On Cape Cod, June can be an awesome time for shore and boat anglers alike in both fresh and saltwater. We have LOTS of reports from many different areas and varying species being caught. So, let’s get to it!
SALTWATER
We’ll start with the delicious, very fun to catch and gorgeously colored Black Sea Bass. Sports Port’s always friendly, positive and super knowledgeable Christian had an epic day out on the water with Sports Port’s very handy reel technician, Vinny. The 2 headed out to Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. Christian and Vinny quickly limited out on bluefish. They showed up at Middleground to find acres of blitzing bluefish. Their top water lures weren’t in the water very long before a toothy blue was at the end of the line.
A few blues were bled and iced, ready for the smoker!
Next stop was Hedge Fence where they again found schooling fish. This time, it was black sea bass, albeit atypical. This school was actually going after the guys’ top water and soft plastic lures. Normally anglers will use a hi-lo rig tipped with squid and send it to the bottom. Or jigs with gulp also bounced off the bottom. These black seas bass were on the surface and feeding on whatever was put in front of them. The cooler had another delicious species to keep cold.
The Sports Port crew tried their luck at getting some fluke. They managed to get a few shorts and one keeper. They also landed a couple of stripers that were just short of keeper sized. Needless to say, Christian and Vinny had a pretty epic day out on the boat!
If you don’t want to go as far as the Vineyard, you can certainly get black sea bass, scup, blues and striper closer to the Hyannis-Osterville-Cotuit areas. Colliers has been producing keep sized scup and sea bass. Several customers have said that they have done well landing keeper sized and bigger striped bass on the South Side beaches in the Sound with squid.
Boaters also reported schools of Striped bass at shoals like Succonnesset, but they were finicky and not easy to catch.
Monomoy is holding striped bass as well. Top water, soft plastics, squid imitation lures and flies drifted into the rips have been go-to’s.
My kids and I have done some shore and kayak fishing in the Osterville/Cotuit area bays. Tucker and I have found schoolie sized striped bass taken on Albie Snax and the Jumpin Minnow.
The Winter Flounder bite is still ON out of Sesuit! Flounder rigs with clams or seaworms have been producing.
L to R: Amy with a Striped Bass. Christian with a Striper and then a Black Sea Bass. Jack with 2 Black Sea Bass.
FRESHWATER
Admittedly, we have had more saltwater reports than fresh water. But, my kids have been hitting their favorite Cape ponds pretty hard. They have been getting countless large mouth and perch. Rubber worms rigged texas style are their preferred lure.
Sam and I checked out Lake Wequaquet the other day. It’s a new fishing spot for us, and being the biggest body of freshwater on the Cape it leaves a lot of ground to cover in our kayaks. We managed a pickerel, a sunfish and a mystery fish.
L to Right: Tucker with a Largemouth bass. Bluegill. Sam with a yellow perch.
We were trolling on our way back to the car when I had a small fish on the line. I put the paddle down and started to retrieve my Rapala Jointed lure. As it was getting closer to the kayak I realized that I had a sizable fish. The drag started peeling and the rod was BENT! A couple of clicks to tighten the drag and a couple of more runs from the strong fighting fish and I could ALMOST see the fish. Then…PWEEENG! Like a slingshot, the lure flew out of the fishes mouth, out of the water and (luckily) past me. The line swung from my rod in front of me and I was surprised to see a small perch at the end of my lure. My guess is that I had a pike grab that perch that I had inadvertently caught on my lure and was unknowingly live lining. These are the instances that keep us going back for more!
Glen, a long-time Sports Port customer and lover of fresh water fishing recently sent me this picture of a Bullhead he caught at Hamblin’s pond. This is not a species I frequently hear of people catching at Hamblins. If anyone knows more about this fishery, I would love to chat! Email me here.
Bullhead catfish
Shop News
We are now a St. Croix dealer! Stop by Hyannis to see what our selection is. If we don’t stock a St. Croix model that you would like, let me know and I can get it in stock for you!
Our Hyannis location is now operating with our full summer schedule: 7a-6p Mon-Sat and Sun 7a-4p.
Our Osterville location is open on the weekends. Stay tuned for when we will be open 7 days a week for the 2023 season.
If you have been a Sports Port customer for any amount of time, hopefully you know that customer service is our #1 priority. One area of service that has been a struggle for quite a while is reel repair and maintenance. While we are still experiencing some sporadic gaps in the supply chain when ordering parts, for the most part we have been able to get orders in fairly quickly. The best part is that we have connected with Vinny (mentioned in the epic fishing day above) who is a reel repair guru and in several short weeks has managed to dig us out from a service and repair backlog. Vinny grew up on the Cape and recently moved back with his family. We are lucky to be able to use his services and continue helping our customers keep their fishing gear in good working order. Stop by the shop with any reels that need work or TLC.
Tight Lines!
Amy
