Striped bass fishing is starting to pick up here on Cape Cod. Many of the estuaries in the Cape area have fish, most of them likely holdover stripers that have spent the winter here on Cape Cod. This past week I was fortunate to get outdoors, put a bend in the rod and catch a few of these early season striped bass.
All in all it was a fun week of fishing, and I think if you head out this weekend and fish the right areas, you too will have a chance of hooking up.
April 16 | First Stripers of the Season
Today was a perfect day to catch my first Cape Cod stripers of the 2013 season. The sun was shining and I could definitely feel spring in the air. Nevertheless it is still very early for striped bass fishing, so I had my doubts regarding whether or not I would find any fish.
I set off around 3pm to fish Buzzards Bay. More specifically, I planned on fishing a few Buzzards Bay spots that have produced well in the past for me during mid-April. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the plan was to fish estuaries and inlets. More often than not the first Cape Cod striped bass of the season are caught in these areas.
The breeze was cranking at least 20 mph out of the south east when I arrived at the first estuary of the day. The tide was dropping and the current was moving at a reasonable clip. There were a few birds working here and there, but no significant life showing on the surface. It felt pretty good to be outdoors with the wind whipping in my face. Man I am glad that spring is finally here.
I decided to work the deepest area of the estuary, which was a channel that small boats can easily navigate through. I would estimate that the depth of the area was around 10 feet – plenty of water for a nice school of stripers to stack up in.
In years past this particular area can be inundated with schoolie stripers and small keepers. Soon the water here will be too warm to support a striper population, but for now the water temperatures are near perfect. Way too cold to go for a swim, but pretty ideal if you are a bass.
Most estuaries are on the murky side and today was no different. Even with the polarized sunglasses I had a hard time seeing bottom. I have no idea if there was any bait in the area, but I would guess that there was some small bait around – and of course plenty of crabs and other crustaceans.
After about 15 casts without any love I switched up tactics and began casting a white grub on a 1/2 ounce lead head. My idea was to chuck the lure up current and let it tumble down through the water column. Once I reached bottom, I began slowly jigging the white curly tail grub up and down. Unfortunately there were no takers, so after thoroughly working the area I decided it was time to move on.
Instead of continuing to focus on the lower reaches of the estuary, I decided to make a move way back up the creek. Often times the upper reaches of Cape Cod’s estuaries are a few degrees warmer than the area closer to the ocean. This is particularly true in Buzzards Bay during April. If you don’t find any love by the mouth of the estuary, considering going on a trek way back into the marsh.
I actually ended up a few miles away from my original fishing spot. The water was much warmer, plus it was nice to get a little cover from the stiff SE breeze. I chose to setup shop at a bend in the creek that had very little tidal flow and an extremely muddy bottom. The sun began to sink lower in the sky and I felt as if the stage was set for something to happen.
My casting muscles needed a little loosening up so I reared back and fired my small offering straight across the creek. A few cranks of the handle and I felt that oh so familiar WHACK! that I have been waiting for all winter. I reared back, the rod bent and low and behold I was on!
Click here for the full fishing report…
April 17 | Upper Cape and Mid Cape Fishing Report
Today’s Cape Cod surf fishing trip began with my alarm going off at 4:30AM. As is typically the case, I popped right out of bed because I knew I was going fishing. I think you may agree with me that it is much easier to roll out of bed absurdly early when you know you are getting up to go fishing, as opposed to heading to work etc.
By 5:15AM I was heading down the mid-Cape highway with iced coffee in hand. The skies were still very dark and overcast, and a light rain began to fall. The weatherman had called for some rain and northeast winds, which is really not ideal during April. I would prefer to have perfectly sunny and warm conditions this early in the season, as it seems to result in better early season striped bass fishing.
Yesterday I fished the upper reaches of an estuary, but today I planned on fishing the more accessible inlets leading into the estuary. I knew it was still early in the season for a few of the Cape Cod fishing spots I had in mind, but after putting a bend in the rod yesterday I was feeling confident.
Fishing Cape Cod Bay for the First Time this Year
I pulled up to my first Cape Cod Bay fishing spot just before the 6AM sunrise. This area required a little bit of a walk down the coast, past boulders and oyster beds. Off in the woods I could hear a turkey gobbling, and a few terns squawking somewhere above in the overcast skies. It felt great to be smack dab in the middle of nature.
On the topic of nature, there are 50 Right whales feeding in Cape Cod Bay right now between Manomet and the Cape Cod Canal. Right whales are annual visitors to the bay, attracted by abundant concentrations of zoo plankton. Yet 50 Right whales in one area is an incredible amount, considering they estimate there to be only 500 in the entire world.
Although I was faraway from the whale activity yesterday, I could not help but feel good about the whale sightings. If the whales are here, it means that the ecosystem in Cape Cod Bay is healthy and full of life. This could bode well for this years mackerel and striped bass fishing.
This morning I chose to cast a topwater, hoping to illicit a few aggressive topwater strikes. I have been hearing rumors of keeper size stripers in Cape Cod Bay and inside the Cape Cod Canal, so I figured I might as well toss a lure that would attract a larger fish – as opposed to casting the super small shad body I was using yesterday.
The water still felt cold, too cold for there to be migratory keeper size striped bass around in my opinion. After about 45 minutes I decided it would be smart to find warmer water, which meant I needed to do some traveling.
I did not know it at the moment, but I would end up spending the next 7 hours fishing all over Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay.
Click here for the full report...
April 18 | Upper Buzzards Bay Fishing Report
Today’s Buzzards Bay fishing trip began like any other trip, but quickly got interesting and very unique. My Dad and I ventured off to one of our usual early season striped bass fishing spots, but then called an audible and decided to venture deep into the woods. I’ll explain why in a moment.
Today’s warmer temperatures had me thinking that there could be at least a few migratory stripers gathering around Buzzards Bay’s inlets. This is where we began the trip. However the water in these areas is still on the nippy side and after just a few dozen casts I was convinced that we were in the wrong area.
We headed back to the truck and I pulled up Google Maps on my iPhone. I wanted to fish the far upper reaches of this specific estuary, much like I had earlier in the week at a different estuary. The only problem was that there was no roadway or access point. Based on the map, there was absolutely no way to access the far upper reaches of this estuary.
Fishing Buzzards Bay through the Trees
I wanted to get back there because holdover striped bass on Cape Cod are just beginning to get active. If you can locate a pocket of fish that is holding in the far upper reaches of a creek or estuary, you stand a good chance at getting them to bite. As mentioned above the only issue is that these areas can be very difficult to get to.
We did the only thing we could do, which was to start driving and conjure up some sort of way of accessing the spot. We found some railroad tracks that looked as if they might lead towards the upper reaches of the estuary. However I took one glance down the tracks and realized just how long of a walk this route would be. I wasn’t up for spending 45 minutes walking, especially when the sun would soon be setting.
Another option was the highway. Based on what I could see on Google Maps, the nearby interstate intersected an upper portion of the estuary. Yet I did not want to pull over on an interstate with cars zooming past at 65 mph. Things weren’t looking all that great.
We continued driving around when out of the corner of my Dad’s eye, he saw what appeared to be a small and very well camouflaged path. Through the dense brush and trees we could see a glimmer of sunshine refracting off the water. It was the far upper reaches of the estuary we had been searching for, off in the distance through the woods. So we did what any fishing nuts would do – illegally park and venture into the forest.
Of course the trail only brought us within sight of the estuary. To actually get to the water we would have to bushwhack the rest of the way through briars, thorns and probably some poison ivy. I had my spinning rod in hand, but honestly a machete would have been a better choice.
Either way we eventually got to the water. One look at the landscape and I knew that the effort was already worth it. The fish we ended up catching was really just the icing on the cake.