In this post I will highlight the various success stories shared recently inside the My Fishing Cape Cod forum, with links to where you can read and learn more. Many of the members here on MFCC experienced a memorable June and it's been great reading about your adventures.
So without further ado let's get to the top catches and stories shared over the last couple of weeks inside the My Fishing Cape Cod forum. You can continue reading by scrolling below, or you can use this table of contents to jump to a specific section.
Striped Bass
Over the last few weeks if you asked “Where should I fish for stripers”, the reply could have been “in the water”! The action has really been that fantastic. Of course it's not really that simple, but you get the idea. Striped bass have moved in big time and are actively feeding both day and night.
Back on June 6th My Fishing Cape Cod member Carol Girard-Irwin brought her two nephews and great nephew to an Outer Cape beach and they had great success with stripers in the surf.
According to Carol...
"Nothing could make me happier than sharing the beautiful place we live with family. I had my two nephews and great nephew here, and surfcasting runs in our blood. Everyone caught stripers on the backside here on the Outer Cape! Great memories made!"
More recently on June 18th, Carol shared another report inside our forum about catching stripers from the Outer Cape beaches on her birthday in the morning during the outgoing tide. Some of Carol's favorite lures include a 1oz Deadly Dick, Al Gags, white Tsunami Storm Shad and Blurple Swarter.
Keep up the excellent posts Carol!
It seems the stripers have not yet settled into their more sluggish summer cycles. The southside beaches, northside estuaries and even southside estuaries are all still producing good fish for those tied to shore. Water temps are getting warmer by the day and new schools of fish are moving their way up the coast.
Throughout June Buzzard's Bay produced good catches of quality stripers for MFCC members. On June 12th three year member Chris Smith only managed one fish in Buzzard's, but it was a good one!
Chris had another cool experience in Buzzard's Bay a few days later on June 18th. According to Chris...
"We rescued a 5 foot leatherback turtle that was entangled in a lobster trap off Marion. Coolest thing I’ve ever done on the water."
You just never know what you may encounter when you go fishing or boating in the waters surrounding the Cape & Islands.
On another note, it's also been great to see members fishing together and helping each other out. For example, back on June 20th longtime My Fishing Cape Cod member Jim Murphy (who joined the site in 2012!) and second year member Chris Koenig teamed up for a trip onto Buzzard's Bay.
The duo caught several quality striped bass on soft plastics, including a beautiful 40 incher.
Cape Cod Bay action also heated up during June with large schools of pogies drawing some very big stripers in close to shore. My Fishing Cape Cod member Nicholas Caparell took fellow members Chris Goguen and Anthony Besaw out on Cape Cod Bay and had a very successful trip on Nick's new boat.
Monomoy has also been producing good fish at multiple shoals. Keeping an eye out for bird activity is a surefire way to get yourself on fish when fishing the rips. Using your electronics to your advantage is another.
7 year My Fishing Cape Cod member Will Vranos converted marks on his sonar to boated fish in a trip on June 20th to the rips. Note the marks on both sides of the hump!
Other members have also been having success at Monomoy this June. Michael Incognoli and Justin Demers shared some pictures of recent outings, displaying healthy fish still holding sea lice from their recent migration into the area.
For more recent Monomoy updates, please visit the Monomoy Topics inside our forum.
Billingsgate and Barnstable Harbor also produced this June for those with a boat. Good fishing has also moved further north of the Cape, with anglers having success off the South Shore and in Boston Harbor.
A guest on Bob Nelson's boat (left) and Eric Gutekunst (right) hold some large rockfish caught off the south shore. You can check out the forum for the latest South Shore reports.
The canal has seen a slow start to the season, or maybe canal anglers are just being tight lipped about their success - given the pressure the canal often receives when word of a hot bite gets out.
However, from the beach our resident surf fishing savants showed us how it's done this June by pulling in some cows at night from the surf. According to these guys live eels, big soft plastics and bucktail jigs have been the ticket to some very big bass caught from shore.
You can get daily surfcasting updates by visiting the Surfcaster's 2022 topic inside our forum.
Bluefish
Consistent southwest winds will often bring big bluefish close to shore along the southside beaches of Cape Cod from Chatham to Falmouth. When the bluefish are in thick, getting away from the crowds is sometimes harder than finding the action.
Four year My Fishing Cape Cod member Scott Silver caught some good sized bluefish on June 18th while fishing with his sister along a quiet and beautiful section of southside beach.
According to Scot...
"Fished a south facing inlet for the last hour or so before sunset last night. Got into a nice bluefish bite, with my visiting sibs. Caught about 10 between us. Larger fish, with the smallest about 5 pounds and the largest this gorilla I caught. My sister also caught her personal best. What a wonderful night! We are so fortunate to be here!"
Recently I myself got into some fantastic bluefish action. Speaking from experience, if you plan on keeping bluefish, then bleeding and icing the blues is important in order to maintain optimal quality of the meat. As you can see below, sometimes a little creativity is required for the bigger bluefish when a large cooler is not readily available!
Fresh bluefish is an underrated table fish and can be used for many recipes. I chose to smoke my bluefish on the grill which made for an excellent bluefish pate.
Fluke
Whether you go to the shoals on your own boat or on a charter, the waters southeast of Cape Cod are producing doormat fluke for those who are up to the adventure.
Recently My Fishing Cape Cod member and podcast contributor Bruno Demir got into some excellent fluke action while fishing with Goose Hummock store manager Dan Jones and Dan's friend Rich.
As water temperatures warm hopefully some of these fluke will move north closer to shore. Perhaps we will see some reports coming in of doormat fluke being caught in Buzzard's Bay and closer to Monomoy - which would be great for those of us not able to make the long voyage to Nantucket.
And speaking of close to shore, 4 year MFCC member Todd Holden managed to catch some quality fluke on June 8th while fishing from the beach! You can read more about fluke here inside our forum.
Black Sea Bass
The window for excellent black sea bass fishing in Buzzards Bay will be closing soon as water temps approach 70 degrees. Members have been keeping an eye on that ticking clock, venturing out on kayaks and boats, filling coolers with fresh black sea bass for all sorts of delicious recipes.
My Fishing Cape Cod member Eddy Kooyomjian took his family out in Buzzards Bay on a successful black sea bass hunt!
Oddly enough, I haven't seen many posts in the forum of black sea bass action happening further east at either the Harwich School Reef or the Yarmouth Tire Reef. However, I know these areas are producing, because I have been out there personally.
The Monomoy area is also producing keeper-size black sea bass. Bruno Demir had a stellar outing there a week ago with "knotheads" of up to 23 inches. Black sea bass fishing makes for some fun day trips and is perfect for anglers looking to putting a bend in the rod.
Bruno Demir (left) is enthusiastic after landing a 23" black sea bass and a great haul at Monomoy (right).
Weakfish
Cape Cod weakfish are a sought after species on many anglers' bucket list. Productive locations are often closely held secrets. Catching weakfish on the Cape can be hit and miss as they are a cyclical species that are here some years and not others.
Nevertheless a couple of members inside our forum had success with weakfish this past June. Jim Murphy's nephew (pictured below) was one of them. This weakfish was caught in Buzzard's Bay while the guys were fishing for black sea bass.
Jim Murphy's nephew shows off a beautiful weakfish, aka squeteague or sea trout.
Kayak & Canoe
Now that the water has warmed up and the air temperatures are more comfortable, more people are venturing out in smaller paddle craft. Nevertheless, landing a large striper on a paddle craft can be very challenging.
Winslow Dresser (below) caught a beauty last week in Buzzards Bay while live lining snagged pogies on a circle hook. Winslow's striper looks to be part of a fresh push of fish because it still had sea lice on its lower body.
In calm water, a canoe can be a great way to venture onto the water without having to spend any money on gas. Derek Jones (below) has been doing just that in Cape Cod Bay.
For more kayak and canoe fishing reports and updates, please visit the Kayak Category inside our forum.
Fly Fishing
For many people, fly fishing conjures images of petite dry flies floating on the water drifting in front of trout nestled behind rocks on a bubbly clear brook. To the anglers that wield the long rod in the salt, fly fishing means large flies on sinking lines tempting "cow" striped bass into biting.
No one has been bringing in the beasts on the fly like My Fishing Cape Cod member John Kingston. John recently landed a 48" bruiser on the fly and he is now looking to break the 50 inch mark - inspiring! John caught his recent 48 incher on a large white fly in 100 feet of water off the North Shore of Massachusetts.
John Kingston and a 48" striper caught a fly rod. See John and others fly fishing exploits on the MFCC forum.
Finding fluke that are accessible from shore is the goal for many shore based anglers. Kevin Farrar inadvertently took it one step further, landing a fluke on the fly!
Kevin used a clouser fished along the bottom to land a solid 20 incher.
Tuna
Trips to the Tuna grounds have started and the community is abuzz with word of bait, whales and dolphins. There was even a report of football tuna offshore of Plymouth in Cape Cod Bay feasting on the pogies that are scattered around that area.
I was about to say that we've seen no posts of landed tuna on My Fishing Cape Cod, but right as I was wrapping up this post, member Justin Demers shared this report from a successful outing off Newburyport at Jeffrey's Ledge on June 24th.
Justin Demers, his Dad and their friend Dave landed this 72" tuna out at Jeffrey's Ledge on June 24th.
Largemouth
Largemouth bass have finished spawning and are active during the day. Some members have taken a break from the salt and tried their hand at landing some bucket mouths.
Mike Marcus (left) with a 7# Larry from shore. Chris Lewis (right) with a lunker on the kayak.
Fishing for lunker largemouths on Cape Cod gives you a greater appreciation for the variety of top notch fishing available here on Cape.
Those bass boats you see on the road crossing the bridges are here for a reason!
In Conclusion
Photo by Nicholas Caparell
I know I mentioned it in my last report, but there is a lot of chatter about the state of the Striped Bass fishery. Some people are having a fantastic season - others not so much. Everyone’s experience is relevant but also anecdotal.
It is only in the aggregate that we can appreciate the bigger picture. At a minimum, I feel as long as we (recreational anglers) respect our fishery by following best catch and release practices, then we are doing a service to our fellow and future anglers. There is more we can do as the science unfolds, but in the middle of the season I feel that is a reasonable objective.
On a somewhat related note, I have taken to picking up debris and trash in the spots I fish. I think Ryan Collins challenged us all to do this in a blog some time ago. I am amazed at what I find and sometimes I have to prioritize what I bring because picking up trash could be a full time job.
Hooks, glass and wood with nails are the first things I grab - sometimes just for my own future safety. It reminds me a of lyric from a friend’s band - “If it weren’t for self interests, there would be no interests at all”. I digress, but their best line was “If standards are good, double standards must be better”. It still makes me laugh decades later - and I think both apply to our current situation.
As active anglers, I feel it's important we do our best to help the fish and the environment anytime we get out and wet a line. It is in these moments I thank those that went before me, knowing that they lived through a moratorium, and I keep my fingers crossed that we won't have to do it again. Nevertheless, I hope we would have the conviction to do it again if the situation warranted.
Be safe out there and tight lines! 🎣
Tim
Hi Tim – I think this is the first of your monthly summaries that I have read, but you can be sure that I will not miss the future summaries, excellent reading.
Notable by its absence in the forum, is discussion of the flats. I’m a little late myself venturing out to the flats, partly because fishing in the south side has been really great. The oyster guys commented to me the other day that there have been some good fish caught. I’d call you the sensei of the flats, anything to report?
Thanks for the kind words Jane.
I have fished the flats a bunch of time and they’ve all been disappointing. The oyster guys must know something I don’t because my contacts that also fish it have had similar experiences.
I have wondered if the consistent strong SW winds have pushed a lot of the bait offshore. I tried to rake sand eels the other day and pickings were very slim – though there were plenty of clouds of eels out in CCB.
My south side experience was similar this year, though when it warmed up it went from great to dead in a couple days for me.
Tight lines – Tim
Well done as usual Tim.
Thanks Kevin. Hope you’re getting on some fish up there in the bay! Tight lines, Tim
Thank you very much for this recap Tim. I’m looking forward to seeing what our members catch during July!
Thanks Ryan. I’m very interested to see how long this productive boat bite lasts. As Billy M. said elsewhere, the fish are under a lot of pressure especially on commercial days, so who knows. Tight lines, Tim
A nice summary of June. June was not great for me so hopefully I can dial it in and make July better as the fish hit their summer patterns. I agree with Sam. Hopefully we are all willing to be open to learning safer fish handling and to bend down to pick up trash! The fishery is certainly worth every effort to protect it!! Thanks Tim!
Thanks Ken. Sorry to hear your June fishing was frustrating. I know you have more time for it now, so hopefully that will help your ability to spend more time figuring out the patterns. Tight lines, Tim
Nicely done!!!!!
Thanks Richard! Hope you’re enjoying yourself out there! See you at the clam beds! Tight lines, Tim
Tim, another outstanding and comprehensive fishing report and I always look forward to your monthly summaries. Truly astonishing the quality and variety of catches by the MFCC members and Ryan has put together an exceptional group of anglers and only enhanced the fishing community here on Cape Cod.
Thanks Mike. , Team effort. You guys catch the fish, I write it up and Ryan sprinkles on the magic fairly dust that turns it into something better!
Glad you’re having a great season. It’s inspiring!
I’d wish you tight lines, but its almost redundant with you! Best, Tim
Awesome update Tim and very well put at the end. We must protect this species regardless of the extreme sacrifice that we may have to take. Let’s hope it does not come to this. Sensible regulations need to take place immediately or I fear we could be headed in the wrong direction.
Thanks Sam. Hope you’re getting on fish!