Rock Harbor Fishing Report
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
5 June 2007
The Fish Are On The Move
The summer is starting out on a good foot as far as the fishing in Cape Cod Bay. The weather has been good for the most part, very little wind. The fish have been where we could find them fairly easily and there are plenty of them. However, they are on the move now. Actually this is a good thing. This last weekend some of our boats found large schools of keeper sized bass and plenty of bluefish out in the deep water off the north edge of Billingsgate Shoals. It seems that the fish that were in off the Eastham shore and on Stoney Bar have moved to both on top of the shoals and to the deep water off the shoals.
This thought that the fish on the north edge are from inside by Stoney Bar has some skeptics. Many believe that the stripers and bluefish that show up there come around Race Point. If this is true then the big stripers that were in by the #3 and # 5 cans have moved elsewhere. Maybe to the west to the New Grounds in the deep water off the Brewster Flats. If so then they have scattered out through the area. At any rate, the fish are on the move. Where they settle down is the question. My money is on the shoals and the north edge where the schools of fish in the deep water will finally end up. The fish from inside are on the New Grounds west of the old Target Ship and you will have to do some looking to find them.
It's good to see the bluefish show up. It will take a few days and a few more degrees in the water temperature before these fish get really active. Once they do we will have some good action when the bass fishing is a little slow. Plus many of the anglers that fish with us love to tie into a hard fighting bluefish especially on lighter tackle. Right now you can hook up on some in the deep water off the north edge of the shoals and a few have been landed in by the Sunken Meadow area. However, these bluefish are still not as active as they will be in a week or so. The umbrella rig seems to be the best bet to use.
Next week will tell use where the most active area will be for a while. If this season is anything like last year the most active area will be the north edge of Billingsgate Shoals and the deeper water, 40 ft. to 60 ft., off the north edge and up towards the Path. On calm days you'll be able to see the schools near the surface, otherwise you'll need a good fish finder to locate them. These schools will not be staying still. They will be moving around with no real rhyme or reason.
This last Sunday I had a couple of folks out for a 1/2 day trip. Robert Tobin, from Albany, N.Y., and a friend of his Colleen, want to try out some of this seasons fishing. Robert had fished out of Rock Harbor once before but Colleen had never been. We went to an area I had fished before and had found some good sized bass. As always, the woman landed the larger fish. One of Colleens many stripers was a 1/8 inch off being forty inches. Not bad for a first timer...
If you'd like to see if you can beat Colleens striper give me a call at 508-240-8267 or 508-255-6211.
stunmai@copper.net
www.capecodbaycharters.com
