The 10-day forecast is showing no ice-making weather, so Cape Cod fishermen will continue to enjoy excellent open water fishing this coming weekend.
Bass are biting well, as are pickerel in the recently re-opened small ponds around the Cape. Shiners are a slam dunk for action, but lures are also working. Look to suspending jerkbaits for the bass. Even though the air temperatures are mild, the water is still frigid, so an erratically worked jerkbait with long pauses may be needed to wake up the bass. Another coldwater favorite is the Senko, allowed to fall slowly to the bottom. Blade baits and lipless crankbaits also trigger reaction bites from cold-stunned bass. Small soft plastics on jigheads are also catching bass.
Pickerel are striking the same lures as bass, but they’ll also hit a swim jig or paddletail swimbait, and the single hook makes it much easier to deal with the pickerel’s teeth.
Trout are biting very well on the same assortment of spinners, spoons, jigs, and stickbaits that have been working for the past few weeks. Fly-fishermen are having the best luck with streamers and Wooly Buggers.
Perch are biting well, although few anglers bother targeting these panfish when the ponds are open. Target them in the same areas you would through the ice in a small boat or kayak, using small jigs or minnows. The largest yellow perch of the year are taken in mid-winter, ice or not.
Off Cape, options include cod off Rhode Island, and ice in western Massachusetts, but even that ice may be growing unstable with the extended mild temperatures.
Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
Hit a large pond for trout or a small pond for bass and pickerel, but don’t forget about the monster perch that can be caught this time of year.
Any tips for a fishing a small 25 acre pond that is the same depth throughout the whole pond, which is right only about 4-5ft due to drought, there’s no drop offs or and major structure. Bottom is just muck and weeds throughout. Regardless it’s loaded with bass and I catch them one after another in non winter weather, trying to figure out how to catch them when the water is cold. Are the fish in the muck? When I’m out in my kayak I can see tons of holes, kinda looks like a tunnel starting, is that where the bass go? It’s like an ant farm maze, just for fish. Any help thanks
The phish bee tunneling jeb! Got tos scare em out so dey can eat my senko dagnabbit. Dem bass sure r smart eeeehhhhweeee. I seen em wit shovels and jackhammers just yesterday starting a new tunnel. Dey even had pickerel directing traffic dem sons of guns. No wonder I can’t catch em dey buildin a new under ground city! Out smarted again I knew I should have just stuck to gum chooin.
Another example of the benefits of legal grass.
The fish are moving very slowly, looking for Good thermoclines (oxygenated water), they could be on the bottom or suspended…Also near a food source (structure, vegatation, and near moving water if available. I like to use a fly, catch some small perch and bluegill, put them on a big hook, and hold on. Good luck, and remember that in the cold weather slow and easy wins the lunker. Tight lines.