Fishing in Provincetown, Massachusetts goes back centuries, to the time before the Pilgrims. Ancient fishermen once landed mammoth cod, door-size haddock and a variety of other valuable fish species right off the P-town coast.
The fishing today may not be as incredible, but its still pretty darn good. Just a few years ago there were several 1,000 pound giant bluefin tuna caught within sight of Provincetown’s Race Point Beach. Large schools of bass and blues also show up at Provincetown throughout the course of spring, summer and fall.
As with most Cape Cod fishing spots, Provincetown fishing changes from season to season. I recall one year where the bass schools were so dense that my sonar began to malfunction. The next summer I couldn’t find a fish anywhere. I guess that is what keeps fishing in this area interesting.
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Fishing in Provincetown
Provincetown is famous for its surfcasting. Decades ago, before the seals, surfcasters would on occasion catch 50 pound bass, 10 pound bluefish, pollock and even tuna from shore. Can you imagine what that must of been like?
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The shore fishing is a bit more challenging these days, but if you log in your time you can still find a good bite. It does not happen often, but bass do push bait right up onto the beach here.
If you get lucky you may witness a scene like the one in the below video, which I experienced during 2013.
Bluefish are pretty common at Provincetown too. We often catch them while trolling tubes along the drop off, which is located just offshore.
The bottom of the sea floor off Provincetown plummets from 20 to more than 150 feet deep. The structure here is like a sheer cliff edge, just located underwater.
Atlantic mackerel, herring and sand eels are common here. There’s a strong current that runs right along the drop off, which definitely helps the fishing.
Provincetown Fishing Tips & Strategies
For bass and blues from shore, night time is definitely the right time. Swimming plugs and live eels are good choices. During the day chunking or fishing fresh dead sand eels is a good idea.
Keep an eye peeled for tuna because they swim incredibly close to shore here. Some summers the tunas are plentiful with many footballs and giants in the area. Other years are less productive.
Trolling spreader bars or soft plastics like Slug-Gos and Hogy’s along the surface is a good way to target smaller bluefins.
The most common way to target giants here is to anchor up in deep water and start chumming. It’s usually not too difficult to jig up live bait like mackerel or whiting.
Fish a live bait down deep under a balloon or along the surface using a kite. You may have to spend an entire season floating out there before you get bit, but when you do get a bite there’s a good chance the tuna will be huge.
More Info on Fishing Provincetown
If you need more information on Provincetown fishing you can always reach out to us via the MFCC Facebook page.
Stay tuned to the membership side of the blog for more articles and videos about fishing in Provincetown. You can also check out the below fishing reports for first hand accounts of fishing this area:
In Conclusion
When you cast a line from a Provincetown beach, you are in essence casting a line at the edge of America. Fishing Provincetown is a unique and sometimes wild experience.
Visiting Provincetown, its shops, restaurants and bars is also a pretty wild and unique endeavor. The town has a lot of character and you never know what you may see next.
If you need any assistance planning a trip to Provincetown then drop me a line atryan@myfishingcapecod.com.
I’m happy to help – tight lines and take care,
