July marks the beginning of the patience season on the Cape and islands. For the flats fisherman, it will mean shots at cruising bass with relatively few responses in comparison to the May/June period when the fish are hungry and will take pretty much any fly. In other locations where the water warms to the point where the bass and bluefish head to deeper water, it will mean fast sinking lines and longer countdowns. Finally, in many cases it will mean moving from one's favorite spots to areas where the water is cooler. Many people often believe that this is the time of the year to put down the fly rod and go to other methods which will produce more consistently in the head and humidity of July and the dog days of August. But, in fact, the fly rod will do just as well, if not better, than bait fishing or trolling during these times. When it comes to the flats, imitating sand eels and crabs, two of the predominant baits on the clear sand stretches at Monomoy, Barnstable, and elsewhere, is easily done with the long wand. A competent fly tier can alter his or her offerings according to the size and profile of bait in the area while the spin fisherman is pretty much limited to what the industry elects to put out in the way of soft plastics, plugs, and spoons. Delicacy and variety of presentation are also in the flyrodders favor, along with stealthy approaches to spooky fish. The rips at Wasque, Cuttyhunk, Squibnocket, et al, will favor folks using wire and everything from jigs to tubes to Jig-it-Eels, but that doesn't mean a flyrodder is out of the equation. The magic triangle of Scorton Ledge, the Fingers, and the parking lot in Cape Cod Bay may be home to plenty of tube and bunker spoon trollers, and the charter boats from Barnstable and Rock Harbor may move off to deeper water around Billingsgate, but fast sink lines and weighted flies will score here as well. Proper boat positioning relative to drift direction and speed are critical as is the willingness of a flyrodder to take the necessary amount of time to get the fly down the fish and their strike zone. I frown on trolling fast sink lines or just stripping the line off the reel into the rip and sitting there jigging it, since I believe a fly must be cast and retrieved to count, but who am I to argue, although I find it a bit disingenuous to call this "fly fishing" rather than just catching a fish on a fly rod. Ultimately, if your favorite areas slow due to warm water driving fish out away from shores where you angle, then maybe it's time to try something new. Perhaps a couple of trips to the outer beaches will open your eyes to new possibilities if you are a steadfast upper Cape angler. Flyrodders on the Vineyard and Nantucket are more likely to fish all over the islands, perhaps because they are smaller in geography and they are less tied to one area or the other, but if you want to catch fish, now is not the time to be parochial and remain anchored to the area of the Cape where you live when the fishing can be dynamite just a short drive away where the water is cool and bait is heavy. For some of us, change might even mean just trying some night fishing in your favorite spots when temps drop enough and fish become more active now that those crazy humans have settled down and left the water to them. No matter what you elect to try this summer, let's hope it's a productive and enjoyable experience, but most importantly a safe season for all of you out there.
If you think this warm air affects human activity, imagine how the sudden spike in water temperatures this week has impacted fish around the Cape and islands. There have been plenty of stories of huge schools of big bass just finning the surface, not really interested in eating anything, with the waters from Billingsgate to Race Point a prime area for this activity, but dusk to dawn fishing has found these fish eating as the water cools. The backside beaches have been OK, with reports of fish swimming among the hordes of bathers who invade these waters each summer; get out there late at night and early in the morning and you'll catch them, with Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light in Eastham good bets. The Monomoy flats are starting to drift into their summer mode, with fish seen but less often hooked; incoming water will often draw best action with an infusion of cooler temps, and word has it that the South Beach activity of the past several years is starting to kick in. The southside beaches have slowed with the fish moving off onto the shoals in search of deeper holes and cooler water. The Elizabeths are fishing very well, with good numbers of 30 to 40 inch bass in tight and along the deeper edges on the dropping tide. Wasque is showing smaller fish and slower action while the Menemsha area has really turned on. Nantucket has been holding good fish around Coatue and the north shore, with the flats also turning on. And, of course, everyone is thinking about bonito with their eyes on the Hooter and Hedge Fence, but warmer water and tons of bait has yet to put an ache in 'dem bones.
Buzzards Bay
The fishing remains quite good in this area, especially for those with a boat who can get out to some of the deeper holes and edges. Shore fishing is slowing a bit, although there is plenty of bait around and folks willing to fish West Falmouth and the rivers and coves in Bourne in the early morning or at dusk well into the dark should do well. There are plenty of small bluefish around Sippican and off Wing's Neck and Scraggy Neck, while the deeper edges of the Mashnee Flats have also been productive. Captain Bob Paccia of Shoreline Guide Service also offers this week's tips and suggestions for successful flyrodding: Record-breaking temperatures and striper and bluefish action continue to heat up the waters throughout Buzzards Bay. Both light spinning gear and fly fishing anglers have been having a ball casting poppers and sliders to some very cooperative surface feeding stripers and bluefish. Father and son team, Jeff Gladstone and 9 year old Brandon from Franklin, MA had good success on fly and light tackle. One of Brandon's stripers, which was just one inch shy of being a keeper, will be in his memory for some time to come. The smile on his face as he held the fish up for a quick photo and the grin that he gave as he expertly released his trophy over the side, made us all proud. How important these moments are when father and son can spend some quality time together. Good job, Jeff and Brandon. With all the recent attention being given to top water fishing activities, we shouldn't forget to try getting down deep. Remember, the really large cow bass tend to be a bit lazy and don't want to expend too much effort in getting their meals. They'll let the smaller fish chase the bait around, while they will be satisfied to hang back well under all of the surface action and pick off the cripples and scraps. Dead drifting flies behind below surface feeding fish can pay big dividends. Don't forget, in real estate, it's location, location and location. In fishing, it's location, location and presentation.
Falmouth & the Elizabeths
Woods Hole has had plenty of small bass and blues around in the early morning all week, with some larger stripers also interested in topwater offerings. Sand eels and small baitfish, perhaps juvenile herring or silversides, are keeping them happy and active. Tossing poppers and sliders on floating lines around slack water can be exciting, but as the current picks up, a Clouser, Hi-Tie, or other streamer pattern will be more effective fished on a fast sink line. A 350 grain is about minimum with the moving water; the problem with floating and intermediate lines is that the heavy currents put such a belly in the line that having any kind of connection with the fly is near impossible. A very good suggestion is to learn to have control of the line when it hits the water rather than going for the big, dramatic double haul finish and then scrambling to get control of the slack line and gather it in. The Elizabeths are fishing very well; on two trips earlier this week we managed five fish over 40 inches, and had only two fish under the 30-inch range. The bass are very active on eels right now, with larger, weighted rabbit skin flies a good choice, as well as the Ugly Mother, a large Clouser tied with multiple colors of UltraHair or SuperHair. Big Deceiver-type patterns are also working. The corners of both Quick's and Robinson's have been good, as have the waters around Cuttyhunk. Unfortunately, the beaches in the area are slowing with water temperatures in the mid-70's in the ponds even after an evening of cooling off. Waquoit Bay is also very warm, although there are fish in the rip that forms off the west jetty. No question that an early start or a dusk/after dark approach is best. But there are fish to be had, with some fluke mixed in as well. With as many fish as there have been in the Hole, Nobska should also be producing and folks who sneak around Juniper Point have told of some decent fishing as well. Finally, all eyes are looking towards Hedge Fence, where the bonito usually show up first, but as of yet there is no news to report.
The Cape Cod Canal
The Big Ditch is a question of who you talk to. The bait crew is still doing quite well at the west end, as well as between the bridges including around the Sagamore. The mud flats have been a little quiet with mostly schoolies popping on smaller bait. Tough tides right now for the flyrodder who likes to fish the mussel beds at first light and at dusk, with the current only starting to go west and the tide dropping at those hours right now until mid to late next week when things go turning east at first light.
The South Side
Slower is the optimal word, with warmer inshore water sending the fish out to the shoals and holes seeking cooler and deeper water. Word has it that Horseshoe Shoal has had great bluefish action on top, as well as some bass mixed in. Succonesset has some small blues, but most folks are looking for fluke around those parts. Don't give up on bass in the rivers and bays in the area, but you're talking about early morning, as in 4 A.M. for an angler who found schoolies up inside Centerville River. There are also bass still hanging around Popponesset looking for dropback herring, but again you will be losing some sleep to catch anything of size. The same goes for Bass River. Around Harwich, folks are looking for fluke, and if you haven't hooked a sizeable summer flattie on a fly, you're in for an interesting experience, as well as some good eating. Yellow Clousers have always worked well for me, for a Deceiver tied with grizzly hackles in muted olives will make a reasonable imitation of one of the fluke's favorite foods - the chub or mummichog. Sandy Carstensen also had the word that someone hooked up with what sounded like a Spanish mackerel at the 'shoe, but since it wasn't landed there was no positive I.D. With the warm water and prevalent small bait, an early arrival for any of the small tuna or the Spanish macs isn't out of the question.
Martha's Vineyard
Like most everybody around these parts, the warm, humid air pump this week with water temps spiking up and tremendous amounts of small bait around have Captain Leslie Smith of Backlash Charters thinking about bonito, but the bass are still keeping things interesting at Wasque as she reports this week: With all the sudden hot weather, things were bound to slow down but that doesn't mean that fishing isn't still very good. It's just not as great as it had been last week. Wasque Rips are still holding stripers and blues but I've found that the best action has been very early in the morning. The commercial guys are out in force, mostly wirelining and bait fishing with live scup, targeting fish in the deeper water outside of the rips. Small blues have been pleasing both the shore fishermen and smaller boats up and down East Beach. As we move into midsummer fishing mode, I know it won't be long before I'm having to run to the Hooter to find fish, always with an eye out for the first of the small tunas to show. Noah Maxner added that some folks have already moved to the Hooter for some bigger bass and they're doing well, and with more boats trolling out there, the potential for a bonito being dredged up increases. This area is one of the first spots that bones are caught, so the funny fish fanatics always keep an ear tuned for news from thereabouts. There was a huge school of bass and blues feeding inside Cape Poge Bay midweek while Lobsterville is also heating up. Finally, Roy Hope noted that they weighed in a 12-2 fluke this week, which is absolutely huge. Folks are still finding big bass around Middle Ground, but they are working inside from West Chop to Norton Point using scup fished deep. There are plenty of small blues around, while the shore crew is doing best around Menemsha Creek. The spin gang is using Jumpin' Minnows, which can be imitated reasonably well by a flyrodder with a slider like the Soft Body version or a Bob's Banger. The one advantage the Jumpin' Minnow has is the rattles inside and I'm convinced that flies with noise tied in will do better than the silent types.
Nantucket
Bill Pew at Bill Fisher Tackle said the fireworks on the Rock were great last night, but the fishing is even better. There are plenty of bluefish along the southside from Madaket all the way to the airport, so much so that Bill picked up his oversand permit so that he can take his bride out tonight to catch the sunset and maybe a blue or two. The bass fishing has become more of a nighttime activity, with the Harbor still OK, as are Madaket Harbor and the north shore from the Jetties to Eel Point. Folks are also finding bass at Great Point and down along the Galls. Many of the flyrodders are moving to crab patterns like Bill's own Marabou Merkin over Clousers, indicating a change in their diet. There are fish on the flats, but there can be so much pressure on them at times that they become very spooky. Bill also added this story about Ken Wiggin, a nice guy and all-around maintenance man at the local MSPCA. Ken has been fly fishing for a number of years now and has become quite adept, as indicated by his victory in the yearlong Nantucket Anglers' event that covers freshwater and saltwater fly rod fish. Ken was going fishing for landlocked salmon this spring and purchased a Winston seven weight from Bill, which he decided to use during a recent outing to the Jetties. Despite Bill's advice to avoid this area when the snake charmers are in residence since any bass would much prefer their eels rather than a fly, Ken slipped into between the bait gang and subsequently landed a nice 17 1/2 pound bass, clearly another testament to the power of the fly rod. Over at Cross Rip Outfitters, Lynne Heyer is still very upbeat about the fishing, with Jeff and his charter having taken some nice bass on the flats Thursday morning. Oliver Clousers and crab patterns are working well. Smith's Point has quieted down, while there are still some bass along the north shore from the Jetties to Dionis. Coatue has had a nice mix of bass and blues on the outside, while inside Miss Kitty found fish around Second Point on Thursday morning, but they were tough to entice to the fly. Lou Guerrieri, who shore guides out of the shop, has been doing well sight fishing at Coatue and Great Point using a small, bonefish sized olive Clouser, while along the southside there are blues and bass. The wadeable flats at Eel Point have some fish, and epoxy crabs are a favorite at that locale.
The
Outer Beaches, Chatham & Monomoy
The word from Fran Keough is that fly fishing in Pleasant Bay has slowed considerably with the water temps in the low to mid-70's. There are bluefish down around Chatham Light, but well up into the bay things are quiet. If there are going to be bass around, they will come in on the incoming tide with the cooler water from outside. Stage Harbor just has bluefish for the most part as well, with this area being a notorious warm spot once July kicks in. If there are bass around, one to two hours before high is a good time as cooler water floods in. Rob LaBranche reported that folks swimming around Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light in Eastham have seen bass in the water amongst all the bathers. These are some big fish but they are finicky, with early morning and night the right time. The Chatham side of Nauset Beach has also been pretty good, with a father-son team collecting legal fish on pretty much every trip they make down there. Heading up the backside, the Truro beaches have been good if you can find clean water, with good numbers of bass from 12 to 20 pounds taking live eels and sand eels, so you know what to imitate. If you are going to use rabbit strip flies, you are better off buying your own hide and cutting it to get jumbo strips. Rob added that a pair of anglers fishing the Race Point area did very well on bass using big (three-ounce) Crippled Herrings cast way out. This suggests there might be some sea herring or juvenile herring in the area, which is bait that will vector big bass into the area. There have also been some decent bluefish caught as well. On Wednesday there were a lot of bass around the bath house at Herring Cove, and the fluke fishing remains fantastic in Provincetown Harbor and down along the Pamet. Up in Provincetown, Mike Rivetts said that as of Thursday, the water was too hot for consistent action. Folks jigging or livelining eels at night have been connecting at the Race, but during the day folks are spotting big bass just finning on the surface, but it is awfully tough to get them to eat. Sand eels are the prevalent bait, although one big bass that was cleaned was full of worms.
The
North Side
Reports of huge schools of finning bass from just off Billingsgate all the way up to Provincetown continue to circulate, and if you look at this report form Reel-Time regular Glennon, you'll get an idea of the action: Lots and lots of very spooky finning fish! Since I refuse to be anywhere near the water for these next couple days I can tell you where they were. Look for the charter boats near Billingsgate then head northwest 3 miles. We were the only boat on them for 2 hours. The fish weren't hitting anything but if you put a lure in front of them (with out spooking them) it got blasted. Top water, swimmer, slug-go it didn't matter. At one point we were treated to a triple hook up with a combined weight of 70+ pounds! Saw some real cows but as luck would have it we couldn't get them. Mid-size blues to 10 or 11 pounds were in the mix as well. Wish I hadn't left the fly rod at home because it would have been perfect for casting to these spooky fish. Didn't bring it because I had two friends with me that don't fish much so I didn't want it to be a hassle. Scorton Creek still has a decent number of bass, but Old Harbor has slowed considerably. The flats around Barnstable and the waters of Sandy Neck are teeming with bass grubbing for crabs and sand eels and this time of year you can do some sight fishing that is every bit the equal of Monomoy - and sometimes without the pressure. There are still bluefish and bass on the flats around Wellfleet and blues off Sunken Meadow as well.
