The Fishing News

September draws to a close with a spray of baitfish like silver coins flung across the surface of the water. We wrap up our broadcast season of The Fishing News looking back at the highlights and rhythms of a season marked by epic fishing at the Cape Cod Canal, anglers frothing at the mouth over false albacore, and, yes, all that bait. 

It's the time of year when we often hear about unusual fish appearing in our waters, and this season is no exception. Anglers casting into false albacore have been coming up with an unexpected fish: juvenile king mackerel.

Anyone who’s been walking down by the water these days along the south side of the Cape, or on the Vineyard, has probably noticed a lot of boat activity on the water and plenty of fish action. What's it all about? Most likely, it's false albacore.

Forget for a moment those finicky, glamour fish species, those end-of-summer albies and bonito. Here's a primer on hooking up with a fish that's not picky, that's fun to catch, and makes great eating.

Butterfish, peanut bunker, mackerel, adult menhaden, silversides, juvenile bay anchovies and butterfish. All this great bait in the water as we approach the end of summer, it almost makes you wish you were a striped bass. You would sure be eating well. And that's the idea behind the Fall Run.

It’s that great moment in August when bait is plentiful in the water and bonito are appearing. Big bass are in the Canal, bluefish are in Buzzards Bay, and we are even hearing reports of that unusual visitor, juvenile king mackerel. Here's this week's Fishing News.

Everyone who’s ever gone fishing knows the anguish of losing a fish - and there are many ways to lose a fish. But perhaps the most mysterious way is getting spooled. 

Water temperatures south of the Cape are hitting 70-75 degrees. That's not great news for anglers looking for striped bass. But who cares? Because here comes the most exciting fishing action of the year: fast fish.

We can admit it.  We're a bit spoiled for choices when it comes to fishing for bluefin tuna. 

Bluefin are the charismatic tuna species in our waters.  They're the biggest tuna we see, ranging from 30-lb juveniles all the way up to 800-lb giants. In our region they arrive in June and stay around until November.

As we head into August and warmer waters, fishermen's thoughts turn to that delicious bottom-dwelling oddity, summer flounder.

The five-gallon bucket is a staple for most fishermen. It can haul tackle, bait, and your catch. For most anglers, it's a repurposed item, castoff from a jobsite. Actually purchasing a bucket from a hardware store for a few dollars? What luxury, what self-indulgence.

A couple of companies now want to change these age-old rules. They're introducing a new category to fishing accessories: the premium five-gallon bucket.   

Buzzards Bay and the south-facing side of the Cape from Woods Hole to Chatham mark the northenmost range of the blue crab. But just because we're at the edge of the range, doesn't mean we don't have these critters in abundance. They're there for the catching, and they're great eating. 

On June 26 the commercial fishing season opened for striped bass. As of Friday, July 7, just over 100,000 lbs of striper have been landed, or about 13% of the yearly state quota of 800,885 lbs. 

This is good news for people who don't fish, or fisherman not having a lucky day, in that locally caught striped bass should be available at fish markets, and you should be able to find it on the menu at restaurants. 

Summer bluefish are arriving, just as we would expect for this time of year, as the waters of the Sounds are warming. Did I hear you groan? It's true that some people are a little less enthusiastic when you mention bluefish—and it usually has to do not so much with the fishing as the eating.

So here's your remedy.  

Spring and early summer brings the fishery for squid to our local waters. Boats from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and elsewhere target squid with small mesh trawls, meaning nets towed behind fishing boats. There's also a weir fishery in Nantucket Sound.