Without a doubt, September is one of the best months for fishing Cape Cod. There's plenty of reasons why this is the case. The early morning air has a crisp bite to it that was not present during August, the crowds at the boat ramp dissipate, and the fish show up in larger numbers and are more aggressive.
September weather is also usually pretty nice. Again for starters, the humidity and the predominant southwest wind have eased a bit. Greasy calm days are pretty common. Of course we will get a few days of a sustained northwest wind this month which will keep most folks off the water, however this is not always a bad thing. This rings especially true in Cape Cod Bay. A strong onshore wind will often light the fishing up in nearshore areas. Places like Scorton Ledge (try trolling the tube and worm at the Ledge) and Sandy Neck are two such places.
The schools of bass you found back in July and August that would not bite a thing, are typically much more aggressive in September. Odds are that if you find the fish, you will be able to catch them.
Locating bass in the first place is often one of the most difficult challenges to catching stripers. Luckily, during September, finding stripers also becomes easier in most Cape Cod locales. Large schools of big stipers tend to hang a bit closer to the beach during this month. The days of trolling and cruising around in 60-70 feet of water are now (hopefully!) over. Searching in water as shallow as 20 feet often yields higher catches than spending time in deeper water at this time of the season.
September weather is also usually pretty nice. Again for starters, the humidity and the predominant southwest wind have eased a bit. Greasy calm days are pretty common. Of course we will get a few days of a sustained northwest wind this month which will keep most folks off the water, however this is not always a bad thing. This rings especially true in Cape Cod Bay. A strong onshore wind will often light the fishing up in nearshore areas. Places like Scorton Ledge (try trolling the tube and worm at the Ledge) and Sandy Neck are two such places.
The schools of bass you found back in July and August that would not bite a thing, are typically much more aggressive in September. Odds are that if you find the fish, you will be able to catch them.
Locating bass in the first place is often one of the most difficult challenges to catching stripers. Luckily, during September, finding stripers also becomes easier in most Cape Cod locales. Large schools of big stipers tend to hang a bit closer to the beach during this month. The days of trolling and cruising around in 60-70 feet of water are now (hopefully!) over. Searching in water as shallow as 20 feet often yields higher catches than spending time in deeper water at this time of the season.
Towards the end of the month, the bass will really put the feedbag on as they prepare for their southerly migration. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but I can not help but remember the great fishing we had during late September 2010. Of course, who knows what will happen in 2011. However the odds are in our favor that we will be able to at least put a few seriously large bass and giant tuna in the boat.
Giant tuna could be found surprisingly close to shore during the fall of 2010. We saw giant tuna in 70 feet of water off Sandy Neck (about 3-4 miles from the beach). We even hooked up with a giant tuna off the East End of the Cape Cod Canal during the third week in September. Even if you don't hook up, seeing tuna this close to shore is a treat in and of itself.
Large bluefish, as well as Snappers, will invade the near shore haunts throughout this month. If 10 plus pound bluefish are your target, than look no further than Cape Cod Bay. Race Point, Sandy Neck and Billingsgate Shoal all produce big bluefish during September.
For smaller bluefish and snappers, concentrate on the south side of the Cape. The many bays and estuaries that litter the Cape's southside, including Buzzards Bay, are home to these baby bluefish. Ultra light tackle is the way to go. Small lures or minnows fished on micro sized spinning reels is a blast. This is great fishing for the under 10 years of age crowd. Even these tiny bluefish make great bait for giant tuna. We hooked up with a giant last September using a 6 inch snapper in Cape Cod Bay.
Aside from giant tuna, bluefish and bass, many other species are also infiltrate the waters around Cape Cod during September. Bonito, false ablacore and school bluefin tuna, for example, can all be found swarming around Cape Cod throughout the month. Even more exotic fish like Spanish Mackerel are caught off the southside of the Cape. These fish are usually taken by anglers fishing for bonito and false albies. So far this season I have heard some very positive reports of mahi-mahi being caught with regularity around the high flyers south of the Vineyard.
Cape Cod has many fantastic fishing opportunities. All of these opportunities only get better as September turns into October. Now is the time to go fishing before the cold, windy days of November arrive!
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