Well, looks like this week's fishing report is going to be more of a June recap. We've been out straight (which is not a bad thing) so I got behind on the reports again.
Striper fishing in Cape Cod Bay this month has been absolutely outstanding. Billingsgate shoal has been loaded with good fish gorging themselves on sandeels and tiny squid. Morning and afternoon trips have been finding excellent numbers of fish as these fish haven't been overly picky about the tides - as long as it is running, the fish have been eating. The fish were late this year taking up residence on the West side of the Bay, but last week they came into Sandwich in big numbers. We ran into surface schools of migrating Stripers that easily held over 1000 fish each - absolutely impressive sight. The Bluefish invasion has also begun in earnest, and while these guys compete with the Bass for the jigs, they are great fighters in their own right. I've always thought that if a Bluefish could grow to 50lbs, people wouldn't fish for anything else.
The Big news of the week is the Bluefin Tuna Action! The Tuna arrived early this year and have been consistent on Stellwagon bank since Mid-June. However, this week Football Bluefin between 50 and 150lbs invaded Cape Cod Bay in Huge numbers. We started off our Tuna season earlier than ever this year, putting Jeff Bush of Warwick, RI on his first Tuna - a respectable 80 lber that went home for some serious sashimi. There were literally tuna everywhere and even afforded us some shots with the light tackle. Normally, we tell our customers to hold out on the tuna trips until August when the big numbers of tuna arrive - but they are here now. Current regulations are allowing customers to take 1 small school tuna, and 2 large school fish, so that is more sushi than most any party can handle.
Good luck out there, and enjoy what is shaping up to be a season to remember.
Tightlines,
Captain Don and the Laura-Jay Team