I just packed everything away for the winter but still have this last urge to make another final trip to the outer cape....

Can anyone convince me that the fish are still there. Would think about heading out Weds evening into Thursday morning. Wanna try Ballston &/or the Race. Anything going on there that would be worth the 3 hr. hike or am I wasting my time?

Tried local tackleshops but, as expected, they're closed for the winter. Not a good sign :( :(

I have a feeling I'm wasting my time...can someone give me good news????

Bob,
Ever see all the photos of 40-70 pound fish on the wall at Nelson's B&T at P-town? If so - you ever see the dates? Mostly October, November with some dates coming in early December. The fish are still out there then yet very hard to find but they are still there. 2 years ago one fellow landed a 60+ pound bass at the west end of the Canal, in the middle of November. #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&'s 53 came just before Halloween and he and one of his fellow fisherman caught 40 plus pound fish in the first few weeks of Nov. They are out there. Personally, I'm going to stay out until the very pregnant wife asks me to stay in or 'til just before the baby is born.

Now, you are closer to Rhody than you are to the Cape right?? Hit Rhody. There is often a few extra weeks of blitzing after the Cape cools down. But I certainly wouldn't store your gear for the winter just yet. At least give a few more weeks....

The tackle shops on the outer Cape are already closing???? I know some of the Boston area shops have closed or at least stopped getting eels. But the Cape?

Good luck - I wouldn't give up just yet - besides alot of spots have very few people working them. Not as many nights fishing shoulder-to-shoulder anymore 8)

Bob, the back beaches of the cape are where I do most of my surfcasting. With a few exceptions, its been a rather disappointing fall run up there. Last year's 2 week blitz never materialized. Around the end of Sept there was a slug of good fish around Nauset but they are long gone. You might find a few decent straggler fish, but the majority of good fish are in LI Sound and off Rhode Island. Grab some eels and go fish Rhode Island this weekend, but dont waste too much time in one spot. As #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& said, you're likely to find a bunch of fish or nothing at all.

Did I mention that #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&'s 53#er 2nd anniversary ;P is Satruday night...

I'm not sure how the fishing has been on the outer cape lately...have not been out there since the first weekend in Oct. Don't worry about the tackle shops closing, though. I've talked to the guys at Nelson's about it, and they close this time based on a lack of fisherman, not a lack of fish.

Basic idea is that the fishing up there is good this time of year, but the fishing in other areas(RI) is fantastic. So most of the die hards go to RI rather than the cape even though there are still fish up there, so the tackle shops close down. Nelson's has been closing in the middle of Oct. for a long time.

Went to RI last weekend and will be back this weekend. Watch Hill area. Had all the small fish we could catch on swimmers last Saturday night, but not even a bump from any big fish with eels. Not that I'm complaining, it was fun catching the schoolies, but hopefully this weekend we'll get into some bigger fish. Hoping to beat my record by the end of the season!

Hey Blitz,

Good to hear that you had fish, even if small, at the Hill on Saturday night. How high was the water when you got into them???

Thanks,

John

We got there an hour before dark and fished until about 10:30 PM. Schoolie fishing turned on as soon as the lights went out, which if my memory serves me right was around the second or third hour of the drop. Like I said, you could catch a schoolie every single cast if you had anything like a Yo-zuri Mag Darter, Bomber, Mambo Minnow, etc on.

All fish between about 20 and 28 inches.

Eels resulted in casting practice, even with all the schoolies around. Not one hit. If you picked the lures back up, schoolies on right away. Thought about moving on, but decided in favor of the World Series.

Went out Sunday morning and chased some fish around the beaches with the rest of the trucks at first light, but they must have been albies because nobody was hooking up.

Reading you guys talk about your secret spots down there is tough...I haven't had nearly the luck some of these other guys seem to have had with the big ones. It seems you take me off the Cape and my fishing falls apart. :)

Blitz,

There are really only a few secret spots down there. Most of the best spots are already known such as Watch Hill; east/west/central beaches; the Breachways; Newport Beaches and Cliffs, Naragansett, Pt Judith, Matunuck beach, Carpenters.... Out of the above spots, I know of nice 20#plus keepers caught at 8 of them this season by just a few people that really work the area. There are a couple spots that are not mentioned up there which are private or kept closely held but they are right next to the places above. Much like a few people I know that have there secret spots in Truro :D