Cape Cod Fishing Report - January 21, 2021

Above: A pickerel caught on a small hair jig on Wednesday afternoon. 

There’s not a lot that changes week to week in the dead of winter on the Cape, unless the pond develop a lid of ice. Despite some short-lived skim ice, that’s yet to happen.  We’re looking at lows in the 20s over the next week or so, but I wouldn’t dust off your tip-ups just yet. Daytime highs are still projected to be above freezing, so fishable ice is looking unlikely for the near future. And in past years, if we haven’t had fishable ice by the last week in January, we can probably pack those tip-ups away until 2022.

Unless, you’re willing to do a little driving. Ron Powers has been reported plenty of ice fishing fun happening off-Cape. You can check out his report for more details on that front.

But even though there’s no ice fishing, there’s still plenty of plain, old, open-water fishing happening. Pickerel and bass are biting well for the dead of winter. I caught a big pickerel mid-day on Wednesday, and OTW’s Anthony DeiCicchi found the bass feeding hard on Saturday afternoon. He was kind enough to let me know the bite was on, but by the time I’d arrived, the action had waned.

That’s pretty typical of winter fishing. Long periods of little activity, with short windows of good fishing. The key is being out there long enough to make sure you have a line in the water when the fish turn on.

Trout fishing is still good, with anglers reporting a mix of browns, rainbows, and even a brookie or two. OTW’s Andrew Burke braved the long, cold, winter night over the weekend, and found the trout feeding actively after dark. He had good luck throwing a small tube jig and the smallest size Sebile Stick Shadd. The trout he said, seemed to be moving through in waves, or perhaps the same school passing back and forth. He’d go 15 or 20 minutes without a bite, then have a few bites before it went quiet again.

Bait still seems like the best bet for larger browns. Shiners and nightcrawlers will catch the browns, and tempt rainbows too. Though, if you aren’t willing to sacrifice quantity for quality, stick with the worms. Rainbows will eat shiners, but often the smaller bows will bat around a live baitfish without getting the hook. One fisherman I saw at Peter’s Pond on Monday told me he was having a frustrating day missing and losing a number of rainbows that were attempting to eat the shiners he’d set out. He did mention that other anglers he’d seen had caught a few on PowerBait.

If you like a good wild goose chase, there’s geese to be chased at the Cape Cod Canal. Jeff at Red Top said he had a few customers come in seeking cod in the Canal, and that they’d had some recent success. Day or night, east end or west, bait or jigs, the details were sparse beyond that. But, that’s enough to get me excited about my annual winter surf-cod attempt.

Fishing Forecast for Cape Cod

The cold nights might skim over the small ponds, but the bigger ponds will stay open. Trout are probably the best bet, especially with bait, but jerkbaits, jigs, and the float-and-fly rig has been producing bass and pickerel. Shiners will work too, but when fishing bait for the bass and picks, you’re best bet is to go early or late in the day, when the fish are more likely to be active.

And, if you’re looking for winter fishing options off Cape, be sure to check out our other reports, and some of the winter fishing videos we’ve put out recently, including Smelt Fishing in Maine, First Ice Pike, and Centerpin Fishing for Trout.