Alewives and blueback herring in the Cape Cod Canal
April 5, 2011 by Capt. Bob Paccia
Alewives (river herring) and blueback herring are moving into Buzzards Bay via the Cape Cod Canal on their way to local herring runs. You can be sure that the stripers are right on their tails. Now, it is illegal to fish with or even be in possession of river herring in Massachusetts. In years past, live-lining herring was the “way to go” for catching jumbo stripers in the canal and the banks of the canal were lined shoulder to shoulder with anglers fishing with live herring. Today, savvy saltwater fly fishermen have a definite advantage over their plug and plastic bait casters, as nothing looks and behaves like a live herring then a well tied large herring fly. We tie up a lot of alewives and blueback herrings patterns each year to “match the hatch” when the river herring are the “food of choice” for big stripers bulking-up during their spring migration through Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal. The flies that we tie are weighted and sometimes rattled in sizes from 6 to 14 inches. These flies are tied mostly with synthetic materials to prevent “water-logging” which used to be a problem when we were forced to use only natural materials such as buck-tail, feathers, etc.
Casting these large weighted flies is a learning process and each year we get on the water early in the spring showing clients how to use these large flies so that they will be prepared when the season gets into full swing.
Peek water temperature for great striper fishing in the Cape Cod Canal is when the canal water temperature reaches 55 degrees. Remember one of the old saying: “Cape Cod Canal striper fishing is at its best when the lilac leaves are the size of a mouse’s ears.” Guess what? That’s just about the time that the canal water temperature is right around 55 degrees. You’ve got too love the old timer’s way of using nature’s calendar for predicting fishing conditions…
Keep in mind that water temperatures in the Cape Cod Canal vary throughout the day due to tide changes and current direction. Also, there’s plenty of good fishing when the water temperature is below that 55 degree mark. The best time to be on the water is whenever you can get there.
GOOD LUCK!!!
Please e-mail me if you have any comments or questions.
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CaptBob@shore-line.com
Now Booking 2011 Trips!
February 21, 2009 by Capt. Bob Paccia
Jim Borrebach's 39" striper
We’re getting ready for the upcoming season. Now is a great time to book those trips for the prime season.
Think May and June for big stripes, July for those excellent bluefish trips, and August/September for the Albies and other migratory species we love!
Oct. 20th 2010 – Last Day on the Water
February 21, 2009 by Capt. Bob Paccia
Striper fishing continues to improve throughout Buzzards Bay. School after school of hungry stripers from 20″ to just keeper size are feasting on silversides, baby bunker and juvenile blueback herring and alewives. Much larger bass are appearing with increasing frequency as the fall migration gets underway. We have had particularly good results on these big bass using large weighted crab patterns fished on the bottom. A prime location to use these crab look-alikes is along the sandy drop-off where the large bass patrol along the edges. If you can establish a drift that allows your fly to bounce (in crab fashion), you have a good chance to land a trophy-sized linesider.
Bluefish continue to smack anything that moves above or below the surface. If you’re looking for some great topwater action, now’s the time to use a floating line or better yet an intermediate line with poppers, sliders or gurglers. The trick here is to be sure that you are using enough line to get your cast out to where you want it, but no more. The mistake that most novices make is to have too much loose line left over either in their stripping basket or on deck. You want to be able to start your first strip as soon as the fly hits the water. This is especially important when you are using an intermediate line, as it will start to pull the popper under if left unattended too long. Remember, these are fast moving saltwater fish, not freshwater largemouth bass, and you only have a few seconds to attract their attention. If you get a strike and they miss your popper, stop and start your abrupt strip again, as often times the wake caused by the approaching fish actually pushes the popper away and out of their reach.
False albacore have been a here today and gone tomorrow type deal so far this year. Expert fly angler and good friend, Marc Feldman from Townsend, MA knows firsthand how frustrating these speedsters can be. Marc, as usual, booked a half dozen trips this year for stripers, bluefish, false albacore and bonito. He has caught all the stripers up to 30# that he has wanted, more bluefish than he’s wanted and has had dozens or so shots at false albacore, but has had only one false albacore hook-up. When I told Marc about Jill Gardener, from Peabody, Ma who on a recant trip took three false albacore on her maiden trip, which was the first time that she had ever fished with a flyrod! Marc just gave the headshake expression of the Aflac duck. I guess that why we all fish so hard for a fish that you can’t even eat. It’s the quest!
The bonito scene is still pretty slim in our waters. Once in a while you’ll see a pod or two, but we’re still waiting to see them in catchable numbers.