Of all the weather conditions ice-fishing hopefuls were looking for, torrential rain had to be last or second to last, lagging behind only “heat wave” as the worst possible ice-building weather. But the storm did have some benefits. Anglers venturing out in the rain and wind this morning were rewarded with early-biting trout.
The more I pay attention to it, the more I’m beginning to buy into the whole high pressure/bad fishing, low pressure/good fishing theory. This weekend for instance had still winds, bluebird skies, and downright lousy fishing. On Saturday, I did a lap around Cliff Pond, casting the entire way (all 2.6 miles of shoreline), looking for just one hungry trout. I never found it. I didn’t get so much as a sniff. From the sound of it, Dan at the Hook Up in Orleans, who fished Cliff on Sunday, had much the same results, landing only one small perch for his effort.
This morning however, in weather that would drive most anglers to pull up the covers and sleep in, a report found via Facebook indicated that the trout were just about blitzing today. I believe it. Some of the most phenomenal trout fishing I’ve heard about has taken place in downright dismal conditions. These conditions should continue until Friday morning if anyone wants to test my theory. The weekend lows are going to be frigid, and skim ice may very well remove the option of open-water angling for a while.
Dan hopes these temperatures in the teens will form a base for safe ice to finally form. But the 10-Day Forecast predicts more rain and temperatures in the 40s early next week.
Chris at Falmouth Bait and Tackle isn’t optimistic about safe ice on Cape Cod this year. He said that anglers focusing their efforts on open water are catching a couple salmon and some nice-sized brown trout.
Even warm-water fisheries are producing. Though the water is frigid, the largemouth bass are responding well to certain presentations. Just go slow. Chris suggested drop-shotting as the top technique, though suspending jerkbaits should work as well. Just be prepared to sit out painfully long pauses in order to get the bite.
In the ponds that have them, crappie should be biting as well. Pickerel are probably the most reliable option currently. Shiners and jerkbaits will work for these fish, but beware of their teeth, which can easily and quickly relieve you of an expensive lure.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Saturday looks cold, but manageable. Take a look for trout or see if you can find some bass or pickerel by slowing swimming jerkbaits. Sunday may be a better day to sit inside and hope the ice takes hold. If you can swing it, hitting a trout pond Friday morning may be the best bet of all. Throw spoons or small stickbaits, or if you have the patience, dunk shiners.
i fished peters pond on wed. and caught a beautiful pin size browny and cliff and sheeps have been producing a decent trout bite just gotta put in the time and dont be affraid to walk the shoreline . i caught my big brown in first 10 min of fishing and nothing else for 2 1/2 hours.. ill be heading out sat morning in search of big browns and maybe a salmon or two .. tight lines everyone
That’s awesome John. Congrats. How big was the brown? Any pictures? Send them over and I’ll use them in this week’s forecast. What did it hit?