Boy has it been breezy recently! Those familiar NW winds of early autumn have been rolling through with abandon the past couple of weeks.  I've had to cancel 4 trips over the past week and half due to the winds.
But that is to be expected; after all it is October on Cape Cod. The summer is most certainly behind us now, as well as those warm SW breezes. Conditions and the fishing have changed quite a bit.
During October my attention shifts to surf fishing the Cape (mostly due to the brisk winds) unless we get a weather window that allows for tuna fishing. Over the past week the weather windows have been few and far between for most small boat fishermen like me, thus fishing Cape Cod from the surf is what I’ve been doing.
Cape Cod Surf Fishing | Peaceful and Challenging
In my opinion there really is nothing more relaxing than surf fishing a Cape Cod beach late in the season. This past week I had miles of sand all to myself without another soul in sight.
Definitely a nice break from fishing in a fleet of boats or standing shoulder to shoulder at the Cape Cod Canal.
I also love the challenge of surf fishing Cape Cod’s many beaches. Fishing from the sand means that you really need to put some thought into where the fish might show up, when they’ll show up and what they’ll be hitting. Catching a striped bass from the surf is much more challenging than targeting bass from a boat.
We’ll talk more about specific strategies for finding fish along the beach in this weekend’s Fishing Forecast which you can access by clicking here.
October in particular is a phenomenal month to fish the Cape from the beach. Bass are heading south and are definitely more apt to invade shallow water compared to the summer.
Right now is prime time for surfcasting and I highly recommend you hit the beach ASAP because soon the bulk of the bass will be well south of Cape Cod.
Cape Cod Surf Fishing Report  | October 9 and 10
This past week I fished a boulder field, an inlet and a sandy beachfront. The action was not hot and heavy but I still had a great time.
On Wednesday I headed to an inlet to fish a nice little rip that forms during the outgoing tide. The plan was to cast Heddon Zara Spooks into the rip to see what was home. I have always enjoyed fishing the Zara Spook because they work well, and the top water bites can be vicious.
The inlet trip on Wednesday did not produce any 50 pounders but I managed a few small guys which was fine by me. I also surprised the heck out of a seal that was hiding behind a boulder, just hanging out on his back.  He took one look at me, barked, waddled his way into the water and disappeared.
I think I was just as surprised by him as he was by me!
On Thursday I fished a beachfront that I knew had some bigger bass holding offshore. My idea was to fish from just before dusk to about 9pm. I’d start with top waters and then switch over to live eels once it got dark.
The top water bite was OK until it got dark but the area quickly dried up after that. Nevertheless I had a nice night all alone on the beach-the live eel bite will have to wait until another time.
I threw together a video below recapping the past couple of trips. I’m trying to get as much video footage as possible this October so I’ll have something to reminisce about and watch during the winter. I will most likely spend a lot of time on the blog this winter reliving these trips through the videos, photos and articles.
I hope you find the video helpful and entertaining. Â I'm having a blast with the editing software!
Just make sure to change your You Tube view settings so you can view the video in HD. Â Simply click on the "screw" symbol and select 1080 HD.
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast for this Weekend
With another round of NW winds predicted this weekend for the Cape, I am doubtful I will be getting out on the water in the boat. Possibly Saturday afternoon we’ll have a window of opportunity, but that is very up in the air.
If you are planning on fishing Cape Cod this weekend, then I definitely recommend doing some surf fishing. I’ve spent a good amount of time tonight putting together the best possible fishing forecast I could come up with, which you can access by clicking here.
In this fishing forecast we aren’t just talking about Cape Cod fishing spots, but also the specific weather conditions and tide stages to look for. Remember, successfully locating and catching striped bass from the beach usually requires careful planning, good timing and some luck.
My goal for this fishing forecast is to provide you with the tools you need to find and catch those last big striped bass of the 2012 season.
Click here to check it out.
Best of luck this weekend fishing! I hope you hit ‘em hard.
Take care,
Ryan
Loved your video! What inlet were you fishing? Fished scorton creek last evening. Caught 4 schoolies one on a 3 in. Hopkins and the other 3 on a red and white Zara spook thanks to you! Then on the beach around 23:30 had a hit on a chunk of pogie. To lazy to put a bigger hook and after the first run whatever it was let go. Changed to live eel an shortly after a 31 in was on shore. Fished till 02:00 nothing else. My buddy got skunked !
Hey Pat,
Nice! Sounds like you had a good trip. Glad you were able to put a few on the sand, always fun.
I guess we’ll never know about that mystery bite you had. Did he take a lot of line during the initial run?
Thanks!
Ryan