Cape Cod Fishing Report
Well, it has been a VERY productive week on the water. I can say with confidence that this is the fishing report we’ve all been waiting for. I hope you all like picture books, because this report will be a bit heavy on photos and lighter on reading.
Just as discussed in last week’s fishing report, April is probably the best time of year to stick your personal best largemouth bass. Herring are in, sunfish are becoming increasingly active in shallow, and all the trout ponds are stocked, so big baits are on the menu. That being said, you don’t have to throw strictly large lures in the ponds to catch a behemoth of a bass. Late last week, local angler Kyle Achee sent me a couple photos with the following message: “you guys with your big baits. This fish was on a 2-inch stick bait and an ultralight rod with 4-pound line!”
Believe it or not, there are a ton of ponds on Cape Cod that hold largemouth bass of this caliber. Kyle was not the only one to capitalize on the incredible largemouth bass fishing this week.
A couple nights ago, while I was working late, I received a text from my buddy Jack Renfrew, with some photos of yet another hulking largemouth that just could not resist eating. He reeled in a nearly 6-pound largemouth bass that hit a custom-made jointed wakebait and had a half-digested catfish stuck in its gullet, and based on the size of the bass’ stomach, there were one or two other sizable meals kicking around in there.
Not long after receiving that photo, Jack sent me yet another picture of a slob largemouth that was caught by his friend George Costa during a night shift mission this week.
And OTW’s resident bass whisperer, Robbie Tartaglia, spent a couple hours after work on Monday tossing around jigs from the Bass Tracker, which yielded him a near 5 pounder.
Prespawn bass fishing is absolutely on fi-yahh! Need we say more? If you haven’t taken at least a few casts at your local bass pond, now is the time to do it. Especially because the saltwater fishing scene is heating up. More on that in a bit.
Largemouth bass are not the only fish feeding aggressively in our ponds this week. My friend Ryan Henry got into a solid smallmouth bass bite while wading an Outer Cape pond earlier this week. He said he got a few nice bass during the short window he had to fish. Warmer weather and sunny, cloudless skies earlier this week had smallies moving into shallower water, and they’ll continue to do so over the next few weeks before they get onto beds to spawn. The last 2 weeks of April, in my experience, have been the best time of year to target smallmouth bass from shore, and like largemouth bass fishing, you’ll often be rewarded with bigger fish as they feed more aggressively. Think ned rigs, tube jigs, skirted swim jigs, football jigs and 3- to 4-inch Keitechs rigged on a 1/8- to 3/8-ounce jighead.
In those same kettle ponds, where smallmouth activity is on the rise, trout fishing continues to entertain the masses. They’re hitting just about anything you throw at them, but still, gold spoons and spinners seem to be the color they’re keyed in on. Brandon Robinson, who has been fishing the Upper Cape kettle ponds religiously this spring, continues to find good fishing for just about every trout species the state stocks. This week, after sending me photos of rainbow, brown and brook trout in weeks past, I got some photos of tiger trout from Brandon. He had been fishing the kettle ponds around Marstons Mills and rounded out his spring trout season by catching a few elusive and less-abundant tigers.
I’ll admit, I am jealous looking at all these photos of big bass. My efforts on the bass ponds have gone unrewarded this week, with only a handful of small but aggressive bass swiping at baits that are way too big for them.
It’s all good. The big largemouth bass bite will continue until they start to spawn, so I have not seen the last of the sweet water. But, based on the happenings in saltwater this week, it might be more challenging to maintain focus on freshwater bass fishing.
I bought my first pint of green crabs on Saturday morning for an impromptu shore-based tautog outing. The tide was running hard, but I was able to get down and hold bottom (temporarily) with a 2- or 3-ounce bank sinker before it was swept into the rocks or lifted off bottom in the current. My hooks came back picked clean almost every drop, with some bits of green crab exoskeleton hanging off, indicating that there were likely smaller tog and some pesky bergall (or cunner) in the area as well. I saved the rest of the crabs for Sunday morning, and was surprised to find all of the leftovers still alive and kicking after leaving them in my truck bed overnight. However, Sunday was a repeat of Saturday. I went through the rest of the crabs, sensed only one or two solid bites all morning, and missed on both swings. But a couple days later, my friend and coworker, Adam Eldridge, took to the water on his lunch break with a bucket of green crabs and landed a couple nice tautog. The next day, he was joined for Round 2 by our friend and fellow coworker Ed Giordano, who managed to stick a quality fish and lost a good one that bulldogged him into the rocks. Either way, it was great to know that bigger fish than I expected to find last weekend were in shallow already.
And if the prospect of tautog from shore doesn’t get you excited for the saltwater fishing season, that’s okay, because stripers are in! That’s right. I had been waiting for the text from my friend Stavros Viglas—better known on social media as @south_of_the_vineyard—that typically comes across around April 15 each year. This year, we had to wait until April 17 for water temps to rise just a little bit, but as expected, those first migratory schoolies of the year, riddled with sea lice, showed up on the ocean beaches of Martha’s Vineyard. Stavros said he’s been throwing 1- to 2-ounce paddletails and bucktail jigs in the surf all week, and when he finally tried a different spot, he found the fish.
Up until those schoolies arrived, Stavros and a few close friends had been on holdover stripers in the salt ponds—some of which are now opened up, allowing herring to enter and swim toward their freshwater spawning grounds. Now the striper fishing should pick up both on the beaches and in the salt ponds. Don’t hesitate, get out there and earn those first stripes of the season!
And with his first report of the season from the Cape Cod Canal, East End Eddie Doherty reports:
“Red Top will soon be selling their own surf rods through their Cape Cod Rod Company. Moderately priced at a little under market, according to owner Tom Coots, the black rods were designed with input from knowledgeable surfcasters like AJ, Ian, Connor and other staff. A spiral Eva grip and other valuable features make them just right for the Canal and other hot spots. Larry at Maco’s said that Jeff Hopwood is getting ready for the big Blowout Sale from April 26-28. Bruce Miller from Canal Bait & Tackle said their sale that started last week will end April 18, 20% off their lures and terminal tackle. Rest rooms open this Saturday, April 20, but there are port-o-potties in some locations. Schoolies are coming in from Buzzards Bay and some small tautog have been landed.”
Here’s the word from a few of our local charter captains and tackle shops:
Connor at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay told me that tautog fishing has been slow so far in the bay, but they are selling a good amount of green crabs and guys are picking through mostly shorts from the reports they did get, with very few keepers. Some warmer weather should find better tautog fishing in shallow, from 10 to 25 feet of water. Connor also said there are a fair amount of people going out for haddock and redfish, driving north only to come back south for haddock. On of the shop’s employees, George, went out with the Eastman’s Fleet in New Hampshire on Tuesday and got a limit of haddock on jigs. The redfish bite is concentrated a bit further north than they’re finding haddock, and until the tog bite heats up in Buzzards, he thinks they’ll continue to see their customers leaning towards haddock. However, with stripers off of Martha’s Vineyard, it’s only a matter of time before fish start trickling into Buzzards Bay, and of course, the Canal. Swing by the shop for your bottom fishing and groundfishing needs, or to re-up on lost plugs and lures before the Canal fishing takes off.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth said he’s selling a good amount of sea worms which a lot guys are using for early-season tog as they tend to prefer soft baits at times. He’s had a very busy week with the warmer weather, and although freshwater interest has slowed down a bit, Monday was riddled with shiner sales and people coming in for freshwater tackle to try for bass and trout while the kids are off from school. Evan plans on splashing the boat next week and is looking at doing some togging and striper fishing around Falmouth as some of those migratory schoolies start to push through the Elizabeth Islands into Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound, where they’ll likely head for the salt ponds and river systems until more bait arrives. Swing by for your tog and striper fishing gear this weekend!
Amy at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannissaid that she finally found some time to get out for trout in the kayak, and she was rewarded with a bunch of rainbows that were taking gold Thomas Rough Rider spoons. She couldn’t get them to take a fly in the warm, clear weather, but plenty of people were catching from shore from what she could see. Amy also mentioned that there was a 7-pound largemouth bass pulled from Wequaquet Lake earlier this week, reinforcing what we saw early on in the report from other anglers around Cape. On the saltwater front, she said they sold through sea worms this past weekend, so a lot of people are either trying for winter flounder or flounder must be chewing well; if you are on a flounder bite, you are wise to be tight-lipped! Amy said they’re expecting schoolie stripers to push east into Vineyard Sound sometime in the next week and a half or two, but in the meantime, they have green crabs for anyone interested in trying for tautog. Stop by this week!
This weekend, Goose Hummock Shops in Orleans is having their annual Kids Fishing Festival at Flax Pond in Nickerson State Park out in Brewster. The first 200 attendees to pre-register as “Going” on the Facebook event page will receive a FREE rod and reel combo from Tsunami Tackle. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and all bait will be supplied for kids up to age 16, as well as food and drink.
Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys in Bourne reported that he’s been out scouting around for tautog and stripers in Buzzards Bay and around the Elizabeth Islands. He saw a fair amount of bait flipping on the surface earlier this week but he couldn’t get close enough to see what it was. It could have been herring, but with large adult bunker flooding western Rhode Island, it’s entirely possible that there are some schools of pogies heading into our area. He will be going out on the water in search of action every nice day we get up until they begin charters on May 1. They are already booked up for much of the month on mostly stripers and tog, but then he’ll switch to focusing on stripers and sea bass come the opener in mid May. Captain Ross also is considering fishing (conditionally) this next week for stripers if the weather cooperates and the fish show up, so reach out if you want a chance to get on those fish as they move into the Sound or the Bay.
Captain Elena Rice of Reel Deal Fishing Charters in Truro reported:
“School vacation plus nice weather equals the perfect opportunity to get in a family fishing outing! Captain Bobby and mate-in-training Merrick hit a couple local ponds on Wednesday, rounding out the day with 22 catch and releases of largemouth bass in the range of 1.5 to 5 pounds. Water clarity is absolutely fantastic! Enjoying the freshwater scene for the moment as the Reel Deal saltwater fishing scene will be here soon.” Visit their website to book a trip and check their availability for the spring!
Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Cape Cod and the Islands!
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Fresh stripers, shallow-water tautog, trophy largemouth bass and more. It’s a good week to be an angler on Cape Cod and the Islands. Give some business to your local bait and tackle shops as they open up operations for the season, whether you need to replace a few soft plastics or pick up a pint or two of green crabs. Check out your local jetties and inlets where there’s some rockier structure if you’re looking for tautog from shore this weekend, and stick to rigs over jigs unless you have some particularly slow-moving current and sandy bottom. If you’re looking for stripers, scour the salt ponds for active holdovers. There may not be any fresh fish in the Cape’s ponds and estuaries just yet, but it’s only a matter of days before they trickle in to chase down schools of silversides and herring. Or, you can skip across the pond to the Vineyard, like I plan to do, and ply the surf for migratory schoolies. I am really looking forward to fishing the Vineyard surf for the first time on Saturday. For such an easy trip, I don’t get over there enough.
One thing I haven’t heard much about, but should be starting up soon, is the winter flounder bite in Cape Cod Bay. There are a handful of boats that start their season on the Bay, fishing for blackbacks, and that bite should pick up toward the end of the month. For now, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try flounder fishing with some sea worms or clam on a bottom rig in and around the harbors on the Bay side.
If conditions don’t line up for saltwater, you know where to go. Tie on your confidence bait and head to the herring run ponds and bog ponds to cast at aggressive, hungry largemouth bass…and who knows, maybe it’ll be your 6 or 7 pounder that we see in next week’s fishing report.
Whatever you’re fishing for this week, remember to enjoy yourself, no matter how big or small the fish are. We made it to spring, the stripers are in, and things are only looking up from here. Thanks for reading. Stay safe and good luck out there.
(If you’d like to contribute to our weekly fishing reports, email me at mhaeffner@onthewater.com with a brief report of your day on the water and what you caught, or message me on Instagram @matthaeffner.)
