The biggest news on the Cape Cod fishing front is that the brown trout have been stocked in the Cape’s trout ponds this week. A number of anglers hooked into 16- to 20-inch browns this week according to Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle.
Brown trout can be a little trickier than your average rainbow or brookie. Unlike those species, browns won’t fall for PowerBait; at least not often. Browns are meat-eaters, and are most often fooled by live minnows, nightcrawlers or stickbaits and jigs.
The browns are joining a nice bunch of brook trout added to the Cape ponds last week. I had the good fortune of stumbling upon a school of these fresh-stocked brookies in Peter’s last Friday, and caught six of them in short order before the school moved off to parts unknown.
Largemouth bass fishing is picking up reported Stan at Red Top. As the ponds warm, bass are getting more and more active as they fatten up for the spawn. The bass we’ve been catching lately look like a lot more rounded out than the ones we were getting back in March. The biggest bass reported this week came from the Goose Hummock and their kid’s fishing derby where one girl weighed in a 7.5- and a 6-pound largemouth on consecutive days this week. In addition to those bass, the crew at the Goose also checked in a 6-pound pickerel and several large brown trout.
No word of migratory stripers yet, in fact there’s been no word of them in Rhode Island either, so it’s going to be a little bit. If you absolutely must get your striper fix, head for the Weweantic says Stan at Red Top. Holdover stripers are being caught there in decent numbers. No reports of holdovers on the Cape, but perennial spots like the Bass River, Scorton Creek and some of the South Side Bays should have a few small stripers if you want to chase them down. Odds are, any striper you find on Cape Cod right now may not be half the size of the largemouth that won the Goose Hummock kid’s derby.
But that will change soon. The herring runs around the Cape are filling up, and by the first week of May, we can expect to see some stripers lurking outside
Best Bets for the Weekend
The trout fishing just keeps getting better as more fish are stocked into the Cape ponds. With some big browns going in this week, Iwould get some shiners and some night crawlers and hit Peter’s, Cliff, Sheeps, or another one of the Cape’s large ponds to soak some bait and wait for a big brown to swim by.
Also, Sunday is the last day of the Red Top spring sale where fishermen can get 15% off all fresh and saltwater lures.
Would there be any Scup fishing next weekend (May 2nd) in Buzzards Bay. I would be trailering a boat from Hull, MA? Never fished the area before, just looking to out there..
No, way too early for scup.
How is the tog bite coming along?
Heard some dandelions are up. It might be time to take a look.
Not likely to see scup for a bit but tautog seem likely to show soon. That said, the early season scup can be good sized…often over two lbs., so keeping tuned to their progress is worthwhile.
No tautog . No black seabass . No stripers . Herring just now entering the canal and no word on scup . Im thinking 2 more weeks to get things going . Ive been scoping things out and asking fisherman for any signs and got nothing for an answer.
I do pray for all species to come back bigger and larger than ever. If everyone one goes to a catch and release for 3 whole seasons and heavy regulating on commercial fisherman . Go to the supermarket . Im really upset stripers where wiped out and this year we will see small numbers . Please pray for every single person follows the rules and allow us to enjoy fishing on every trip .
Maybe you should stop praying and find a better spot. Plenty of fish out there last year….
Wiped out? Learn how to fish!
I’m so sick of hearing everyone talk about how we have to change our fishing towards stripers. I am a commercial fishermen. Tautog and striped bass are the only thing I can expect to make more then gas money catching. It’s not the Massachusetts com. Guys causing any of this . In the Carolina ‘ they are allowed to take 100 fish per day five days a week. That’s what we take in 5 years based on current 15 fish 2 days a week.not to mention the 192 tons of poached stripers that was caught . Imagine how much wasn’t caught by fish and game. If we made stripe bass a game fish . They would raise there quota to make up for it . It’s time to put the blame were it should be . Let’s start pressuring other states into reductions before we go all high and mighty .While someone else’s is gillnetts kill hundreds of tons in a single week 192 tons to be exact and that’s 4 fishermen. That got caught.
Good post Jeremy! Gillnetter’s have always been a major part of the problem!
Kudos to you Jeremy for calling it what it is. Where there is always abundance somewhere there is suffering somewhere else and vice versa. All politics are local and it’s because of politics that the stripers are getting wiped out before they even get here. They are a hearty fish though and can make another comeback as they have before. Let’s petition the government and do what it takes to make this happen. All on board!!
Problem in N.C. is that the fisheries board is made up of some of the owners of these striper fishing trawlers. Talk about the cat watching the canary! The Feds need to take over and make laws that are fair and equitable for all fishermen. Some states will never go along with other states and kowtow to special interest groups. That’s why the Feds are the most intelligent way to go. One set of laws to govern all.
All the above posts hit the mark, except they left out the so called ” recreational” fisherman. Not all, but some are the only fisherman who actually rig up to catch schoolies. I have seen the jetties packed with these guys catching schoolies, ripping the hook out taking gill plates etc., banging them against the rocks, and dragging them over the sand, then cast out to catch another one. If you want the species to make a comeback, STOP CATCHING THE BABIES on purpose that cause hundreds to die. This action in my opinion is not being a sportsman.
Did a little beach fishing for stripers, “saw nothing caught nothing”
Just did a little walk at the Cape Cod Canal, one guy was fishing but I did see him catch anything, I did notice lots of crustaceans walking about