Just about every week, I’ve predicted the upcoming weekend as the last one for ice fishing on Cape Cod. I’m pretty sure I mean it this week. Ice on the Cape’s freshwaters is starting to soften up and, on some of the larger ponds, the edges are receding, but if you go looking for it, you’ll still be able to find fishable ice this weekend.
The larger ponds in Nickerson State Park have about 15 feet of open water reported the crew at Goose Hummock. Ice is slowly, but surely loosening its grip on these ponds. Even some of the small ponds down Cape have open water along the edges. Shaded ponds are still locked up tight with 8 to 10 inches of ice, but ponds that get a good dose of sunlight are in the process of icing out.
On the ice, the crew at Goose Hummock reported that fishermen are jigging up good-sized brown trout and smallmouth bass. Wequaquet continues to produce the occasional pike for fishermen soaking large live baits under tip-ups.
Wide open water is few and far between on Cape Cod right now. A crew from the OTW office found a fishable bit of thawed water by looking for areas that had good moving water. We dunked shiners and found a handful of willing bass. According to the guys at Red Top, fishermen are also finding limited open water in Wareham.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Given the forecast (which includes more snow) fishermen will have an easier time finding fishable ice than open water this weekend. The ice is getting soft, and this can be a very dangerous time of year to ice fish, so be sure to have all of the necessary safety gear and never go alone. Bring some shiners and jigs. Jigging has been the hot ticket this winter, with many big bass and perch falling to tiny ice jigs.