Before I dive into this post, I want to let you know that I am thinking of hosting an in-person fishing class before the weather turns too cold. Topics covered would include how to work certain plugs like pencil poppers, how to fish a live eel and virtually anything you may personally be interested in learning.
If you feel you may be interested in attending an in-person fishing class with me, then please let me know by entering your name and email here and I will get in touch with you regarding the details. Thanks!
In other news it's a pretty exciting time to be fishing here on Cape Cod. In this report I'll highlight the most exciting stuff that's going on now.
Surfcasting For Striped Bass
Late October is prime-time for surfcasting Cape Cod. The bass are migrating south so it's now or never folks!
The great Backside Beaches of Outer Cape Cod
This past week I traveled to Outer Cape Cod, fished the great backside beaches, slept out under the stars and walked for miles in search of stripers.
It was a terrific experience and if you're interested in all the nitty-gritty details you can check out more in the surfcasting reports category.
There are some schools of bass moving along the backside beaches. Late October into early November can be a good time to explore the many miles of lonely beach that stretch from Chatham to Provincetown.
An east wind, which is predicted for this week, can make fishing here very difficult. Keep an eye on the wind before planning a trip.
Unless you have a 4x4 vehicle with the necessary permits, expect to walk a bit to find the fish. Fortunately there are plenty of public parking lots which provide access to the backside beaches.
I would recommend scoping out numerous beaches during daylight hours and looking for diving birds, bait and virtually any sort of life whatsoever. Return at night and fish and walk for as long as you possibly can. Live eels and swimming plugs would be my choice.
Do yourself a favor and try to find a stretch of beach not inundated with seals.
Surfcasting elsewhere on Cape Cod
The scenery of Outer Cape Cod is hard to beat, but I will be the first to admit that finding fish out there can be difficult. If you have limited time and aren't up for long walks, then you may have better luck focusing on bays, estuaries, inlets and boulder fields.
This time of the year peanut bunker and variety of other bait fish "dump" out of bays, estuaries and inlets. The bait will often times stick close to shore, which sets the stage for nearshore blitzes.
Earlier in October I traveled to Cuttyhunk Island with several My Fishing Cape Cod members, and we were fortunate to encounter one such shoreline blitz, which you can check out in the video below.
I have most heard of shoreline blitzes occurring in the stretch from Dennis to Plymouth. One strategy that works fairly well is traveling from parking lot to parking lot, scanning the horizon with binoculars searching for diving birds and bait balls which appear as dark patches on the water.
Start fishing immediately, or if no bass or blues are showing, return to the same beach at night. Night fishing has produced best for me so far this fall, as is typically the case.
In bays and estuaries it's sometimes possible to stumble across crab hatches, or other unique events that attract big bass. Lobsters can be found hiding under boulders in water as shallow as 2 feet during the fall, and stripers love to eat lobsters.
These are the areas which have produced best for me so far this fall. Live eels produced great fishing for me during this night trip.
I was able to get the video camera rolling just in time for the largest bass which bit during that trip, which you can see below.
Inlets are always good places to fish, especially during late October. The water temperature in many inlets and estuaries on Cape have finally cooled off, which means truly big bass over 40lbs will have no trouble venturing into bays and estuaries which during the summer felt like bath water.
I feel that surfcasting any inlet in Buzzard's Bay or along the Cape's southside could produce right now, which is something I have not said since the spring!
Boat Fishing For Striped Bass
I've been mainly fishing from shore as of late, but my last trip out on the boat with MFCC member Chris Cormier and his dad Jean produced very well.
This time of the season the boat bite is usually very hit and miss for me. If the weather cooperates I will be out on the boat later today, and I feel like we'll either get skunked or hit the motherload.
Schools of striped bass come and go quickly this time of the year because they're migrating. During the summer they may hang out in the same general area day after day, for weeks on end. Not so much during October, especially late October.
Based on the predicted winds for this week, I feel fishing anywhere east of Chatham may be difficult. I would probably focus more on the Cape's southside...
the Elizabeth Islands...
the eastern shoreline of Buzzard's Bay...
and the southern section of Cape Cod Bay.
Just off Cape places like Plymouth and Duxbury Bay can be good bets, especially if the wind is howling.
Many bays on Cape right now have big pogies swimming in them, which attract good size stripers. So if the wind's blowing too hard to fish your traditional boat spots, then consider exploring the backwaters of estuaries and bays.
Casting plugs and eels into the rocks along the Elizabeth's or off Plymouth ought to produce this week. At the least I would think you'd have a decent chance of picking off schoolies, while at the best you may intercept a migrating school of good size bass.
As mentioned above I hope to get out in the boat today if the winds allow. I'll publish a report sharing the details of the trip here on MFCC as soon as I can.
Cape Cod Canal
There's been a fair amount of chatter in the forum the past couple of weeks regarding the Cape Cod Canal.
No monstrous blitzes or anything like that to report, but that could change big time with the predicted winds for this week. Sometimes a north or east wind sparks the bite, so I will be interested in seeing what happens over the next several days.
For the most part folks have been hammering away at schoolies, especially during the day time. Some bigger fish are coming on eels and jigs at night, with a surprise keeper whacking a topwater plug during the day every now and again.
You can bet your canal bike there are some large fish in the Ditch right now, and will be right into November, because bass use the Canal to feed and migrate south.
During this time of the year there could be a school of quality fish moving through at any moment. A friend of mine once caught a 60 pounder from the Canal on Halloween night, and many old timers believe the "largest of the large" migrate last, after all the small fish have left.
Things change quick this time of season at the Canal and with the predicted winds I would recommend keeping close tabs on this forum thread for the latest daily updates.
What do you think? Let me know by commenting below!
Tight lines and take care,
Ryan
I fished the canal last Friday into Saturday Am then Saturday into Sunday AM w/ my son James. Quite a few schoolie size stripers and a couple of keepers by fishermen throwing plugs, metal, and jigs out into the middle. We fished live eels both nights and fished from the herring run at Bournedale towards the Maritime Academy to in front of both walls and further down. No pick ups at sunrise or in darkness but standing in the canal fishing w/the sunrise and fog is like a magical dream. It will come after all this rain and blowing.Great website and info. Thanks
Nice Rick. The fish will most certainly come for you and James if you stick with it.
It can feel sorta magical down there in the fog, especially when you can hear bass slapping bait out in the middle, but can’t see them.
Very happy you’re enjoying MFCC and gluck out there this week!
Hey Ryan,
What a timely report! I was just getting set to make my way down to the cape one last time this year. I was down just over a week ago with a buddy of mine. We caught a bunch of schoolies and managed 3 keepers. One thing I didn’t get to do was hit one or more of the beaches. I’m hoping to do so this time!
Nice Joe, I hope you guys have a great trip. Good to hear your last trip was so productive. You’ve come a looooong way in a short time.
Have fun in the suds!
What time or tide is best to fish estuaries and rivers like Bass River?
Thanks!
Emil,
This time of year estuaries fish best on an outgoing tide. Game fish tend to come in to feed on what is being swept out of the estuary and will hang out in the outflow at the mouth. We found a great blitz during the MFCC trip to Cuttyhunk that consistently appeared in a rip formed during each outgoing tide from a pond by the Gosnold Monument. Peanut Bunker (baby Menhaden) grow in the estuaries during the summer then migrate South as the water cools in the Fall. They will use an outgoing tide to give them that first push out of the estuary. Bass will feast on this concentration of baitfish as they come out. Ryan Turcotte hooked up consistently with a paddle tail jig at Cuttyhunk one early morning and I did really well with a white Guppy Pencil Popper recommended by Ryan.
Good Luck!
Thanks Dex!
I bought a white Guppy Pencil Popper from Canal Bait and Tackle as recommended to be used among boulders. So far I didn’t catch any fish with it. I have been catching with pencil poppers and metal lures. I also made one lure of my own from 6″ of red tube with a hook at the end and a treble hook in the middle. No luck with eels or rigged eels also. I may have to learn more how to use them. Saturday evening I jigged from the bridge over the Bass River with squid and dropped it right on top of the strippers but they just moved away and did not bite. I guess they were not hungry. I plan to go back next weekend. Thanks again!
Emil,
Ryan is offering an in-person fishing class with him which might be helpful. I learned how to fish the Guppy Pencil by watching him at Cuttyhunk. There is a link at the top of this report if you are interested.
Hey guys, I would be happy to show you how to fish a pencil popper Emil. Probably one of the most exciting ways to catch a fish period.
In addition to Dex’s advice regarding estuaries, I would say getting there at sunrise or sunset would really increase your odds.
Sunrise/sunset are very active times in the fish world, and great times to be fishing.
I did sign up for the class. It has been my first year fishing now when I’m 48 years old. I had learned a lot from this site and looking forward for some hands on training. On Monday evening I lost a big fish in the lower 30’s at the Canal just when to put my hand to grab him it pulled hard one last time and it broke the store purchased leader. I was alone and it was getting dark which it did not help also. I still have to get my first keeper.