Cape Cod

[Kevin J Legg]

For a change of pace I made a run to my brothers on Cape Cod. He has a gorgeous place just past the Bourne Bridge. We fished two mornings and had a ball catching good size black sea bass. We will head home tomorrow!

[Gator]

We will be there on Friday. Those are some big porgy.

[Kevin J Legg]

We caught them on plastic on jigs and jigging spoons. Actually the jigging spoons were most effective.

[Gator]

Yeah, when they're in thick, it seems like BSB will hit anything. We find that using 10" Hobie trailers or 6" Doormatorz keeps the small ones off. Single hook jigging spoons help with the release. Our game plan includes pre-light topwater for stripers, followed by limits of 20" plus BSB. And staying away from the crowds.  We usually don't keep scup even though they're delicious, but this year I'm taking a small freezer to plug in the garage at the place we're staying. So maybe...if we find a school of them the size you have there...

[slashbait]

We will be heading to Martha’s Vineyard on the 19th. We’re those caught from shore? If so how heavy fishing gear do I need to bring? Any tips would be awesome. Thanx

[Gator]

If you want big black seas bass and scup, then yes a boat is the way to go. They are indiscriminate eaters - Spro jigs, tipped with clams or squid for scup, work great. You want the equivalent of a medium heavy bass rod. I like 7' sticks with size 4000 reels and 20 lb braid / fluorocarbon leader. The striped bass are in good now too, and Vineyard Sound is fun. Have a great trip!

[Kevin J Legg]

I agree with Gator.

7’ med to heavy rod. I was using 12-15 lb. Mono with 20 lb fluorocarbon leader. 1-11/2 ov jigging spoons worked well as do jigs in 25-30 fow we fished.

As a side note there is a large fleet of kayakers targeting them on the old canal where we were fishing.

[hntnfsh00]

You guys are right on the mark, for closer to my neck of the woods. For both scup and seabass, a rod on lighter side is way more fun. 61/2 to 7ft, 8 to 12 or 15lbtest line rated will be fine. I usually use 10 to 15lb braid, but 20 is fine also. Add about 6 to 8ft of mono or flouro and you are set. Both are caught on bait on boats (clams, squid ect) BUT you will usually put largest of both species on ice w jigs, especially smaller diamond jigs w surge tube hooks. While I get called for pinhooking trips off Montauk, that is mostly all we use to put 50lbs of each species in boat as fast a possible. Slow pitch or snap jigs also work very well for larger biscuits (seabass lol). 

Edited June 3, 2022 by hntnfsh00

[Gator]

Update: we're in the middle of vacuum sealing two days worth of three man limits - BSB were in the 20-22" range, with a few large scup, but the trip has really been about stripers. Vineyard Sound is absolutely filthy with 27-32" fish in the rips. Middle Ground is just stupid. Boats lined up today thick so we found our own water. Crazy nice weather, with flat seas and easy fishing. But 3:30 am comes early...

[dry net]

12 hours ago, Gator said:

Update: we're in the middle of vacuum sealing two days worth of three man limits - BSB were in the 20-22" range, with a few large scup, but the trip has really been about stripers. Vineyard Sound is absolutely filthy with 27-32" fish in the rips. Middle Ground is just stupid. Boats lined up today thick so we found our own water. Crazy nice weather, with flat seas and easy fishing. But 3:30 am comes early...

Do you bring your own boat down?

[Gator]

No, but we could easily enough. My buddy has a Sailfish center console that we dock for four days. We ended up finding 20-30 lb stripers under schools of pogies on Monday, and never ever fished for BSB that day. Floating livies on circle hooks under the schools resulted in constant hookups, the only downside was that you had to get the bait past the bluefish up higher. This was hands-down one of the best trips I've ever been on, and that's saying something. The stars aligned. Of course, we will probably make up for it next year with an early hurricane lol...

[dry net]

Good to have friends in the right places!!!!!