The Bay is Alive with Fish
23 May 2008
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
It's about time... The stripers have really moved into Cape Cod Bay. This last Sunday, the 18th of May, 4 boats ventured out of Rock Harbor to see if any fish had moved to the area and if so, where they were. Well, we found them. Some keepers were even caught, the biggest being around 34 inches.
Most of the schools of bass were west of where the Target Ship used to be and about 3/4 to 1 mile off the Brewster shore. Most of these stripers were just under the legal size of 28 inches and they hit most everything we threw at them, umbrella rigs, swimming plugs, hootchies, and the always reliable jigged eel. It was the jig that landed most of the keepers. As I see it things will do nothing but improve. The fish have definitely arrived.
There are also small fish on Stony Bar but they are nowhere near as active as those off Brewster. Some big fish have been landed at South Sunken Meadow Beach, so hopefully they will move out into the deeper water soon. I have not heard but I'm assuming there should be good numbers of small bass in Barnstable Harbor with some keepers mixed in. Most everywhere you found small bass last season you'll find them again this season.
From the sounds of things the weather pattern will change this weekend. It said that Monday will be the best day of all. This weather change will definitely help the improvement in the fishing. What we need is two to three days of light southwest winds and sunny days. This will bring up the water temperature to where the stripers will become more active. There is plenty of bait in the Bay. The mackerel are working their way towards the Farway Buoy off Sesuit. Some big bass are being landed using live mackerel near Barnstable Harbor. The one bait not seen much yet is squid. Once the squid hit our area the fishing will become very good. The water has to warm up first.
This last Sunday I had Cherry Reid and her two
daughters, Natalie age 10 and Lucy age 7, out for a half day trip out of Rock Harbor in Orleans. Cherry and her husband Matt own the Booksmith in the Skaket Corners Shopping Center. They had done me a favor this winter so I wanted to surprise them with a fishing trip. Cherry had fished a lot when she was younger but the kids had never been on a charter boat before. Matt had to watch the shop so he missed out on a really nice day. Both Natalie and Lucy had their fill of landing some of these newly arrived stripers to the point of sleeping on the steam home.
What will happen next week? That's a good question. I think, if we have the warm up expected, more schools of bass will move in off the Brewster shore. Most of the bass that were in the Sunken Meadow area will move over to Stony Bar and a little west of the #3 can. Plus the South Edge of Billingsgate Shoals should start producing fish. That would be my guess.
If you'd like to see if I was right give me a call and I'll get you out to these place so you can catch one or two of the spring run stripers. Home: 508-255-6211 or Cell: 508-240-8267
