This winter isn’t letting up, but Cape fishermen aren’t letting that get them down. Some beautiful fish hit the ice this week, and with the high temperatures in the 10-day forecast mostly below freezing, you better believe we’ll be ice-fishing well into March this year.
For Dan Jones at Goose Hummock, this is fantastic news. Dan said the ice on Monday was still good and thick, even after Sundays rain and warm temperatures. He and some friends had an impromptu tournament on a mid-Cape pond, with the Jimmy Fazio catching the winning largemouth at 5.8 pounds. Other fishermen caught big pickerel and a few 4-pound bass.
Elsewhere on the Cape, Sheeps Pond continues to produce, with not only trout but largemouth bass. Fishermen using small jigs are catching good numbers of panfish. One angler caught several pin-sized bluegills through the ice. Yellow perch are also plentiful, and fishermen are drilling a number of holes and moving around until they locate a school, at which point they lower jigs and catch big numbers of these colorful panfish.
With less snow, more fishermen are hitting the ice, said AJ at Red Top. The Red Top scales have seen a little action this week with fishermen checking in a few 1-pound crappie and a beautiful 4-pound rainbow trout. A rainbow that size is big enough for a state pin.
Todd at Falmouth Bait and Tackle said the shop has been moving plenty of shiners to fishermen plying the Upper Cape ponds.
Best Bets for the Weekend
A lot of the buzz around the Cape tackle shops this week is about the New England Saltwater Fishing Show taking place in Providence this weekend. This is a great place to escape the cold, talk fishing, and pick up some odds and ends before the fishing season gets started.
The ice fishing continues to be hot here on Cape Cod, so pick up some shiners, rig up your jigging rod and get out there. Small ponds are producing the best action for pickerel and largemouths, while the larger, deeper ponds offer a good shot at trout and even smallmouth bass.