8 General Areas to Fly Fish for Stripers on Cape Cod during the Spring

I found a great early season striper spot on Google Earth the other day. The area featured a sand bar, which extended off a point, into a channel with current, where the bottom plummeted from 4 feet to 20 feet deep.

To make it even better, there was a shallow bay on the other side of the sand bar and a herring run nearby. This is just one of many spots I can't wait to fly fish this spring, and I'm having fun discovering others.

Are you also looking for new places to fly fish for striped bass this spring on Cape Cod? If you are, then this post is for you!

Below are 8 of my favorite places to fly fish for striped bass on Cape Cod during the spring.

Sand Bars

Due to a fairly limited casting range, fly fishers want to try and get as close as possible to fish holding areas. One way to do this is to walk out on the dry part of a sand bar, then wade out as far as you can go.

Sand bars are easiest to find and are most visible at low tide. Oftentimes it's possible to wade all the way out to deeper water.

Bass will hang in this deeper water, right at the edge of the sand bar during low tide. Just make sure to keep an eye on how your exit point is being affected by a rising tide. You don't want to get stranded!

Creeks & Rivers

The heat of the sun has an immediate impact on creeks and rivers, more so than the open ocean. Creeks & rivers are also warmed by the surrounding land, which can warm faster than the ocean

While this is a detriment during the summer, it can draw fish to these areas in the Spring. Creeks and rivers often have dark muddy bottoms that will warm faster than sand. These are also the areas where you can sometimes find holdover stripers.

Many creeks & rivers are smaller in scale contrasted to the wide open beachfront. This suits fly casters well.

Outflows

Many saltwater ponds, and small estuaries open to the ocean. During the Spring, the outgoing tide dumps warm water through the outflow and into the ocean. This influx of warm water can attract bass, and cause them to gather near the mouth of the pond or estuary.

The current from the outflow will continue along the beach and can bring fish in almost like a chum slick does. You can see the current moving alongside the beach in calm conditions. You can also often find productive fishing upstream from the outflow. Look for holes and undercut banks.

If you are fishing during an outgoing tide, the water around you may soon become too shallow to hold fish. If you walk up current a significant distance, you may find deeper water than you may expect, but remember that the tide starts/ends later, the farther you get from the ocean.

The upper reaches of some tidal creeks are a full 2 hours behind the tide at the outflow. 

Marsh Banks

Marsh banks can be found in estuaries and are good bass holding structure, particularly at high tide.
Often pieces of the bank will be out in the deeper water as well.

Marsh banks are like a soft structure boulder field. They can be productive at night later in the season, especially if they are near deeper water.

Saltwater Ponds

Saltwater ponds that are connected to open water will warm quickly, attract baitfish and subsequently striped bass.

This pond has an outflow to a large estuary that you can see at the top of the photo. Spring is the time to fish these areas as they will be too warm and too crowded during the summer.

Edges of Flats

On Cape Cod there are many extensive shallow water turquoise flats that lead out to deeper blue water. I am often able to wade out to the edge of these flats to access the deep water at low tide.

These are areas where bass will hang out, waiting for the tide to rise, so they can move up onto the flat. Make sure you get off the flat in time if the tide is rising.

The bottom is often irregular on flats, and you don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of a deeper section as the tide comes in.

Herring Runs

Herring runs can cause bass to gather in concentrated numbers within reach of fly casters.

The presence of a herring run can positively impact many places nearby, not just the area in the immediate vicinity.

Flies that simulate herring are large and can be difficult to cast, but a good alternative would be a Deceiver with some blue in it.

Intercept Points

This rock formation is on the side of a wide shallow cove. Shallow coves will warm early and bass will move into these areas in the Spring.

A rock formation such as this will allow you to intercept the fish as they move from the deeper water into the shallows. I was fly fishing from these rocks one May having a blast catching small stripers.

All of a sudden I saw several large dark shapes moving quickly through the water. The schoolie I was bringing in started acting strangely and I soon found out why.

A large Bluefish had come by and chomped off it’s tail.

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Tight loops! 🎣