This past week on the Cape, we were blessed with a few temperate days. The weather felt almost hot compared to what we’ve been experiencing, and the warmth influenced both fish and fishermen to get out for some much needed time on the water. Since safe ice won’t seem to form here on the Cape, fishing the brief moments of open water will have to suffice until the vernal equinox. This past week, anglers took advantage of a string of days with fishable conditions.
From the Shops
Evan from Eastmans Sport and Tackle in Falmouth reports little action since the weekend. He had customers in for shiners, likely fishing for bass or trout. Evan is carrying several sizes of shiners, so if you’re looking for live bait in Falmouth he’s got it covered.
Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis, is carrying shiners, crawlers, trout worms and mealworms in preparation/hopes of warmer weather and open water. Without ice, fishing around Hyannis has been in limbo for the better part of the past week or two. Amy and the Sports Port team will have all the bait you need once the stocking trucks begin to make their rounds.
Tom at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay reported much of the same. Earlier in the week they had a couple customers buy shiners for perch, who said they were fishing through 4 or 5-inches of ice. Now that most ice has likely melted, it’s unclear where the conditions will stand through the weekend. Tom had a few employees out on the Agawam River looking for schoolies but they came up empty handed. If you need bait this weekend, Red Top is carrying shiners as well as nightcrawlers, trout worms and mealworms.
From the Shore
The timeliness of the warm front was perfect. Temperatures rose to nearly sixty degrees on Saturday, allowing anglers who may not have fished for a month or two to get out for a few hours of sunshine and “spring” air.
My sights were set on the weekend weather and I checked the forecast almost hourly. When Friday arrived, the sun was beaming and I jumped at the chance to wet a line during lunch. I knew I wasn’t the only one anticipating the warm-weather bite, so I headed out with a camera and a couple sharpshooters: On The Water’s Adam Eldridge and Andrew Burke.
When we arrived, the bite began almost immediately. There was still skim ice just out of casting range, but it was fishable. Adam and I bounced small marabou hair jigs along the bottom, while Andrew used the float and fly method to target white perch. Each of us produced a fish or two, but when Andrews bobber zipped under and he set the hook, a big fish thrashed on the surface. We knew it was going to be a notable catch. Andrew kept tight to the fish and played it smart, letting the fish take some line and only reeling when he felt slack. When he saw colors, there was no question this fish was coming to shore for a measure and a picture.
Andrew hauled in the biggest white perch I had ever seen. Typically they are about 7 to 10-inches long, but Andrew’s fish was 14-inches in length and had a belly ready to bust.
By Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife standards, Andrew’s fish was a “Pin Fish”- a catch recognized as “certifiably fat” by the state. Eager to get back after the bite with limited time, we snapped a couple photos and began to cast again. It was only a few minutes before Adam hooked into another sizable perch. At this point I had given up on fishing. My peers were catching steadily while I was engaged in a prolonged struggle to remove a hook that had embedded itself in my sleeve.
I quickly stumbled around the muddy shoreline to snap a photo of Adam’s catch, jig still in my arm. He had caught another beautiful, nearly 12-inch white perch. I was over the moon that our team was finally catching fish again. For us to catch during our first outing after a month long hiatus from open water, it felt like order had been restored to the world.
The weekend was beautiful, and on Sunday I seized the opportunity to fish open water once more. With a couple small, jointed swimbaits I headed to a local pond in search of some active largemouth bass. Snow was on the way, and as the skies grayed I could sense the temperature dropping almost by the minute. After a few casts I noticed a small disturbance on the surface; small river herring were jumping around and being chased. I threw the swimbait into the rippling water and met the lip of a small largemouth bass.
After a few more casts to the same spot, I hooked another slightly larger bass in almost the exact part of the mouth as the fish prior. The only way to catch these bass was using a remarkably slow retrieve with the occasional rod twitch, otherwise these bass weren’t having it. Once I released that fish, the wind had picked up a bit and the bite shut off. It was time to make the switch to white perch. I headed to a different spot with On The Water’s Jack Burke, and we dialed into a perch bite for a solid two hours or so.
When the perch bite slows down, it often means it’s time to move your feet. White perch travel in schools, and we found them by reeling low and slow on this day. The densely muddied creek/pond bottom stays substantially warmer than the surface water, so with snow on the way the perch were hugging the bottom. I used small hair jigs, Jack used golden spinners, and we reeled in several more big, well-fed white perch. I even caught my new personal best, which I initially thought gave Andrew Burke’s fish a run for it’s money until I measured it at 13 inches.
After Jack and I each caught a few good fish, it was time to call it a day. I had lost feeling in my fingers as the snow came down more heavily, and the fish no longer seemed interested in whatever we had to offer them. We left satisfied with having caught anything, especially some above average white perch. We all hope to get back on this bite again in the coming weeks. These small but powerful fish are available in most coastal areas, and they’re keeping anglers like us entertained as winter creeps along.
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Thankfully, there appear to be more windows of warm weather on the horizon. I plan on taking full advantage of those moments, fishing for whatever bites until we push through the remaining freezing days. It’s tough to anticipate where the bite will be on, which fish are best to target, what bait to use etc. but soon enough the Spring will save us from the stagnancy of winter fishing. Until then, use the sunny days in the 40’s and 50’s to target largemouth bass in smaller ponds. This will require keeping a close eye on the warmer, brighter days when any remaining ice can thaw out. If there’s open water available on some of the bigger lakes and ponds, trout will likely be biting as long as temperatures manage to stay above freezing. It’s also productive to head to kettle lakes and look for rainbows rising just off the shore early in the morning as the sun rises. Trout fishing will pick up in the coming weeks as things slowly and steadily warm, before the bite really turns on when the stocking trucks make rounds. Personally, I am looking forward to some sun in hopes for a couple more largemouth bass outings, or the opportunity to fish for smallmouth from the kayak.
Which one is the bass and which one is the swim bait?
We’re is a good spot to catch white perch I want to take my son this week down the cape cod coming from Gloucester plz and thank you