Cape Cod Fishing Report - December 21, 2017

It might be the most wonderful time of the year for most people, but not for fishermen. Every year, there’s a week or so when the ponds around the Cape are left in limbo between open water and fishable ice. Serious cold and snow late last week left a skim on the many ponds, but a mid-week warmup stopped the freezing just shy of “safe” ice – considered by most to be a minimum of 4 inches.

As happens every year, a few daredevils ventured onto 2-inches of black ice on some small ponds, but are a couple lethargic pickerel and perch really worth risking an ice bath?

Conditions like this split the Cape Cod fishing community, with some hoping for the skim ice to melt and put open-water fishing back on the table while other are hoping for more cold to thicken the ice. With tip-ups and jigging rods collecting ice the last couple winters, the Cape is due for a good ice-fishing season.

But the latest extended forecast shows a temperature rollercoaster with 50-degrees and rain this weekend, and temps in the 20s and teens around the New Year.

Right now, the best bet for action is at the larger trout ponds, where fishermen continued to catch this week. Hayden at Red Top said anglers are buying shiners to fish these waters. Bill at Sports Port said that he’d caught some fish at Hamlins and Sheeps ponds this weeks. Cliff Pond is almost definitely open, and it’s a good bet that you can find open water at Peters as well.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

The skim ice should melt over the weekend, putting the smaller bass and pickerel ponds back on the menu. But, whether or not they open up, trout are probably the best bet for action. Walking the shoreline of a big pond and slowly working a stickbait or small jig could help you connect with a big holdover brown or a solid rainbow from the most recent stocking.

Regardless of what fishing you do, be sure to take some time to look back on the 2017 season, and all the great fishing is held for anglers all over the Cape. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and we’ll catch you in 2018.