As Summer Closes, Fingers Crossed Fishing is Good

There's been plenty of nice fish caught inside Cape Cod Bay this summer.  A few bass have even topped the 50 pound mark.  Generally speaking however, the fishing inside the Bay has been slower this year than in year's past. 

Often times the bass have been present in their usual haunts, however they have refused to cooperate.  In other words, the fish have exhibited behavioral patterns much different than last year and the year before. 

In year's past, it was possible to locate an area holding bass, troll through the area, and consistently pick off a nice fish or two every 20 minutes to a half an hour.  This year, the bass seem to remain "balled up" in large, tight schools.  This makes locating an area holding fish more difficult, because the fish are not as spread out as in years past.

The trade off is that these tight, balled up schools of striped bass have been enormous at times.  We have had multiple schools of fish beneath the Miss Loretta this summer that numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands.  Unfortunately, these schools of fish were not always on the feed.

Striped bass never cease to amaze me.  Often times this summer, we have drifted eels and trolled tubes through these massive schools, literally bumping our offerings off the backs of stripers, without enticing a single bite.  Then, almost magically, something changes and the bass go on the feed.  Suddenly, as if someone flipped a switch, the bass chow down on our offerings, when moments before they would not budge.

Late August and September of 2010 featured large schools of bass that were more aggressive and less lethargic.  These fish pushed up tight to the beach, and on occasion, stacked up on Scorton Ledge. Needless to say I am hoping that this year's biomass of bass change their habits, and follow the same behavioral patterns as last season's late summer and early autumn fish.

We will just have to wait and see how things pan out.

Summing up this Past Week

The commercial striped bass quota was filled in record time this summer.  The season closed this past Wednesday, largely due to the enormous biomass of striped bass holding just outside Chatham inlet. 

Fishermen fishing off Chatham have been catching 30 keeper striped bass in a matter of hours for weeks now.  The bass have been gorging on foot long sandeels each morning and afternoon.  The amount of striped bass holding off Chatham has been truly unimaginable, and with the commercial season now closed, now may be a good time to venture outside Barnstable, and head down Cape towards Chatham.

More big bass in the 30-40 pound range are showing off Sandy Neck.  Depending on the day, and how the fish decide to behave, the bass have been found in water as shallow as 24 feet and as deep as 74 feet. 

There have also been days when the fish have simply "disappeared."  Areas that held plenty of fish just a few hours before, become devoid of any sort of life.  Whether the mass of fish moves east towards Billingsgate, north into the deep waters of Cape Cod Bay, or west towards Plymouth is anyone's guess.  Fortunately, they tend to eventually meander back to the more popular areas such as the Fingers and the Parking Lot, in due time.

Looking Forward to this Coming Week

A lot of guys are crossing their fingers for a good onshore breeze to really stir things up before the end of August.  If we do get back to back days of a sustained onshore wind, be sure to check out the near-shore haunts and shallower water down along Sandy Neck, Barnstable Harbor, and East Sandwich beach.

This time last year a consistent and exciting topwater bite developed off Scorton Creek and east towards Barnstable Harbor.  On any given morning, bass of all sizes could be found smashing tinker mackerel on the surface.  This has already happened a handful of times this season.  However the topwater bite has not yet been as consistent, or as impressive as last year. 

Glass calm conditions during late August cause large schools of bass and blues to fin just below the water's surface.  What looks from a distance like baitfish, or slight wind disturbance may actually be 30 pound stripers touching the water's surface with their noses.  A needlefish plug or live eel works well when bass are rolling in flat calm conditions.  This happened a few times this past week.  If we get a light and variable wind day this coming week, keep your eyes peeled for bass rolling on top.

If all else fails, covering a lot of water with your sonar will be the ticket to finding the action.  On on trip last week we covered 15 miles of water before marking any fish.  However that first pile of bass coughed up a beautiful 40 pound striper-making the traveling, and gas guzzling well worth it. 

Good luck this week, tight lines and catch 'em up!

For more fishing reports and articles check out My Fishing Cape Cod.