Cape Cod Fishing Report
After some refreshingly mild weather this week, blankets of old snow have almost completely melted off and the ice on our freshwater lakes and ponds has taken a big hit. In some places it has melted off completely, while others have patchy open water. The salt ponds and brackish ponds are completely thawed, so I was able to strap up the waders and cast for white perch earlier this week, but I came up empty. It was nice to be out enjoying some extra daylight after work, but spring hasn’t “sprung” just yet.
We’ve left the ice fishing season in the rearview, although anglers may have to deal with some skim ice in the near future. The extended forecast shows overnight temps dipping below freezing on and off over the next couple weeks. The long, slow transition to true spring continues.
As the ice on the ponds disappears, Mass DFW will be looking to begin the spring trout stocking. There’s no set-in-stone start date, but southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod tend to be the first areas with open water, so keep an eye on the MA Trout Stocking Report which, once stocking begins, is typically updated daily at midnight. I’d be willing to bet the first stocking trucks will be out doing their duty by early next week.
Trout fishing will be the easier, more accessible option for freshwater anglers in the coming weeks. Largemouth and smallmouth bass will be slower to transition into their spring feeding patterns due to snowmelt runoff and skim ice keeping water temperatures on the cold side. If and when there is open water on your neighborhood bass pond, there are a few baits to keep handy for coldwater largemouth. Suspending jerkbaits, jigs, small chatterbaits and underspins, and finesse swimbaits (3 inches or less) are the first lures I throw for bass in the early spring. Later on, as temps rise and the bass become more active, lipless and squarebill crankbaits, spinnerbaits, larger chatterbaits, wakebaits and glidebaits are all good choices. Once the river herring start to trickle in and the water is a bit warmer, bass will be patrolling the shallows for big baits.
For trout, spoons, inline spinners, small jerkbaits, hair jigs, micro soft plastics, and good ol’ PowerBait will all work fine. If you want to have a little more fun with the stockies, break out a 3wt to 5wt fly rod and cast nymphs, small streamers like Woolly and Krystal Buggers, or classic dry fly patterns like Elk Hair Caddis and Parachute Adams. The fresh stockies shouldn’t be too difficult to dupe.
We’re on our way to warmer days; Mother Nature is just testing our patience. Hang in there, keep an eye on the conditions of your local water, and check the trout stocking report regularly to get in on the action once MA DFW starts loading the ponds.
3/5/2026
The thaw continues.
Despite a couple of cold nights and mornings, the ice is slowly but surely melting. Earlier this week, local anglers took what may have been their last steps on the ice this winter, or at least until late next week, when temperatures dive back into the 20s and 30s.
Jack Renfrew reported 10 to 12 inches of ice on a pond in Sandwich early Wednesday, of which six were soft white ice over hard, clear ice. He caught a nice mix of trout, bass, and white perch on traps and jigs. However, he noted there was about 2 inches of water on top. With some rain on the way and temperatures forecasted to climb to 50 degrees in some areas of the Cape this weekend, Jack recommended steering clear of the ice early next week.
Paul Caruso, who sent in photos of a couple nice 4- and 5-pound brown trout he caught on Cape ice this week, said he also had about 12 inches of ice on Monday morning (3/2), but he hasn’t been out since then. He, too, is confident the ice will be taking a big hit due to this “warm” weather we’re experiencing. At the time of this writing, the weather forecast shows 40-degree temps all weekend and a high of 50 degrees in Falmouth on Tuesday! After the winter we’ve had, that’s almost flip-flops and t-shirt weather. Almost.
On the last day of February, before more this mild weather took hold with the arrival of March, OTW’s Johnny McIntyre and Anthony DeiCicchi took a short drive over the Canal to hunt for smallmouth bass and they were handsomely rewarded. Johnny said they were fishing roughly 30 feet of water with micro Ned rigs, small tube jigs, and metals. He added that there were roughly 8 inches of ice and some densely-packed snow on top, which melted into slush throughout the day. Again, this was five days ago, so it’s safe to assume there has been a fair amount of melting since then.
Here’s the rundown from a few of our local tackle shops:
AJ Coots at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay reported that the ice is starting to melt, but the puddles we’re seeing on top are mostly due to packed-down snow melting off first. There’s still some safe ice, although he recommended exercising caution if you’re considering going out this weekend. Temps will be in the mid to upper 40s, and rain doesn’t help anything, so we’ll see how long the ice lasts. The shop had reports of pickerel, trout, and a whole lot of perch coming through the ice earlier this week. Bass reports, on the other hand, have been a little quiet. AJ added that they received a delivery of live shiners yesterday (Wednesday), so they should be in good shape for the weekend.
Evan at Eastman’s Sport and Tackle in Falmouth had just returned from vacation when we spoke, so he hasn’t heard much about the local ice scene but he does have a few dozen live shiners available, which will go quickly in the coming days. He mentioned that some folks are having trouble accessing spots due to mounds of snow in roadside pull-offs and small parking areas, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue going forward with rain and mild temps in the forecast.
Christian at Sports Port Bait and Tackle in Hyannis told me that shiner sales have slowed down quite a bit due to the ice conditions starting to get a little dicey. Prior to recent melting though, the action had been outstanding for just about any species one can target. He anticipates a few more days of fishable ice, maybe through the weekend, before it gets flat-out hazardous. Swing by the shop this weekend for bait if you’re planning to sneak in an ice fishing trip before conditions become questionable.
Cape Cod Fishing Forecast
Cape Cod ice fishermen are ending our winter season on a high note with some big smallies, white perch, and trout. We’ve got at least another couple of days on the ice, but keep in mind that each body of water is different, and some areas may be less safe than others. Stick to shaded coves and near-shore spots if you’re planning to wet a line in the coming days. Be careful around the edges especially, as they are the first areas to experience significant melting. After this weekend, it’d be very wise to stay off the ice or keep a close eye on its thickness. We’re due for another drop in temperatures by the end of next week. Will the ice remain thick enough to fish through after this warmup, or will we be plagued by skim ice? Time will only tell.
I’d like to say that wading season is around the corner, but with the up-and-down weather forecast, there’s no telling when we’ll have open water. My hope is that by the time the last of the ice melts, we should be just a few days to a week out from the spring trout stocking.