Cape Cod Fishing Report - December 1, 2016

It’s mighty warm for the first week in December, but the fishermen aren’t complaining. Trout, bass, pickerel, and perch are all feeding well, and this warm spell is making it pleasant to be outside.

If you’re looking to keep the rod bending all day long, yellow perch are the ticket. The perch are schooled along the banks of kettle ponds right now, eating nearly anything that crosses their path. I had a tough time getting away from the perch one morning this week when I had actually set out looking for trout. Eventually I took a “if you can’t beat them…” approach, and enjoyed catching nearly two dozen of them before it was time for work. The perch were in two feet of water or less, and six at a time would follow in the lures, jockeying for a chance to strike it.

Trout fishing is a little tougher, but this time of year, the trout bite ebbs and flows with the weather conditions. A little chop on the ponds always helps put the trout in a feeding mood, as does a dropping barometer. Spoons are always successful on windy days, but they don’t work as well when the water is flat calm. On those days, a small jig or a stickbait worked slowly usually works best. Inline spinners work well on many days. Fishermen camping out with bait rods are having good success with small shiners or inflated nightcrawlers. Most reports recently have been of rainbows, but brown trout are being caught as well. Gold spoons, small jigs and stickbaits are especially effective on browns, but some holdovers will only strike bait, so if you’re serious about visiting brown town, you better break out the shiner bucket.

Largemouth fishing is very good. Small ponds actually warmed a little this week with the warm sunshine on Thursday. Shallow cranks, lipless cranks, and paddletail swimbaits are working well. Live shiners under a float are a lock for action, especially in the afternoons.

Pickerel are biting as well, but that action should continue to improve as the weeds die off. I hit a small pond at lunchtime, and the weeds were still up to the surface.  Another week of cold temperatures should open up these ponds, and make the bass and pickerel fishing even better.

This is traditionally the time of year that fishermen catch mackerel and pollock in the East End of the Canal. I haven’t heard any first-hand reports, but it’s worth a look. Small metals rigged below teasers is the best way to catch them.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

Mild conditions are continuing through the weekend, so get out and enjoy the weather and the hungry freshwater fish.