I spent this past weekend in Florida for my friend and tuna fishing buddy Jason Mazzola’s bachelor party. It was a nutty weekend and needless to say I did not get any fishing in.
However the striped bass bite for me pre-bachelor party was the best it’s been all season long. I found some large striped bass from shore, and watched as many MFCC members and fans caught some awfully nice stripers, bluefish, scup, sea bass and tautog. I soon expect to see some bluefin tuna as well.
In this post I want to share with you my pre-bachelor party fishing experiences, and provide you with as much helpful information and intel I can cram into one 1,600 word post.
Keeper Stripers All Throughout The Cape Cod Region
I feel as if striped bass often show up in “waves”. For example, an entire region of the ocean or section of coastline may only be inhabited by small fish one day, and the next day contain keepers. In certain situations I do feel as if the bass show up overnight.
Over the past 10 days I received numerous stories and photos of fish well into the 40 inch range. From the Canal all the way to Provincetown it seems that most areas experienced an influx of bigger bass. This leads me to believe that a “wave” of larger stripers have arrived on Cape Cod.
Finding These Bigger Bass On Foot
To find fish on foot last week I logged in around 20 miles of hiking. The peace and quiet was remarkable. I felt more connected with "what matters most in life" as a result of these surfcasting trips. Catching fish for me is always just a bonus when fishing in these peaceful spots.
For the past few weeks I have been finding only schoolies during my excursions to the beaches, estuaries, harbors and coves of Buzzard’s Bay, Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Cape Cod Bay and Outer Cape Cod. Last week however, much larger stripers made their presence known.
And for you boat guys reading this, I feel the following surfcasting intel can be extremely valuable to you, because where there are bass being caught from shore, there are often many more bass holding just offshore. A biomass of fish in tight along a beachfront, certainly bodes well for anglers fishing just offshore in that area from a boat.
A Big Bass From Out Of Nowhere | New Fishing Report
I was able to publish a new fishing report each day last week to the blog. During this specific report, while hiking beneath a large cliff, which contained a naturally eroding forest, I encountered a horseshoe crab which was flipped upside down.
I helped the little guy out by flipping him right side over, and then decided to take a cast, just to see if anything was around.
The bite came on that very first cast, and was completely unexpected, quite awesome and significantly more powerful than any of the bites I had elicited so far this season.
If you’d like to read more about this specific surfcasting trip, then click below to access the free fishing report.
Based on my experiences during the above mentioned trip, I feel confident that anyone planning a fishing trip for this coming week will have a legitimate chance of hooking a good size bass, whether from shore or from boat.
If you would like assistance in planning a trip, then send me an email at [email protected]. I will reply personally to your message within 72 hours.
As always I am happy to help!
There’s Large Stripers Among The Boulder Fields
Throughout the past 10 days I began exploring and fishing boulder fields. Last year I was fortunate to pull numerous 30 pound fish out from among the rocks, and I have been chomping at the bit ever since.
Fishing boulder fields is challenging in many ways. Physically it is not easy and landing fish can be next to impossible in certain areas. Yet the allure remains and I am happy to report that quality fish can be found right now amid the boulders left behind here on Cape Cod by receding glaciers some 15,000 – 20,000 years ago.
Recently I have caught many bass among the boulder fields, but I lost the largest of them all, in heartbreaking fashion, last week in just inches of water.
If you’d like to read more about this specific fishing trip, then click below to access the free fishing report.
I will also be publishing a new boulder field fishing report early this week here on the blog, so be sure to check back soon (probably tomorrow) for that update.
Boat Fishermen Are Catching Stripers, Mackerel, Seabass and Scup
Cooperative weather and winds have made it possible for boat anglers to log in a better effort over the past 10 days. I’ve enjoyed seeing the photos and reading the accounts of numerous My Fishing Cape Cod members about how they have been fairing out in the boat.
Mackerel seem sparse based on the reports that have been coming my way. Certain years mackerel show up in the millions and can be found in cool waters throughout the Cape region. So far this spring this doesn't seem to be the case, at least according to the reports I have been receiving.
Those who have been able to find the macks have done well live-lining and dead drifting them to stripers. Using live or freshly dead bait is a good way for rookie fishermen to put a decent size bass in the boat, whether it be mackerel, scup or pogies, which can all be caught right now on Cape Cod.
Casting Plugs In Structure
Casting plugs into the rocks from a distance would be a good idea if fishing boulder fields from a large boat. Since I have been finding bass among the boulders from shore, I would imagine you could do well in these same spots via a boat.
You have more flexibility if fishing boulder fields from a small tin boat or skiff. If you are daring enough, trolling a tube and worm in tight on mono will catch fish, but I can’t say with confidence just yet if live eels are producing.
Scup & Sea Bass
Sharpies are catching big sea bass and plenty of them. The folks who are doing the best are usually away from the main fleet, which has been intense at times this past week. If you want to join the crowd you’ll have no trouble finding the fleet stationed in the popular Buzzard’s Bay, Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound sea bass hot spots.
However the sharpest of sea bass fishermen will be off on their own.
Scup can be taken with ease in many of the same places you’ll find sea bass. I have seen photos of some monster scup this season, including this 16 incher caught on a trip captained by MFCC member Jim Murphy.
What a great photo! I love how he is using the boga grip on the scup. LOL
It’s Time For Tuna
June is here, which means it is time for the commercial Bluefin tuna fleet to go back to work. Last season the inshore tuna fishery was not very productive here on Cape Cod, as most of the fish remained far offshore, well outside the range of most boaters.
The hardcore guys who work with planes and travel to Georges caught fish, but the average Joe like myself had a real tough time. I hooked only one tuna all season long, and subsequently lost the fish at the boat (view the video by clicking here).
As "Wicked Tuna" captain Dave Carraro from Tuna.com explained in this podcast, it is a bit of a crapshoot to try to make predictions as to how the inshore tuna bite will be this season on Cape Cod. Yet some of the sharpest tuna anglers I have spoken to recently, have claimed that they believe this season will be more productive than last, based on weather patterns and the presence of bait.
My tuna fishing buddy Jason Mazzola is getting married in 2 weeks, so I am not sure how much tuna fishing we’ll be able to squeeze in this month. LOL
Regardless, I am looking forward to following along in the MFCC forum and reading about the tuna expeditions of MFCC members.
In Conclusion and Looking Forward
I will be casting with a bit more intensity this week now that I know larger bass have arrived on Cape Cod in good numbers. I plan on taking advantage of the opportunity to catch a large fish from shore while we have it. The boat will start getting much more use in just a few short weeks.
Best of luck and stay safe if you head out this week! I hope you are able to enjoy being outside, and put a good bend in the rod.
Tight lines and take care,
Ryan
*Click this link to browse all of our recent fishing reports published over the past 10 days.
What do you think? Let me know by commenting below.
