Cape Cod Fishing Report - March 2, 2017

The last few days of February brought remarkable warmth and quite a few fishermen got out and took advantage of the open-water fishing opportunities. The forecast is a bit more seasonable now, with lows dipping below freezing this weekend. However, days are getting longer, the sun is getting stronger, and we already have a head start on spring.

Terrestrial life is reacting to the mild weather – spring peepers have already started singing at night in the marshes, and you’ve probably seen the spring flower bulbs already pushing up through the soil. There have been reports of river herring entering streams in Rhode Island, so it’s time to start checking the local runs here on the Cape. I would expect the first osprey sighting any day now, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the trout-stocking trucks start making the rounds next week.

Last Saturday would have been a nice day for late May on the Cape. Before the wind picked up and rain moved in later in the afternoon, I hit an Upper Cape bog pond under sunny skies and had decent action on largemouth bass. The key was switching from slow cold-water presentations that I thought would work to a Rat-L Trap cranked at a good clip across shallow weeds. I heard that later in the day, as the weather changed, activity picked up significantly.

Shallower ponds seem to have the better action right now for bass and pickerel. Pick up some live shiners at Eastmans in Falmouth, Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore, or Sports Port in Hyannis – a live shiner fished under a float is almost unbeatable this time of year. Productive bass lures include Senkos, Original Floating Rapalas, shallow-diving crankbaits, and lipless crankbaits.

Although the trout stocking hasn’t started yet, deeper kettle ponds like Peters Pond in Sandwich and Grews Pond in Falmouth still have good numbers of holdover trout. Spoons, stickbaits, and small jigs are working best on trout. A live worm on the bottom or under a float will also work.

Keep an eye on the daily updates on the MassWildlife Website as ice-free pond access will let hatchery workers get a head start on stocking this year, and they typically start with the ponds in our region.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

After the weather we’ve been enjoying, this weekend will feel downright cold. Take advantage of the time to get your freshwater fishing gear in order. Next week’s warmup will provide more opportunities to get out for bass and pickerel, and you’ll want to have your trout gear ready to go in case the stocking trucks start delivering the first round of rainbows.