Friday July 14 Cape Cod Fishing Report

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Hey everybody, it's Kevin Collins, the host of the My Fishing Cape Cod Podcast presented by Cape and Islands Mitsubishi and Cape Codder Boats. What you're about to listen to is an excerpt from our weekly fishing report formatted podcast, released on Friday, July 14th. This piece of the podcast features a conversation I had with Amy Wrightson of Sports Port down in Hyannis. This conversation will cover reports on bluefish striped bass, sea bass, scup, and blue fin tuna. If you're a My fishing Cape Cod member and you care to hear the whole conversation and the whole podcast, please head on over to my fishing cape cod.com where you can use your login information, head to the podcast section of the website and hear this podcast in its entirety, as well as the full library of all of our other podcast content. If you're not yet a My fishing Cape Cod member, feel free to head on over to my fishing cape cod.com as well.

(00:59):
It's there where you'll gain access to our weekly podcast published every Thursday or Friday heading into the weekend. It's a full fishing report formatted podcast focused on the Cape and the islands. You'll also have access to all of our podcasts from the past, the My Fishing Cape Cod Forum, which is tremendously informative and interactive, as well as all of the other great website content articles and video tutorials. So I hope you enjoy this week's conversation with Amy Wrightson. Well, up next on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast is our dear friend Amy Wrightson from Sports Port down in Hyannis. Amy, how are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
I am great Kevin. How are you doing?

Speaker 1 (01:41):
I'm doing well. I'm still halfway across the world, so pardon me if I seem a little uninformed when we're chatting today.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
You sound like you're right next door, loud and clear.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Let's start with today. What are you up to today? I can hear the wind in the background. Are you out on the water?

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yes. I actually, uh, snuck out of the shop. I'm with, uh, one of my kids and we're just gonna have head out into, uh, Nantucket sound and see if we can maybe get some blue fish for the smoker and maybe some black sea bass and see what we find.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Well, there's no better way to spend an afternoon than with your kid out on a boat. Um, it sounds like a very awesome way to spend a day. I'm very jealous as I'm surrounded by sand over here, <laugh>. But let's talk about wild. Let's talk about what you're gonna do today. You said you're gonna target some blue fish, hopefully bring 'em home for the smoker. What have you heard about Blue Fish over the past week or so? Uh, are you feeling optimistic?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, I am. Uh, we've talked to several people who were, uh, trolling out in the sound, you know, places like Horseshoe Sho and um, they were getting actually some, some big blue fish, you know, 10, 12 pounds. Um, I actually don't want the big blues for the smoker. I prefer the little cocktail size. Um, but uh, you know, whatever we get will be fun. So hopefully we have, uh, the same luck as, uh, the people I was talking to in the shop and they were doing things like, um, you know, rap's, um, bombers, sp minnows, um, and just trolling out on different shills and um, and doing really well. Um, we'll probably do something similar and then after we've had her fill of trolling, then we'll probably hit, um, one of the other shoals and bounce some, uh, jigs off the bottom, either with squid or gulp and um, try to get some black sea bass

Speaker 1 (03:41):
In terms of black sea bass. Um, usually that fishery is on fire when we get into late May into June and then the water starts to warm up and they head out to deeper water. They become a little bit more difficult to find. I'm curious, from what you're hearing, Amy, are there still some, you know, decent sized black sea bass relatively close to shore, or do you plan on heading out, you know, to deeper water to try to target those fish?

Speaker 2 (04:06):
So, you know, you're right and I think I have been hearing the same, you know, people have been getting them closer to shore, but a lot of shorts and we went out, um, I think it was on Sunday and we experienced the same. It was, uh, an easterly wind and it was pretty weedy, so it was kind of slow going. But you know, we did bring home a couple that we could eat. Um, I think the biggest we had I think was like 19 inches, but you know, a lot that were just too small. We just threw it right back.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
And are you hearing anything about SCUP as well out there in Nantucket sound?

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Um, yeah, they are getting, um, decent size scuff, you know, keeper size anyway out, um, in different rock piles. You know, like Colliers is a good spot to try and you know, just small hooks, sea worms, squid, clams, all of those work. Well.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Lastly, I want to ask you about striped bass as well, Amy. Uh, it's certainly what everybody's been talking about and I understand from being in touch with you over the last week or so. The canal is continuing to kind of really distribute some quality fish.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Oh, the canal has been, you know, I think like the last five days maybe, um, pretty epic levels of fishing. Uh, one of the guys that works at the shop, he got out there a couple of days and um, I think he said his biggest fish was 46 inches. Um, he had several fish over 40 inches, said there were smaller ones in there. There were slot size fish, but you know, some of the video he was showing me, you know, it was like the literal water boiling. Um, and you know, it was happening at whatever end of the canal he was at. It was happening at the other end. And then, you know, it was like early morning, um, and he was throwing, you know, soft plastics like al gags, you know, four ounce. Uh, I think he was throwing se bees savage lures, you know, sandals. Um, you know, when he left I think it was maybe like eight in the morning and then he heard that it was happening, you know, later in the day as well. So pretty, pretty exciting stuff, certainly.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
And when we're on the topic of Stripe bass as well, Amy, one of the things I always like to do is ask a little bit about kind of the surf casting bite, the shore bite. I know a lot of the folks that listen to the podcast, uh, you know, don't have the luxury of getting out on a boat, uh, very frequently. Um, so we always like to give, you know, a bit of a surf casting report. Um, is there any way you could help us out with that for some of the areas that you know, are holding fish?

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, so, um, as far as surf casting, um, and Stripe bass goes, I would say probably the best bet would be the north side. You know, whether it's inside Bar Barnstable Harbor or maybe off of um, Sandy Neck. But there are fish and a lot of guys are doing chi chunk mackerel from the beach and you know, getting, um, you know, slot size and bigger as well. Um, and then if you know, you're not a bait person, then um, hot water has been working well as well as soft plastics. You know, there are so many different kinds, but like sluggos or hoes or there is hope for the, the shore anglers. Um, hoping to get, uh, a striped bass as well. The south side, the water is very warm, so it is tough getting one from shore, but um, I think the best bet would be, uh, north side for that.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Awesome. And in terms of any type of, I'll say non artificial bait, whether it's, you know, mackerel, hoy's, maybe using eels, have you heard anything in terms of guys coming into the shop or seen any trends on what's kind of working in terms of that respect from the bay side?

Speaker 2 (07:59):
I, I would say, um, you know, for chunk bait, mackerel certainly and eels are always an effective bait for stripers.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
That sounds awesome, Amy. And last but not least, I know the offshore bite has been really picking up, you're in a, a great network of folks down there on Cape. Um, are you still hearing kind of strong reports from guys coming to the docks with the Blue Fin tuna bite?

Speaker 2 (08:24):
We, we certainly are. And um, you know, as I was getting ready to chat with you, I went by, uh, one of the guys that I work with and, um, he lifted a, a tuna out of the box that he, I think he's trying to hurry up to get into the shop for his shift <laugh>. So maybe, uh, maybe I'll get a tuna steak outta the deal. I don't know. But, um, the, the tuna bite has still been strong, I think. Um, I don't actually know where those guys had been, but you know, we've been hearing really good things about going east of Chatham and then more recently, um, south of the islands has been, uh, the hotspot.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
That's awesome. And I, I'll tell you this, Amy, you have my permission. If you don't get a tuna steak, you can dock 'em a day's pay for that today. Okay. <laugh>

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Never <laugh>. We've got a great crew.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
And speaking of that great crew, Amy down at Sports Port, I just wanna give you a moment before we conclude our conversation to talk about what's going on with the shop. Is there anything new you'd like to tell folks about or anything you're particularly excited about having in the store?

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Um, well I think just on that same line, you know, I think that, you know, for people who haven't been into our shop, um, I think it's the people that work there are our strongest asset. You know, we have a really great group of people that work there and they love fishing. They, you know, everyone sort of has like the thing that they love and that's their strong point. Um, but everyone's super friendly, really willing to help out and um, I think that if people haven't been in then they will really be pleasantly surprised to meet anyone that they, uh, encounter when they come to Sports Port.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
Well, Amy will let you get back out to enjoying this lovely day and get out there on the water, hopefully get on some fish. It sounds like it's gonna be a great afternoon and we really appreciate you taking the time to check in with us here on the podcast.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
Absolutely. Thanks so much, Kevin and, uh, stay safe over there.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
My thanks to Amy Wrightson of Sports Port down in Hyannis for joining us on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod Podcast, presented by Cape and Islands, Mitsubishi and Cape Codder Boats. If you'd like to hear the full conversation and the full podcast, please head to my fishing cape cod.com where you can use your username and login to hear the full podcast, as well as all of our other podcast content we have up there on the site. If you're not yet a member, I really encourage you to head on over to my fishing cape cod.com. Consider trying a membership for a month. Test it out, see how you like it, and you can cancel any time after that. It's really a win-win situation and the membership gets you access to all of our podcast content, all of the articles, videos, tutorials, M F C T V, all of our group trips and charters that you have access to. It's really just a tremendous value. So I thank everybody for tuning in and we'll look forward to talking to you next week. Until then, this is your host, Kevin Collins, signing off tight lines and take care.