Cape Cod Night Striped Bass Fishing Hot Spots
With Independence Day weekend knocking on our doorstep, it’s time for the really serious striped bass anglers to go fishing at night. The weather becomes hotter, the fish begin to settle in their favorite summer spots, and the bite is undoubtedly better at night.
Fishing Cape Cod from the shore during July and August is often difficult. Most of the striped bass population is likely to be kept in deeper waters that can only be accessed by boats. Sometimes things can get frustrating. However, showing up in the right places after dark will greatly improve your chances of tethering to one of the Cape’s summer cow striped bass.
Accessing the following hotspots, at night, will offer you a high probability of connecting with a pretty striped bass.
The Cape Cod Canal
Some of the best and most consistent channel fishing takes place in early July. This water ribbon may seem devoid of life during the day, however, don’t be fooled, things get going as soon as the sun goes down.
Pip’s Rip at the eastern end of the channel may be the most reliable producer of largemouth bass in early July. Pip’s Rip is also one of the most striking and impressive rips within the entire channel. The rip rises dramatically from the bottom and then falls into a ravine. The backend of the rip then rises dramatically from the bottom again, creating two distinct valleys that will keep great bass if the current is flowing.
Big bass sits on the rip like clockwork during this time of season. The bass will stay on every tide, as long as the current moves. Sometimes hitting the rip from the edge can be difficult. The best opportunity for the coastal fisherman occurs with an incoming tide, when the current runs east.
The rest of the canal is riddled with rifts, ravines, pockets, and valleys that are home to fish. The challenging part is figuring out exactly where they are and which tides are producing the best in which location.
If you’re a newbie to the canal, take a walk along the canal during the day when the current is really coming up. Take a notepad and pencil with you and note the numbers on the posts that match the water on the surface of the canal. Return overnight and fan the area with a heavy jig, keeping track of how long it takes for the jig to bottom out.
When you come across a ravine, you will find that it takes much longer for the jig to reach the bottom. For example, one of my favorite areas for channel jigging includes a huge hole, surrounded on both sides by impressive rocky peaks. My four ounce jig will only take 7 seconds to get to the top of the rocky peaks, however it will take 15 seconds to get to the bottom of the valley.
Sandy Neck Beach
There are many great benefits for anglers fishing off Sandy Neck. The area is stunning and is one of the few remaining coasts on Cape Cod where driving on sand is acceptable.
Fishing can be downright awesome too. The good news is that for Sandy Neck fishermen, there is a substantial population of Stripers sitting by the beach in areas like the “Parking Lot” and the “Fingers.” Schools on the high seas can, at times, be very large.
It’s a real treat for coastal fishermen when these largemouth bass hover close to the beach. This often occurs during the end of August and September, however, from time to time, it happens in July.
I remember being in only 6 feet of water last summer off Sandy Neck, casting Miss Loretta’s eels. We could hardly have been more than 50 meters from the beach. There were massive amounts of strippers slurping our eels during the night. It would have been an amazing night of surfcasting, if there had been someone fishing on the beach.
Scorton Creek
Scorton Creek empties directly into Cape Cod Bay, just west of Sandy Neck. The stream itself is an impressive ecosystem. Its upper reaches sometimes contain school bass during the winter.
Just off the shore of the creek is Scorton Ledge, which is, in essence, a muddy, rock-laden underwater hump. At specific times during the summer, the Ledge has a significant number of large striped bass. In the dark, these fish frequently venture within the casting range of anglers who fish East Sandwich Beach and Scorton Creek.
I have found the outgoing tide at Scorton Creek to be the most effective. Throwing a live eel, or bait into the creek, and letting you catch a free ride on the high seas is a productive way to catch a bait. There are a handful of holes and ravines at the mouth of the creek where the seabass flock.
The most important consideration when fishing the creek at night is safety. A powerful current, combined with darkness and hidden slopes can be very dangerous. Taking extra precautions when angling in the area is a top priority.
No striped bass is worth risking your life.
Narrow lines, good luck and don’t forget your headlight!