Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Report 3-1-2012

I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way right up front: There are striped bass being caught on the Cape. Right now. And while these are technically “holdover” fish – striped bass that didn’t migrate south for the winter, for some reason – they aren’t the winter holdovers that we’re used to reporting on this time of year.

It’s no secret that every winter, striped bass, typically small “schoolies,” hold over through the winter  in deep pockets of marshy creeks and rivers on the Cape. As the water warms in March, these fish become more active and will hit a slow-moving jig or Clouser Minnow.  Well, this winter, in the last week of February, we’ve heard verified reports of striped bass up to 29 pounds being caught in a few locations around the Cape and South Coast.  There was even a report of a couple of stripers caught – get this – in the Cape Cod Canal.

Let’s start with that 29-pounder. According to the folks at Goose Hummock, where it was weighed in on February 24, the fish was caught by an angler who has been targeting holdover bass all winter in certain backwaters of the Cape. A couple of teen-sized holdover stripers were also reported this week by angler and OTW Contributor Roy Leyva of Riverview Bait and Tackle in Yarmouth.  Roy caught the fish in a “brackish waterbody” on the Cape that’s connected to the ocean. Then, on Tuesday the 28th, Roy the fishing fanatic decided to try tossing a Butterfly Jig in the Cape Cod Canal to see if he could catch an elusive “cod from shore.”  Roy claims that instead of cod, he was shocked to catch a small pollock and two small stripers. As I told him on the phone, there won’t be another schoolie striper for the rest of the year that gets fishermen as excited as the ones he caught Tuesday!

There is one big reason, I think, for these remarkable reports. It is, of course, the mild winter weather. Warm temperatures have the striped bass – and also the anglers – much more active than what is typical for late February.

While this is all exciting stuff, the fact of the matter is that searching for and actually catching holdover stripers on the Cape is still a low-percentage fishery. Likely locations include river systems and salt ponds, particularly ones that offer some deep water and perhaps even fresh water in their far upper reaches. However, as it would seem based on those two schoolies caught in the Canal, water temperatures may be warm enough that some of these fish are already moving out of typical holdover locations and perhaps poking around more open waters to feed.

If you’re looking for a fishing opportunity that offers a higher percentage of success, you can follow Roy’s lead – even after his remarkable success catching holdover stripers, he chose to head out Wednesday morning before the snow started falling and target bass and pickerel, catching about 20 fish in a couple hours, including a monster 6-pound, 14-ounce gator pickerel that hit a Sebile Magic Swimmer. The pickerel and bass fishing is excellent right now. Jerkbaits, like the Rapala Husky Jerk, Smithwick Rattlin Rogue, Lucky Craft and others, fished with short jerks and long  pauses, are proving deadly on largemouths and pickerel. Shiners under floats are also taking fish, and as far as which ponds to target, you might consider checking out any freshwater pond that has an active herring run…

In the past week, river herring have been reported in several runs around the Cape. As these remarkable baitfish make their way in from the sea into freshwater to spawn, they tend to get the biggest bass and pickerel in the ponds all excited. Some of the biggest bass of the year are caught in the month of March – check out Andy Nabreski’s article in the March issue of On The Water for more details on why, where and how.

Out at the Hook Up in Orleans, shop-manager Dan was looking forward to getting the cast off his foot and continuing the road to recovery that will put him back on the water and fishing, hopefully soon. In the meantime, he’s been forced to listen to reports of excellent bass and pickerel fishing without being able to get out and experience it himself. Trout fishing has been slow, said Dan, but that should change soon as rumor among the shops is that the stocking trucks will start rolling sometime next week!

Over at Bad Fish Outfitters, Chris had just returned from some time chasing striped bass and trout in western Connecticut. Chris was excited about the start of trout-stocking season and loading up the Falmouth shop with small metal lures and other goodies for targeting trout in the Cape ponds.

 

Best Bets

Reports and photos of holdover stripers are exciting, but a much better bet this weekend is to get out and chase the big pickerel and largemouth bass that are getting more and more active as the sun stays in the sky a little longer with each passing day and warms the shallow waters of the Cape ponds. Try shiners, jerkbaits, or small Senkos allowed to sink slowly. If you know of a pond with an active herring run, it’s worth a shot as big bass and pickerel will be salivating over the influx of big baitfish. Also, get your trout gear ready, because the stocking trucks should start rolling soon.