A lot of fishermen are buzzing about the New England Saltwater Fishing Show taking this place in Providence, Rhode Island, and a number of the shops I hoped to glean some fishing information from had already packed up their wares and headed sound to display them in Rhode Island.
The recent mild temperatures in conjunction with news of the first round of trout stocking – which took place early this week – had anglers thinking about fishing this week. Unfortunately the gusting winds waylaid many of these plans. But the freshly stocked trout have been eager to bite in their new homes around the Cape. Andy Nabreski, OTW Design Manager and Fishaholic, gave a couple of the stockies a proper welcome with a Thomas Buoyant spoon cast and work slowly in an Upper Cape Pond. Other anglers reported very fast action on the trout with PowerBait fished near the bottom. This bait is so effective on the newly stocked fish, it’s almost cheating. I’ve had outing where the smelly Powerbait barely has time to sink before it gets scarfed up by a passing trout.
As effective as the Powerbait is on rainbows, it’s somewhat less effective on browns and brookies, which respond better to natural baits or artificial. According to the reports I’ve been getting, the first round of stocking was rainbows, some nice sized ones.
The largemouth and pickerel fishing is still going strong. Roy Leyva, at Riverview Bait and Tackle in South Yarmouth, has been catching good numbers of the bass on jerkbaits and crankbaits. He also recently caught a monster 6-pound, 14-ounce pickerel.
Big perch are still being caught in deeper water, but it won’t be long before these fish invade the shallows and spawn.
Of course, the easiest bets to catch pickerel, bass or perch will be a live shiner suspended under a float. But wait until the wind subsides before trying this method, as bobber fishing and windy days presents a challenge as the bait gets blown back into shore or along the shoreline.
Holdover stripers are being caught as well. Word spread like wildfire about last week’s 29-pounder, but some other school-sized fish have been caught since. Look to rivers and harbors and tidal creeks for the wintering over bass. The back of large salt ponds or bays may also have some fish.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Trout should be easy pickins this weekend given the recent stock. Check the Massachusetts DMF site for the information about what ponds were stocked. While I don’t know the total list at the moment, you can bet Peter’s, Cliff, Sheep and Hamlin’s all got fish.
Next up would be the largemouth and pickerel. A kayak, canoe or johnboat will open up a lot of ponds with limited shoreline access, but the Cape has a number of ponds with shorelines that can be easily navigated on foot. Shiners provided the best chance of success, but anglers itching to toss lures and cover more water will do better with suspending jerkbaits and even shallow-diving crankbaits in some of the shallower ponds.
For the holdover stripers, while Dan from Chatham is catching them on eels, this is not a high-percentage approach to the usually small wintering stripers on the Cape. Small plugs like the Sebile Stick Shadd, Bomber or Redfin, or soft plastics like Hogys or Slug-Go’s on jigheads. Fish them slow, as the water is very cold.
Also, if you’ll be attending the New England Saltwater Fishing Show, don’t forget to come by and say hello at the On The Water Booth, where you can renew, extend or start your subscription and receive a Hogy Lures gift pack. We’ll also be signing people up for the Striper Cup and giving out the sign-up package which includes a Striper Cup T-Shirt, Striper Cup Pin, Sebile Lure and spool of Spiderwire braided line.