook up.

A few casts later another decent fish came up from below and walloped the pencil popper.  Fish on!

This bass had some decent weight behind him and some good shoulders.  After a good fight I eased him up onto the rocks.  The bass was a chunky 34-36 inches with a huge belly.  To think that I had been ready to pack it in and go home!

We continued casting for another 15 minutes, occasionally raising a bass to the surface but not hooking up.  Then something changed and all hell began to break loose.  Fish started popping and smacking bait all around us.  The rain was pouring down at this point but we could still see the white water caused by the stripers crushing hapless prey on top.

Every cast was producing explosive top water strikes at this point.  After catching and releasing a few more 15-20 pounders I decided to switch to a plug with just one hook.  I didn’t want to do any more damage to the bass using a plug loaded with treble hooks.  Surprisingly my hook up ratio did not suffer much from the switch, plus I gained a few more valuable casting yards.

Jeff and I had a few fish doing somersaults as they smacked the plugs.  All of these fish were extremely aggressive and were probably feeding on a variety of baits.  I saw bait fish in the 4-6 inch range getting sprayed way out in the middle.  However there were also big mackerel present in the mix.

We actually had a mackerel cruise right up into our feet and beach himself.  I’m guessing he’d rather sit on the sand then face the bass that were cruising just offshore.

About an hour into the action a gaping hole opened up beneath my plug.  This was unlike any of the surface hits before.  I never saw the fish – the plug just disappeared beneath the surface.  My rod doubled over and line began screaming from the reel.  This was a big bass.

The bass continued trucking down current, peeling yards of line as he went.  After losing  100 or so yards to the fish I figured now was a good time to chase him down.  The angler down current from me was awesome.  He noticed I had a big one on the line and stopped casting until the fish was by him.  I owe that guy a big thank you to say the least!

With the braided line I could feel every shake and pump from the bass.  This guy had some serious weight to him.  I had walked 50 yards down the coast and the fish was still taking line.  Finally I decided to lock down the drag before he rubbed me off on a rock.

It took a while but I was finally able to ease the fish in towards me.  As soon as I got a good look at this baby I knew he was a nice one.

This bass tipped the scale (I keep a scale in my tackle bag) at 36 pounds.  So far the biggest fish of the season for me!

But the action was still far from over.  As soon as that fish was safely released it was back to casting as droves of bass continued to flow by.  For more information on the trip, the areas fished and techniques used click here.

Cape Cod Fishing Report | May 8

I had a good feeling about today.

It all started last night when I was rigging up gear for this morning’s live mackerel striped bass fishing trip.  As I tied up hooks in my basement, I heard a “pitter-patter” noise just outside the screen door.  Naturally I was curious as to what was causing the noise so I walked over to the screen door to have a look.

As I approached the door I was greeted by a behemoth of a skunk.  Immediately I froze in place, hoping to not startle the basically lethal creature.  The skunk took a good hard look into my eyes, turned around and pitter-pattered away.  Phew!

This morning I met up with Josh who is a local policeman.  Josh is a great fisherman with tons of experience and is easy to get along with, so I had high hopes for his and my first boat trip of the season.

We departed from Taylor Point Marina in Buzzard’s Bay at 5:30am and cruised through the Canal towards Cape Cod Bay.  It was a gorgeous flat calm ride through the Canal.  As we cruised over the many holes and rips of the Big Ditch I kept a close eye on the sonar, hoping to get a gauge on where the majority of the bass were hanging out – which could come in handy if I am able to fish this afternoon’s tides.

Fortunately we did mark multiple nice size schools of bass in the Canal.  It was really great to see those big orange globs registering on the sonar again – it’s been a while since I’ve seen that!

We did not see much surface activity, however the bass were certainly there.  Most of the fish were holding deep in holes and behind rips, which is ideal for jigging.

We’ll talk more about what areas of the Canal had the greatest concentrations of bass in the members’ report.

Once we made it through the Canal we proceeded to the regular mackerel hot spots and were able to quickly stash the live well with 2 dozen colorful speedsters.  I would classify this morning’s mackerel fishing as “lights out.”  There were a good amount of macks out there this morning.

Instead of fishing the macks right in the spot we caught them (which is often a pretty good strategy) we opted to transport them to a few spots that usually fish very well during the month of May.

On our way to live-lining destination #1 we managed to mark a few more globs of orange which were most likely decent size schools of striped bass.  All good signs of what’s to come.

Lines went in the water immediately upon arriving at the first location.  Within 5 minutes both Josh and I were on to some nice fish.  Nothing crazy but two very chunky 34 inch bass.  Both of these fish bit and fought very hard and were extremely aggressive.  It was a very promising start to the trip.

We repeated the same exact drift and got the same result-another couple of beautiful keepers.  These next two fish were slightly smaller at around 32 inches but we were certainly not complaining.

As the tide slowed down the main concentration of fish moved north just a bit.  Fortunately it did not take us long to find the bass again, which is all too often an issue.  Macks went in the water and rods bent over, great stuff!

Most of the fish I have caught this year have been on the smaller end of the spectrum.  This is expected as it is still very early in the striped bass season here on Cape Cod.  However the bass this morning were slightly larger and much fatter than the fish I have been catching.  My guess is that these bass have been gorging themselves on sand eels and mackerel since arriving in this area.  Hopefully they’ll stick around for a while because the action was very good.

We continued live-lining macks on light spinning and conventional setups for the next 1.5 hours.  We probably had about 24 takes which resulted in 13 bass brought to the boat.  All of the stripers were keeper size with the smallest around 30 inches and the largest around 35.

By 9am we were out of live bait and decided to head back off shore to catch more.  I got a great tip from a blog member about a nearby area that has been consistently producing mackerel so we decided to give it a shot.  I owe a thank you to Paul because he was right on the money with the location of the macks!

We found mackerel feeding on the surface, gulping down 1-2 inch long bait fish.  At one point we had schools of mackerel feeding off the bow, starboard and port – all on the surface.  Of course we also had macks feeding below the boat which we were able to jig up and store in the live well.

Many of the macks were very big.  Last year most of the mackerel we caught were “tinker” size.  So far this year the majority of the mackerel we have caught have been at least 12 inches in length.  I believe this is a great sign and is an indication of the staggering amount of marine life currently present around Cape Cod.

So with a full live well we proceeded to hit up a few more areas that have fished well for us in the past during May.  For more information on the areas we fished and the techniques we used click here.

 

 

 

Last night was just spectacular.

After days of overcast skies the weather finally broke and we were provided with a gorgeous, crystal clear evening.  The wind was dead calm and on top of all that we had a full moon.

After a little coaxing I convinced Lauren to tag along with me for another surf casting expedition.  Lauren is  an awesome sport and a rookie striped bass fisher-woman, so I chose an area where I figured we would have an excellent chance at some bass – no long casting required!

Actually, almost all of the bass I have caught this year have come on casts of less than 30 feet, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.  That means that all of the stripers I have managed to catch so far this season have been in less than 5 feet of water (except for the Canal fish).

This is the ideal scenario for folks fishing with beginner striped bass anglers.  I would never take Lauren down to the Cape Cod Canal, hand her an 11 foot surf casting rod and expect her to toss a plug 200 feet to a 35 pound bass in the middle of the land cut.

Same goes if you are fishing with a beginner or a little kid.  There are certain areas on Cape Cod conducive to fishing with beginners.  When just starting out I’d recommend concentrating on these areas, instead of taking a complete novice to more challenging spots like the Canal.

The month of May is prime time for novice striper anglers on Cape Cod.  Right now there are plenty of nice fish roaming around extremely close to shore.  This is the ideal time to catch a fish if you are just starting out, so if you can get to the beach ASAP!

We had a real nice steady pick of bass last night.  Nothing huge but nice consistent action from the time we arrived right until we left.

The incoming tide fished really well as bass poured in from Cape Cod Bay and rode the tide up into the creek we were fishing.  We actually watched as bass passed over a sand bar in 1-2 feet of water and cruised into the estuary.

The top water action on 12-24 inch fish was superb.  An ideal scenario for Lauren and other beginner anglers.

The action only got better as the sun got lower in the sky.  The best action pre-sunset was out around the mouth of the creek.  I actually had a few nice surface strikes from bass in the 30-35 inch range out by the mouth of the creek.  Unfortunately the bass completely missed the plug and the hook – oh well maybe I’ll get them next time.

As the sun sank lower on the horizon and as the tide began to flow in, we retreated from the mouth of the creek back up into the estuary.  This was when we noticed bass cruising over the shallows, riding the tide into the estuary.

We picked off these fish one at a time with needlefish lures and pencil poppers.  Even small bass no more than 18 inches were smacking 6 inch long plugs.  These bass were aggressive to say the least!

Once it got dark we were treated to an incredible moon rise.  If you weren’t able to scoot outside last night to check out the full moon I would highly recommend getting out tonight.  If you are able to, get down to the ocean around 8pm and watch it rise over the horizon.  The moon was so full and orange that it kind of looked the sun – absolutely incredible.

The saction only improved as night fell.  We could hear bass slurping down bait left and right in the dark.  Tail slaps and splashes could be heard all around us.  Once the moon rose we could just barely make out the silhouettes of striper splashes and surface strikes.

The bass continued smacking our surface offerings however our hook up ratio plummeted once the sun set.  Nevertheless the overall action only improved as the tide and darkness progressed.

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Cape Cod Canal Fishing Report May 4

Sometimes you just have to stay up for 24 hours straight!

Yesterday was one of those days.  I woke up at 5am for a meeting on Friday and finally finished filleting and cleaning up just before 5am on Saturday.  I guess I better get used to this whacky schedule because I think it’s going to be a very busy and very fun summer.

Also add in the fact that it’s date tonight for this guy tonight – which most likely means I won’t be fishing the Canal from 11:30PM to 1:30AM again.  Although Lauren has come withe me on plenty of 14 hour Cape Cod Bay night fishing excursions before, so who knows – maybe I can convince her to head down to the Canal with me.

I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

So with the tides perfect for night fishing I decided that I just had to get down to the Big Ditch last night.  I know there are some really big bass around (at least from what I’m hearing) so I figured the Canal was my best shot at one from shore.

I don’t think there is a giant biomass of big fish in the Canal just yet, but I know that could change at virtually any moment.  For all I know the Big Ditch could be going off as I sit here on the couch writing this!

The fishing was not “lights out” last night but it was still very good in my book.  The weather was absolutely picture perfect too.  The air was still a bit nippy but there was no wind and the Canal was as smooth as a pane of glass.

I was quite surprised by the lack of angler activity down there.  On such a perfect night I expected to see at least a few hardy souls.  For the most part however I had the entire Canal to myself.  Just me, a coupe fish and the occasional skunk or two.

It took a little while for me to zone in on some decent action but finally around 12:30AM I had my first real good whack!  The current was running full steam, the bass hit hard and I actually ended up in the water!  Yep, the fish pulled me right off the rock I was standing on, right into the Canal.

I’m still trying to break in my new pair of boots so I’m going to blame it on that.  Luckily I ended up in just a foot or so of water so it wasn’t a big deal.  After a few minutes I had the bass on the rocks.  A whopping 24 incher!

I must be becoming extra clumsy because I never would have imagined such a small fish causing me to lose my balance and fall into the Canal – eh well I’m not as strong as I thought I was.

I spent the next 30 minutes working that same rip with no action.  I was debating whether to move when at around 1:10AM I got a much heavier and powerful take.  This fish felt much better than the first bass and put up a great fight in the heavy current.

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