Yesterday was flat calm and sunny, which meant it was time to splash the Miss Loretta and head out onto Cape Cod Bay. As I prepped the boat yesterday I could not help but think about this past Thanksgiving, which was the last time I was out on the water. I find it amazing how quickly time flies.

I also find it amazing how much effort is required to get everything up and running again. Yet after a few hours of tying knots and winding on leaders, I was ready to dunk the vessel and find some fish.

Around 4:00pm I met up with Mazzola, who was able to bounce away from work a little earlier than usual. We made a quick stop for gas and food, and had the boat in the water by 4:30pm.

Fortunately all the equipment seemed to be working fine. No issues with the trailer and the engine started right up. So far so good as we began to putt our way out into Cape Cod Bay.

The plan was to first cruise around and find some mackerel. Atlantic mackerel enter Cape Cod Bay during the spring, and on a good day can be caught with relative ease. Emphasis placed on "good day," because mackerel seem to have a tendency to play hard to get when you really need to make bait quickly.

Cape Cod Bay Fishing Report | the mackerel are in

Cape Cod Bay was flat calm yesterday afternoon which made searching for mackerel a breeze. I was able to get the boat up on plane while maintaining crystal clear sonar readings. We covered about 2 miles of water before marking a very small greenish blotch, which I thought at the time was most likely mackerel.

I eased back on the throttle and slid to a stop. As if on cue a light 5mph breeze came up from the southeast. Mazzola and I dropped our sabiki rigs into the Bay as the boat was pushed along by the light wind. The blotch of mackerel I had marked on the sonar had since disappeared, but we were confident that there were more in the area.

20 minutes passed before we marked any more life on the sonar. Just as I was debating a move a small school of macks swam directly beneath the boat, and I felt that familiar vibration of a mackerel kicking around on the end of my line. I let him hang out beneath the boat and soon felt another tap, and then another.

We found 'em!

It was a full stringer of mackerel and a good start to the trip. Each mackerel was hooked perfectly in the edge of the lip. This is important, because ideally the mackerel will be in near perfect condition when you place him in the live well. Badly damaged, bloody mackerel do not last long once placed in the tank.

I have always enjoyed catching mackerel. As a kid they provided fast and consistent action. They are still fun to catch now, but the primary purpose we catch them is to use them as live bait for striped bass.

With the sun slowly sinking lower in the sky I knew our time on the water was limited. Unfortunately that one full stringer was the only action we were able to find, so it was time to make a move to more productive mackerel waters.

We reeled up the lines and headed out towards deeper water. It only took around 10 minutes of cruising until a large school of macks appeared on the sonar screen. This was the spot we had been looking for, and without further ado the sabikis went into the water.

The macks were aggressive and wasted no time latching on. Before we knew it we had a few dozen speedsters swimming around in the live well.

A quick tip for when you have a live well full of mackerel is to constantly continue filtering the water into and out of the live well. Mackerel can dirty up a tank pretty quickly, and will die off quite easily if the water is not fresh. We keep a hose pumping H2O continuously into the tank, and another hose emptying water back into the ocean.

Also be sure to not throw any wounded mackerel into your live well. A bleeding mackerel should go in the bucket to be used as fresh dead bait. Placing a wounded mack into the tank will dirty up the water and cause more harm than good.

With a live well full of mackerel it was time to chase down some bass. We reeled in our sabikis, packed away our bait sticks and headed East in search of bass.

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