While the rest of the country swelters through summer, New England enjoys cool sea breezes and hot fishing. The current ripping past the south tip of Cape Cod hosts schools of striped bass chasing migrating squid. In the deep water of Buzzards Bay, big sea bass and porgy are an easy target. Eight miles off the coast, Block Island, Rhode Island is surrounded by striper water. Cape Cod and the nearby islands stick out into the Atlantic and Long Island Sound to offer fantastic fishing by boat, headboat and from shore. Starting in Chatham and traveling by land and sea, anglers can cover the best fishing New England has to offer in a short distance.
1. Chatham, Massachusetts
At the change of each tide, Chatham, Massachusetts acts like a speed bump for millions of gallons of water rushing between Nantucket Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. In the roiling current rushing over shallow water, striped bass wait for bait confused by the maelstrom.
According to Capt. Drew Downing of Down East Charters, the best fishing starts in June. “We wait longer for the striper to arrive, but they stay around through the summer.”
Downing recommends launching at one of the seven town landings. “You’ll need a day pass,” he adds. Before you splash, stop in at North Chatham Outfitters for the skinny on the current bite. “The guys are great and they have everything,” says Downing.
If you’re hungry, don’t pass up the chance to eat a Nun Burger at the Red Nun Bar & Grill. “It’s a big-ass burger on a sandwich-size English muffin,” says Downing. With fishing photos on the walls, this burger joint also serves local seafood and has an impressive list of local brews on tap, including the Two Roads Red Nun Lager.
At the tidal rips, warm inshore water meets the cooler ocean attracting huge schools of squid. “There are miles of rips to explore. Look for working birds and feeding fish,” Downing says.
Once he identifies an active area, Downing has two choices: drift or stem the rip. To search for fish, he takes the boat out of gear and drifts through the rip while casting. When he spots feeding fish, he uses the motor to hold the boat in place and delivers his lure to a specific target.
Lure choice comes down to one factor, “anything that looks like a squid,” Downing says. He uses amber-colored or pink soft plastics and hard-body swimming plugs to match the cephalopods. “If you have a good plug and a good plan, you’ll hammer the striper,” Downing says.
2. Buzzards Bay
Anglers visiting Buzzards Bay in early summer are in time for the best sea bass and porgy fishing. Out of Bourne, Massachusetts, Capt. Paul Sexton of Buzzards Bay Fishing Charters says the fish are plentiful and close to shore. “I’m only minutes from the fishing grounds,” he says.
A good way for visiting anglers to take advantage of incredible bottomfishing is joining a walk-on charter. Sexton laughs, “Just pull your car into the marina and we do everything else.”
The boat leaves the dock in Bourne at 6 a.m. and lines go in around 6:20. On the way to Buzzards Bay, Sexton keeps his eyes peeled for schools of large striped bass feeding on the surface. When he spots them, a medium-action spinning rod and soft-plastic jig make quick work of feeding bass.
Once he’s on the scene, Sexton locates schools of sea bass and porgy then drifts while jigging a sand eel lure off the bottom. “If the current is moving too fast for the jigs, we switch to squid on a three-way rig,” he says.
If fishing is good, anglers can expect to catch a limit of sea bass and porgy in short order. “I don’t keep sea bass smaller than 19 inches,” Sexton adds. His self-imposed limit is rarely an obstacle.
Shorebound anglers also have a great opportunity to score trophy striped bass. Sexton points to the infamous Cape Cod Canal as ground zero for the early summer striper run. The canal offers 7.4 miles of shore-based access to waters connecting Cape Cod and Buzzards bays. Walk or ride a bike along the canal with an 11-foot surf rod and swimming plugs. Along the way, stop and pay homage to “The Fisherman,” a life-sized statue of legendary local angler and lure maker Stan Gibbs dragging two huge striped bass off the beach.
Hardcore anglers can striper fish in the evening and through the night then turn their attention to sea bass at dawn. “You may lose some sleep, but you are here to fish,” Sexton laughs. If you do plan to sleep, they built a new Hampton Inn on the Cape Cod Canal in Bourne, where you can walk out the door and fish.
If you’re pulling your own boat, get a day pass and splash it at Taylor’s Point Marina. For local bait tackle and intel, Red Top Sporting Goods is right on the way to the boat ramp on Main Street in Bourne.
Read Next: 12 Best Striped Bass Lures
3. Block Island, Rhode Island
Capt. Steve Miller says, “I’ve heard Block Island called the best striped bass fishery in the world.” Based on the island in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, Block Island Fishing Charters has been running charter trips for more than 25 years, and Miller, the skipper of Storm Petrel has been fishing the waters around Block Island since the 1980s. He says 100-fish days are not uncommon.
In early summer, visitors can expect excellent action on big striped bass. “We are averaging 25- to 50-pound fish,” Miller says. Anglers catch stripers by jigging, casting topwater lures and drifting eels, but Miller’s favorite tactic is trolling tube lures with wire line. He explains, “I’m old school, but when the rod bends over and the line peels out, there’s no better feeling.”
Miller looks for schools of striped bass around the south corners of the island. Early in the season, he searches for bait and breaking stripers. Later, he focuses on structure. “The key is to get the lure in front of the fish,” he says. Miller trolls a zig-zag pattern to allow his inside lure to drop on each turn. “They almost always hit on the drop,” he says.
With a moratorium on large stripers, Miller is mostly a catch-and-release angler. Avoid netting a striper and laying it on the deck. “I pull the fish out of the water, hold it for a picture and then release it quickly,” he says. If sharks are pestering fish, he moves 100 yards away to give the striper a better chance to survive.
For the DIYers, the closest public ramp to Block Island is at Galilee Boat Launch on Point Judith Pond. It’s about a 15-mile run to the north end of Block Island. To do it the easy way and experience some of the island, take the Block Island Ferry out of Point Judith, book a charter, and stay and eat at one of Block Island’s historic hotels.
Need tackle? Twin Maples has been a family-owned source of intel and gear since 1949, and at the shop you can pick up an iconic “Eat Fish” shirt. Block Island Fish Works is a full-service bait and tackle that also has fly tackle and charter services.
