With very little fresh information on the fishing front, I took a look at the reports from this week last year. In late Feb, 2011, ice fishing was just wrapping up on the Cape. The OTW crew finished their ice season with an unsuccessful nighttime crappie mission. Many lakes were in limbo with not enough ice to stand on but enough ice to hinder casting from shore.
This year, ice fishing didn’t happen at all on Cape Cod, which for many was a downside, but the upside is that the open-water fishing remained an option. And for anglers willing to try, the fish are there and biting.
A couple species that guys go crazy for when catching through the ice, but don’t pay much mind to in open water are the panfish – perch, crappie and bluegills.
I had a fun day on Saturday catching these smaller, scrappy fighters, though I must admit, I only targeted them when the bass fishing proved difficult. A tiny jig, much like the ones used ice fishing, did the damage. I had my kayak out and would occasionally drift over schools of bluegills or perch and the hookups would come on every cast. For some pictures of the trip, check out the full report on the Fishing On The Job blog.
The lethargic largemouths still ate a slowly presented Senko worm, and had I brought some live shiners, I probably would have had much better action. On Wednesday, Roy Leyva from Riverview Bait and Tackle
Pickerel are active as well, and the best bet at the moment is live shiners, though a jerkbait might get some attention as well.
The trout bite is holding on at the larger ponds. Bait is best, and probably will be until the water warms up a bit.
Though the bluewater season seems a long way off, before you know it, you’ll be dragging spreader bars or running and gunning at busting bluefin tuna. To help the off-season pass even faster, check out the Big Game Bash on February 24 and 25 at the Marriott Hotel in Quincy. With 24 Vendors and information packed seminars, this year’s event looks like the next best thing to being on the (blue) water.
Best Bets for the Weekend
This week’s fishing forecast suffered from a lack of angler effort. The largemouths are biting, and hitting jerkbaits, crankbaits, Senko worms and shiners.
The cold water is bringing the big brown trout up to the surface and into shallow water, where they are much more likely to find your live shiner or slowly fished stickbait. Head to a trout pond and try for one of these big holdovers.
Or you could always visit OTW at the New England Boat Show in Boston this weekend and start, renew or extend your subscription to On The Water magazine and get your Hogy Gift Pack.
The trout bite has been decent on the south shore & cape . Picking up 2 – 6 rainbows on 4 hour trips . Last Tue resulted in one trout and one 10 Lb. salmon ! You never know, unless you go !
Salt water may not be as far off as some may think, I happened to be down in Middleboro on sat. and herring are already all the way up to Rt 44 at Oliver mills.