Hi Folks, This summer looks to be another great fishing year off the east side of Chatham. We already have seen sand eels and birds working outside the inlets. So what makes “East Of Chatham” such a “fishy” area? Its all about water temperature and bait supply. Sand eels congregate in vast schools off the beaches of Chatham and Monomoy Island. Starting around the fourth of July, our Chatham waters will be starting to “heat up” with stripers. With temperatures ranging from 53 to 58 degrees in early July, the waters to the east of Chatham and around the rips of Monomoy and Nantucket are ideal for a decent size bass. Later in August we have still got a fairly cool 56-61 degree water temp when Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket sound could be in the 70’s.When the summer water temperature heats up in Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay to higher than 62-64 degrees, the bluefish dominate and the stripers move to cooler waters. Usually the deeper in the water column the fish are, the cooler the temperature. That is why many of the latter summer charter boats in Cape Cod Bay fish with wire, to take fish that are sitting right on the bottom.
I was recently on an online newspaper blog about striper fishing and one gentleman was complaining about the commercial fisherman taking all the bigger fish. He came to that conclusion by observing that in the waters he was fishing, out of the 1400 stripers he caught last year, only 12 of them were keepers. That is a great example of a water temperature related issue. There may be small fish in the hot water, but rarely will you see a fish of size there. I believe the bigger fish need waters with a higher supply of oxygen. I wonder if that gentleman fisher would consider changing locations? Many folks don’t really pay attention to water temperatures. I think it is important for bait and oxygen supply, the “staff of life” for the predatory fish we seek.
As I predicted, Cape Cod Bay exploded with Bass last week. They seem to be everywhere and of decent sizes too. Bishops and Clerk's has good bass in the Sound and they are catching them fairly consistently along the south facing beaches of Hyannis to Chatham. There are rumblings and rumors of bluefin tuna to the south of here, but not confirmed. Soon enough though, they will be here and if you wait till you hear the bite is on at the tackle shop or the fishing magazine reports, it will have been over by a few days at least. There aren’t a lot of openings for July left, but there is plenty of room to book a tuna charter for August. If you are seriously considering a tuna charter look around at various boat locations and prices for their trips. I think you will find that they are at least an hour further away from our tuna grounds to the east of Chatham, and quite a bit more expensive! That’s why they charge that extra $400, to burn that extra 2 hours of fuel steaming to the spot! Would you rather spend that time fishing? Call me. 508 255-0911.
Good fishing to you,
Bruce & "Marilyn S"
