Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Report 12-22-2011

Happy New Year – The next Fishing Forecast will be published on Thursday, January 5, 2012.

It certainly didn’t feel like the first day of winter when I was wading around Peter’s Pond in Sandwich this morning. The air temperature was a relatively balmy 50 degrees when I hopped out of my truck and birds were singing, flies were hatching  and trout were rising. Unfortunately, my spoons were unable to lure any of the trout away from the carpet of flies in the surface film, and I was forced to play the role of spectator this morning. It was a stark contrast to the afternoon Chris Megan and I spent on Cliff Pond on Sunday. The hills surrounding the pond were sporting a fresh coating of snow, we were sporting multiple layers of warm clothing and our rods and reels were sporting icicles from the 19-degree wind chill.
While the weather roller coaster has been beneficial to anglers sneaking in a few more days of fishing in comfort, the hardwater hopefuls are cursing this Christmas heat wave. The 10-Day forecast doesn’t dip below the 40s, so it’s not looking good for ice before 2012.
The open water trout fishing was tapering off a bit, but this mild weather may give it a shot in the arm. Chris Parisi from Bad Fish Outfitters caught a broodstock salmon in Peter’s Pond this week. He said trout action has been good as well. The fish are hitting both spoons and live shiners.
Cliff Pond produced several stout rainbows for Chris Megan over the weekend. On the cold, overcast day, a Chartreuse Rough Rider spoon outfished all other offerings.
Anglers are still catching largemouth bass. Coldwater presentations such as jerkbaits are getting the most bites with the bass. Mixing in with the bucketmouths have been some impressive pickerel. Four-pound-plus chain pickerel have been attacking jerkbaits and other lures. The picks are much more aggressive in the cold water than the bass.
Vertical jigging smallmouths is still producing fish as well. Blade baits, jigging spoons and the Sebile Spin Shad are all worth a try. Use your electronics to find concentrations of the smallies hanging over structure in 35 to 50 feet of water.
There are still a few mackerel hanging around the East End of the Canal, and anglers throwing small metals and teasers might be able to catch a few of these tiger-striped bullets. Small pollock and maybe even small cod could mix in under the schools of macks.
Speaking of surprises, putting in some time at Scorton Creek could  turn up either a school-sized striper or a sea-run brown. There aren’t many places in the world where that combo is a possibility. Be forewarned, the sea-runs are a real long shot, but this is the time of year any trout that have survived the salt would be returning to the creek. These fish are wary, so use fluorocarbon and small, realistic presentations.

Best Bets for the Weekend
Don’t waste the holidays wishing for ice. Get out and get fishing in the mild winter weather. In the cooler water temperatures, stickbaits like the Rapala Countdown, Jointed Rapala and Yo Zuri Pins Minnow begin to outfish spoons. This is because the stickbaits can be retrieved slowly, which is more appealing to the sluggish coldwater fish. Bait is a good option as well, and shiners continue to work well.
There’s no telling how many salmon are left in each pond of the 12 stocked last week, but there are at least a few. Your options for targeting these fish is to either cover lots of water casting lures, or sit in one place with live bait and hope one cruises by. Either way, fishing for 1 of 12 fish in a 150- to 300-acre pond is a long shot.
New Fishing Forecasts will return in 2012, maybe with some news of ice fishing, maybe not. Either way, Merry Christmas and good fishing.