Cape Codders got their first taste of winter this week with a few inches of snow and some single-digit wind chills. But daytime temperatures will be climbing back into the 40s through the weekend, leaving anglers no excuse not to hit the water to catch their first fish of the year.
It’s unlikely that Cape anglers will be fishing through the ice this weekend—or next, if you believe the 10-Day forecast—but open freshwater continues to produce trout, pickerel, and largemouth bass. Even smallies are still biting for anglers able to find their deeperwater hangouts.
For largemouth, pickerel, and brown trout, shiners were the hot ticket this week. Browns are still cruising close to shorelines, of the larger trout ponds. Casting out live shiners and playing the waiting game is the best bet for hooking up. For largemouths and pickerel, smaller ponds are more likely to produce action. Fish may be more active in the late afternoons, after the sun has had a chance to warm the water all day.
Freshwater isn’t the only show in town. Fishermen are still jigging the occasional mackerel in the East End of the Canal according to the report from Red Top. The cod fishing has also been good at Coxes Ledge. While it’s mostly Rhode Island-based boats that fish there in the winter, it’s definitely within range of Cape Cod fishermen. On January 1, I fished Coxes with Captain Willy Hatch on the Machaca. You can read that full report HERE.
Cod are being caught in good numbers on both bait and jigs, but as the water cools, Willy advised that jigs would become less productive. Most of the codfish are between 18 and 24 inches, with a big fish pushing 30 inches. The limit on cod south of Cape Cod is 10 fish per day with a minimum size of 22 inches.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The seas look favorable for a cod trip on Saturday, whether that means road-tripping to Rhode Island for a headboat trip or hopping aboard a charter or private boat on the Cape. Count on using clams, but bring some jigs along as well.
In freshwater, shiners are a sure thing for pickerel and bass, and will give you a better than average chance at hooking a big brown. For the more abundant rainbows, small spoons, jigs, or spinners will get bites. Keep retrieve-speeds slow as this cold snap has dropped water temperatures, which will make the fish a little more lethargic than they had been.