Waquoit Bay Jetty and South Cape Beach

At the mouth of Waquoit Bay in Mashpee, a long jetty marks where the bay drains into Nantucket Sound, and The Fisherman's writer calls it a rest stop for fish: bait pours out of the bay on the tides, and predators follow from spring through fall. Getting there takes a walk of about a mile and a half down South Cape Beach, which keeps the crowds down.

When to fish

• Spring: herring and squid bring big bluefish, with stripers close behind. The writer circles the third week of May for the best bluefish.
• Summer: schoolie stripers around the break in the jetty, as small fry and bait wash out of the bay.
• Mid-August into September: bonito show offshore, sometimes within range of the jetty, and false albacore should be busting along the south side of the Cape by September.
• Late fall: the albies thin out, and big bluefish and big stripers return.

Where to fish

• The jetty: one side of the inlet to Waquoit Bay; a smaller jetty guards the other side, on Washburn Island.
• The beach beside the jetty: in spring, the writer often never sets foot on the rocks, because the bluefish pin bait against the beach next to the jetty.
• Inside the jetty: at night in fall, big stripers take eels drifted in the inlet.

How to fish it

For spring blues, be in position about two hours before high tide, when fish fill in with the tide and trap bait along the beach, and throw 2-ounce topwater plugs: skipping plugs, poppers and pencil poppers. In summer, light surf gear and swimming plugs work for schoolies. For false albacore, bring a light spinning outfit and a bag of epoxy jigs and small metal casting lures. In fall, drift eels inside the jetty at night for big bass (use inline circle hooks with eels or other bait for stripers).

Getting there

Park at DCR's South Cape Beach State Park, which charges a fee in summer, and walk about 1.5 miles west along the beach; the nature trail through the dunes, which follows an old paved road in places, is easier going. Boaters and kayakers can launch from the town ramp inside Waquoit Bay. Brown sharks cruise the nearby beaches at night, and Massachusetts has special rules for shark fishing from shore. You need a Massachusetts saltwater fishing permit; striped bass have a slot limit, and bonito and false albacore have state limits.