The rain hasn’t dampened the spirts of the Cape Cod fishermen enjoying the excellent freshwater fishing happening this week.
The week kicked off with a monster weigh-in at Red Top Sporting Goods on Sunday. Paul Ruszala weighed an 8-pound, 6-ounce bass. The fish was caught on a soft-plastic worm. Paul kept the fish alive in an aerated tank and released it after the weigh-in.
AJ reported some good crappie, bass, and pickerel action at ponds on and just off the Cape. Jacob and Bill from the shop had pickerel to 3.5 pounds this week, along with some nice calico bass. Trout fishing is also excellent, with brown trout turning up in angler’s catches this week said AJ.
AJ had heard of some herring in the Middleboro run, but nothing on the Cape just yet.
Trout fishing was also the talk at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth. Jim had heard of rainbows to 18 inches being caught in upper cape ponds, and said the trout being stocked this spring seemed to be larger than average. He also said all of the Upper Cape ponds have been stocked at least twice, and there seemed to be quite a few brook trout stocked this season.
Bill at Sports Port said the ponds were busy on Sunday with fishermen looking for trout. Hamlins and Shubael were two of the better spots this week, Bill reported. He hadn’t heard much about largemouths, but said a few customers had been coming in buying large shiners—most likely looking for bass and pickerel.
Not much word on holdover stripers lately. The holdover fishing stayed good until February, but shut down by Valentines Day. If you want to give it a shot, try deeper holes in the South Side bays and estuaries on a dropping tide.
The only real saltwater news this week came from Canal Bait and Tackle, where Jeff reported tautog to 6 pounds being caught in the Canal. Jeff said clams had been working on these early-spring blackfish, and he mentioned the Scusset Fish Pier as one of the likely places to get a bite. AJ at Red Top and Bill at Sports Port did mention that they would be bringing in green crabs soon, but you don’t have to wait that long. Many old-timers prefer “soft” baits like clams and seaworms for early-spring tautog.
Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
There are some 60-degree days in next week’s forecast, and this weekend doesn’t look too bad, either. The trout bite is a slam dunk on spoons, small jigs, spinners, nightcrawlers or PowerBait. It’s a great time to try fly-fishing or introduce someone to it, as the trout are close to shore and willing to bite a variety of streamers and nymphs.
Beast of a bass. Appreciate the release
i thought it was unlawful to transport live fresh water fish ?
Relax. Would you rather he killed it to hang on a wall? That bass will produce many babies. So does that mean stocking trucks are lawbreakers? What about bass tournaments? Relax,he did the right thing and gets some recognition. Good for him!!
Seriously! He did it all right, no big deal
I’m with Dave. Well done, Mr. Ruszala. You have our respect.
There is no doubt that most anglers would prefer to transport the fish alive to weigh and release afterwards. But the fact is he broke the law end of story. The stocking trucks comment was idiotic. The law should be amended for weighing in fish. Can we trust all anglers to release the fish where it was caught? I say no.
A lot of fishermen weigh in fish alive to be released back to their home waters. It could be it was the only way to he had verify his catch for an awards pin. At least he didn’t kill a valuable trophy. I agree the law should be changed for this purpose. However, I don’t agree that my comment was idiotic you pious cur.
By law you are allowed to transport bait fish for personal use.
Who’s to say he wasn’t going to live line it for Bluegills ?
Case dismissed.
This guy needs to calm down. Good for the guy that caught it and safely returned it to it’s home in good shape. Maybe another lucky guy catch it when it’s even bigger.
Herring on the Cape… witnessed on Wednesday
So let’s talk truths instead of patting each other on the back. That bass is dead now, a 8lb lar in the north east is a old fart, like 90 in dumb ass human years. It’s also the end of winter, the time of year when the least ammount of forage is around. he gone! All for what? A pin! Ha what a bunch of googans! So to recap, way to long of a fight probably 6 7 minutes, about 20 hero photos, put it in a cooler and use a straw to blow bubbles until u get to the tackle store, take it out of the water again, more hero photos in the store, put it on a tuna scale and then drive back to the pond and release it. Good stuff! Man I wish I had a bunch of pins! I could have been a star!
Completely unrelated to this report, but does anyone know around what time the mako’s normally show up south of the vineyard?
Thanks
Any word on squid in or around Falmouth area? Thanks! !
Why bother doing all that, take pic, weigh, release, who cares if people don’t believe you. You caught it and you had fun. That pic speaks for itself.
Nice catch….
Anyone heard of flounder being caught around Onset yet?
Thanks!
What an A Rod
What A Rod