Cape Cod Fishing Report
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Frigid temperatures and a good dousing of snow earlier in the week set the ice fishing season in motion for parts of mainland Massachusetts, and even some areas of southern New England. Here on Cape Cod, however, we have plenty of open water on the kettle ponds while some of our bogs and smaller wooded ponds are locked up with unsafe skim ice. But if you’re looking for a window to hit your local honey hole for largemouth bass or pickerel while there’s open water, it’s coming up. We’re in for some brutal wind—gusts to 60 mph—and rain on Friday into Saturday, but daytime temperatures will remain well above freezing until Monday and the wind will lay down briefly following the storm. That means Saturday afternoon, when the wind speed dips and changes direction, is primetime to gather your bass baits and strap up the waders. Otherwise, secure some live shiners and battery-powered bobbers to fish for bass and brown trout on Saturday night.
Between the wind and rain, we can expect water quality to be poor. In small ponds at least, it will likely be muddy or low visibility, which requires the use of bright, noisy baits, or lures that emit heavy vibrations. Small to mid-size suspending lipless crankbaits and jerkbaits are great options for post-frontal bass, which will still be moving slowly but should be more willing to chew amid mild temperatures. They’re loud, irritating baits that allow you to cover water, and they tend to draw reaction strikes from largemouth bass in stained water conditions. Work them slowly and methodically with long pauses around deeper cover. When it’s really cold, I’ll pause a suspending jerkbait for 15- to 30-second intervals. It requires focus and patience, which I don’t always have, so it takes some getting used to, but the rewards make the long, slow retrieves worth it. If those baits don’t entice a bass or two, they’ll surely grab the attention of big pickerel which, compared to largemouth, are plenty active and available to wading fishermen in cold water.
Micro plastics are also winter staples and the OTW crew put some to the test on trout this past Sunday. A crew of five (myself included) headed out in the snow to fish one of the upper Cape’s open kettle ponds in search of hungry trout. There’s something special about fishing open water in the snow. For one, it makes for great pictures. But I think I most enjoy the contrast of an unfrozen lake in a frozen, freshly snow-dusted landscape.
While Jim Fee casted a pink micro plastic from Z-Man on an ultralight jighead, Alex Blackwell threw a small white Crystal Bugger, I fished a blue/silver spoon, Johnny McIntyre casted a jerkbait, and John Rust threw an inline spinner. We covered all of our bases, so it was only a matter of time until someone connected. Blackwell’s fly converted a follower into an eater early on, but the fish—a large rainbow—gave some big headshakes on the take and popped free. The bite only improved from there, in the form of brief flurries of action. Roving wolf packs of herring-fed rainbow trout moved in and out of casting range and we even managed a few double-ups. They wouldn’t touch moving baits like spoons and spinners; only small jerkbaits and micro plastic jigs, both fished with long pauses, convinced the trout to eat.
As the morning wore on and the snow piled up, we dropped quite a few fish on short strikes and landed a couple of small yellow perch between packs of rainbows. It was clear that the use of light line, 4- to 6-pound-test fluorocarbon at most, was also crucial to our group’s success.
A few more trout came to hand before the fish started to shut off, and when Alex took an accidental swim and talks of homemade hot cocoa began, we decided it was time to pack it in for the day.
I haven’t tried recently, but I’d imagine that white perch fishing would have been pretty, prettyyy, pretty gooood this week. In cold water when other species are slower to eat, white perch activity ramps up. Locate a school of them and you’re in for some fast-paced action. They’re most active when water temperatures are in the 40s, but they’ll continue to eat even when the thermometer reads mid to high 30s. It’s tough to find them from shore or in waders this time of year, at least in the kettle ponds, but the tidal creeks and ponds on the south side of Cape Cod are a good bet. If you care to hunt for them in freshwater, a boat or kayak will help. White perch will eat pretty much anything you’d throw for stocked trout—curly-tail grubs and micro plastics, hair jigs, spoons, spinners, and small jerkbaits.
White perch are also excellent table fare. If you need to contribute to the Feast of Seven Fishes next week, this is your sign to give them a shot over the weekend. But be warned: as fun as the fishing is when you’re on a school, finding them can prove very challenging. Look for areas of slow-moving current in rivers, creeks, and ponds where fresh water mixes with salt water and give it a solid effort. Small hair jigs and soft plastics, worked slowly over muddy bottom, are your best bet.
And no surprise here, but mackerel are still chewing in the east end of the Canal. When prepared the right way, they, too, are good table fare and can check another box for the Feast of Seven Fishes.
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Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
With the forecast calling for overnight temps in the 20s and daytime temps as high as the mid 50s, the skim ice cycle will likely continue for the next week or so after Friday’s rain. Look to Saturday afternoon to get out on your neighborhood ponds for bass and pickerel. The wind hits a brief lull and it’ll be the best chance to stick a few bass while the ponds are free of thin ice.
The trout ponds will continue to fish well as long as there’s open water, which there should be if the wind continues to blow and nighttime temps stay hovering around freezing. Do your best to stay warm and skip the bait-and-wait trout fishing; by walking (or wading) and casting, the chance of encountering fish dramatically increases compared to waiting for the fish to find your nightcrawlers, shiners, or PowerBait.
This will be our last weekly fishing report of the year, but we’ll be providing weekly updates and monthly full-length reports to cover our local freshwater fishing throughout the winter whether there’s open water or safe ice. Thanks for reading, and have a Merry Christmas!