Fluke, Sea Bass, and Funny Fish with Bruno Demir
MFCC member Bruno Demir of Cape & Islands Mitsubishi and The Olde Cape Carwash is fresh off a family trip overseas to Turkey and Scotland and happy to be back with reports from Monomoy and Nantucket Sound. Bruno wasted no time getting back on the water aboard the Gaviota, running trips on both Sunday and yesterday morning. His report touches on the strong fluke bite off Monomoy, an unusually persistent black sea bass fishery, red-hot pelagic action offshore, and a mixed bag on the funny fish front as bonito and false albacore begin to show strong populations around the islands.
Fluke Fishing: A Strong, Reliable Bite Off Monomoy
Fluke has been the standout fishery for Bruno this season, and his Monday morning trip with Captain Derek Barber and his wife underscored just how consistent the action has been. Fishing not around low or high tides at Monomoy, but targeting the max flood or max ebb tides, the crew headed out around 6:30 AM and fished till 9:30 AM. In that roughly three-hour window they boxed a full limit. The sizes weren't jumbo, running mostly in the 19- to 20-inch range, but the numbers more than made up for it. Bruno even lost what he described as the biggest fish of the day at the boat while trying to net it one-handed, a reminder that even a hot bite can slip through your fingers in the final seconds.
The takeaway for anglers heading out to Monomoy right now is that fluke fishing the max flood or max ebb tides, particularly that early morning window before the current slacks off, is producing consistent limits even without needing to chase trophy-sized doormats. It remains one of the most dependable options on the water this month, and a great way to fill a cooler while other fisheries sort themselves out.
Sea Bass: An Atypically Long, Strong Season
Black sea bass has quietly become one of the dominant stories of the summer, and Bruno's report backed that up in a big way. He described jumbo-class sea bass, the kind of quality more typically associated with Buzzards Bay, showing up around Monomoy and into Nantucket Sound.
Fish in the 20- to 21- and even 22-inch range have been common, and with the bag limit extended into October, there is a real opportunity right now to put quality meat in the freezer. The sea bass fishery seems to be running later into the season than usual this year, possibly because keeper-sized fish were a bit delayed in showing up, but the bite has more than made up for lost time since.
Preparing Your Sea Bass
Bruno also shared his go-to method for cooking sea bass, a Caribbean-style whole-fried preparation he learned from a Colombian friend. After cleaning and gutting the fish, he descales it using a cake mixer attachment run in reverse on a power drill, a trick he says makes quick work of the job. He then preps the fish with three cuts across the top, rubs it down with crushed garlic and salt, and lets it sit for twenty minutes.
The whole fish goes into avocado oil heated as hot as possible, with no breading at all. Because the oil is so hot, the fish fries up crisp on the outside almost like a giant potato chip, and the high heat breaks down the smaller bones, allowing far more of the fish to be eaten than with a traditional filet. It's a technique worth trying for anyone bringing home a cooler of sea bass this month.
Sea bass is also a close biological relative of the grouper, which helps explain why it holds up so well on the table and why it has become such a popular target as striper fishing has slowed in some areas such as Monomoy. Between Monomoy, the sounds, and Buzzards Bay, sea bass is available across a wide range of locations right now, making it one of the most accessible fisheries on the water this month.
Offshore Opportunities: Wahoo, Marlin, and Mahi
For anglers able to make the run offshore, the pelagic bite has been outstanding. Bruno reported multiple accounts of big, bruiser-sized wahoo coming from The Dump, along with plenty of white marlin around the windmills south of the islands, including near The Hooter. Bruno also notes that blue marlin have also been in the mix out there. Mahi have also been thick around the windmills and the high-flyers south of the islands.
Bruno is gearing up for a canyon run with calm, slick seas in the forecast making it an ideal window to get out deep this week. He was still waiting on fresh reports before deciding between a run to the canyons or a trip to The Dump and points south, with tilefish high on his personal wish list as one of his newer favorite offshore targets.
Funny Fish: Bonito and False Albacore
The funny fish picture is still coming together as the Cape moves toward the fall run. A few weeks before his vacation, Bruno found bonito thick at Monomoy and had a strong day catching them. Since returning, though, that same area has gone quiet on bonito, and he isn't sure yet whether it's a day-to-day fluctuation or a genuine lull.
Better funny fish action has reportedly been found down in Martha's Vineyard and Falmouth, though Bruno was careful to note that he hasn't personally confirmed big numbers there himself. His advice for anglers chasing bonito and the first false albacore of the season, with reports already trickling in from around the Vineyard, is to put in the time even without a guaranteed hot bite, since the fish are likely around even when they aren't showing up in force just yet.
The Bigger Picture: Don't Force It
Bruno focused on a particular narrative throughout his report: rather than forcing a trip around striped bass, which has been a slower fishery this year outside of Cape Cod Bay, anglers should build mixed bag trips around fish they know are biting.
With sea bass dominating the conversation at both Monomoy and in the sounds, fluke providing dependable limits, bluefish running strong off the south side, and scup rounding out the inshore options, there is no shortage of ways to have a productive day on the water. Heading into the final stretch of summer and the approach of the fall run, a flexible game plan with a few backup species in mind is likely to produce far better results!
Tight Lines & Take Care!🎣