MFCC Member

Hello My Fishing Cape Cod! My name is Tim Donnelly and I've been a member of MFCC since August of 2016.

Thank you to everyone for the feedback and support for my first-ever blog post which we published a couple weeks ago. It's another example why many consider MFCC "the friendliest fishing forum on the web".

There is some good fishing happening right now on Cape Cod, making it a great way to get some fresh air, and get your blood circulating after indulging in too much Thanksgiving pie (guilty, as charged)!

Trout are very active and there are some other very interesting catches in the mix. In this blog you'll find highlights from members' posts about recent outings for trout, chain pickerel, pike and perch.

While saltwater fishing has slowed down, members are still picking up a few stripers here and there. One member has even been catching and releasing the colorful, and elusive sea-run brook trout (aka "salters").

Please scroll down to continue reading. You can also jump to a specific section by clicking on the table of contents.

Trout Fishing

Cooling water temps have turned up the action for freshwater trout, and members have been on the bite during the day and at night.  

There are numerous species of trout stocked in Cape Cod's kettle ponds and members have run the gamut with productive trips bringing in browns, brookies, rainbows and tigers.

On November 20th member Leslie Kalinowski caught her first trout of the season.

The next day she went back to the same spot and hooked into a solid yellow perch! 

To top it off, Leslie even bumped into another My Fishing Cape Cod member, David Abbot, while out fishing. Randomly bumping into other members from the site while out fishing is another nice side benefit of joining MFCC.

Rainbow trout are a beautiful fish, and phonetic twins and members Tim Wadman and Tim Mugherini caught these specimens earlier in the week.

Tim Wadman was tossing a Panther Martin spinner with occasional pauses on a warm, partly sunny morning when he hooked this beauty on November 21st.

Tim Mugherini caught his trout (pictured below) using live shiners at night.

Another lure that's been working well for Tim is the Spro BBZ rat lure for larger bows and browns.

Below, is one of the many brook trout that second-year member Andrew Milmore caught last Sunday while learning to fly fish in a small creek north of Worcester.

Andrew also managed to also hook into a landlocked salmon, but unfortunately it spit the hook. 

Nathan Valladares has been catching Tiger trout in the 20" range just off Cape in the town of Plymouth. Blown up night crawlers and live mummichogs have been working just fine for Nathan.

Chain Pickerel and Pike

Chain pickerel are an ambush predator in the pike family, nicknamed "gunfish" or the cheeky, "slime rocket". They are typically a by-catch when fishing for trout or largemouth bass.

You don't read a lot about people targeting them, but they are an aggressive, hard fighting fish and are fun to catch.

While out fishing for trout on November 20th, Leslie Kalinowski hooked into a large chain pickerel-her first ever!

Long Pond in Yarmouth produced a nice sized pickerel for My Fishing Cape Cod member Eric Cronin a few days later.

While similar to their toothier and larger "big brother" the Northern Pike, pickerel can be identified by the unique vertical black stripe which you will see under their eye.

A couple Cape Cod kettle ponds have in the past been stocked with Northern Pike.

For example, this past October Mike Osborne's son hooked into a beast, pulling this Northern from a lake on Cape Cod.

And of course no fishing report would be complete without at least a brief mention of largemouth bass fishing. 

Right now the largemouths on Cape are slowing down as water temperatures continue to drop. Super slow retrieves seem to be working best. 

For example, MFCC member Nick Beltramini caught this solid 3.5 pound largemouth using a real slow retrieve on the night of November 19th using a Rapala Jointed size 7 swimmer.

Striped Bass Fishing

There are still some large stripers cruising around the estuaries on Cape Cod. Val Pinkhosov caught this 19# beauty at the end of a 3 hour session when it hammered his Mike Fixter subsurface metal lip.

Reports of large flocks of birds with fish breaking under them off the south side beaches from Dennis to Yarmouth keeps hope alive for those interested in pulling one more bass from home waters. 

There is plenty of bait around to feed those late movers and holdovers, as Mike Marcus's photo of a small peanut bunker snagged while fishing CCB attests.

To the south of the Cape, MFCC member Amos Putnam caught his latest striper yet on November 27th, on his first cast, while fishing in Niantic, CT. 

Sea-Run Brook Trout

Sea-run brook trout, also known as "salters", are a striking, gorgeous diadromous fish that is native to our Northeast waters.

They are considered to be one of the most rare and most difficult species of fish to catch in MA waters.

Earlier in November Mike Osborne and his son had a great day out, landing browns, rainbows and their first-ever "salters".

Congratulations guys!

Other Activities

Over the past week members have been helping each other maneuver the holiday sales, find marine mechanics, pick out reasonably priced largemouth bass setups, and even buy wetsuits.

Another popular activity among members is bird watching and nature photography.

For example, three year member Matt Murphy photographed this young snowy owl resting on a northside beach on November 26th.

In Conclusion

While many of us are still fishing, targeting trout or even chasing the closing striper season, others are looking for a ways to prepare for next season.

Over the coming months many of us will take inventory of our tackle, tie leaders, and maybe do our own reel maintenance. 

Quite a few members will also be creating their own wooden plugs. Plug building is a winter pasttime for many anglers.

If you're not crafty with wood, but still want to cast your own creations, something to consider is pouring your own plastic lures.

MFCC member and soft plastic lure maker Tyler Martin gave an interview for an episode of the MFCC Podcast last spring which covered equipment and techniques for making your own soft plastic lures, which you can access here.

Regardless of how you decide to enjoy the off season, be sure to keep your eye on the weather, and I hope you are able to relish the remaining days of late Fall. 

Be safe out there and tight lines!

Tim