Cape Cod and the Islands
Region

July 06, 2007

Buzzards Bay

Joe LeClair of North Eastern Anglers reports:

While we have not landed all of the Bluefin Tuna we have hooked in the last week, we have landed a few. Today we landed a fish around 90 lbs. on the fly rod. We decided to do everything we could to get the fish back alive. I went with heavy leader and asked the anglers to put the hurt lock on the fish. We broke off the first fish we hooked in around 90 seconds (oooops). We brought the second fish to the boat in just under 40 minutes. We hooked up the fish with a large circle hook fly and it was easy to take out of the corner of the fishes mouth, and we released the fish boatside. During the long 1 hour and 45 minute drive back to the dock we talked about the technique and I am looking forward to doing as much catch & release tuna fishing as we can this summer !
Captain Joe LeClair

North Eastern Anglers

http://www.flyfishsalt.com

(774)263-2675

Reel-Time sponsors and big fish experts Terry Nugent of Riptide and Mike Mathews of Offshore Angler have been ripping it up in Cape Cod Bay and beyond with BOTH big bass and also bluefin tuna.

Read more here: http://reel-time.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56834 and here: http://reel-time.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56839 for details of their recent charters.

Joe LeClair of North Eastern Anglers reports:

My first tuna of the last few years is June 18th, June 6th, July 3rd, June 18th. That is the last four years. Two of those dates were the first tuna landed on fly by one of my anglers. Most people think of September when it comes to tuna, I really like JULY for tuna on the fly.

Fishing has been great with over a dozen Bluefin Tuna to the boat in less than 7 days. We were able to release several of the fish boatside after a short battle on the Scott HP Bluewater 15 weight fly rod. Most of the fish are 80-100 lbs. and are running 48-52 inches.

I had the opportunity to fish with yet another two anglers who have much of the last 10 years fishing the waters around Montauk Point on Long Island. They have fished with several prominent fishing guides in that area and have a boat they use to fish those waters themselves. After they brought three bluefin tuna to the boat on the fly rod, I asked them point blank, "how many times can you catch a 7 lb. bluefish before you throw in the towel and drive up to cape cod ?" The answer was simple. They told me the same thing that every other mislead flyfisherman has told me before, "Joe we will be back".

Enjoy the good weather, it is July 4th and that means summer is almost over here in New England...

Captain Joe LeClair
North Eastern Anglers

Falmouth & the Elizabeths

No word from the Falmouth area, but the south side has been lousy with bluefish, so one can reasonably expect to find them down into Woods Hole as well.  Into the Elizabeths, the bass are still holding, and they guys have been hitting them hard with live baits.  Night tides as always are the best. 

The Cape Cod Canal

It's summer - that means nights and early mornings.  Watch the tides and you'll find the action.

BB1 reports:

Got one small fish between the both of us fri night (sat morning). The guy next to me got a nice mid 30's (inch) fish.
Same east end spot sat night (sun morning), a little drizzle, had 3 fish hooked and they ALL got off? One 1/2 way in taking drag!
About and hour before slack I got another hit....it felt like a REAL small fish by the way it shook it's head, but when I got it in close it started taking drag....19#, 39", with a SMALL head.

The funny thing is that all the fish I hooked felt small by there head shakes, and they all came right at me, I couldn't reel fast enough....then took drag (or got off)!

The ones I caught came 1-3 casts after switching from black, to black red.

I have fished the last 2 am tides at slack dawn. From the run down to the east mouth I saw 0 breaking fish. Tons of guys out yesterday am, fewer today but the same result. Sand eels are hanging at the end but few bass on them. I saw one fish on the beach from a guy who caught it on claims off the bottom. I remember when these used to be CAN'T MISS tides. It was cold down there this am, fleece in July? So much for global warming..... GO GET EM!!!

 

Have to agree with Bill, the night fishing has at least given up some fish. Not that it's easy; expect to lose a lot of sleep for a few decent fish on a tide. The first light plugging tides haven't been all that consistent this year, other than that 7 day stretch a month ago when a push of very large bass blew through on top. The chunkers have been doing ok at dawn, saw a couple of guys with mid 30s bass on pogies a few days ago. The east tides have been better for me, but that could just be coincidence, hard to say.

-bd

The South Side

ShaneY posted online:

Well I haven't heard any southside reports lately so I thought I would let people know whats going. Went out of poppy at liesurely 7:30 and found terns working over spread out blues. lots of sandeels and what may have been 4 in bunker spread around in 4-8 ft. of water. took blues on both swimming and topwater plugs. After keeping the request pair of fish 3-4#s I switched to a single hook popper and had fish chasing it all over.

That action sounds like it is probably a pattern along the shallows of the south side, what with the waters warming especially in the day time.  Here's another post from further to the east from a Reel-Timer called "thecanoe":

All of Dennisport beaches have blues about 200 feet offshore. It makes great kayak fishing on those north wind days

Martha's Vineyard

of Fishing the Vineyard reports:

Flats Report: The sightfishing on the Vineyard flats has remained very strong through the past week. Sunny days combined with mid-day low tides provided excellent conditions for seeing and catching bass on many of the islands shoreline and inner-pond flats. We are at the point in the season where we're seeing big schools of fish, combined with plenty of shots at singles and doubles. The fish we're catching on the flats have mostly ranged from 24-36 inches. These are truly beautiful fish to catch in one to three feet of water. We've been seeing some 40 inch plus fish on East and West end flats, but as of yet we've failed to land one of this caliber on the fly in a traditional sightfishing scenario. Hot flies have been green and lady crab patterns, jiggys, blind crabs and small flounder imitations.

 

of Fishing the Vineyard reports:

6.28.07
SW winds, light boat traffic, and tons of terrified squid added up to great bass fishing this past week on the Vineyard. Things are pretty good when way more keeper bass than bluefish come over the rail in the course of any given day. We’ve got quality and quantity right now with numerous flyrod fish between 20 and 30 pounds landed this week! 
To top it off, fresh fish seem to be arriving daily. This past Monday, we ran into a school of migrating fish in open water that must have numbered in the multiple thousands. Looking out to the horizon, you could barely see the end of this school of slurping, waking bass up to 30 pounds.

From the sand, Lobsterville has finally come alive this week along with many other lesser-known stretches of beach on the North Shore. Keep moving until you find what you’re looking for—that’s been the key for the past few nights.
Pick a point on the compass and go fishing. It’s tough to wrong these days!
                                                                                               -www.fishingthevineyard.com

Phil Cronin reports:

Fishing remains strong all around the Vineyard. Bluefish are very easy to find and some blitzing schools run in the 5 lb range while others are smaller. Whether fly or plug, these feisty chompers are a blast to play with. They are a great way to wait out a slack tide before hunting down some keeper bass in the rips and shoals. Bass on the other hand are a challenge to locate but are available in several spots and friendly to flyrodders and spin fishermen alike. The only problem with the daytime bass fishing by boat is you have to put up with a lot of other anglers doing the same thing. We have been fishing the rips and shoals on the east side of the island but it seems everyone else is as well. Being considerate of other boats is very important as we all want a chance at hooking our anglers up to nice linesider. So far, most of the other boats I have run across are behaving just that way. Fluking remains excellent as boats are bringing in limits frequently. Just remember, the fluke must be 17.5" and each angler is allowed 5 fish. Freshly caught fluke makes for a wonderful meal! Night shore fishing has been exceptional for both fly and spinning rods. I went up island last night flyfishing and caught as many bass as I could stand. The go to fly was the floating sand eel or as we sometime call it, "the stick". Thrown with a floating line, this fly does magic with a very, very, very slow retrieve. Where I fished there were clouds of sandeels and swirling bass all around me.

Jeff Sayre of Fly Fishing the Vineyard reports:

Last night we had our best fishing of the season with the fly rod. The area was loaded with sand eels and terns were furiously bombing the water before sunset. The table was set so it was just a matter of time before the bass moved in. As soon a the sun dipped below the horizon the boils began. Swirling bass could be seen up and down the beach but at first it was difficult to hook up because there was so much bait. Finally they turned on and we had doubles on deceiver patterns for most of the evening. By 10:00 PM there was no more boiling fish to be seen but they were out there. A long cast and a slow strip produced a hit on a regular basis. We didn't get any real big ones but we had fish in the 30 to 34 inch range. In shallow water they put up a good scrap. I'm already itching to get back out there tonite. The wind looks perfect and so does the tide so I imagine it will be awesome again. Hopefully we can hook into some bigger fish tonight. Looks like this is the week where a full night's sleep will be impossible. With the warm humid air expected by mid week and SW wind there should be some real foggy nights ahead. That coupled with the outgoing tide could produce some epic nights!

Boat anglers continue to land some big bass especially on live scup. The guys that fly rodded with me last night went out and fished deep with live bait this AM and got some nice ones close to 40 lbs. The rips had been kinda slow for bass/squid action but they have started to heat up over the past few weeks. There are plenty of small bluefish around the Island and you can't go far without seeing some on surface.

Once again, it looks like the last week of June will produce some great shore as well as boat fishing. As we approach the 4th the Island is getting more crowded every day. There is nothing better than being on a quiet beach in the middle of the night at this time of year. Get out and enjoy!!

reports:

First tunoid of MV caught at Menemsha today.

I did not catch it and it was news through the tackle shop.  One of the young men in the shop, Julian Pepper, told me about it.  He is an avid and expert bonito fisherman along with his prowess in catching large bass.  It was caught in Menemsha on Monday.  Probably by accident. 
 
Fly fishing with big big squid patterns in the middle ground rip has been excellent at the beginning and ends of the tides: the end of the west tide and then again at the beginning of the east(flood).

Good sight fishing along the south side of Naushon

Bucky.

 

of Fishing the Vineyard reports:

Flats fishing has remained consistent on Martha’s Vineyard over the course of the past week. Clear, bright skies allowed for sightfishing opportunities most days, and the current number of fish in the shallows is far greater than it was at this time last year.

 I fished predominantly on the East end of the island this week, as the numbers, size and willingness to eat flies of the fish on the  shoreline flats in this area was impressive and hard to leave. I did make it up-island at the end of last week (6/29), and was not surprised to find strong numbers up there as well, however the combination of blustery Southwest winds and in and out clouds allowed us only to land three fish in 4 hours of pushing around.

Bass on the up in the skinny water on the Vineyard are still in the same size range we’ve been seeing most of the season, in the 24-36 inch range with some serious toads in the mix. Fly selection has also remained fairly consistent, with an added emphasis on the crabby stuff recently.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

 

of Fishing the Vineyard reports:

7.5.07: With water temps still hovering in the mid-to high-60’s in our oceanside spots, bass fishing continues impress us on a daily basis. Squid continue to be at the top of the menu, and some of the squid blitzes have been so intense that 5-to 10-inch squid are actually jumping right into the boat! The bass this week have been ranging anywhere from 26” to 30 pounds. The best days have been those with a lot of wind and large seas. As is often the case with stripers, wild weather leads to wild fishing. Add a whole bunch of squid to the mix and it can get downright crazy. It should be a great week of fishing ahead with a moderate SW breeze predicted for the next 4 or 5 days out.
Also, the first couple of bones have been caught in Island waters. Great to hear, but I wouldn’t expect any consistent greenie fishing for at least a couple of weeks.
On the shore scene, Lobsterville is still the word of the day. Fish up to 40” have been chewing flies and plugs consistently for the last week.
-www.fishingthevineyard.com

Nantucket

of Cross Rip Outfitters reports:

Fishing has gotten pretty hot as of this week. A lot better than my report that started with the WIND report. It's still windy but the fishing is very good. I am getting reports from Dave Stetson one of our beach guides that he fished the Tom Never's area in the evening and he and friend Frank Bender picked up some nice Bass in the 36-39" range. Also heard that Dan the parts man at ADAP and his friend artist Chris Bonelli fished the Jetties area and found some nice fish. Tim Griffin reports there are fish in the lots of fish in the Harbor. Capt. Jeff has been ! doing very well sightfishing this week also. Capt Bill and Capt Shawn have been hitting the Rips to the West and getting into some nice Bass. As did I early Thursday with Jeff and James Kilmartin.

Captain Shawn has been having very good luck with Tuna this week, yup, I did say Tuna. He has been running a ways to the East but been very successful. I even get to share in his good fortune and am having Tuna for Dinner. It's windy again but the fishing is good get out and through a few.

of Cross Rip Outfitters reports:

Thorne,

Here are a few pictures from Thursday early am trip West. Fun trip for Jeff James, me and friend Steve Rogers.

of Nantucket Outfitters reports:

With the exception of today's weather... this has been our best week yet here on Nantucket!! Bass fishing here on the island has reached its peak right about now and  we all just hope it continues just a little longer. Bass to 30+ lbs are not uncommon these days on both flies and plugs. Large numbers of fish are the norm... especially for those willing to sacrifice a little sleep and get out there before dawn.

Bluefishing remains steady with large numbers of fish for boaters and fish to 12+ lbs.
We even got a little fluke fishing in this past weekend and scored well off the East end.
Capt.Shawn had a good week as well... putting his clients on 60+ " bluefin tuna several days in a row... with many smaller fish mixed in as well! good luck and hope to see you out there, Capt. Bill

Capt. Bill Toelstedt
Nantucket Outfitters
(917) 584-5270

of Nantucket Outfitters reports:

Nantucket Outfitters-fishing report for 6/29/07:
Just about the only thing making fishing difficult right now is... THE WIND!
After 2 full-days of 20+mph winds out of the WSW...and several gusty days last week... we woke up this morning hoping for a break...
...it was not to be as the winds were out of the northeast at a steady 23 with gusts to 31!
hopefully the forecast will prove true and this afternoon will give us the window of opportunity we are looking for!
Fishing for the past week has continued to improve.... several days we were forced to find shelter on the north and east sides of the island b/c of the wind... but it did not seem to matter. The bluefish kept the rods bent during the rough windy times... and the bass are in full swing in most all of the rips surrounding Nantucket.
I had my Dad up to fish this past week from NY... just before the wind hit. We were lucky enough to find one calm  morning  on Wednesday ...as his good friend Charlie was able to land 5 fish between 35-37"  on the flyrod that morning!
 Capt.Bill

Chatham, Monomoy and the Outer Beaches

Tom George of Fish Pier Charters reports:

Thorne- Sorry no pics, lot's of topwater bass in Bearses right now...

Randy Jones - http://www.yankeeangler.com - Fishing Reports of Yankee Angler reports:

Day 1 - Monday
"Wade" sightfishing all day
(with this full-time wade guide) on the flats "w/fly/spin".
Only 1 lull first thing
in the morning while we stood shallow to be able to see properly, until
we had better lighting to move deeper. Soon there after the light
improved so we could
move to the optimum water level to see these fish properly. We then
simply patterned the fish and found their comfort zone. (We needed to
stand thigh deep to be on'm on this dropping tide. I normally notice an
approx. depth difference between the 2 tides. Normally they will travel
6 inch's (or more) shallower on the incoming and or 6 inch's deeper on
the drop.
In our area. Has to due with their comfort level on an incoming or
dropping tide) As long as we stayed in the zone, we were on them all
day.
Nothing crazy but just enouph consistent all day sighted BIG fish to
keep you at
the ready for that 20 lb'r in 2 feet of crystal clear flats water :)
(Lots of'm). Saw some big'ns, played with a few, lost a few. Another
super day! God I love this job! :)
-
Day 2 - Tuesday
Stayed inshore with these building winds. Hit'm HARD!! We Spanke'd'm!!
Ye-haa! :) Don't get much but'a!
-
Day 3 - Wed. - Today
Bigger S.W. winds than yesterday with this front while fly fishing. No
need to cancel, just find a nice comfortable spot that has LOTS of fish
that is out of this hard wind. Fished with out a whisper of wind as
that 20 knot and above wind traveled over our heads, over the 150 foot
high bluff's behind us. :) :)
I wish things would change, Im
getting bored :) Same - ol - same hole. Noth'n but fish after fish!
Get's old. Ho-Hun :) What ever happened to fishing for them, instead of
nothing but catching? (I ask you :) Why me :0 :)
Go get'm!
Randy
-
Thursday - Canceled due to weather.
Friday through next Tuesday looks (may?) very good for some possible
sunny skies with light winds to sight fish the flats. Hope to see you
all out there!!!!!
www.yankeeangler.com - Randy Jones :)
------------------

Randy Jones
Cape Cod Hm (508) 694-6054
Pulaski Hm (315) 298-5999
E-mail randysjones@earthlink.net
Web Site http://www.yankeeangler.com

Tom George of Fish Pier Charters reports:

Thorne-

Little stubby squid on Bearses and clouds of small sand eels up close to the Chatham cut have kept the interest of most of the fish staying close to shore around Chatham. Still waiting for the push of surface feeding Bass closer to the cut - but the Bearses scene has been solid.

Thanks,

Tom

Jeff Smith of Finaddiction Charters reports:

The past week we have seen the bass move in one day and right out the next. Normally this can be frustrating but with all the bluefin tuna around it gives us a another great avenue. We have seen bluefin crashing on our bassing grounds in such numbers it only made sense to start chartering for them at least a month earlier than we normally do. This past week we have caught numerous tuna on light tackle with a few over 100lbs with most being around 60-70lbs....A few have taken flies but it seems much harder to make them eat the feathers than it does a popper...When they do take the fly it is quite a rush!

Dont charge the breaking fish....Slowly move upwind of their heading and steer back towards them while the boat is in gear....Turn the boat sideways if you can before you launch....It will help get tight with fly or lure much faster than letting the boat keep tracking straight....Pamet Specials work well when they are on sandeels which I believe the bulk of the fish are east of Chatham....Yozuri metal, deadly dicks and such work well for spin....
Good Luck!

Captain Jeff Smith
www.finaddiction.com
Fin Addiction Charters

Randy Jones - http://www.yankeeangler.com - Fishing Reports of Yankee Angler reports:

Day 7 - Monday
Flat's, wade, sight, fly. Slow start until the tide started moving. Then all heck broke lose! Ye-haa! Sightfishing was pretty good except for a lil to much wind at times, some white clouds and a few lull's. Otherwise Blue bird day with just enouph big'ns on the flats to keep you at the ready. We played with a few, "broke off" a few (my client did warn me that he had a heavy hand :), missed a few and had lots of lookers. Basically, another one of many super days out on the flats learning this sightfishing game for the rest of your life. :)
-
Day 8 - Tuesday
Started of searching for them. Lil Lull. Then we began to find a few here and there to sight cast too with the fly rod while wading these crystal clear flats. :) 2 hours after the low the fish began to become concentrated on the edges we were strategically staging at. (Key) Worked like a charm as usual. The rest was left up to mother nature and how many she would give us for this tide over these light colored sand flats. She showed my guest LOT'S BIG'NS, and a few smaller. We landed Bigger and smaller, had shots at a good number on this picture perfect sight fishing flats day. Not as many fish as the previous day, but as usual, just enouph to keep your eyes searching and your fly rod at the ready with the adrenaline running up your spine everytime a fish showed itself!!! :)
-
Off for the Holiday. Go get'm! Best Fish's, Randy

North Side

reports:

After yesterday's skunking, I broke out the deep water rig. Yup bought some seaworms and went tube n' worming today. Started a bit earlier as well never hurts either. Hooked up quickly in the main outer chanel -bluefish Hooked and lost another, but landed a second fish fairly quickly after that. Fish were running in the 7# category. I notice some bird activity farther out and to the east. Checked it out - stripers on sand eels in 7' of water. Small white deciever in sandeel profile worked just fine catching several bass ranging form 20" to 27" and of course there is the obligatory "there were larger ones following" This lasted close to 45min.

Afterwards I tried my luck out in the bay in 70' of water with one more bluefish to show for my efforts. Much happier camper today

Jeff Smith of Finaddiction Charters reports:

It was a great week for me and my sports on the Carla Noelle.  We fished in CCB and beyond and had some fabulous days with over 30 legal fish on the fly....We had one really large group of big girls come by that we could not get to eat with feathers and fur.....One of my sports picked up a light spinning rod with 1/2 kalin jig head loaded with a 6" sluggo and immediately hooked up....At first I thought it might be a tuna by the way it ran and ran....Eventually it slowed and the *thump thump* on the rod tip told me it was a big girl....10 minutes later we see color and it is the biggest bass I have seen this year.....I lipped it and it took 2 hands to pull her aboard...She taped at 51"...We snapped a few quick *lousy* pics and got her back in the water...Put the boat in gear and revived her until she lit up and started kicking...When she bit down on my hand I knew she was ready to go....She swam off looking great and we felt great knowing she was back with the shcoo! l a bit wiser...

The next day we had more of the same with the occassional tuna blowing up around us....When we couldnt stand it anymore we steamed over and threw a popper into the melee and hooked up immediately with a 100lb+ fish....When 400 yards of braid was gone at 40 seconds we knew we were going to have to chase....We got 200 yards back on the reel but eventually the leader let go....We rigged up again and immediately got tight.....After a great battle we hoisted a 70lber onto the boat...
Things look promising....Lotsa bait and fish around...Let's hope they stay!
 
Captain Jeff Smith
Fin Addiction Charters
www.finaddiction.com 

Terry Nugent of RipTide Charters reports:

TOday I had Ken and Joe out for what started as a big bass/eel trip. With the latest intel showing no big bass in the areas I planned to fish, we headed out to CC Bay for the bass bite we've been on for a few days on surface lures.

We got an early start and launched out of Pamet. We ran to the area holding fish and found several otehr guides looking for the fish that were not there. We all ran around looking for action and none of use found much. By mid morning I ran to the Welfleet flats for some default shallow water bluefish. It was 1030 before we put the first fish in the boat. Not a good way to spend the first 4 hours of a trip.

After an hour of playing with 10# blues we'd had enough "fun" and ran back towards the spot that we tried in the morning. I hoped a tide turn would fix the lack of fish. En route I spotted nearvous water that I was sure was tuna. I set the guys up and the cast into the mix. On the first cast we had a hit / miss and a boil on the Olive Saltys Needles. A few more boils and the fish were gone. Things were looking up for the afternoon.

We hit the spot and found life unlike the morning. THe guys began to hook up on blues and we saw bass in the mix. After about 20 minutes of landing blues and missing bass, Joe fires a cast with the yellow Salty's needle out blind. In two twiches a huge neon blue/black torpedo crushes the needle and the fight is on.

Editor's note: check online here for the rest of the epic battle!