Eastman’s Sport & Tackle

Let’s see.  It’s very early June.  The bass should be stacked on the Middle Ground.  Blues should be lining the beaches from South Cape to Cotuit.  The bluefin tuna bite should be weeks away. And the sub-tropical visitors should be far to the south.

Not this year, which is turning out to be a very strange and difficult fishing season for much of the south side of the Cape and the Islands.

Striped bass fishing, with very few exceptions, has been erratic.  Middle Ground is holding mostly small fish and tons of weed.  The other early season shoals, such as L’Hommedieu and Tom’s, have produced very few fish.  Few bass are being caught from the beaches. On the plus side, the Woods Hole passage, for those who know how to fish it, is holding good numbers of 20 to 30-lb fish.  But fishing there is difficult and not for everyone.

The best explanation for the so-so fishing is the lack of bait.  The spring herring runs were poor as well and the annual squid migration.  As a result, bass that traditionally follow the herring and squid may have moved on in search of food.  One place they did go was into and through the Cape Cod Canal which has had an exceptional mackerel run.  The bay is also loaded with sand eels, which along with the mackerel, has brought in giant bluefins.  Three giants topping 200-lbs were caught by local anglers this past week.

There are plenty of bluefish from the entrance to Waquoit Bay east, but for some reason they are staying off the beaches.  South Cape Beach, usually packed with anglers during early June, is strangely empty.

Black sea bass fishing is decent.  The big spawning males (purple heads) have dispersed but there are plenty of hen fish over the wrecks and rock piles.  Fluke fishing is just getting underway but many of the fish are falling short of the 18-and-a-half size limit.

The strangest “catch” of the year goes to the fly angler who, casting off the jetties of Waquoit Bay, hooked a 15-inch needlefish.  The Southern species sometimes appear this far north late in the summer but early June?  Can the bonito and albies be far behind?  Who knows what’s going on.

But as the saying goes, we call it fishing, not catching.  Nature has a way of balancing out everything so the summer season could turn out to be very good.

Bass and unusally large blue fish (for this time of year) are streaming into the local waters.  Thirty to 40-inch bass are being taken daily by anglers fishing from boats and from the shore.

Large bass have been taken in Woods Hole, off the Falmouth, South Cape and Cotuit beaches.  Bass have also moved up along the south side of the Vineyard.  By this weekend, striped bass should set up on the Middle Ground and other shoals in the Sound.

The arrival of blue fish of up to 10 pounds has been a surprise.  Blue fish usually follow the striped bass by about a week, but it’s usually the small fish between two and three pounds.  This year it’s the choppers that have appeared first.

Sea bass and fluke seasons don’t open until May 22 but based on the commercial season results bottom fishing should be good later this month.

Striped bass and now blue fish continue to move into — and sometimes out of — the local waters. Migrating schools have shown up throughout the area, have hung around for several days, and often have moved on, probably in search of bait or headed for their more northern destination.

Put it altogether, though, the spring runs are underway and the fishing is often good if not very good, and occasionally not very good at all.

The principal bait is squid with the annual run taking place in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. Three anglers boated more than 30 blues during a brief morning trip midweek in Nantucket Sound.  Blues have also shown up off South Cape Beach in Mashpee and Oregon Beach in Cotuit.

Striped bass fishing is mostly for schoolies, although occasional keepers are being taken. Small top water plugs, soft plastics and jigs with grub tails are classic spring baits and all are working well.  The bigger bass should be arriving during the next week and boat and beach fishing should take off.

Tautog fishing has been very good, if you’re in a boat and in Buzzards Bay.  From shore, there’s been so-so action in Woods Hole and from the Knob in Falmouth.  Fluke and sea bass are starting to move in shore but seasons for those fish do not open until May 22.

Freshwater trout and bass fishing continues to be very good.  Barring an unusual streak of hot weather, freshwater fishing will hold up throughout the month.

Striped bass are flooding the in-shore waters of the Upper Cape.  The first migrants showed up the weekend of April 24-25 in estuaries and rivers feeding Buzzards Bay.  Most fish were school-sized between 20 and 24 inches, although a few 30-inch fish were mixed in. Some fish headed directly to the Canal herring run where a 32-inch, 15-lb bass was taken.  An 8-lb blue fish was caught in the Westport River.

Since last weekend, bass have moved into Woods Hole and Nantucket Sound.  An angler fishing from a kayak in Woods Hole took a 30-inch bass  on a soft plastic bait.  Schoolies are now showing up off all the south side beaches from Falmouth Harbor east to Cotuit.

The squid run is underway but very erratic, according to most reports.  Rough weather has kept the commercial boats off the water for several days.  With calm seas the boats have tended to head into Vineyard Sound.  The squid run should pick up during the next two weeks and bring in bigger bass to Nantucket Sound.

If history repeats itself, the first blue fish should show up the first week of May in Nantucket Sound, often off South Cape Beach and Cotuit.

With warm weather predicted for the May 1 weekend, a lot more people will be fishing and a lot more information will be available about the 2010 season.

Good luck.

They’re not here yet but will arrive any day, if not any hour.  “They” being the first of migrating striped bass which, as of this writing (April 23), have to show up in force.  Granted, a handful of anglers have taken school-sized bass from the Cotuit Narrows, Bourne’s Pond in Falmouth and West Falmouth Harbor.  There was even a reliable report of a legal fish being taken from the Cape Cod Canal.

In all likelihood, though, these are fish that spent the winter here hidden in rivers, estuaries and the relatively warm water near the Canal power plant.  Migrating fish, when they arrive, show up in schools of hundreds, if not thousands, of fish.  Schools of that size have hit the West Wall in Rhode Island, so it is really just a matter of days or hours.

Water temperatures are almost perfect, in the low 50’s, and the squid have started to migrate up Vineyard Sound into Nantucket Sound.  The herring run (river herring still are protected) is not great but decent and should have bass hanging around the runs.  Tautog are also showing up in lobster traps which means they are moving into in-shore rockpiles and reefs.

While waiting for the striped bass, anglers have had a very good spring trout season.  The state continues to stock Cape ponds with brown, rainbow, tiger and brook trout.  Twenty-inch fish are quite common.

With pond temperatures rising, bass fishing is turning very hot, either with artificial baits or shiners.

So if you’ve been waiting to break out your equipment, now’s the time.

The 2009 saltwater season, like the 2008, is going out not with a bang but a whimper.  In fact, the fabled fall run of striped bass is a far cry from its legendary past.  The October-November run of 30 to 50-lb bass along the outer Cape, through Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds was last seen 15 to 20 years ago.

Theories abound as to the cause of the change.  Assuming the experts are right in concluding that bass populations are healthy and stable along the East Coast, the best theory is that the large bass have changed their migration routes.  The absence of large bait in inshore waters — specifically mature menhaden — has moved the bigger bass offshore to feed on sea herring.  As a result, the fall run is bypassing the Cape, going around Nantucket and the Vineyard before heading to Block Island and Montauk Point.

To make matters worse for bass anglers, there’s been a very noticeable lack of small bait for the past two seasons.  The baby pogies and herring that have been plentiful in recent years might not have satisfied jumbo bass but they did provide food for schoolies, small keepers, bonito and albies.

So we wait to see what 2010 will bring.

For diehard anglers, there are still bass and blues to be caught and decent fishing should be possible through the Thanksgiving weekend.  Anglers fishing eels, plugs and even flies along the Elizabeth Islands have found legal-sized bass for the past two weeks.  For shore-bound anglers, the Canal remains the best bet with a steady run of bass from Cape Cod Bay.  There are plenty of mackerel in the Bay so the bass are hanging around.

Freshwater anglers are feasting on trout, with Falmouth’s Grews Pond particularly hot.  Anglers report catching dozens of brook trout, along with jumbo rainbows and brown trout.  The other Cape ponds might not be as hot but they’re all worth checking out.

This will be the final report for 2009.  If we get an extended cold snap, check back in January and February for ice fishing reports.

September brings the promise of better fishing days ahead as the nights lengthen and the waters gradually cool.

Early in the month, though, the false albacore fishing has been very good most days and fantastic for several stretches.  The albies are chasing baby pogies, herring and silversides that flooded Nantucket Sound and Buzzards Bay, as well as their respective bays and harbors. Small metal lures or flies are best for breaking fish, while a trolled swimming plug can attract fish hanging deeper in the water column.  In the Sound, albies have been showing from Falmouth Heights to Popponesset, as well as the shoals between the Cape and the Vineyard.  In the Bay, the albies have been found from just north of Woods Hole up to the west end of the Canal. Albies are the dominant fish, blues and bonito are often mixed in with them, as well as the ocassional Spanish mackerel.

Striped bass fishing is still slow, with most fish still holding the the deep water off Gay Head and Squibnocket, or along the Elizabeth Islands.  Tube and worm can be effective, as well as eels and chunks. Interestingly, black sea bass fishing has turned hot throughout the area, with fish being found around wrecks and rockpiles.

Scup fishing is still good but the season will end late in the month so now is the time to target them.  Tautog are still waiting for the water to cool before moving inshore.

In freshwater, bass fishing remains very good and trout are starting to stir.  Proof of that was the local angler who caught two 16-inch rainbows and as well as an still unidentified, 14-inch trout or landlocked salmon at Mares Pond.  The fish looked exactly the way a trout or salmon should, except it had no spots and was a silvery gray color.  Possibly a genetic mishap.

August has brought with it the first real heat of 2009.  As a result, most fishing has slowed significantly in the Falmouth area.

For shore-bound anglers, night will provide the best chance of taking a striped bass.  A chunk bait soaked on the bottom will attract bass and, on occasion, a brown shark.

For boat anglers seeking bass, it’s best to head for the deep waters off Gay Head, Squibnocket and Wasque Points.  Green jigs are still working, as well as the tube and worm.  If you can get fresh pogies (they’re hard to come by this year), try to mark fish on your finder, anchor up and drop down a pogie.  It can be like feeding them candy.

Bonito and albies are here, although most anglers targeting the funny fish are having a hard time finding pods on top.  Trolling a Deep Diver or Fast-Trac is currently the best method.

Bluefish have surrounded the Vineyard, providing a lot of action but frustrating the bass, bonito and albie anglers.

The first Atlantic Bonito of the season showed up the week of July 20 with the so-called funny fish spotted at the Hooter, Hedge Fence and inside Edgartown Harbor.  The most productive way to hook a Bonito or False Albecore, which should arrive within the next several weeks, is to troll a Yo-Zuri Deep Diver or Rebel Fastrac.  The most exciting way to pursue the Funny Fish is to find a breaking pod and cast small metal lures or jigs.  Since both are in the tuna family, the funny fish put up a furious fight.

With the dog days of summer finally settling in, bass fishing has become a night-time proposition or a trip to the colder waters off Wasque or Squibnocket Points and from Gayhead to Devils Bridge.  Night fishing with eels along the Elizabeth Islands or inside Woods Hole Passage can be effective.  For those wishing to fish with the sun in the sky, a tube and worm trolled along the Islands is the most effective daylight technique.

Bluefish schools continue to roam the Sounds and Buzzards Bay, although not quite in the numbers of several weeks ago. First and last light bites are the best bets for blues.

Fluke fishing is good, although shorts far outnumber keepers (18-1/2″).  The deep water surrounding Middle Ground and Lucas Shoals and the holes off Nobska Point are the best bets for keeper fluke.

Bottom fishing for scup is very good, whether from a boat or jetty.  A scup rig tipped with sea worms will do the trick at any time of day.

For people fishing from the beach, chunking at night or first light offers the best chance for a striped bass.  Chunking will also produce the occasional brown shark during the night.

It was a wild weather week leading up to the July 4th weekend.  Persistent showers and east winds buffeted the Upper Cape as June came to an end.  The winds turned south and southwest as July began, bringing three days of thunderstorms that roared through the area. As a result, a lot of boaters and beach anglers stayed home.

For those who ventured out, there were huge schools of bluefish from Menahaut Beach in Falmouth as far east as Hyannis and Yarmouth.  From shore or boat at any time of day, a top water plugs quickly raised blues that ranged from 4 to 8 pounds.

Anglers seeking bass are heading to the traditional summer hotspots: Gay Head where a fresh pogie or lived-lined scup are the baits of choice; Woods Hole Passage where fresh bait or jigs will produce; or Tom Shoal where jigs and tube and worm are productive.  Anglers willing and able to make a longer trip are heading to the Monomy Flats south of Chatham were big schools of big bass are chasing squid.

Fluke season opened July 1 but shorts greatly outnumbered legal fish, which must be at least 18-1/2 inches.  Small fluke can be caught on the Middle Ground or Lucas Shoal but deep water holes, even over 100-feet, are where the doormats can be found.

Scup fishing continues to be consistent just about everywhere, whether fishing from a boat or a pier or jetty.  Black sea bass fishing has slowed as the fish have left their spawning grounds and spread throughout the local waters.

In the fresh water ponds, trout fishing is pretty much over until the fall.  Fishing for bass, pickerel and panfish is very good.  If there is a silver lining in the dreadful weather, it has kept ocean and pond temperatures remarkably cool for the beginning of July.