Big largemouths are stirring on the Cape. Wind and cold-weather notwithstanding, fishermen are beginning to catch quality bass with more consistency. This in addition to the big numbers of trout being continuously stocked around the Cape. With brookies and rainbows already in, this week brought brown trout to a few ponds. I even heard of a couple tiger trout taken.
Shiners and nightcrawlers have been the most popular trout baits at Canal Bait and Tackle reported Jeff. He said fishermen soaking bait at Peter’s and Spectacle have been having good luck. Salmon eggs have been catching as well. Even though a rainbow reared at Sandwich Hatchery would have never sniffed a salmon egg in their life, they are hard-wired to eat small, round, yellow or orange objects thanks to their ancestry in northwestern streams where salmon eggs meant easy, fulfilling forage throughout the summer and fall.
The crew at Red Top reported great bass and trout action at the Plymouth ponds. Both largemouth and smallmouth have been taken on jerkbaits, crankbaits, and jigs. Most of the fish are still in deeper water as our warming trends have been negated by bitter-cold nights.
Anthony Deicicchi and I each caught our biggest bass of the season in the past week, both on big swimbaits, slow rolled through open water. I won’t mention who caught the bigger one, but it wasn’t Anthony.
Like with stripers and saltwater gamefish, water temperatures aren’t the only influential factor on largemouth behavior at this time of year. Moon phases and hours of daylight play a role as well, so even though the water temperatures in our ponds are colder than normal for this time of year, the bass know that the spawning season is coming, and will be feeding accordingly.
For numbers of bass right now, it’s tough to beat a jerkbait. Pauses up to 10 seconds may be needed to trigger strikes, but once you find one fish, it’s a good bet there will be more in the area. While Rat-L-Traps were a tough-to-beat bait at this time last year, I’ve caught only a few small fish on them this spring. Shallow, squarebill cranks are fishing well, but jerkbaits have been my top producer. If you’re willing to trade quantity for quality, try a large swimbait, or a jig-and-trailer bounced down a steep-sloping shoreline.
I’ve seen more herring in the air (in the talons of ospreys) than in the water this week, but the crew at Red Top reports that Middleboro and Wareham have herring. Fisherman have also reported herring at the Mashpee Run.
One last note, the crew at Red Top reported one angler catching some stripers between 12 and 27 inches in the East End of the Canal this week. This could be a rumor, a legit report, or an April Fool’s joke that I missed the drop on. Whether or not there are bass in the Canal in catchable numbers, the bays on the South Side of the Cape have some holdovers that will be getting active as the waters warm.
Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod
Trout are sure thing, and catching rainbows, brookies, and browns is a possibility in a few different ponds right now. Largemouth bass and pickerel are biting well, and catching a holdover striper in the South Side Bays isn’t a long shot. The weather this weekend promises rain, snow, and wind, but if you dress for it, the fish will be biting.