In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got hungry stripers in our waters, folks. And more are pouring in every tide. Here’s what I saw this weekend:

Bait, bait, and more bait in Plymouth Bay

The amount of bait around Cape Cod is really incredible right now. Mackerel and Herring in Cape Cod Bay and pogies in Buzzards Bay and estuaries.

We splashed the boat Sunday morning in Plymouth and found birds working in ten different spots. The fish finder was loaded up with what looked like schools of squid. Mixed in with the squid were silversides and other small profile baitfish.

Out front, we’re loaded up with mackerel. They weren’t schooled up like they normally were, so look for the smaller squiggly lines on your sonar. They seem to spread out, but they are everywhere–horse and tinker mackerel alike. We could have loaded up the livewell if we wanted to. 

While we didn’t find any stripers feeding, I’m positive there was a few small schools mixed in. I’m hearing reports that a larger number of fish moved in this morning, and the bay will continue to fill through the new moon.

Buzzard Bay from the kayak

The original plan was to bring the boat to Buzzard Bay to try and find the bigger fish that have moved in. This didn’t happen, but I did take the kayak down during late afternoon and launch into the Wareham River.

From here, I spooked many schools of fish, but eventually found schoolies 16” to 24” slurping bait on the surface. They were finicky, but I ended up getting them to eat on a clouser and a small spook plug (thanks to the guy on the Hobie for giving that one to me. You’re a lifesaver).

I had a few monster blow ups on plugs, and I have to think there were larger fish mixed in. I can only imagine that the action heated up after dark.

I spoke with a few sharpies who found big fish blitzing the surface at dawn in Buzzards Bay. I would think this action keeps up all week.

That’ll do it. Go catch ‘em up.