Lockjaw Striped Bass Prove Difficult for Cape Cod Bay Anglers

What's worse?  Not being able to find fish; or finding fish that are unwilling to bite?

That's the question a few anglers were asking themselves this past Wednesday afternoon.  The Ledge was stacked with bass, in usual late summer fashion, after a brisk onshore wind, however the bass would not bite.

"My entire fish finder was orange!  They were stacked ten feet up from the bottom!" said one excited, and slightly discouraged, angler at the boat ramp.
 
I happily reassured this man that he was not the only angler striking out on these fish.  I myself got skunked Wednesday afternoon.  Thankfully it was just a reconnaissance trip for an upcoming night excursion, which would ultimately prove more productive.

Tales of "lockjaw" bass have become much too common on when fishing Cape Cod Bay this year.  Strategies that worked incredibly well over the past few years have not produced as well this summer.  New techniques and trains of thought have been required in many instances.

But this is fishing-not a science.  Just as soon as you think you have things figured out, they change again, leaving you scratching your head.  I guess that's what keeps it fun and interesting. 

The good news is that the bass are here in abundance.  Each trip I make is producing more and more bass on the sonar (not always on the end of the line!) which at least bodes well for the amount of striped bass in our area.  The fish we have caught are still big, with one trip this past week producing a 32 pound average. 

Things will break open sooner or later.  The stage is set for a good consistent bite to get underway-will you be on the water when it happens? 

Summing Up This Past Week

The north winds we had earlier in the week pushed bass up onto Scorton Ledge.  I was not on the water Tuesday, however I would imagine that anyone who fished the Ledge that day was treated to a decent bite. 

As alluded to above, the fish showed up again at Scorton Wednesday, however they proved difficult to catch.  Again it's possible that there was good bite Wednesday morning, that I unfortunately would have missed.

If the bass were not on the Ledge, they seemed to be hanging just to the east of Scorton, in the area between the Ledge and the Parking Lot.  The fish were rather spread out amongst the general area.  We found bass in 25 feet of water one minute, then out in 45 feet the next. 

Out of curiousity Wednesday evening, I cruised towards the Fingers to see if the bass were also spread out down along Sandy Neck.  I went  the entire stretch without marking a single fish.  Upon re-entry into the Parking Lot/Ledge area I quickly began marking bass again.  This area seems to be the hot spot, at least for the moment. 

Pitching live eels and proved to be the ticket to boating bass up to the 34 pound mark.  Of course, not all the piles of bass we encountered were in the feeding mood, however enough were hungry to make it worth our effort.  Bluefish were a nuisance on occasion. 

Looking Forward

The long term weather forecast is predicting a chance of a northwest breeze early next week.  If this happens, get to the Ledge during or after the blow for a chance at a decent bass bite. 

Of course there are no guarantees that the fish will show, however they have been showing with consistency during and after an onshore wind over the past couple of weeks.  Trolling a tube and worm over the Ledge in a north to south fashion could be the ticket to boating some nice fish.

If nothing is showing at the Ledge, run down to the east a bit and check off the Parking Lot.  Finding fish in tight to the beach usually ends up producing better action than finding bass out deep.  There's a high probability that the 25 foot contour down along Sandy Neck will be holding fish, especially if the wind blows out of the northwest.

If all else fails I'll be sticking in the Scorton/Parking Lot area and checking out deep this week.  Drifting live eels, trolling eels with stinger hooks, and the tube and worm will be my go-to approaches depending on the situation.

If the bass are spread out amongst the area, trolling will probably be your best bet.  However if you begin marking big schools of bass, try cruising around and tossing live eels on spining setups.  Nothing beats the thrill of catching a 30 plus pound striper on light spinning gear!