This report was originally sent in an email newsletter on August 6th. If you aren't already receiving our email updates, then you can start receiving them for free here.
It's another hot and humid day on Cape Cod, with mostly sunny skies, southwest winds and temperatures in the high 80's. There's been plenty of action happening all throughout the Cape & Islands and I hope you're able to get out there soon and wet a line.
This week I've been having a great time digging sea clams. I do my sea clamming at dead low tide over the vast sand flats of Cape Cod Bay.
This week I've been having a great time digging sea clams. I do my sea clamming at dead low tide over the vast sand flats of Cape Cod Bay. Using the clams I harvested this week, my wife Lauren made linguine with chopped clams.
Using the clams I harvested this week, my wife Lauren made linguine with chopped clams. We then froze the remaining clams for future use. Before you go sea clamming just be sure to check your town's regulations because each town seems to have slightly different rules.
Water temperatures in Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound and Buzzard's Bay are getting hot, which isn't a problem if you want to catch bluefish, but it's not ideal for stripers. I know with certainty that a few bonito have been caught, but we still have at least another couple weeks to go until the "funny fish" action really heats up.
My Fishing Cape Cod member Eddy Kooyomjian caught this bonito this past Saturday while fishing with his son and brother. You can read more about this catch by reading this topic inside our members' forum.
This year on My Fishing Cape Cod we'll be hosting a fishing tournament for bonito, albies and bluefish, so stay tuned for details coming soon!
If you want to catch stripers this week on Cape, then finding cool water is what you want to do. Cape Cod Bay and the Monomoy Rips have water temps in the high 50's to low 60's which is what striped bass prefer.
I recently hooked this 40+ inch striped bass in Cape Cod Bay while trolling a white Magic Swimmer around pogie schools with 5 colors of leadcore line in the water. I would end up losing the fish to a seal that probably weighed close to 500 pounds. You can read more about Monomoy and Cape Cod Bay by visiting our forum.
The Outer Cape beaches from Chatham to Provincetown also have cool water and is another good bet for striped bass from mid-August through September. The Outer Cape is also home to perhaps the most beautiful and peaceful stretches of shoreline on Cape Cod
Mid-August can be a great time to target fluke. Last year we did fantastic while drift fishing in the shoals and deepwater channels southeast of the Cape. An 8 ounce bucktail jig fished with a teaser or Monomoy Tackle spoon on a 3-way rig can work exceptionally well. To add extra flavor, be sure to tip your hooks with a strip of squid, bluefish or fluke belly.
My Fishing Cape Cod member Piotr Szymanski is all smiles with this beautiful 27 inch fluke he caught last week.
A common by-catch while fishing with bait on Cape Cod during August are dogfish. Dogfish can be a pain to deal with, but contrary to popular belief I have found smooth dogfish to be very good eating.
Just be sure to immediately bleed and gut dogfish, and then bury them in ice to maintain the quality of the meat.
Dogfish can be very good to eat as long as you gut and bleed the shark, bury it in ice, and fillet it properly.
I am starting to see peanut bunker with greater regularity in the harbors and coves of Cape Cod. From now through November, peanut bunker will inhabit the coastline of the Cape and be a predominant baitfish for stripers, bluefish, albies, fluke and many other predatory species.
With all the adult pogies we've had in the region this summer, I will be very interested to see what sort of peanut bunker run we experience this summer and fall. For now the peanut bunker schools I'm seeing are still on the small side, but come September my hope is that we'll have large bait balls of peanut bunker all along the Cape's coast.
Last year I encountered albies blitzing on peanut bunker between Barnstable and Falmouth starting on August 27th and the action continue right through September.
Thank you to everyone who donated to our 2nd annual Boston Children’s Hospital fundraiser which goes towards pediatric cancer research and helping families-in-need obtain care. This year we exceeded our goal and raised $5,400!
Anyone who donated $30 or more has been included in a drawing to win one of two spots onboard a fishing trip with myself, and MFCC members Bruno Demir and Eddy Kooyomjian. We will be conducting the drawing soon and I will post the winners' names on My Fishing Cape Cod this coming week.
As always, if you need assistance with gear and tackle, then my friends at the Goose Hummock Shop in Orleans can help you out!
Tight lines 🎣
