Cape Cod fishing for striped bass gets off to a fast start during the month of May. Stripers of all shapes and sizes inundate the waters around Cape Cod. Cape Cod Canal fishing reports, Vineyard Sound fishing reports, Nantucket Sound fishing reports and Cape Cod Bay fishing reports all generally say the same thing - bass are here and they are aggressive.

Often times the fish during the spring are found extremely close to shore. May and June is prime-time for surf casters hoping to catch a big striped bass. Sometimes bass chase bait right into the shallows during the spring, which is what Andrew and I were fortunate to encounter off Race Point Beach in Provincetown roughly one month ago.

Yet since then the surf casting bite has slowed down, at least for most anglers. Of course a few Cape Cod Canal sharpies are still yanking 40 pound fish off the bottom, and some nocturnal surf casters are still doing damage from certain Cape Cod Bay and Outer Cape Cod beaches.

For the rest of us, consistently finding action with striped bass will require us to head to deeper water, where the striped bass are summering off Cape Cod. Each season large bio masses of striped bass gather in particular areas only accessible via a boat. These fish will spend the next several weeks more or less hanging out, and occasionally feeding whenever they feel like it.

Late July Striped Bass Fishing 101

Fooling these fish is oftentimes a challenge and finding them in the first place can be challenging too. This past week I spent a lot of time searching for bass in Cape Cod Bay on Sunday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. You can read more about those excursions by reading this Cape Cod Bay fishing report.

Later in the week I decided to make a big move and head to a Cape Cod fishing spot I figured would be a bit more reliable. Fortunately things worked out and my father and I stumbled upon a mile long school of stripers. You can read more about that excursion by reading this Cape Cod fishing report.

For surf casters there are still some viable options. One area where I have had some good success in years past from shore during the heat of summer is along the Plymouth Coastline. The water off Plymouth is generally much cooler than other areas of Cape Cod. Depending on the wind, the water temperature in among the rocks can be as low as 58 degrees-even during late July. This means that big striped bass can be taken from shore here, most often during the night. I fished this area last Monday, and you can learn more about it by reading this Plymouth Fishing Report.

Podcast Session #4

So, with all that in mind, this week's podcast is going to be about how to catch striped bass during the heat of late July. Specifically we will talk about deep water striped bass fishing techniques you can use from your boat, as well as surf casting strategies for catching stripers from shore when everyone else is getting skunked.

I hope you'll enjoy this week's podcast and find it helpful! As always let me know what you think by sending me an email via [email protected] or if you are a MFCC member, by posting a new thread in the MFCC forum.

Click below to listen to the podcast. Once you are finished listening be sure to check out the additional resources at the bottom of this page.

Vertical Jigging 101

I struggled big time when I first tried vertical jigging. I would look around at all the boats around me and just watch as they hooked up. Needless to say I felt pretty hopeless at the time. The experience reminded me of one day when I was younger, where everyone was catching mackerel except me, because I wasn't using the right kind of sabiki rig.

Yet as with most things in life, if you stick with it you'll eventually start to figure it out. My goal with this 3 minute how-to video is to help get you through the "figuring it out" stage just a tad bit quicker.

If you are a MFCC member, make sure you are logged into MFCC and then click below to view the video. If you are not yet a member you can still sign up and join our community by visiting this page.

*Also, please understand that I have decided to limit membership to the first 500 members. Putting a limit on the amount of members will help provide me with the time I need to continually improve MFCC and make the membership experience much better. So if you have been on the fence about signing up, then now is the time.

This Past Week's Members' Extended Reports

Depending on where you were fishing this past week, the striper bite has been non-existent to red hot. I logged in a couple hundred miles over the past 7 days and spent over 60 hours scouring the water with my sonar in an effort to find the fish. I did my best to capture the entire experience within the following reports.

If you are a member, just make sure you are logged into MFCC and then click below to read a report:

Miles of Stripers | Extended Report

Extended Cape Cod Bay Fishing Report July 14-18

Fishing Plymouth's Rocky Coastline | Extended Report

Looking Forward

I'll be out fishing Cape Cod today so I'll be interested to see what we can find. It looks like we'll have some relatively light winds all week which should make for nice sea conditions. Of course this could change at any moment, yet for now things are looking pretty good.

I may not have the time to post a full fishing report over the next couple of days, but I'll do my best to check in by posting a new thread in the MFCC forum if I discover anything worth sharing.

Until then I hope you have a great week of fishing!

Tight lines and take care,

Ryan