Posts Tagged ‘sandwich fishing’

May Striper fishing was nothing short of fantastic, and June has the potential to be one of the best months ever.  Cape Cod Bay has been absolutely loaded with Mackeral, Herring, Squid, and Sandeels, and it seems as if you can walk on the 32″-38″ Stripers that are chasing them.

Our “worst” trip so far this season had 10 keepers plus shorts, and we’ve had numerous trips with 20 and 30+ keepers.  I don’t know how long the mackeral will stay, but the normal trip has consisted of filling the livewell with macs and then using every single one for Bass.  While the livelining has been fun, we’ve also been doing very well vertical jigging with 12 lb spinnig outfits – 38″ bass on light tackle has been an absolute blast.

While the numbers of Stripers have been outstanding, June is the month when we start to see the real big girls.  The CC Canal and Buzzards Bay have been holding some real cows.  As this moon passes, look for the real bigs to migrate into the Bay.  The next two weeks should have some serious fish.

Good luck out there.

Well, looks like we did a terrible job of updating the site with 2011 fishing reports.  I did try to keep up with the Facebook site, as that is alot easier to log on and post photos, so that worth a look if you want to see what we’ve been up to. 

That said, 2011 was a fantastic season for Big Stripers in Cape Cod Bay. 

June Striper fishing in Cape Cod Bay has been outstanding.  Save one afternoon trip with a nasty east wind, it has pretty well been limits and lots of releases on a daily basis.  We have been splitting our time fairly evenly between Billingsgate Shoal and Provincetown, as both areas are holding tremendous numbers of fish.  The middle of the bay has also been productive, as one afternoon we found acres of migrating Stripers on Top near the Fishing Ledge.  While most of our fishing has been trolling, we haven’t even had to break out the wire rigs once this year.  We’ve also seen far more surface feeding fish than usual, and have been able to break out the spinning gear on many occasions.  Monday, there were hoards of Bass on top,  and seemed like they were fighting each other for 9″ sluggos on top. 

There are no guarantees in fishing, but this is pretty darn nice right now..

Good luck,

-Captain Don

Friday’s good Striper fishing continued right through the weekend.  Saturday we started out by jigging up some Mackeral in front of the canal, but unfortunately the live bait bite wasn’t as good as Friday.  We ran down to Billingsgate and found good numbers of Bass right on the shoal. There was a very good bite on rigs, but since we had a family with four kids on board, we didn’t want to put out the wire.  This probably resulted in less overall fish than we could have had, but with a little extra time and switching a few things around, all the kids got plenty of fish.  Sometimes you have to give a little extra time, but you do what it takes to get the job done.

Sunday the bite on the Shoal was very good, and we got alot of fish with mini-rigs trolled on lead-core line.  The troll bite was constant, and lasted all morning – not sure of the fish count, but it was solid.  Right after the tide turned, all the fish came up and we put the troll rigs away for some light tackle casting.  Grabbed a bunch of fish on the spin gear, and even got a couple of nice ones on 12 lb test.  Just a great time with fish and birds busting all around the boat.

Back out there tomorrow with a morning and afternoon trip.  Give a call for availability – right now we’re booked 20 of the 30 days in June, but we definately have some afternoon trips available.

Striper Season in the bay is off to a great start.  The unbelievable 2 week blitz that occured in the canal got an aweful lot of press, and those fish have moved through and set up in their usual haunts in Cape Cod Bay.  All of the spring areas are holding fish – good numbers on Billingsgate and up at P-town, and lots of good fish feeding on the Mackeral Schools between Sandwich and Barnstable.

Friday morning we jigged up about 40 macs in 20 min right in front of the canal.  Made the quick run down to Barnstable for the outgoing tide.  The bite there has been very good, but we got chased out by all the schoolie bass (and a few small keepers).  We made the run out to one of our deeper water spots and found nice action with cookie-cutter 36″ fish.  Fun fishing, with the largest Bass of the day a tad over 40 inches.  Great morning on the water.

June’s New Moon is on Wednesday – look for the season’s first push of really Big Fish to come through mid-week.  The bait is there, and the timing is perfect for some great days.

Thursay – Saturday Report

This week’s Noreaster was a bit of a pain in that we had to cancel/reschedule a bunch of trips, but there were some good parts about it as well.  One – we needed a break, and as much as you don’t want to cancel any trips during the busy season, sometimes you just need sleep.  Second, a good noreaster can hit the “reset” button on the ocean by turning the water over, and getting the fish back on the feed.

The combination of the full moon and the Noreaster did just that as things picking back up and the Fall fishing conditions are just starting .

Thursday – we ran a 1/2 day Striper trip with a fun group from California that are spending the week on vacation in Orleans.  The week of North wind pushed a ton of bait onto the beach between Sandwich and Barnstable so it was nice to have good fishing with a very short run.  We ended up fishing the outer Channel at Barnstable, and there were big schools of Bass stacked up on the edges.  They were tight to the bottom, so we had to jig – but it was well worth it.  Customers got their limit and we released a bunch as well – overall a really fun afternoon.

Friday – We headed offshore with a 1/2 Tuna 1/2 Bass trip.  Commercial Striper season is over, so our bait guy is back in business.  It was nice to come down and have a keeper trap filled with live Pogies.  Got set-up on the Bank in an area with alot of bait and big marks on the machine – this was the best the Bank has looked in about a month.  On our second drift, we had a minke whale swim right through our balloons. In the middle of telling the customers that’s a good thing, the tuna hang with the whales, the long balloon went off.  Long story short, the Fish was a freight train, and dumped 2/3 of an 80 Wide with 40lbs of drag on the first run while we were backing down at about 6 knots.  Unfortunately, the fish chafed off on the leader.  Live by the light leaders – die by the light leaders – it was a heck of a ride while it lasted, good to have a real Giant on for a bit.  

That was our only tuna for the day – they guys really just wanted to bend some rods, so we headed in to the shoals to Bass fish.  We jigged up a few keepers, shorts, and big blues – overall not great fishing, but we made a day of it.

Sunday – Great trip with one of our favorite customers.  The Ruch family came back again this year on their annual trip from Buffalo, and we had a great day.  Last report I mentioned things lining up for the big bass run close to home, and they definately have.  We fished tight to the beach at Sandwich, in less than 20′ of water, and despite the crowd of knuckleheads, we had a great day.  10 good fish, and 4 were between 25 and 30 lbs (on a real scale – all the guestimates at the dock were alot more).  We also broke off 2 will keep me up at night for quite a while.  Overall the bite was slower than we expected, and alot of boats went home skunked. But given the number of fish on the screen when they turn on for real, it will be insane.

Quick Rundown on the week so far:

Sunday – Cod trip up to Stellwagon.  Alot of shorts and dogfish on the southern cod spots, but after some good intel from a friend, we hit the cod really well.  Good mix of markets and 15 lbers, along with some of haddock and a few pollock.  Long run from home, but well worth it.

Monday – Very good bass fishing close to home.  Largest fish of the day was 35 lbs (on the scale, not a guestimate).  Pretty sure we limited out as well (all the days are blending together here) as we hit the outgoing tide at Barnstable and had alot of fish on the feed.

Tuesday – Good bass fishing again – had a pair of fish that looked like twins, both a hair under 30 lbs.  Few more stripers in the box and a few bluefish to keep things fun.

Wednesday – Made the run up to P-town with a full day trip.  So much for the rumor going around that it had died up there.  Limited out, and I’m not sure what the total was, but it seemed like a ton.  Great group of guys that have been coming for a long time now.  We’ve got a picture on the site here of a little kid with his first big bass – now he’s a Senior in high school and catching more fish than his dad.  Scary Stuff.

Schedule is pretty tight right now, but the afternoon bite has been just as good as the morning.  We’re double booked a bunch next week, but there may be some afternoon slots still open.  Give Betty a call on the home #, or try Don’s cell.

Good luck out there.

Got a bit behind on the reports lately – here’s a quick rundown of the last few days:

Friday – Tuna and Striper combo trip.  Fun trip with a couple of our regulars who I think have been coming out 10 years straight now.  The north wind was cranking in the am, so instead of tuna fishing first we hit P-town for Stripers first until the wind calmed down.  Honestly, we were trying to find some Bluefish to take out and liveline, and we ended up in a ridiculous striper bite.  The bass were stacked up about 10 feet high in 18 feet of water and we had fish on every pass until the guys got tired.  Not sure the final tally, but it was very good.  Since we had Bass on board, we had to stay within the 3 mile limit and made a run down the backside looking for tuna.  We found good numbers down off the golfballs, with lots of mixed size fish airing out.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t buy a bite.  Overall, it was a really fun day with customers that made it seem like a day off fishing with friends.

Saturday – Another Combo Striper and Tuna trip.  Much nicer trip out, but we still had the north wind that got the tuna bite going a bit.  We got on a good spot away from the fleet and started marking fish pretty consistently just before slack tide. A couple of good boils on the inside baits, and then the long rigger got hit.  Nice Slot fish, that put up a great fight – taped out at 54″ and made for some great steaks.  Got the whole thing on video – I’m sure I’ll get it edited by January…The bite was all over by noon, so we moved back into P-town and timed the bass bite well as the tide was picking up.  I think we ended up with 10 keepers and some shorts – biggest fish was a little over 40″.  I know that was the guys first Bass, so he’s a little spoiled now.  Fun day, over an hour’s worth of filleting and steaking, but well worth it.

Sunday – finished up the weekend with a very productive 1/2 day bass charter.  Good fishing, again all on the tube an worm.  Seemed like we had to work a little more for the fish today than the last few, but we still limited out.  There were also a pile of bluefish that moved in and kept things interesting (where were these on Friday?).  Another fun trip as these guys were back from last year and we hope to see them next year too.

Very productive end to the week – looks like we have some weather coming in, but that should drop the water temp a bit, and keep the bite strong. 
Good luck out there.

Striped-Bass fishing on Cape Cod Bay continues to be excellent this week.

Saturday, we had the Glassman family out for a 1/2 Tuna, 1/2 Striper trip.  Last year they scored a big Bluefin, unfortunately we couldn’t repeat this year.  One tuna tried to eat our kite-bait, but didn’t get stay on the hook.   After getting frustrated by the tuna, we moved inshore and had great Striper-fishing.  We took 8 or 9 fish in about an hour with the bigger fish topping out around 38″.

Sunday, we had a group of guys from Connecticut that were vacationing with their families in Sandwich.  Very good fishing at Provincetown despite the crowds.  For the most part we were able to stay out of the crazy crowds and limited out on good size stripers.  All fish were on the tube and worm again.

Monday we fished down off of Barnstable, and had another good day.  The tube wasn’t working as well, as the fish were tight, tight to the bottom.  We switched over to jigging, and got quite a few fish.  Fun day, with a nice family that were very happy when we finished up.

Tuesday – good group of guys that won the charter at an auction to benefit the Jay’s kid’s elementary school.  The guys wanted to target some larger fish to torment their one friend that couldn’t make the trip.  There are areas of Cape Cod Bay that will hold less fish, but they are often big – so we hit a couple of those holes.  We only ended up with a few fish, but they were rewarded with decent size – the bigger ones were in the mid-20’s and one just over 30 lbs.  All in all a fun day.

Very busy this week which is a good thing.  Right now the Saturday afternoon trip is open, as well as a few slots in the middle of next week.

Good luck out there.

Great Charter today with a group of six guys from Barnstable and Sandwich.  Most of these guys fish quite a bit but they have small boats and their range is a bit limited.  Very nice to have an experienced group of fisherman on board.

Made the trip across the bay and found good #’s bass away from the crowd.  The fish set up for the entire tide right on one set of lobster pots, so staying with the fish was pretty easy.  It always takes the pressure off quickly when you get a couple of keepers on the first pass.  Fishing stayed very solid for most of the morning – it started getting a little crowded after a while, but the fish turned back on once the boat traffic subsided.  Ended up getting our limit, without anything that really even needed to be measured and some school fish mixed in as well to keep the action going.

This was actually a bachelor party, and since the guys were having a great time we forgot to look at the clock for a while and stayed a little late.  The extra time paid off, as that’s the Bachelor in the photo with his best fish of the day.

All in all, great day, with a solid group of guys.