Cape Cod Fishing Report - March 24, 2016

The freshwater season is in full swing on Cape Cod. Trout are being stocked on a weekly basis and bass, pickerel and panfish are being caught in big numbers, with some quality fish in the mix.

Some of those quality fish include a pair of 1.5-pound yellow perch weighed in at Red Top. The perch are spawning right now, so it’ your best chance to catch one that pulls the needle past the 1-pound mark.

Tom at Red Top also weighed in a couple monster chain pickerel that measured more than 25 inches and weighed more than 5 pounds. Quality pickerel are being caught all over Cape Cod right now. Shiners are just about a sure thing, but the pickerel aren’t shy about striking lures like a suspending jerkbait, soft-plastic paddletail or a spinnerbait. Tom also reported that some of the Red Top crew was out fishing for largemouth bass in Wareham where they caught fish to 4 pounds.

Some very large bass have been caught in the past week, including one rumored to be larger than the state record. The alleged 16-pound largemouth was said to have been caught from a Plymouth pond. While it was photographed, instead of weighing it in, the angler ate the fish. We can’t be sure if he was unaware that the fish was exceptional in size or if he was just extremely hungry and had no time to take it for an official weigh-in. Bill at Sports Port in Hyannis had heard the rumors from a few of his customers, but has his doubts. It sounds like an early April Fool’s joke to me.

Bill did have more credible reports of big bass, including one angler who caught a couple largemouth in the 7-pound range in recent weeks using chubs, or mummichogs, as bait. Chubs are an excellent trout bait, but big bass seem to have a liking for them as well, as several years ago a 9-pound largemouth was weighed in at Red Top, and that fish was also fell for a mummichog.

The trout stocking this week reportedly included large rainbows and brook trout. Most of the larger ponds were hit, along with some of the smaller local ponds.

Southeast Massachusetts Trout Stocked Waters (Week of March 21, 2016)

Barnstable:  Shubael Pond
Brewster:  Cliff Pond, Flax Pond, Little Cliff Pond, Sheep Pond
Chatham:  Goose Pond, Schoolhouse Pond
Dennis:  Scargo Lake
Eastham: Herring Pond
Falmouth:  Ashumet Pond, Grews Pond, Mares Pond
Mashpee:  Johns Pond, Mashpee-Wakeby Pond
North Attleboro:  Falls Pond (Southern Basin) , Whitings Pond
Orleans:  Baker Pond, Crystal Lake
Plymouth:  Big Sandy Pond, Fearings Pond, Little Pond, Long Pond, Lout Pond
Rochester:  Marys Pond
Sandwich:  Peters Pond, Spectacle Pond

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

It’s prime time to bag a pig perch and a plus-size pickerel. For perch, small shiners or jigs will do the trick. They will be schooling up as they spawn, and seem to bite best at sunset. Pickerel will bite all day long, but size-up your offerings to tempt a big one. A large spinnerbait or spoon will attract strikes from pickerel, but a jumbo shiner fished under a float is a tough-to-beat tactic.