The latest round of snow and arctic temperatures hit the Cape mid-week, but before that hit, a few anglers enjoyed the recently iced-out ponds around the Cape.

One fishermen posted a mammoth Cape Cod brown trout on the On The Water Facebook Page. The pond remained undisclosed, but thankfully for the rest of us, there are a number of ponds on Cape capable of producing a 5-pound-plus brown trout—and winter is the best time to target them. Top spots for big browns include Cliff Pond, Sheep’s Pond, Baker’s Pond, Peter’s Pond, Long Pond in Plymouth and Mashpee-Wakeby. Live shiners are probably your best bet, but my three biggest Cape Cod brown trout fell to gold or gold/orange spoons, and all were caught in December or January.

Dan from The Hook Up hit Sheeps Pond with a couple friends this past Sunday together they racked up 14 trout, all on live shiners. Despite giving a good effort with lures, the trout were unwilling to hit an artificial in the cold water.

Ryan Bibeau from the On The Water office had his boat out on Peter’s Pond on Monday. He said there were no shortage of fish appearing on his fish-finder, but he couldn’t get any to bite. I fished a small pond in my kayak on Monday, and the fish there had a case of lockjaw as well. I did manage a pair of big perch on a shallow-diving crankbait.

Looking at the Forecast, there may be hope for Cape Cod ice fishing yet. Single digits on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and below-freezing temperatures nightly throughout the weekend should give the ice a chance to take hold. The water temperature in the ponds is in the 30s, so it shouldn’t take too long for them to ice over again. At the risk of being compared to a broken record, I’ll say again—check the ice and make sure there is at least 4 inches before going onto it for a day of fishing.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Keep your fingers crossed for enough ice to fish on. The fishing through the ice was great a couple weeks ago, and there’s no reason to expect any different on this go’ round. Bring some shiners for the tip-ups, but don’t forget a jigging rod for panfish. Waxworms or pieces of shiner added to the jigs will increase the odds of getting bit.