Expert Cape Cod Fishing Charters Captain Talks Striped Bass Tips and Tricks

Cape Cod Charter Guys 

Captain Ross of Cape Cod Charter Guys is here to talk all things Cape Cod fishing. I have been running Cape Cod Fishing Charters for over 15 years. I fish Cape Cod Bay, Stellwagen Bank, Nantucket Sound, Barnstable Harbor, Cape Cod Canal, Falmouth Harbor, Rock Harbor, and Buzzards Bay. The fishery is rich, diverse, and very seasonal. The black sea bass, striped bass, bluefish, and giant bluefin tuna are the primary fishing charter targets. But on any given day there are so many options. 

Let's start with a list of my favorite Cape Cod striped bass fishing spots, in no particular order. I know that you'll find the advice and tips for each spot helpful in landing some keepers.

To 5 Cape Cod Striped Bass (Striper) Fishing Spots

1. Buzzards Bay

There are many spots in Buzzards Bay where you can find breaking fish, even as late as October if you know where to look. My favorite lures to cast at breaking fish are swim shads, rubber shads, and Game On Lures' EXO jigs. Fishing high-low rigs for bottom fish is also productive here. In Buzzards Bay, we often catch bottom fish coming up even when we are fishing for striper.

2. Cape Cod Bay

The shoals and the flats of Cape Cod Bay are incredibly productive. We fish here all the time in June and July. When the fish are running and it's before the Great White sharks come into our part of the Atlantic Ocean, there's always the opportunity to find big pods of larger fish. We catch a ton of fish at Race Point and Provincetown. When casting, you should have success throwing plugs and swimbaits. Cape Cod Bay is also the only place we really use live bait since the fish key in on mackerel so aggressively.

3. Monomoy

Monomoy often gets foggy, but the shoals fish well in July, August, and even September. If you venture to Monomoy, you need to be an experienced boater and know your boat since the seas can be dangerous. I like to cast rubber squid setups into the waves (I handmake them myself). Swimbaits are great too, and there's nothing like watching the fish come out of the rip to grab your lure. If you're new to the area and want to fish here, it might be wise to go out with an experienced captain. I'd be happy to show you the ropes!

4. Chatham

When the fish are here, it's by far one of the hottest spots on the Cape. Snapping wire and vertical jigging out of Chatham have yielded some of the most consistent big bass fishing in all of New England. Back in the day, we fished Chatham for five years straight, day after day, coming out of Ryder's Cove. Recently, the fish have been filling back in.

5. Martha's Vineyard South

There's an extreme amount of rocks around Gay Head off the west side of Martha's Vineyard, and you'll lose a lot of gear if you don't know the area. This is another area where you need to be an experienced boater, thanks to the potential for huge swells and breakers. This area to Cuttyhunk Island can be incredibly productive for striped bass, and it's another area it might be smart to explore with an experienced captain first.

Captain Ross is the owner and operator of Cape Cod Charter Guys, one of the Cape's premier fishing charters. Having caught numerous 60-lb class stripers, Ross is a local expert with plenty of tips to make anyone a better angler and have an incredible fishing trip. As one of the most experienced cape cod charter fishing operations, I can put you on big fish. 

Captain Ross is one of the most passionate and knowledgeable cape cod charters on the Cape, and the Guidesly team had the opportunity to hit the Cape's spectacular fishing ground hunting stripers. We had the late-season striper bite dialed in during conditions that would leave many anglers skunked. We're grateful that Ross has taken the time to write this comprehensive article about Cape Cod striped bass fishing, and we know that it will help you catch more fish!

Cape Cod Striped Bass (Stripers) Fishing Tips

1. Be willing to learn

This is undoubtedly the best thing you can do to have a successful cape cod fishing trip and improve your own fishing skills. If you're reading this article, you're already on the right track! In every single fishing charter that I run, I make it a goal to help my clients become better anglers. Whether that's by answering questions, passing on local knowledge, explaining what we're doing and why, or giving tips (like retrieval speed, how to fight the fish, etc.), I do my best to not only help you catch fish but make you a better angler. The funny thing is that I often find myself learning new ideas and concepts from my clients too!

2. Be a versatile angler

Never being married to one spot or technique has been key to my development as an angler. Some days we use live baits, and some days, we use artificial lures. We have been on light tackle, heavy tackle and fly fishing so we are prepared for whatever style of fishing he conditions and angler present.  Being a versatile angler gives me the best chance to catch the most fish day in and day out... every day of the season.

3. Match the hatch

Matching the hatch is cliché but crucial in terms of the color and the size of your fishing lure presentation. I make my custom jigs with this tenet in mind. Oftentimes, after seeing this concept in action, people clamor for my custom jigs after we use them on a charter. Depending on the time of year, stripers are keyed into different bait, so always take note of what you see in the water.

4. Spotting fish

Keep your head on a swivel. The ability to know and recognize what the water looks like when there are fish makes a huge difference. Breaking striper looks different than blues or slashing Albies, and recognizing the difference is key. In Cape Cod reading the water, the seagulls and even breaching whales are important skills to enhance your fishing trip. 

5. Set your drag correctly

Let the fish do what it needs to do. Don't crank down on the drag. Your tight drag might be fine for the schoolies and slot-sized fish you've been catching all day, but you should always have the drag set, so you don't pop the line or straighten the hook when you hook your best fish of the summer. A giant bluefin tuna or giant striped bass requires your gear and stamina to be ready for the fight. I've heard, seen, and experienced firsthand too many stories of this going wrong.

6. Take care of your fishing gear

Finding and fooling big fish gets 90% of the attention, but it's only half the battle. The other half is getting the fish to the boat! Much like the previous tip, taking care of your gear will allow you to capitalize on big fish opportunities when they arise. No matter if you're bringing light tackle or not always wash down your gear (lures and rods/reels) so the salt doesn't corrode them. Respool regularly and make sure there are no nicks in your line, especially if you've been catching toothy bluefish!

When you're fishing in the right spot and using the right techniques, magic happens on the water. For example, I've got a family that comes out with me yearly - the Costa family. We had them up at the Race, and our boat literally looked like it was being carried by a stripers. You could look down, and there were thousands and thousands of fish in crystal clear water, and the whales came up. We were catching bass on swimmers and mackerel, one after another after another; all five anglers were hooked up on numerous occasions. It's days like this that I'll never forget. The beauty of nature, close to 100 fish, happy clients with a bucket full of fillets, sore arms from constantly reeling, sore throats from shouting "Fish on", there's nothing like it in the world!

Cape Cod Fishing: My Fishing Charter Story

My goal in writing this article is to help Cape Cod anglers catch striper more consistently by providing knowledge about the most productive spots, techniques, and lures, as well as general tips for landing more fish. First, I'll start with a background about myself, so you know where my passion derives from, and a little about the experiences I'm drawing from.

If you want to learn more about Cape Cod Charter Guys, Check out our website at Cape Cod Charter Guys. The website is a great source to check a fishing report or fish seasonality of our key fish like bluefin tuna, striped bass, sea bass, bluefish, or albies. You can also find fishing license info there as well.

When I moved to Massachusetts 15 years ago, I'd had saltwater fishing experience on the West Coast, but it certainly wasn't my passion. When my wife suggested I get into professional fishing, I had no idea what a pivotal moment it would be in my life. At this point, my impression of fishing was the classic old guy sitting on a dock in a chair with a bobber. I had no idea how exciting, addicting, and nuanced fishing was, but I headed down to the tackle shop and purchased a rod and reel.

Many locals suggested checking out the Cape Cod Canal, and so that's what I did. With no real knowledge of the area or what I was doing, I somehow managed to hook into a massive fish. By the time the fish had made a couple of runs, it had broken the eyelet on my cheap rod. Unable to use my equipment, and with the fish still pulling at the other end of my line, I had to think fast and be resourceful. Luckily, I had brought some Kevlar gloves with me and was able to handline the fish all the way to shore. My adrenaline was pumping, and I was hooked. That's when I said to myself: "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this right." I decided to put in the time and buy high-quality gear.

Shortly after that, I bought a house on the canal and began to fish day in and day out. I put in the time; I would ride back and forth for three tides in a day to see how the fish were moving and where they'd hold. In doing so, I learned a key lesson about fishing the canal, which also applies to all fishing in general. Many anglers have a paradigm they're stuck in (like "You have to jig at night"). Not being married to one spot or technique - being a versatile angler -- is crucial to your ability to catch fish consistently throughout the whole year. And it's a big part of what helps me consistently catch big fish.

Another reason I love fishing is that it's broadened my relationship with my son Jayden. Ever since he was eight years old, we've bonded over our passion for fishing. We used to fish from the shore and from our 20' center console. When he first started at eight years old, Jayden could hardly land any sized fish, but even as he got older over the next few years, we were able to consistently catch 30-lb and 40-lb class fish that he could barely pick up! This consistency in catching big striped bass led me to pursue a stint of commercial fishing, during which I caught striper weighing in at 65, 62, 59, and 58 pounds, all weighed in on an IGFA-certified scale after they had already bled out on the dock.

Eventually, I decided to take the next step and get my Captain's License to gain more knowledge about the water. Now I've upgraded my boat to a 26' Sportsman. Being a fishing charter captain is truly my dream job, and now I love watching my clients catch fish and have a great time more than anything. I'm incredibly blessed to be on the water every day, and it's my mission to pass on my fishing knowledge and, more importantly, my passion to clients every day!

Eventually, I decided to take the next step and get my Captain's License to gain more knowledge about the water. Now I've upgraded my boat to a 26' Sportsman. Being a fishing charter captain is truly my dream job, and now I love watching my clients catch fish and have a great time more than anything. I'm incredibly blessed to be on the water every day, and it's my mission to pass on my fishing knowledge and, more importantly, my passion to clients every day!

Book a Cape Cod fishing charter with Cape Cod Charter Guys Now.

A Few Striped Bass Resources:

-Striped Bass Fishing, fishing tips, techniques, and best destinations

-Striped Bass Migration, article tracking the Striped Bass Atlantic Coast migration

-Striped Bass Lures, expert guides weigh in with the best striped bass lures

-Striped Bass Bait, top 10 striped bass baits

-Striped Bass Fish, learn all there is to know about the Striped Bass fish species

-Striped Bass Chesapeake Bay, expert guides talk about catching striped bass on Chesapeake Bay