Cape Cod and the Islands
Region

July 24, 2008

Buzzards Bay

Capt. Joe LeClair at Northeast Anglers reports:

Buzzards Bay Report Looks a little lite :) Best bass fishing in the whole country and you have nothing at all. Something is wrong with that. Up and down the Islands and Matha's Vineyard there are elite schools of Huge Striped Bass feeding sometimes in the middle of the day. One of the best days of the year to date for Bass fishing came on Friday July 18th and climaxed at 11:00 am. with four bass over 40 lbs. on light tackle and flies.

Captain Joe LeClair
North Eastern Anglershttp://www.flyfishsalt.com
(774)263-2675

Definitely something wrong with that. Let's think about that, readers...perhaps you should be sending in a report as well. Then look at the next three sections....

Falmouth & the Elizabeths

Nothing reported this week...

The Cape Cod Canal

The stalwart Bill Downing reports:

Haven't fished in three weeks, but decided to slip in one more outing before I head to the Great White North for two weeks.

A few stripers around on the early east tide, the vast majority no larger than 18" but pulled in one around 25-26". Plenty of missed hits too, probably the result of tiny bass trying to hit a bait bigger than they are .

I don't think I've ever fished in humidity so oppressive, and that includes the tropics. The mere act of casting produced rivulets of sweat. The only relief was the occasional downpour, like something out of the Amazon rain forest. This is New England, right? .

Bring a towel if you head down

The South Side

No reports...

Martha's Vineyard

Capt. Phil Cronin at Capawok Charters reports:

Some Call It The Doldrums; Some, The ‘Tween Time…

It's that time during the fishing season that frustration sets in and disappointment looms over the horizon. It's the 'tween time'; or rather the period in between the bass and the speedsters. For the last week a lot of attention has been placed on when the Atlantic bonito will show up. Water temps are right and the bait is thick. Boats are visiting the early bone season spots like The Hooter, Paradise, Hedge Fence, and Menemsha Bite. Rumors are running strong about bonito sightings and there have been a few "semi-confirmed" reports of bonito catches. I'll believe them when I put one in the boat! It's the time of year when catching bass is not consistent and certainly not easy on the fly or light tackle top waters. Some call it the doldrums of summer but there are always options available even it means targeting blues. Should the krill start showing up then some great top water bass fishing will again take hold. Last year at this time we were thick with krill slurping bass up-island while so far, the krill has not taken hold. (See below for tips and techniques for fishing bass on krill).

The commercial bass season is well underway and most reports are disappointing. The guys from off island are doing fairly well with fresh bunker but the guys on island can't get any of it and are dropping live scup or eels with mixed results. Yo-yoing continues despite all the criticism of this practice. Commercial bass fishing has its place around the Vineyard after all, without it there wouldn't be fresh bass in the restaurants and the guys that depend on the income would have a tough time finding a substitute for it. For us recreational guys the commercial bass season means lots of fishing pressure and no releasing of the fish stock. Does it harm the fishery? I don't know the answer to that but it certainly can't help it. When we want to we can keep 2 fish and they can keep 30 (5 on Sundays). Enough said on that subject.

Back to fishing reports: Word is that the shoals out east of the island have slowed down considerably. There are small bluefish to catch but bass have all but disappeared for now. The north shore has been slow but there have been solid numbers of bass on various flats. The problem has been getting them to eat a fly or slugo. We threw to hundreds of bass last week and they all seemed to have lock-jaw. At one point we even resorted to live-lining scup which usually works and once more they just played around with them and moved on. Fluke fishing on the other hand has been decent with doormats to 8 lbs being taken on each trip. It isn’t the most exciting type of fishing but it is addictive and consistent. Pound for pound, the fluke provides more meat (and delicious at that) then any other fish out there.

Krill Slurping Bass...

Have you ever run across acres of bass, both large and small, slurping lazily on the surface as they feast on the ocean crustacean we call krill? Last year at this time the waters from Squibnocket, around Gay Head, and right down to Tashmoo were brown with krill. Most anglers swear about the krill as successfully catching bass can be extremely challenging and equally frustrating. Getting these fish to hit a fly or a plug is not impossible and in many conditions it can be done with some degree of regularity. Here's what I do to trick the linesiders:

Fly Fishing - The fly I use most often in these circumstances is a white spun deer head slider. Some I will tie with a rattle just to get the bass really pissed off! Thrown with a floating line and retrieved swiftly right through a herd of bass will normally elicit a strike. I try to throw beyond the slurping bass with the fly line hitting the water as softly as I can manage. In many cases the school will spook but also in many cases only the fish in the immediate vicinity of the line will react. I pause for a few moments to let the fish get back to their slurping and then I bring the fly through them as fast as I can. It works! Try it.

Light Spin - As far as I’m concerned there is only one surface lure that will catch krill slurping bass consistently and that’s the Rebel bone white jumping minnow. With its rattle and "walking-the-dog" action the bass just can’t resist taking a swipe at it. I tie it with a non-slip loop knot for added motion and again, toss it beyond the school and retrieve it right through the middle. Occasionally I will cast it right into the middle of a school and get it going immediately. They either love it or hate it but it does elicit a response. I think it is more from hating it that they attack it for it disturbs their lazy feasting. What you are looking for is a reaction strike and the jumping lure is definitely the "go-to" under these conditions.

Good luck with these two tips when and if the krill infiltrates Vineyard waters.

Tight lines and singing drags,

Captain Phil Cronin
Cell: 617-448-2030

Nantucket

Here it is: Capt. Shawn Bristow at Squaretail Outfitters:

Bonito fishing has begun!!
The bonito have started to show the last couple days. The bait on the south side of the island started to thicken with sand eels in the 2 to 4 inch range. The bar has a far number of blues on it with some others mixed in. The fish we have caught have been large, one being 10#’s. I have also heard of a 10# 29 inch bone being caught on the Vineyard.

At Crossrip Outfitters, Capt. Lynne Heyer reports:

Bonito have landed!!!
I have gotten two reports of Bonito the last couple days. Captain Shawn's customers the last few days have landed a few. Capt. Hal also reported one being caught by a freind of his. Let's hope this is the beginning of the Bonito mania. Now hopefully the wind will settle down so we can get out there.

Chatham, Monomoy and the Outer Beaches

Randy Jones of Yankee Angler reports:

Ton's and I mean TON's of Blues around. Mostly 3-6 lb'rs with the occasional 10 lb. Blue or schoolies to keeper sized Bass. When wade, fly/spin, flats, sight fishing,  we have been either casting at schools of 100 or less Blues or many - many single 15-20LB. Bass in 1-2 feet of crystal clear water with an almost white bottom and turquoise colored water. Just like the Caribbean,  except $1,000's of dollar's less. :)
I expect things to remain the same until the slower tides arrive Aug. 8. Until then, LOOK OUT!
Fishing has been fishing. Most anglers (except my guest's) are having a VERY difficult time unless intimately familiar with the water they are fishing and are VERY adapt and changing according to what the fish are telling them. Monomoy is VERY slow fishing of late for the unfamiliar angler. Fish have gone into there very normal late summer life style. Very challenging fishing for some, but not all. :) (he-he)
I have a couple of pool's out there that are presently holding 500 to 1,000 Blues and 3-400 Bass. :)
Best wade blind fly/spin fishing on the cape is normally around an out-flow w/ current, w/ a hole combined with cold water - bait and no predator's. Best sight fishing has been on any of the late summer, current, bait,  producing flats while wade fly/spin fishing. :)
Happy Hook'n to all,
Randy
http://www.yankeeangler.com - Fishing reports page for many more additional tips, articles, pictures, etc.. on sight fishing the flats and blind around all of the Cape Cod wade fly/spin inshore water fishery.

NausetDog reports after a day on (more likely "in") the water with Randy Jones at Yankee Angler:

Fishing the Monomoy Flats with Randy Jones- What an experience!
I had the good fortune to be able to hire Randy Jones to take me fly fishing on the Monomoy Flats this past Sunday 7/20. I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my feedback on the day.

First of all for those of you that wade fish, we all know the dangers that are present. Experienced fisherman can, and have been seriously hurt and lost their lives by not understanding and managing the risks inherent in this type of pursuit. From the very start of the day to the end Randy constantly reinforced that safety is first and foremost in his mind and should be in ours. I came away with a wealth of knowledge that I'll be sure to share with other fishermen and can't thank Randy enough for his emphasis on this. For those of you that haven't read Randy's extensive posts on flats wading safety I'd encourage you to do so before your next trip because they may very well save your life!

As I'm sure you're all aware the inshore striper fishing has been hit or miss this season, and unfortunately the overcast weather weather & stiff winds didn't provide for good sight fishing conditions. Despite this Randy was able to put me into fish blind casting at the very first spot we started at. I was able to land two 22" range striper's within a short period of time, and had a number of bluefish swirls but missed hooking any of them up. Had my skills been a little more honed I've no doubt I would have doubled or tripled my catch. We fished hard the rest of the day and got skunked, but that's fishing and as we all know Randy or any other guide can't control the fish or the weather!

I've just this year been bitten by the salt water fly fishing bug, and have been lucky to have progressed at a fairly quick pace in the mechanics of my fly casting. Randy was was able to point out & help me correct a flaw on my back cast, and another on my forward cast in such a simple clear way that I was immediately able to grasp his corrections & start to begin implementing them on my stroke. The additional distance I realized with far less effort was truly amazing & a was also a huge help in dealing with the winds. He was also able to teach me several very simple retrieval techniques to increase my catch that despite my extensive reading I'd never found anywhere else.

Even if I'd come out totally skunked the education Randy gave me on reading the water, understanding and anticipating the flats feeding habits of striper's and bluefish, and in proper leader, fly selection & presentation was worth the cost of the trip all by itself. Without giving away any of the true secret recipes (you have to hire him to get these!) I was completely dumbfounded at how wrong I've been and the vast majority of fly fishermen are on fly selection and presentation! He spared no detail and was incredibly patient to answer my many, many questions throughout the day. Again, I read extensively on this subject and much of what I learned I've never found anywhere else.

Last, Randy's companionship and the camaraderie we shared throughout the day made the experience complete. You won't find a nicer guy to spend a day with. I told Randy I'll definitely be booking a trip with him next season and will be keeping my fingers crossed for bright sunny skies & 5-6 knot winds!
__________________
Mark

North Side

No reports...