Keeper Stripers Show Early on Cape

For a couple of weeks, reports of small stripers have been trickling in, but this week, that trickle turned into a flood. Stripers, some bigger than 30 inches, are being caught along the South Coast, in the Canal, and from Buzzards Bay to Chatham. Freshwater fishing is still excellent and blackfishing is improving. I can’t say the same for groundfish, however. The cod season opened this weekend, but the fishing has been slow, with haddock filling in to make it worth the gas money.

The Agawam and the Weweantic rivers are school striper central at this point. Mike at M and D’s in Wareham said several fish in the 30-inch range have been taken on topwater plugs by boat anglers. Barry at Red Top added Monument Beach in Bourne to the list of likely locations to find a schoolie. The Herring Run in the Canal swelled with baitfish this week, and some better stripers followed. The stripers have been finicky, with all that bait around, but anglers are catching them. Some of the stripers eating these herring have been feeding on the surface according to Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle who got a call this week about fish breaking in the Canal.

River Road in Orleans is another place to look for stripers. Dan at the Hook Up said there have been reports of stripers coming from that area in recent days. Pleasant Bay also has some fish. Roy Leyva at Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth found a big school of tiny stripers this week. The fish, some as small as 8 or 10 inches, were harassing squid in Nantucket Sound after dark.

Speaking of squid, they’ve moved into Cape Cod waters in pretty good numbers. Hyannis to Chatham seems to have the largest concentration right now according to Roy at Riverview, but fish are showing up in Falmouth and Woods Hole as well.

While squid double as seafood and baitfish, the other baitfish spotted in recent days isn’t quite so appetizing on a dinner plate. Big adult bunker have been spotted in Wareham in some of the rivers, some 2- to 3-pound fish, very large for a bunker. No stripers are harassing them yet, and it might be a couple weeks before we have some bass capable of making a meal of a bunker that size.

Heard mixed reports on tog. Mike at M and D’s said it’s okay, but the big numbers haven’t arrived just yet. Barry at Red Top has been getting reports of shore anglers doing well. Christian said structure in Vineyard Sound is holding blackfish as well. He’d heard specifically of good fishing on a piece outside of Falmouth Harbor.

Freshwater fishing is still excellent. Largemouths and smallmouths have been spotted bedding down in many Cape ponds, and fishermen have caught some nice ones recently. For the Hook Up kids fishing Derby, 70 state pins were awarded, and bass up to 8 pounds, 7 ounces were weighed in, along with several 6-pounders and a good number of 5-pounders.

Big tiger trout went into the ponds last week, so there is a prize catch waiting in your local trout waters. The evening trout fishing has been on fire according to Dan at the Hook Up. From 7 to 8, trout have been attacking everything in sight, and feeding on the surface like crazy as bugs emerge from the pond waters. Cliff and Bakers are two of the top choices for Dan.

Pickerel are lurking in the shallows of many ponds waiting to attack. A lunch time trip for a few of us here at the OTW office produced a few good-sized picks on topwater baits. These gators aren’t shy about slashing at a popper or spook.

Some big sunnies were caught this week. Dan at the Hook Up caught an estimated 1-pound pumpkinseed on a worm, while Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle weighed a 1.1-pound pin-worthy bluegill for a young angler.

Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

While the striper fishing has nowhere to go but up, the freshwater fishing doesn’t get much better than this. Clear your evening schedule and hit your local trout pond at sundown for fast action with spoons, stickbaits or even a float and fly combo. The big tigers offer a shot at a trophy, while rainbows brookies and browns should give you enough action to keep you smiling.

But the fun of starting your striper season can’t be denied. Many of the stripers around are in the 10- to 16-inch range, a good sign for future fisheries, so consider using single-hook lures and release them carefully to so these big numbers of tiny stripers can turn into big numbers of big stripers in the years to come.

There are some bigger bass around. Follow the bigger bait – herring have drawn some good-sized fish into the canal, and other herring runs are likely to attract some nice fish as well. Salt pond openings and river mouths at dusk are a good bet to find stripers waiting on the herring.