Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Report 12-8-2011

You couldn’t have asked for warmer weather in the first week of December than we had this week. The question remains whether or not anyone got out and took advantage of it. I’ll admit it, when I saw the weekend forecast, I fled the Cape for the Salmon River to sneak in one last steelhead trip before the bitter cold settled in for the Long Haul. So what happened on Cape?

Cape Cod Canal

Carl Johanneson, local fishing legend stopped into the OTW office today. His word on the Canal was a few mackerel, most coming from the tip of the East End jetties, but a few venturing into the Ditch as far as Joe’s Lobster Mart.

Christmas Tree Rigs and Sabiki’s are the top choice for the macks, and may entice a small pollock as well.

Striped Bass

Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle heard of a few stripers being pulled out of the Weweantic River on the other side of the Canal. The fish are small, but if you still want to catch stripers, they are there. Use small baits, and I recommend pinching your barbs in order to do minimal damage to the juvenile bass.

Smelt

Though a bit of a ride from the Cape, Quincy is seeing a good smelt bite in recent days (nights). The small tasty fish don’t provide much sport, but they are supposed to be delicious. Maybe I’ll find out for myself this winter.

Bass

Deepwater suspended smallmouths are providing fast action when anglers can find them. Looking for schools of fish over deep structure with your electronics is the ticket. Drop down a blade bait or jigging spoon, and you’ll be in business.

Falmouth Bait and Tackle weighed in a 6-plus-pound largemouth (which was kept alive and released) that came from an undisclosed Upper Cape pond. The largemouths have extended their activity with this unseasonably warm weather, and anglers are still catching them in decent numbers.

Glen Gary is pumping out some nice largemouths as well according to the Red Top crew.

Trout

It’s just finally getting cold enough for the big bruiser trout to move tight to the banks and go on the feed said Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle. He expects the current leader in their trout tournament, a 2.6-pounder, to fall in the coming weeks.

Christian’s theory was supported by Dan at the Hook Up in Orleans who had a great day of trout fishing on Sunday topped off by a 3-plus-pound rainbow trout. All of the fish were quality size, Dan said, and a few even bigger trout followed in his lures and baits without striking. Shiners were the hot ticket, but metal spoons got some action as well.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Red Top is still running their Christmas sale, right up to the 25^th, so if you have some items you need to stock up for next season, now is a good time to do so.

Some live shiners or mummichogs fished in a local trout pond seems like the most enticing option this weekend. With the big trout turning on, I think this would be tough to beat.

But, if you have a boat and some sharp electronics, doing some prospecting for the motherlode of suspended smallies would be a good bet for fast action also.