Cape Cod Fishing Report - November 17, 2016

Small stripers, blackfish, and bluefin continue to be the extent of the saltwater scene on Cape Cod. Jeff at Forestdale Bait and Tackle heard of a keeper bass caught in the Canal on a jig last weekend, but all the other fish he’s hearing about have been about 15 inches. The same size as many of the trout being caught at the ponds around the Cape.

Jeff reported lots of active trout at Peters and Mashpee-Wakeby ponds. Down-Cape ponds like Cliff, Sheeps, and Bakers are producing trout as well. The fish are getting a little more picky about what they will strike. Bait is the top option right now during the day, Jeff said. Rainbows up to 17 inches are hitting shiners, PowerBait, and nightcrawlers. Browns have been hitting better after dark, also on bait. That said, I caught four brown trout on Monday night using small jigs and jointed stickbaits. The biggest was about 17 inches, but Eddy Stahowiak lost a much larger fish.

The trout have been feeding on prolific hatches in the mornings and through the day on cloudy days. Some fishermen have had good success on dry flies with both browns and rainbows. Nymphs are also working.

Largemouth bass fishing is excellent. The bass are feeding aggressively as the water temperatures drop. A common misconception is that you have to fish bass lures slowly in falling temperatures, but ripping a spinnerbait or lipless crankbait is a red hot tactic right now. Eddy Stahowiak and I caught 20 bass in the hour before work this morning doing just that.

The bass are holding along weed edges in 5 to 10 feet of water. In ponds with a herring run, the low-water conditions have trapped the herring fry, making easy pickins for the resident bass and panfish. Fishing a windblown shoreline with a floating Rapala in white is a great way to catch a mixed bag of largemouth, smallmouth, yellow perch, and white perch in these ponds.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

The tog season should last a little longer, so getting green crabs and anchoring over a rockpile is a good strategy for getting the main ingredient in a delicious tog chowder. In freshwater, you can’t go wrong whether targeting big pond trout or small pond bass. Stay on the move in freshwater. Both the bass and trout and grouped up now, feeding on schooling baitfish or hatching insects.