Big week of Striper fishing in Cape Cod Bay.  We were out straight this week, so this will be more of an overall recap as I don’t think I can keep the individual trips straight.  We ran doubles most days, and I believe the final tally was limiting out 7 out of 8 trips.  Most fish were in the 32″-40″ range with a few bigger ones sprinkled in and more schoolies than we could count.  For the most part, we fished Billingsgate shoals in the am, and then ran up to P-town for the afternoons.  Snapping wire was the ticket on the shoals, where the jigs definately outproduced the tubes.  However at P-town, the tubes were taking solid fish while the jiggers were stuck with mostly schoolies. 

One noteable catch this week was by Mike Gonsalves’s 11 year old son – his first ever Striper was 40″ and he did a great job landing it without any help from his dad.  Fishing was unreal that day, as we were marking schools 10′ deep that filled the fishfinder. 

Full disclosure, the 44lb cow that Jay is holding was not taken on the L-J.  Jay did an overnight trip with his buddy Eddie Gotovich on Ed’s Doghouse.  When Ed isn’t commercial bass fishing or solo tuna fishing, he fills in as a mate for us.  Whenever Ed decides to start chartering on his own, he’s going to fill up fast, because the guy catches.

Without being too specific, conditions are lining up for our local big bass run.  For our customers that have hit this with us in the past, give a call soon, as this is usually the best big fish time of the year in the bay.  No wire, just tubes, and lots of 40″ plus fish.

On the Tuna front, things have been slow.  We ran 2 trips this week with only 1 bite on a livie to show for it.  Last week we went long giving it a solid 12 hour effort with only the one hit to show for it.  We did have a few surface shots way east, but didn’t convert.  This past Saturday we had a 1/2 tuna 1/2 bass that turned quickly to bass as Stellwagon seemed like a dead zone.

Moving forward, the combo of this Noreaster and the Moon should get things turned back on, and we’re confident that the Fall Fishing will be outstanding.  In the meantime, east of the bank is covered in sharks, so these are a great option for people that want to bend the heavy tackle quickly.

Overall, fishing has been extremely consistent.  If this is the Summer slowdown, I can’t wait for the September runs.

Good luck out there.

Quick Rundown on the week so far:

Sunday – Cod trip up to Stellwagon.  Alot of shorts and dogfish on the southern cod spots, but after some good intel from a friend, we hit the cod really well.  Good mix of markets and 15 lbers, along with some of haddock and a few pollock.  Long run from home, but well worth it.

Monday – Very good bass fishing close to home.  Largest fish of the day was 35 lbs (on the scale, not a guestimate).  Pretty sure we limited out as well (all the days are blending together here) as we hit the outgoing tide at Barnstable and had alot of fish on the feed.

Tuesday – Good bass fishing again – had a pair of fish that looked like twins, both a hair under 30 lbs.  Few more stripers in the box and a few bluefish to keep things fun.

Wednesday – Made the run up to P-town with a full day trip.  So much for the rumor going around that it had died up there.  Limited out, and I’m not sure what the total was, but it seemed like a ton.  Great group of guys that have been coming for a long time now.  We’ve got a picture on the site here of a little kid with his first big bass – now he’s a Senior in high school and catching more fish than his dad.  Scary Stuff.

Schedule is pretty tight right now, but the afternoon bite has been just as good as the morning.  We’re double booked a bunch next week, but there may be some afternoon slots still open.  Give Betty a call on the home #, or try Don’s cell.

Good luck out there.

Great Charter today with a group of six guys from Barnstable and Sandwich.  Most of these guys fish quite a bit but they have small boats and their range is a bit limited.  Very nice to have an experienced group of fisherman on board.

Made the trip across the bay and found good #’s bass away from the crowd.  The fish set up for the entire tide right on one set of lobster pots, so staying with the fish was pretty easy.  It always takes the pressure off quickly when you get a couple of keepers on the first pass.  Fishing stayed very solid for most of the morning – it started getting a little crowded after a while, but the fish turned back on once the boat traffic subsided.  Ended up getting our limit, without anything that really even needed to be measured and some school fish mixed in as well to keep the action going.

This was actually a bachelor party, and since the guys were having a great time we forgot to look at the clock for a while and stayed a little late.  The extra time paid off, as that’s the Bachelor in the photo with his best fish of the day.

All in all, great day, with a solid group of guys.

Striper fishing in Cape Cod Bay has continued to be excellent.  We’re riding a nice streak here, limiting out every charter over the last two weeks (knocking wood while I write this).

While that’s been fun, Saturday’s trip gave us reason to brag:

Kate and Jack (Captain Don’s Grandkids) age 7 and 9 made their first trip looking for some keeper Stripers.  Fishing was great and the Bass cooperated.  Each of the kids got 6 or 7 nice keepers, with Kate leading the day with a 38″ fish and Jack following up with one a little better than 36″.  We are also fishing in the Canal Bait and Tackle Striper Tourney this week, and to make their day official we went and weighed up the fish.  Although I’m sure they were knocked out within the hour, the kids did rank 1 and 2 on the leaderboard after their weigh in – and to a couple of little kids, that might have been the highpoint of the summer.

On the tuna front – they are all over the place.  Don took a group out whalewatching today, and just for kicks put one line out when the tuna came up smashing everywhere.  They ended up losing the fish they hooked, but it was just some extra fun while checking out the whales.