A Nor'easter for the Ages
Cape Cod anglers are bracing for what could be the storm of the fall run. Sam Mullen of the Goose Hummock Shop in Orleans walks us through everything the coming nor'easter means for the Cape's fishery — from the backside beaches to Cape Cod Bay, and from striped bass to the Cape's beloved funny fish.
The forecast: a multi-day blow arriving Friday, peaking Saturday night on a full-moon high tide, and refusing to let go until Monday or Tuesday. As Sam put it, warm water, cold water, hurricane-force gusts, and a full moon tidal cycle all lining up at once makes this "the classic orn'easter kick to fall" — and a potentially season-defining one.
The Storm: A Full Moon, Multi-Day Blow
The headline of this week's podcast isn't really a fishing report — it's a weather report, and a serious one. Forecasters are calling for swells in the neighborhood of 20 feet on the outer Cape, with hurricane-force gusting winds arriving Friday and lingering into early next week. What makes this storm especially dangerous, and especially disruptive, is its timing: it lines up almost perfectly with the full moon and the biggest tides of the September lunar cycle. Sam noted that the storm is expected to peak Saturday night right as the high tide hits — a combination that promises significant flooding, heavy rain, and a beach landscape that will look completely different once it's over.
With a huge sweep and undertow expected along the shoreline, anglers tempted to fish through the blow need to be certain of their footing before setting up a casting platform, fish with a buddy whenever possible, and stay off exposed rocks — especially at night, when a rogue wave becomes nearly impossible to see coming. Rain will also make footing treacherous well beyond the surf line itself.
For boat owners, get vessels out of the water or secure them well ahead of Friday. Kevin pulled his own boat off the beach and pulled his lobster traps from Cape Cod Bay ahead of the system, stationing gear so he can relaunch quickly once conditions settle — hopeful for a strong October once the storm clears.
Backside Facing Beaches
Before the storm's arrival, Sam had gotten out to fish his home turf — the ocean-facing beaches on Cape Cod's backside — and found conditions mixed but workable. Weed and mung (the thick seaweed/algae that clogs lures and lines) had started to become a real nuisance, particularly from Nauset into Wellfleet, where conditions were noticeably worse. Up north toward Truro and into Provincetown, the mung was lighter and the fishing held up better, producing a solid mix of striped bass and bluefish.
The bite window was narrow and predictable: first light through the early morning was the most productive stretch, with another, lesser push of fish showing again at last light. Overnight action was quiet — nothing dramatic happening after dark during this stretch.
Baits and Lures Working the Backside
- Pencil poppers — the go-to at first light and through the morning push
- Bucktails — the better call as the day wore on and into last light
- Bigger swimming plugs and fatter needlefish — most effective late in the day and after dark
Sam emphasized that wind was already a factor even before the nor'easter arrived, so having plugs heavy and aerodynamic enough to punch through the breeze mattered as much as color or profile selection.
Once the storm itself arrives, the backside beaches are expected to be essentially unfishable. With 20-foot waves forecast, the surf will be pushed up into the dunes in many spots, and the volume of mung and whitewater will make presenting a lure nearly impossible. Sam's advice for anglers determined to fish during the height of the blow: skip the open beach entirely and look instead to estuaries and protected inlets, where migrating fish will duck in to wait out the storm before continuing south. The Cape Cod Canal — essentially a seven-mile-long estuary — was specifically called out as one of the few backside-adjacent options that should remain fishable throughout.
Looking beyond the storm, Sam flagged a silver lining: ten-plus straight days of north wind will be pushing fish north to south and hopefully around the backside of Cape Cod stretching to Monomoy. That pattern, combined with this nor'easter, could hopefully set up biomasses of striped bass and bluefish along the National Sea Shore and out at Monomoy before those fish migrate.
Cape Cod Bay
Inside Cape Cod Bay, conditions figure to be dramatic but not entirely unfishable, depending on wind angle and location. With the blow coming out of the north-northeast, anglers stationed toward the east end of the canal and the Barnstable area should expect the wind driving straight into their faces, making for very difficult conditions. Sam pointed to the northern part of Cape Cod Bay as offering a bit more protection depending on the exact pocket fished, potentially giving anglers a shot at working the suds even during the height of the storm.
Even so, expect big water inside the Bay — Sam projected swells in the 8- to 12-foot range at times, which is enormous for a body of water that's normally far calmer than the open backside. His top pick for a Bay-side game plan during the storm is Barnstable Harbor, prized for its size and the number of protected nooks and pockets available to tuck into, even though wind will still be a factor around Sandy Neck. Sandy Neck itself may close to vehicle access during the storm, but Sam noted anglers can still walk out onto the open sand beach there.
The Golden Rule: Find Clean Water
Sam's single biggest piece of tactical advice for fishing through and around the storm — whether in the Bay, an estuary, or anywhere else — was to prioritize water clarity over classic "fishy-looking" structure. In his estimation, there's roughly a 5 percent chance of finding fish in dirty, churned-up water, no matter how good the spot looks. Clean water, even in an unremarkable-looking location, is where the bait and the predators feeding on it will concentrate, since fish want to hunt without fighting through weed and turbidity.
- Daytime and into dusk: bucktails and big, heavy pencil poppers
- After dark: needlefish plugs, essentially the only presentation with enough weight and profile to punch through the wind and get a cast out
Will Funny Fish Stick Around?
Sam expressed real concern that a multi-day blow of this magnitude could effectively end the funny fish season prematurely, even though the run got off to an unusually late start and never fully got going. There has been albie action around Monomoy and the south side into the sounds, including standout catches from Ian McPartland of Team Goose Hummock, who spent a day off work in his kayak landing numerous albies off the south side and posting photos online. Sam expects the storm to largely wrap up that fishery, though he held out hope for a few stragglers tucked into the Falmouth area, the Islands, and possibly off Chatham in the days that follow.
Cape Cod Bay had its own remarkable funny-fish story this year: a bonito bite that produced a state-record fish at 31 inches, landed on a charter run by Sam's friend Matt Dempsey, with other area charters also cashing in before the storm shut things down. Once the nor'easter passes, Sam expects that bonito bite to be finished for the season, leaving primarily bass and blues going forward.
There's still a sliver of hope. Sam noted that albies have a pattern of bouncing between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket before working back toward Falmouth, and that a stretch of favorable west and southwest wind in the storm's wake — which the extended forecast is currently showing over the following 10 to 12 days — could keep warmer water in place long enough to extend the window into early October, even if the bulk of the run has already passed.
Offshore: Small Fish, Big Signs for the Future
Away from the surf, Sam reported that Team Goose Hummock's most recent canyon trip produced plenty of mahi, along with a few swordfish, a couple of bigeye, and several yellowfin tuna. More encouraging for the long term: schools of small tuna have begun showing up east of Chatham and working up toward and beyond Stellwagen Bank, feeding actively and not particularly selective about presentation. While the storm will shut down offshore effort entirely for the time being, Sam is hopeful the canyon and near-shore tuna bite could extend into November, with a chance for a late push of football-sized fish before boats are hauled for the season.
Looking Ahead
Sam struck a hopeful note for the back half of fall. October has historically delivered stretches of Indian-summer weather on the Cape, and a run of clean southwest wind after this weekend's blow could keep water temperatures elevated, extend the funny-fish window, and set up a strong final month of striper and bluefish action on the backside, in the Bay, and around the Canal. Stay tuned!
Tight Lines & Take Care!