Cape Cod Bay can offer some of the most exciting bluefin fishing of the season when the fish push inside chasing bait. It is relatively protected water close to the Cape and South Shore ports, and hooking a giant within sight of the beaches is a special kind of thrill. How good it is varies year to year with the bait.
The ground
The bay is big and open, so the fish relate to bait concentrations, sand eels, mackerel and pogies, and the current edges and rips near Race Point and Billingsgate. When bait floods the bay, tuna follow it right in.
How to fish it
Run-and-gun popping and casting to surface feeds is a highlight here, along with jigging marks and live bait when they get finicky. Watch for birds, whales and breaking fish across the open bay.
Tip Bay bluefin often feed on top, so this is prime sight-fishing. Keep the popping and casting gear ready, cover water to find the feeds, and approach breaking fish quietly, they spook in the flat bay water.