Cracking the Code in Buzzards Bay
Memorial Day weekend has long signaled the unofficial start of summer fishing on Cape Cod, and if you know where to look — and more importantly, how to look — the waters of Buzzards Bay are loaded with opportunity right now. Eddy Kooyomjian of Monomoy Tackle shares a detailed, firsthand account of a productive morning this weekend in Buzzards Bay targeting keeper size aggressive Tautog.
Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound
For anglers on the Upper and Mid-Cape, Buzzards Bay is a natural first stop this time of year. Before the striped bass action heats up around Monomoy in June, Buzzards Bay offers a rich and varied fishery for those willing to put in the time. The bay's mix of rocky structure, muddy bottom, and hard current makes it ideal habitat for tautog, black sea bass, scup, and striped bass alike.
Eddy launched at Taylor Point Marina (map located at bottom of this blog post) in the early morning Saturday and headed out toward the mouth of the bay, immediately noting heavy bird activity and obvious signs of bait in the water — always a promising start. The depths he was working ranged from 25 to 30 feet, which is a productive sweet spot for both tautog and sea bass during the late spring and early summer transition.
For anglers looking to broaden their search beyond Buzzards Bay, Eddy also flagged Vineyard Sound and the sound side of Falmouth as areas worth targeting — particularly for black sea bass, which he believes have been shifting their distribution in that direction over the past couple of seasons.
Target Species
Tautog
Tautog are without question one of the stars of the show in Buzzards Bay this time of year, and Eddy's trip was built around chasing them. However, he offered a critical piece of advice that sets this report apart from most: the fish aren't necessarily where you think they are.
Early spring tautog are reliably found on the classic rocky structure — boulder fields, rock piles, and underwater humps. But as late spring transitions into early summer and the fish move into spawning mode, their behavior shifts dramatically. A local charter captain tipped Eddy off to a key pattern: tautog staging for spawning will move onto muddy bottom, abandoning the hard structure many anglers focus on exclusively.
When Eddy and his crew made the move from a traditional rocky rock pile to a nearby muddy-bottom area just a couple of miles away, the results changed immediately — short fish gave way to aggressive keepers. The depths and water temperatures were nearly identical between the two spots; it was simply the bottom composition and the biological behavior of the fish in the muddy bottom that made the difference.
This is one of the most actionable pieces of advice in the report. If you have a chart plotter or sonar, look for areas in Buzzards Bay that are marked as muddy bottom at similar depths to where you've been fishing the rocky bottom. You may be surprised at what you find!
Black Sea Bass
Black sea bass season recently opened, and while the bite in Buzzards Bay has been slow to get going, it's not out of the question. Eddy and his crew hit several traditional sea bass spots in the bay after the tide changed, and found only a slow pick — a sentiment echoed by other anglers and tackle shop reports from around the region.
Eddy's take on the bigger picture is worth noting: he believes the biomass of black sea bass in Buzzards Bay has gradually shifted toward Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound over the last few years. The legendary sea bass fishery Buzzards Bay was known for a decade ago has become more inconsistent. Whether the cause is water temperature changes, shifting bait patterns, or fishing pressure remains unclear, but the practical takeaway is simple: if you're targeting sea bass right now, the sound side of Falmouth and Vineyard Sound may be your best bet.
Scup
Don't overlook the scup. Eddy pulled a couple of impressively sized scup while fishing tautog jigs — fish in the 13 to 15 inch range, which is well above average and put up a surprisingly strong fight on light tackle. Reports from Amy Wrightson at Sports Port in Hyannis confirmed that large scup are showing up in significant numbers throughout the area. These fish are a fantastic target for light-tackle anglers and are excellent table fare.
Striped Bass
Striped bass are making their presence known in Buzzards Bay, though Eddy's focus on Saturday was firmly on tautog. While anchored up fishing a rock pile, he observed surface boils and bird activity consistent with feeding stripers nearby. Spring striper fishing throughout the bay and broader Cape Cod area has reportedly been quite good this season. If topwater action is your thing, the bird activity and bait presence Eddy described early morning on Saturday in skinny water are exactly the signs you want to see.
Productive Baits and Lures
Green Crabs
Green crabs were the primary bait of the day for tautog, and the way they were fished evolved as the day progressed. Early in the morning on the rocky structure, Eddy and crew were cutting crabs in half — a standard approach for early-season tautog, which tend to have softer mouths and prefer smaller, easier-to-eat presentations.
But after receiving advice from a local charter captain, they made an important adjustment: when fishing the muddy-bottom spawning areas, they switched to the largest crabs in their bucket. Spawning-mode tautog are aggressive, hungry, and not interested in nibbling at small offerings. Bigger baits produced bigger, more confident strikes, and the hookup rate improved noticeably. The lesson here is that bait size isn't fixed — it should evolve with the season and the behavioral state of the fish.
Ed also noted a small but useful trick: as his brother trimmed crabs, the discarded legs and bits of shell were tossed off the bow of the anchored boat, creating a light, natural chum slick that drifted back under the hull and attracted fish. This was done without any formal chum pot setup — just the natural byproduct of bait preparation.
The Scudetto Jig (Monomoy Tackle)
The centerpiece lure of the day was the Scudetto Jig, a flat-bottomed, shield-shaped design that Eddy developed and sells through Monomoy Tackle. The name comes from the Italian word for "little shield," which describes the jig's distinctive profile. The jig features a set of articulating assist hooks on the rear that allow the bait to move naturally and penetrate the crab when rigged.
Eddy with a beautiful tautog taken on the orange Scudetto Jig from Monomoy Tackle.
Originally designed for fluke and sea bass, the Scudetto proved itself effective on tautog during this trip. The assist hook setup is particularly well-suited for threading through the leg sockets of a whole or halved green crab, producing a snag-free but highly effective hookup when a fish commits. Eddy was fishing these with the bait rigged almost in a double-hook snafu style, which he found produced the most aggressive takes from the tautog.
Color mattered. On Saturday, Eddy's orange Scudetto significantly outperformed his brother's green jig. Once his brother made the switch to orange, things evened out. Orange also pairs particularly well with the internal juices of a freshly cut crab — a small visual detail that can make a real difference in low-visibility or high-current conditions.
Putting It All Together
Here's a summary of the key variables Eddy identified for productive late-spring tautog fishing in Buzzards Bay:
Location: Buzzards Bay, 25–30 feet of water. Start at traditional rocky structure, then pivot to muddy bottom areas if fish are short or absent.
Tide: The outgoing tide produced the most aggressive bites. The morning outgoing window, particularly the prime portion in the first few hours after launch, was the most productive time of day.
Bait: Green crabs, sized to match the fish's behavior. Early season or rocky structure fishing: cut crabs in half. Late spring spawning fish on muddy bottom: go big with whole crabs, and find the biggest ones in your bucket.
Jig: Orange-colored flat jigs with articulating assist hooks (Scudetto style) outperformed green Tsunami Jigs on this day. Fish the jig style when current is moderate; switch to a standard rig when current runs hard.
Keep adapting: The most important takeaway from Ed's report is that tautog — and all fish, really — are not static. Their habitat preferences, feeding aggression, and ideal presentation change as the season progresses. Checking in with local captains, bait shops, and online communities like My Fishing Cape Cod can provide the critical real-time intel needed to stay a step ahead.
Final Thoughts
Buzzards Bay is alive right now, and the fish are there for the taking if you're willing to put in the work. Whether you're chasing aggressive tautog on muddy bottom, searching for sea bass in the sound, picking up jumbo scup on light tackle, or throwing topwater at surface-feeding stripers, there's something for everyone! Let us all have a happy, healthy, and safe Memorial Day and give thanks to all service members past and present who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Tight Lines & Take Care!🎣