The albies have taken over. From Woods Hole and Falmouth around to Monomoy and up the outer beaches, false albacore are blitzing bait in the mornings, and there are bonito mixed in on the south side. The Cape Cod Canal is producing stripers on the big tides, the outer Cape has schoolies on the beach, and the tuna fleet is on bluefin east of Chatham. Early September on the Cape is as good as it gets.
What’s Hitting
This week false albacore are the show — Woods Hole, Nobska, the Falmouth beaches, and the Monomoy rips are all producing, with bonito along the south-facing beaches and the Vineyard Sound rocks. Striped bass in the Canal are feeding on the mackerel and the sand eels on the breaking tides, with some quality fish in the mix. Schoolie stripers and bluefish are on the outer beaches from Nauset to Race Point. Bluefin tuna of all sizes are east of Chatham and on Stellwagen, and fluke are on the last of their season in Nantucket Sound.
Where to Find Them
For albies, start at Woods Hole and Nobska on the incoming and follow the birds along the Falmouth shoreline. Monomoy rips are holding albies, bass, and blues together. The Canal is best on the east tide at the west end early in the morning. Race Point, Head of the Meadow, and Nauset Beach have surf stripers at dawn. Bluefin are on the Regal Sword area and Stellwagen Bank.
Tides & Conditions
Water temps are in the upper 60s to low 70s on the south side and cooler on the ocean side, which is exactly what the albies and the tuna want. The big morning east tides in the Canal this week are the ones to fish. The outer beaches have been calm, but a distant tropical system can build swell fast in early September — check the buoy reports.
Tackle & Tactics
Albies want small metal — Deadly Dicks, Epoxy jigs, and Albie Snax — on 20-pound braid and 20-pound fluorocarbon, retrieved fast. Bonito take the same but a touch slower. Canal stripers take a 3- to 4-ounce jig or a big paddle-tail on the bottom, or a pencil popper when they are up. Surf stripers want a bucktail or a needlefish at dawn. Tuna anglers are trolling spreader bars and jigging on the marks.
Local Intel This Week
Public ramps: the Falmouth Harbor ramp, the Sandwich Marina ramp at the east end of the Canal, the Ryder Street ramp in Chatham, and the Provincetown MacMillan Pier ramp. Fish are concentrating on the south-side beaches and Woods Hole for albies, and in the Canal on the east tide for stripers. Massachusetts striped bass rules include a slot limit and circle-hook requirements for bait — check current Massachusetts DMF regulations before keeping fish, and note that bluefin require a federal HMS permit.
This Week’s Tip
When albies are blitzing, do not run the boat into the school. Position up-current of the bait and let the fish come to you — a school that has been run over sounds and scatters, and the whole fleet loses the bite.
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