The crew at the Sandwich Hatchery was busy this week, delivering trout to the ponds around Cape Cod. Rainbows and brookies made up the first batches of trout, with most ponds receiving one or the other, and a couple receiving both.
I saw a few of the freshly stocked rainbows first hand on Wednesday night. The fish had just been stocked a couple hours before and had yet to rediscover their appetites. They followed many lures to the bank, but they only committed to jigs. The fish were healthy and beautiful, and made a big impression on my one-and-a-half-year-old daughter who chanted “fshhhh” the whole way home in celebration of the catch.
As those trout acclimate, they’ll quickly get on the feed, at which point, spoons, spinners, stickbaits, flies, and baits will begin working.
There were also a few impressive holdovers taken this week. Bill at Sports Port said one of his regulars caught an 18-inch brown trout on a big shiner. This customer, Bill said, prefers the larger shiners for trout, and has used them to catch several big browns over the winter.
Some large holdover rainbows were taken in Ashumet Pond reported Jim at Eastman’s Bait and Tackle. Ashumet doesn’t receive stockings of browns because of concerns over the water quality, and this keeps the competition down for rainbows, allowing them to grow to large sizes in the pond. Ashumet was one of the ponds that received two stockings this week.
Stan at Red Top was busy getting ready for the New England Saltwater Fishing Show in Providence, Rhode Island this weekend. He said the cold weather had slowed some of the freshwater fishing, and the wind had discouraged many anglers from going out and giving it a shot. Still, he said, some bass and trout are being caught.
And some pickerel. A group from OTW soaked shiners after work on Friday and caught a mix of bass, perch, and pickerel. Andy Nabreski had the hot hand, catching a 5-pound bass and a big pickerel.
Unfortunately, winter is resuming its regularly scheduled programming this weekend and early next week, with snow coming Friday, below-freezing temperatures for several consecutive days, and as much as a foot of snow forecasted early next week.
Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
Friday morning will be prime time to wet a line before the cold takes hold again. Still, whenever you can get out and hit the trout ponds, you’ll have a good chance at tangling with a freshly stocked brookie or rainbow. You can see a full list of the ponds that have been stocked HERE.
Also, if the cold leaves you doing more wishing than fishing, you can catch us at the Saltwater Show in Providence, or on TV Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. This week’s episode showcases a trip to the canyons to target tilefish. For a video on some fishing a little closer to home, check out our OTW Short: Ice Breakers, on late-winter pickerel fishing around Cape Cod.
I am new to the area, even though when I was a kid I was raised here in Wareham. I purchased my first set up at Red Top. I am very grateful for your publication. Thank you.
also hold over stripers have been being active and being caught with flies. this cold front coming in might turn the bite off .the key areas have been tidal creeks with deep holes. Cape Cod is all I’m going to give for a location…..