It almost looked like the June full moon breaking tides in the Canal were going to be a bust. Then, on Tuesday, hordes of shortfin squid moved in from Cape Cod Bay and brought the stripers with them. These squid are different from the longfin squid that fishermen jig up in Nantucket Sound in the springtime. The shortfin is predominantly an offshore species that occasionally moves inshore in massive numbers, often stranding themselves on the beaches, or, in this week’s case, the Canal rocks.
If you wanted calamari, you could have filled a bucket with stranded squid along the banks of the Canal on some mornings. But appetizers were the last thing on fisherman’s minds as they sought to catch the 15- to 40-pound stripers responsible for chasing the squid to shore. David at Red Top said jigs have been best still, as the stripers have been doing most of their feeding below the surface. Jeff at Canal Bait and Tackle said the same, recommending the “wacky mack” color on both paddle-tail jigs and Magic Swimmers. Pink is working too, Jeff said, on account of the squid. These particular squid seem to be more reddish/brownish in color. If all else fails, you can’t go wrong with white, regardless of the lure you’re throwing.
Jeff said squid are loaded out in Cape Cod Bay, too, with good stripers on them. Captain Matt at Fishy Business Sportfishing has been seeing stripers out in Cape Cod Bay blowing up mackerel and squid. He’s been regularly catching bass over 30 pounds in the bay, both on live bait and topwater lures. Captain Mel True of FishNet Charters has seen the same, catching squid-hounding 30-pounders on topwaters in Cape Cod Bay.
Fishing also picked up on Billingsgate where Captain David of Stripers-R-Us has been using live mackerel to catch bass to 40 inches.
There have been tons of schoolies up to 28 inches off Barnstable, according to Captain Taylor of Cape Cod Bay Outfitters, who has been having a blast catching them on light tackle.
The full moon brought some fish into the rips at Monomoy, reported Jim at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle. Captain Mort of Fish Tale Sportfishing said there have been tons of schoolies out there, but there are keepers in the mix as well.
The water’s still cold at Monomoy, said Captain Drew of Downeast Fishing, but more fish are showing up. Most are small, but it’s headed in the right direction, Drew said. His advice for finding the fish at Monomoy, follow the gulls.
Drew said there are still big schools of bunker in Nantucket Sound, and he expects some good-sized fish to find them sooner than later. Those bunker have been swimming around without a care in the world all spring—it’s only a matter of time before some stripers or blues remind them of their link in the food chain.
The good schoolie action extends along the South Side of the Cape all the way to Falmouth. Jim at Eastman’s in Falmouth heard of a 30-pounder taken on a live scup off Falmouth, but it seems like the best shot at a good-sized striper off the South Side is on the shoals. Captain Kurt of Fishsticks Charters said the rips are loaded with bass, with some larger fish moving in. Kurt also had some nice bluefish, sea bass, and fluke around the shoals this week.
There were some bigger bluefish reported in Buzzards Bay this week. Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys found blues to 34 inches. The fish jumped like tarpon, Ross said, and one even bit through his net and escaped. You gotta love bluefish.
Elsewhere around the Cape and Islands, bigger blues have been scarce. On Martha’s Vineyard, 3- to 5-pounders are being caught regularly, but Peter said for a couple days, there were some 10- to 15-pound blues at Wasque.
There have been lots of 2- to 3-pound blues around Nantucket, says Captain Marc of Just Do It Too. He’s been scaling down his tackle, and having fun catching the cocktail blues. More keeper stripers are moving in, Marc said, and the fishing for scup and black sea bass is getting even better around Nantucket.
In Edgartown Harbor, fishermen are catching scup and some keeper-sized fluke from shore.
In Vineyard Sound, the keeper fluke are a little tough to come by, but there are plenty of shorts according to Jim at Eastman’s.
There have been some 30-pound stripers taken from the Vineyard surf recently, and boaters have taken bass to 38 pounds, Peter reported.
The oddest report of the week came from Peter at Larry’s Tackle who has been hearing enough rumors about bonito being caught to believe it might actually be happening. In addition to a few bonito reported from shore, Peter heard that some had been seen at Hedge Fence.
Off the tip of Cape the fishing is getting better, reported Captain Mike of Cee Jay Sportfishing. More 30-inch and better stripers are arriving, but they continue to be a moving target, never staying in one place for long. In the harbors and marinas down Cape, however, Mike says there are countless numbers of 20- to 22-inch stripers.
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Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
News of the good fishing in the Canal has spread far and wide thanks to social media, so you can expect large crowds there this weekend. Parking was already an issue by mid-week, when it seemed like every striper fishermen from New Jersey to Maine was packed into the Canal. Get there early, and don’t be afraid to move beyond the crowds.
From the boat, you can’t go wrong right now. Nantucket, the Vineyard, Monomoy, Cape Cod Bay, and the shoals all have good-sized stripers. Squid seem to be the bait of choice in Cape Cod Bay and on the South Side Shoals, so white and pink soft-plastics are a good choice.
Keep an eye on those bunker schools of the South Side. With more big bass spreading out around Cape Cod, it’s only a matter of time before those big oily baitfish attract some unwanted attention.
Any flounder out of sesuit still?
How was the canal this weekend? Squid still coming through?
Was there all weekend!! Caught fish still bust was a slow pick at them. Did not see a single squid or mackerel in the canal. Still had a great time. Be the report!!! Don’t be waiting for the social media. Lol
i went to the Canal sat and Sunday. I didn’t see a single squid or a Striper caught for that matter.
Haven’t seen much for fish in the canal all season but the occasional schoolie blitz.
Thank god their was hardly any fish in the canal this past weekend.
If it was like the week it would been a fish market
So I went on Tuesday I’m 17 and have only caught like 3 or 4 stripers before but I went with a group of friends and we went off on them I caught a 38 pounder my friends caught a 42 pounder and my other friend caught a 29 pounder and we caught a ton of them and the squid was getting stuck on our hooks it was a great day Tuesday
Caught and saw a large amount of squid off Danilo while jigging for Macks yesterday. The boat ramps were filled and anticipations were high. Unfortunately, bass were hardly caught in the bay. Ended up filling the cooler with Macks. The fish were not in the bay. Fishermen at the ramp had the same luck. The charter boats were no where to be found. This report for the most part, is fake news.