Cape Cod Fishing Report- January 27, 2022

It’s been a long January without much fishing, and this past week I only got on the water on Sunday. There weren’t many options, so I changed it up and headed off the Cape in search of Brook Trout. Brook trout are aggressive and one of my favorite freshwater fish to catch; it’s an added bonus that they’re the official State Fish of New York, where I’m from. I struggled to find fish as I followed the narrow, meandering riverbed through the woods in hopes of a fishy-looking pool. I found several promising stretches of flowing water, but there was not a sign of life amongst them.

On the still water, OTW’s Jimmy Fee and Anthony DeiCicchi checked out some local ponds for either fishable ice, or open water. Their findings were inconclusive on both counts, aside from a freezer-burned herring chiseled from what little ice they could find.

Hopes for change come with a good snow in the forecast for this weekend. Usually, I’m not one to pray for colder temperatures, but if it means I’m able to do some sort of productive fishing then bring on the single digits. February should have some better fishing days as ice forms, since January couldn’t seem to make up it’s metaphorical mind.

I spent the past week figuring out how I could get outside to go fishing without it being completely unproductive.

So, I invested in an ice fishing rod and reel to force myself into learning a new approach to this sport. With snow and lower air temperatures in the forecast, I wasn’t about to be left on the couch because I didn’t have the gear to get after the ice-bite. I’ve never ice fished before and although I think I’d have little patience with it, I always wanted to give it a try. Part of my impatience is the abysmal attention span I have; the rest comes from growing up in New York. Still, blindly fishing through a hole in the ice has got to be more exciting than staying indoors and catching no fish.

The element of anticipation is primarily what has drawn me to ice fishing; the mysterious allure of the dark, cold water excites me until I think about becoming a sitting duck. Prior to this week, January has not been an icy month around the Cape. Ponds froze with skim ice overnight, but by noon the next day there lay a blotted canopy of slush over the water’s surface. This week, however, ice fishing conditions began to take a positive turn in the Buzzards Bay and Plymouth areas.

From the Shop

On the Cape, Evan from Eastmans Sport and Tackle in Falmouth reported a lot of ice-fishing sales as anglers gear up for the possibility of solid ice after the snow this weekend. But according to Evan, a lot of the anglers coming around are beginning their ice fishing off Cape. With no ice in Falmouth at the moment, fishermen have begun to venture north in search of anything that will bite. Evan sells live shiners in store, and will have a good bunch coming in before the weekend in anticipation of safe ice forming.

In Buzzards Bay, Tom at Red Top Sporting Goods reported safe ice just barely beginning, and he too is selling shiners and baits that are mostly used for ice fishing. Like most coastal areas, Tom says there haven’t been any headboats making their way out except for some early 2022 cod trips out of Point Judith. The ice is just getting safe around Buzzards Bay on small ponds, but anglers are treading lightly. The most ice has been 3-4 inches thick on non-spring fed, shallow ponds. Around Carver, Tom has some friends hitting shallow bog ponds, which have been quicker to freeze than other bodies of water. Even so, the fishermen exercise caution, fishing shallower areas near the shoreline in case of an emergency. A few small largemouth bass came through the ice here and there, but nothing more.

Lastly, if you’re looking for a challenge around Buzzards Bay, there’s always the option to search for native brook trout. This time of year, the brookies will often hang out in deeper pools in the bottom on Red Brook and can be very finicky unless they see the right lure presented directly in front of them. I gave it a shot this past Sunday, fishing deeper pools with small trout magnet jigs and hair jigs- but I came up empty.

From The Shore

My brook trout endeavors didn’t yield me any fish, and that’s fine. All I really wanted was to find somewhere to cast a line into open water again. Other fishermen have opted for the opposite, rather in search of frozen water.

Jack Houghton of Cape Cod spent some time fishing off Cape this week, and he was able to produce a few catches through the ice in the process. Small, groundwater fed ponds with safe ice lining the shore line were the key to finding the fish.

I’ve never been so jealous of a healthy little largemouth! Small ice jigs fished close to the bottom in shallower areas provided Jack’s group with a couple of different species.

Cape Cod Fishing Forecast

With a good snow in the forecast for Saturday of this weekend, we can only hope for some action through the ice. The air temperatures between mid-day and midnight have been fluctuating drastically, and with February around the corner we hope for some consistency. Like many, I sit here eagerly awaiting the ice season; not because it’s a favorite pastime of mine, but an entirely new opportunity. I want to learn, and finally, to fish once again… Even if it means sitting on a bucket over a tiny hole in the ice.