Cape Cod and the Islands
Region

August 03, 2007

Buzzards Bay

Joe LeClair of North Eastern Anglers reports:

Fly fishing for Striped Bass and Bluefish continues to be great to the end of July. Our largest fish was just under 40 lbs. on the buggy whip this week. Many 20-25 lb. Stripers around in the early mornings and late afternoons. Bonito are simply hard to catch, and I don't like them, period !!! Bluefin seem to eat better and cape cod is surrounded by them and has been now for two months.

Bret Bokelkamp writes:

Sorry, haven't been out much to contribute this season.
 
Spent some time on the water in Buzzards Bay and the Elizabeths this past weekend. Looking for my first Bonita of the year and spent some time fishing the Vineyard Sound side of the Elizabeth Islands near Woods Hole. Schools of small blues were the only action at this time. (I usually see Bonita in the area by now).
 
Activitiy in Buzzards Bay is about the same, with small young bluefish tearing up bait. Didn't find any bonita in the mix and I was wire-leader free for a good bit of the time. Pelagics tend to run around the Bay in August, so I"ll be watching for them, using small spoons without wire leaders in the next few weeks.
 
Bret Bokelkamp
Marion, Ma.

Martha's Vineyard

of Fishing the Vineyard reports:

08/022/07: Fishing on MV has remained consistent through the past week. Bluefish are still widely available in the shoals, and bonito are begining to becoming increasingly common amidst the wads of hungry teeth. Still not a great deal of bone activity to report inshore, but further off the beach they are certinally targaetable at this point. The stripers are still for the most part sucking on krill, with the flats and deeper rips still remaining as viable options as well.

Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

Phil Cronin reports:

Martha’s Vineyard Fishing Report July 26 thru July 31, 2007: The much maligned "doldrums" has finally settled upon the Vineyard. Water temps have spiked, morning fog blankets the island forcing delays in leaving the dock, and the fish have become finicky for both tide and fly selection. It’s an expected occurrence that signals the mid-summer slow down. We’re still catching fish but certainly not at the pace we were becoming used to prior to now. Bass and blues are in the rips but hooking on to them can sometimes be a frustrating and patient game. A recent trip out to Hedge Fence produced numerous small bluefish and an occasional bass on the incoming tide. Middleground is loaded with blues and also will produce a bass or two if you can get under the snappers. Among the more positive aspects of this time of year is that most of my charters seem to involve kids with fathers and they are having a blast trolling up those feisty bluefish. A six year old bringing in a 2 pound snapper has a magical look on their face and makes it all worthwhile. When the blues or bass aren’t cooperating, a black sea bass or dogfish brought up from a Vineyard Sound hole produces the same kind of amazement in the child’s eye. Having the kids out for a day light tackle fishing is almost as much fun as watching an experienced angler fight a keeper bass to the boat. What’s really important about the situation right now is that it won’t be long until we are throwing to thrashing bones or albies. The speedsters are on their way and will probably be in full swing by the middle of August so get ready. The "doldrums" is the harbinger of the arrival of the Atlantic bonito and little tunny. It is right around the corner.

My fishing meter for the last week:

Boat Fishing: Fair fishing for small bass and bluefish. An occasional bonito if you go to the right area. The Hooter is giving up some bones as is Hedge Fence. Most boats are trolling for them but soon they will be more cooperative when casting a lure or throwing a fly. The bigger boats are starting to head south out to the canyons in search of yellow tail tunas as the bite is on.

Shore Fishing: Slow fishing as bass seem to be intoxicated on krill. You can go to several spots and witness thousands of bass slurping the krill but catching them is definitely a different matter. Bluefish have taken up their mid-summer residents out in the shoals. Brown sharks are around Chappy but I for one have had a tough time being at the right place at the right time.

It’s a great time to take a kid bottom fishing!

Nantucket

of Cross Rip Outfitters reports:

Good morning, I just want to start out by not complaining about the weather, ha. Yeah it’s hot and sticky and foggy but its still not as bad as some other spots in the country that are even hotter and muggier. The weather channel says this will change soon. I will have to say I hope so.

The Bluefishing is red hot at the moment. Seems the South Shore and Great Point are the hot spots from shore and boat. I have taken many trips to the South Shore this past week and had many folks catching their first Blues on fly. It’s been very nice and the Blues have been very obliging. The Bonito Bar however has not been that obliging. I have not caught one yet. Capt. Shawn, Capt. Bill and Capt. Jeff have been catching some but I wouldn’t say it’s off the charts by any means .Even James has beat me to the Bonito. The Stripers have been tough as well, Capt. Jeff has had some luck on the flats but the Sun has hindered the sightfishing. Lots of white skies have made sightfishing even more challenging. Maybe a good weather change will help the bite and the spirits of the Captains getting tired of bouncing around in the fog. On a better note, I gave Billy and Jake Flynn a fly casting lesson a couple afternoons back and the next day at Great Point Billy caught his first Striper on the Fly, Congrats to the Flynn’s. So I guess there are a few Stripers around Great Point as well.

Capt. Shawn has had steady success on the Tuna grounds. He seems consistently catching decent numbers of Bluefins. It’s an 8 hour gig but well worth it for the fishing. One word of caution too, If you are planning on fishing the Bonito Bar, please be aware that running out the opening at full bore is a nono. I was on the Bar a few days ago and thought I was going to see a boat crash into another. I am not sure how the boat coming out missed the Miss Conduct. Please be careful running in the fog. Also the Nantucket Angler’s Club Bill Fish Tournament is going on and there are a few boats using the Smith’s Point cut to come and go and they have set up a marker outside the cut. In the fog they are going to that marker and if you are close to it be Careful.

Chatham, Monomoy and the Outer Beaches

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

Tides are looking GREAT (compared to last weeks sloooow tides) and should provide some better fishing from shore. On most days recently we have been picking  them up blind casting from shore with spin and fly rods while wading. We had one slow day last week where we only played with a few. So I changed my blind casting location and we have been hit'm reeeeeal good! We have been seeing fish each time out on the flats also. M-M Good! Look for an influx of bait and fish on these tides. Can't wait!
Randy Jones
www.yankeeangler.com

North Side

Bob Parsons reports:

I've divided my time between Barnstable Harbor on the north, and Waquoit on the south.
I'm getting ichy to hook into a bonito. While monday's trip was a bust tying to explore the sound due to thunder storms that were popping up, I had excellent fishing in and near Waquoit as one inch peanut bunker filled the area. On spot produced bass up to 25" and another was nothing but bluefish. This made for excellent tackle management. Tuesday I got out to explore the Hedge fence area. Felt I worked the rip hard but only got a few bluefish for my efforts. On a side note I did not see the pb like the day before either.
Wednesday I hit Barnstable. Apparently there was some good action earlier in the week, today it was just the usually schoolie here or there along the edges of the sandbars.

Jeff Smith of Finaddiction Charters reports:

Thorne...

No Bonito here but it has been a decent week on the outer cape flyroddin for bass and chasing tuna. The bass action can be decent if you hit it right but with commercial bass season in full swing it can be a complete zoo on the water. Best bet is to get out EARLY before all the crazies show up. Bass have been taking long flatwings in olive and white.

This past week we landed two 40" stripers on the fly as well as 4 bluefin tuna on spin tackle. The tuna have not been showing as well but a trained eye can spot them and they have been receptive to our offerings. Can't wait till the commercial bass season is over....

Jeff