Bonito Weighed In

Bluefin Tuna Fishing is Hot

Though the Fourth of July may be the official start of the summer tourist season, for me, it always marked the halfway point of summer. In a blink of an eye it will be Labor Day. The fishing season, especially the summer fishing season, goes by fast, so take advantage of every chance to get on the water.

Bluefish are in full force around Buzzards Bay, the Canal and Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, and they are happily shortening live eels and soft-plastic lures thrown their way. The blues have been conspicuously absent on the Outer Cape and around Race Point reports Jim from Nelsons in Provincetown. The coves and harbor entrances along Buzzards Bay have been some of the most reliable locations. The blues have ranged from 2 to 5 pounds, with some larger ones in the mix.

Anglers fishing the East End of the Canal the past couple days had some bluefish mixed in with the stripers reported Mike at M and D’s. The bass fishing in the Canal is tapering off and the average size of the fish is shrinking, but there has been some good fishing on these breaking tides. Tinker mackerel and sand eels are still abundant in the East End, reported Red Top Sporting Goods, and with that much bait, some good bass are apt to remain nearby.

Cape Cod Bay has been slow for stripers, reported Dan at the Hook Up in Orleans. Some fish are being caught around Provincetown from the Cottages around to Point, but it’s strictly a boat or kayak game reported Jim from Nelsons. The bass are mostly in the mid-30-inch range, but fish exceeding 40 inches are showing up from time to time.

One way to keep the striper fishing interesting through the summer months is to scale down your gear and enjoy the undersized bass that will be around right through the fall. Bad Fish in Falmouth had received word of schoolie stripers feeding on the surface at Middleground this week. These fish were perfect for the fly rod and light spinning gear.

The Monomoy Rips are still fishing well, and it appears the schools of teen-sized stripers are setting up off Chatham once again this summer. Expect this area to be a parking lot after the opening of the commercial striper season next week as the fleet of commercials drop diamond jigs to fill their quota.

The chunk bite off Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard is reportedly picking up as well says the boys at Bad Fish. The striper fishing around the rest of the Vineyard is pretty slow, however, says Coop at Coop’s Bait and Tackle.

Coop’s did check in the first bonito of the season, a beach-caught fish. It’s extremely early for a bonito to be cruising the waters that close to the Vineyard, but hopefully it’s the start of a long and productive season. Coop said a couple of his friends fished the Hooter the other day, a perennial bonito hotspot, but the weeds were so bad it was impossible to keep the lures clean long enough to tempt a fish. When the weeds clear, I bet there will be some bonito caught out at the Hooter.

Fluke fishing has been good on the deeper portions of Lucas Shoal, and in other locations near the Vineyard, with keeper fish, and some doormats, coming fairly regularly. It’s been more difficult to find a keeper flatfish in Buzzards Bay reports Mike from M and D’s. Mike said anglers are sifting through as many as 20 throwback fish in order to find one keeper – if they find any at all. He’s not pleased that the commercial size limit of 14 inches, allows for a large amount of legal fluke to be removed from the population before they can be legally kept by recreational anglers.

Stellwagen is still quiet when it comes to bluefin tuna fishing, but the waters East of Chatham and South of the Vineyard are doing very well. Multiple hook-up days aren’t uncommon on Crab Ledge lately. Coop at Coop’s Bait and Tackle heard of a boat catching three tuna in the 50 and 60-pound range out there this week. Eric Stewart at the Hook Up has been doing a job on the tuna as well. As of this writing, Eric had landed three tuna out of four that struck his spreader bars Thursday morning. The tuna bite slowed a bit with the bright full moon and big tides on Monday, but the bite is back on in a big way. Tuna up to 70 inches have been taken on the troll.

Best Bets for the Weekend

If the weed clears, it is definitely worth looking at the Hooter, or maybe at the Bonito Bar, for some early run bonito. Bring an assortment of trolling lures like small Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows, Rebel Fas-Tracs and Clark Spoons. Have a back-up plan, in case the bonito are a no-show. Fluke fishing would be a great Plan B. Fluke will be hanging on the deeper side of lumps and ridges around both Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Squid, sea robin and bluefish strips are all good choices for bait, but artificials like Uncle Josh Meat and Berkley Gulp will work as well. Tip bucktails – the Spro Prime Bucktails are my favorite – with the Gulp or Meat and work them with short hops along the bottom.

For stripers, the best action is at Monomoy. Get out there now before the traffic fills up on commercial fishing days.