March 26 2021

Cape Cod Fishing Report | Early Spring 2021

0  comments

The saltwater fishing season is still several weeks away, but freshwater fishing on Cape has been red hot. Today we have a lineup of guests who are ready to share their latest fishing reports with you.

This is the earliest in the season we have ever published one of these fishing reports. Can you tell we are just a little bit excited for spring fishing!?

Our next fishing report podcast will be two weeks from today, but once the Cape Cod  saltwater fishing season really gets going we will plan on publishing these fishing reports and podcasts weekly.

More...

We're also working to include a wide array of guests to help provide fishing reports for more areas around Cape Cod and the Islands. We will keep you posted on developments. ✌?

A full-length written transcription of today's podcast is also available at the bottom of this post. For a quick preview of the guests and what is discussed, please scroll below. ?


When we talked with MFCC founder Ryan Collins, he was freshwater fishing at a pond in Bourne. According to Ryan, right now is a great time to target pre-spawn freshwater bass.

Earlier this month Ryan had success with yellow perch. The most effective technique for perch was drop shotting live shiners with a 5/16 ounce weight and fishing them just above the bottom.

Ryan has not yet been out fishing for holdover striped bass. However, he knows of several My Fishing Cape Cod members who scored holdover stripers this past week. Fishing estuaries after dark has been more productive than during the day for holdover striped bass.

Ryan goes on to share a status update for My Fishing Cape Cod, including his plans for this podcasting season. In addition he recaps his 2021 trip to Costa Rica.


Second in today's lineup is Bruno Demir - My Fishing Cape Cod member and owner of Cape & Islands Mitsubishi.

Right now Bruno is looking forward to the arrival of squid, which usually happens in late April and early May. The squid are spawning so according to Bruno this bite will only last 2-3 weeks.

Another species which Bruno is hoping to target this spring are haddock. Haddock are wonderful eating, and they usually show up on Stellwagen and Cape Cod Bay during mid to late April. Clams and/or diamond jigs will work well for the haddock.

Members of MFCC can access his full report by clicking play below, or by reading the podcast transcription. ?


Next up is store manager Dan Jones of the Goose Hummock Shops in Orleans. Dan is a phenomenal resource when it comes to freshwater fishing on the Cape.

According to Danny there are plenty of trout and bass being caught right now. There's been some nice brook trout in the 2-3 pound range, and of course plenty of rainbows. 

Dan even caught a 9 pound 2 ounce brown trout earlier in the year! The Goose has also ramped up their freshwater inventory with a bunch of new spoons, spinners and other lures.

According to Danny, one of the guys from the Goose caught a 5 pound largemouth this past week in Sandwich while fishing for trout. Dan thinks the largemouth bass will start moving into shallower water along the south side of most Cape ponds (which are generally the sunnies and warmest sections of the pond).

Members of MFCC can access his full report by clicking play below, or by reading the podcast transcription. ?


Podcast Transcription

Kevin: Well, hello and welcome to another edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast here from myfishingcapecod.com. I'm your host Kevin Collins back with you for the 2021 season of the MFCC podcast. It's been about 5 months since we've last had a podcast on the air here at least in terms of our weekly fishing report. It is a tremendous pleasure to be back on with you and back on the MFCC Airwaves. 

We've got a great show in store for you today. We're going to be led off by MFCC Founder and Creator Ryan Collins, as always. A few moments, I know he's waiting on the phone. We're then going to be joined by Bruno Demir from down at Cape & Islands Mitsubishi, and then last but not least, we're going to welcome in a brand new podcast guest for 2021, and that is none other than our buddy Danny Jones from down at the Goose Hummock in Orleans. Can't wait to check with Danny and pick his brain, especially on a little bit of fresh water fishing. 

Let's get right into the content on today's program. Our first guest on the 2021 season of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast is none other than MFCC Founder and Creator, Ryan Collins himself. Ryan, how are you today?

Ryan: I'm doing pretty well, Kevin. Beautiful 58 degree day, today. Nice day to be outside. And how are you doing?


Kevin: Doing well. I think it's been about five months or so, give or take, since we've done one of these. I'm just really happy to be back on the air with you. 

Ryan: Yes, it's great to be back on the air. Things are really starting to heat up on the website, on social media, people are getting excited about spring fishing, so it's go-time right now.

Kevin: That's what I wanted to talk to you about first, Ryan, is just kind of a general MFCC update on where we stand on things though the winter. What you're expecting maybe new, or exciting, or if you don't want to give it all the way, that's fine too. You can tease us a little bit, but what you're looking forward to in 2021?

My Fishing Cape Cod Update


Ryan: 2020 was a great year. Despite all the challenges that society had in general. I think a lot of people turn to fishing, and I definitely saw that on the website, lots of new signups, lots of people saying that they haven't gone fishing for years and they've got to get back into it. I see more of that happening for this year too. I'm hearing from a lot of people who are already planning trips to Cape Cod for the Summer. People who are coming down to freshwater fish, all the ponds have been stocked with trout. We can talk about that in a little bit. 

As far as the status of MFCC goes, it keeps growing, Kevin. I'm really just beside myself. It's now been 11 years of doing this. Everything is still happening, and it's still getting bigger and better. I'm meeting more people, we have a lot of people signing up. It's really just a dream come true for me. I can't thank all the listeners and the members for helping make that dream come true. Because again without the membership support, absolutely, none of this would be possible—that is for sure. 

As far as things that are new, I'd love to keep these podcasts going. Maybe we'll do another one, two weeks from now because I don't think there's got to be a heck of a lot of difference between right now and next week. We're kind of just waiting for things to kick off here. But then once the saltwater season gets going, I'd like to return to a weekly podcast to keep everybody updated. 

The TV show has been great, we've got two more episodes. It's going to be Giant Tuna Fishing Part 2 for this weekend, and then next weekend—I won't give it away—but we have one more episode on April 3rd. The show's been great, and that's really where most of my computer time has been recently, is editing the show. I'm looking forward to being done with the show and starting to actually go fishing again. Right now, I'm actually out taking a few casts at a local pond by my house, which feels really good. I'm looking forward to getting out from behind the computer, and actually going fishing a lot more often once the month of April gets going.

Kevin: I know you dabble this time of year in the spring, Ryan, before the saltwater really heats up. I know you get into the freshwater game as you just alluded to. You're taking a few casts as we speak. I know you targeted yellow perch. I know you want to talk about trout a little bit, so get into the freshwater stuff. 

Freshwater Fishing Report


Ryan: Right now I'm just casting a spinnerbait around for largemouth bass. I just got snagged on a log. I took my shoes off, rode my jeans up, went for a little walk into the pond here and I got my spinnerbait back, so that’s always good. But the water is still a little misty, the bass are entering a pre-spawn pattern right now, and I'm not a largemouth bass expert by any means. But surprisingly today, I've seen a couple fish, I haven't caught them yet, but I've seen them hanging around submerged timber near the shoreline. Maybe later after I'm done with this call, I'll hook it for you.

Yellow Perch

You mentioned yellow perch. About a week and a half ago, I got an invite, MFCC member Jeff Coats, who I’ve been friendly with for a long time. I know you know Jeff. I went out on his little jon boat after yellow perch. I wrote up a whole blog post about it. If you're looking for the details, you can check that out. Yellow perch fishing was a lot of fun. They travel around in schools, if you can get on a school and if they're biting, it can be pretty fast action. 

This is kind of interesting, they have little worms in them, or at least the ones that I caught did. Nothing that can't be taken care of with little tweezers or a knife. It's just very interesting. I guess the worms enter them through the cormorants. The cormorants are feeding in the pond. I think the cormorants might defecate in the pond or something like that, and these worms, which are not damaging—I don't think to the fish—but it's always interesting when you open up the fish and you see these worms. I know cod and haddock have the same issue, but you pluck them out and you're good to go. They were very delicious fish to eat, that's for sure. They’re very colorful fish on Cape Cod and in Southeastern Massachusetts, they get quite large. Much bigger than average, that's for sure.

There's lots of lakes and ponds throughout the Cape that have yellow perch, they’re native. Unlike the largemouth bass, which I believe somehow got into the ponds around here during the 1800s. Unlike the trout—which are of course stock—the yellow perch have been in the Cape’s ponds for centuries and centuries. It's an option right now if you're looking to do something different, maybe target yellow perch, bring a couple home, and have a nice fish dinner.

Live Shiner Techniques

We use the technique that is probably, I have to say the go-to technique especially this time of the year. Live shiners, with a little weight, we use a 5/16 ounce weight to get it down to the bottom. So the weight is on the bottom, the shiner is about 12 inches up from the weight, and we would just drift, and just slowly lift the rig off the bottom, let it go back down to the bottom, slowly lift it up, let it go back down, and we cleaned up on the yellow perch. I brought home 11 of them. They're absolutely delicious eating.

Kevin: Ryan, I know you also wanted to talk very briefly, we'll touch on holdover stripers. It's another activity you can do to kind of bide your time until the saltwater fishing heats up. I know that's something you and I have done all the way, dating back to when we were really little kids, going back in inlets and estuaries. Kind of searching for holdovers, have you done any of that? Or heard of any folks having some success this spring doing that? 

Holdover Striped Bass


Ryan: Yes, I have heard from several My Fishing Cape Codders who have caught stripers, mostly or definitely holdover fish. We still have, probably one month I would say, until we get a school or two of fresh migratory fish coming up from the South. Last year there were quite a few guys on the website who scored some really nice fresh fish that were coming up from the South during late April. That was in Buzzards Bay, that's where the first fish were caught last year.

Like you said, while you're waiting for the migration to hit this area, you could try the estuaries. I think there's a lot more estuaries on Cape that have holdovers than people think. Like I've always said, I target places that are usually about a mile up from where the estuary opens into the ocean. I'm not fishing the inlets, I'm fishing way back in the estuaries.

Like I said, I think a lot of the estuaries actually do have fish. If you have access to a kayak or a boat, that's probably the easiest way of finding the spots in the estuary that do have fish. It is a challenge hiking through the marshes and through the muck. I will say that low tide has always been easier for me, because it's just less water in the estuary. If they are in there, they'll be more concentrated in the deeper holes.

I've heard people say that they like bright sunny days for fishing for holdovers because they think it warms everything up. I think there's some truth to that. Even with the holdovers, I've always done better at night, or really early in the morning. It seems like just stripers in general, that's the time to go and it holds true for the holdovers as well. 

Once I get this last episode edited and complete, I will probably give it a try during April. The good thing about holdover fishing during April is that they're waking up from their comatose state. If you go there in January or February, they're not moving much, they're pretty much just motionless, sitting in a hole somewhere in the estuary. 

Whereas during April, I've actually come across many top water feeds, where the fish are moving around. Finally, once it really starts to warm up towards the end of the month, they'll leave the estuary all together, and run along the beaches that are nearby the estuary. It's just something to keep in mind. I do think if you want to go after holdover stripers, April is probably the easiest month to get them to bite. 

Kevin: Let's have a quick little discussion, Ryan, on the Canal, since we're talking about striped bass. I know so many of the members and listeners are so very passionate about the striped bass fishery here on Cape Cod. Let's talk a little bit about springtime fishing, the Canal, and kind of what to look for. I know you wanted to touch on the big ditch.

Cape Cod Canal


Ryan: Interesting you mentioned that, Kevin. Because I got a video sent to me two weeks ago of a holdover striper that was sitting in the Bournedale Herring Run, which is pretty interesting. He was actually in the Herring Run, just sitting there. I've heard that this fish or a friend of this fish was doing the same thing last year. I don't know if it's the same fish coming back, and just kind of living in the Herring Run. I thought that was kind of interesting. 

I have heard from Bull, who used to work at Red Top Sporting Goods. He used to catch stripers in the Canal late April, mid April, I've heard of him catching a few. I don't know, those must have been holdover fish that I guess maybe were holding in Barnstable Harbor, or somewhere in Sandwich, or some creeks maybe in Buzzards Bay, the rivers in Wareham. Maybe they left those estuaries during mid to late April, and started feeding in the Canal. Because I have heard mixed reports of people catching stripers here and there in the canal during April, before the migration actually hits the Cape. If you really cannot wait to wet a line, maybe give the Canal a try, mid to late April. Because there could be a chance that you hit one of those rare schools of holdovers that I am hearing rumors about over the past few years.

Aside from that, May is really the time that the Canal would get going. Mother's Day is usually a better bet for better size fish. But the Herring should be showing up very soon. I haven't heard Ospreys yet, but once I do I usually go down to the Bournedale Run and I see Harry. Last year I saw him April 9th, is when I saw them in the Bournedale Run. They may have been there earlier, but I saw him on April 9th. I haven't heard the Ospreys yet, but once I do, I'll be down there giving it a look.

Aside from waiting on the stripers in the Canal, if you're chomping at the bit, I think maybe giving mackerel a try could be worth an effort going down to Scusset jetty late-April, early-May, and casting from the jetty there. Winter flounder, I've never done it, but maybe go over to the Sandwich Marina, throw a sea worm or a piece of clam on the bottom, towards low tide, where the Marina opens up into the canal, and maybe you have a chance at a winter flounder. That's just me brainstorming. These are all kinds of rich ideas right now. If you're searching for something to do, it could be worth a try.

Kevin: The last thing I wanted to just kind of talk with you about, Ryan, was your winter trip to Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Trip


Ryan: Yes, we did go to Costa Rica. Normally we go to a place called Playa Zancudo, this is on the Southwest side of the country, Pacific Coast, right along the Golfo Dulce. This year, we went across the Golfo Dulce, to a place called Cabo Matapalo, which is right on the Osa Peninsula. It's an amazing place, it's one little dirt road probably similar to what Cape Cod was like 200 or so years ago. So many animals everywhere, we saw sloths, monkeys everyday. The fishing, of course, I mean, it's a great place to be for fishing, it really is. The surf casting at Cabo Matapalo was a little challenging because it was all rocky, as opposed to Zancudo which is nice and sandy. 

But the gentleman who owns the place where we stayed, we stayed at a little Airbnb, actually, he's not even on Airbnb, he owns a little house called Tucan Terra, and his name is Van, and he has a little boat out in front of the place. I was able to go out and catch some yellowfin tuna with him. Caught some snappers, caught some jacks, no big roosters this time. I didn't get a chance to really blog about it, because I was editing pretty much all night. My computer energy during that time was being poured into the TV show, and editing for the TV show. I chose not to really focus on blogging about this Costa Rica trip, but we did go and if anybody is interested in going to Costa Rica next year or the year after, check out Tucan Terra on Cabo Matapalo, it's a wonderful place.

Kevin: All right, Ryan. I'm going to let you get back to fishing. I really appreciate you taking some time out of your little journey today to check in with us, and look forward to the next visit we have on the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast.

Ryan: Sounds good, Kevin. I’ll talk to you in probably two weeks.

Kevin: Many thanks to MFCC founder and creator, Ryan Collins. We're going to turn our attention now to guest number two on today's podcast, and that is none other than our good buddy, Bruno Demir from down at Cape & Islands Mitsubishi. Bruno, how are you today? 

Bruno: What's going on Kevin? Hello, MFCC. I'm looking forward to another season. 


Kevin: Just wanted to ask you before we get into the fishing real quick, Bruno. How your winter was? How things were down at Cape & Islands Mitsubishi as we head into the spring? 

Bruno: We had a phenomenal finish and a strong start this year. Winter was great, we got to do a lot of skiing, and spend some time with the family.

River Herring


Kevin: The first thing I wanted to get into today, Bruno is River Herring. Something you and I haven't talked a ton about in all our time doing the podcast together. But rumor has it, they probably already started trickling into Cape Cod streams and rivers. I know that you're always keeping an eye out for these River Herring from talking to you from time to time. Tell us a little bit about what you're looking for and what you've seen so far?

Bruno: I live in Brewster and obviously I work in Yarmouth. Every morning I drive through Stony Brook Mill to get to work. Every year as I start getting closer and closer to the mill, I cross my fingers and say a little Hail Mary hoping that I'm going to see seagulls. For me the season starts every year as I'm heading into work in the morning. As soon as I take that turn and get to Stony Brook Mill, if I see 400, 500 seagulls all piled up swimming around, and flying around, I know the Herring Run has reached Mid Cape. Once they hit Mid Cape, it's pretty much the seasons on. That's when I know it's time to get out there and start having some fun.

Kevin: Bruno, I'm guessing you haven't seen that quite yet so far in March. Do you have a ballpark idea of when that usually happens, when you really start to see the signs of the herring moving in thick? 

Bruno: I've noticed it's usually based on water temperature more than anything. 

Kevin: Yes.

Bruno: I know that the south side right now is still at 40 degrees. That’s kind of cold. If I remember right, around 48 degrees, 50 degrees, that's when I usually I’m seeing around them. I think if we continue to have this 55 degree, 58 degree weather in the south side, and the sounds that's warm enough. I mean just the other day it was 38 degrees. I don't see any day now in the next couple of weeks, we're going to start seeing the herring coming through.

Kevin: Speaking of kind of bait fish, we're talking about herring, how about squid, Bruno?

Squid Fishing


Bruno: That's great. This is going to be an interesting year, because the last week of April and the first week of May, first two weeks of May, is when the squids start coming into the sound off haddock. It's a great fishery, a couple five gallon buckets full of squid for some delicious calamari. Also they make great bait, fluke and sea bass in the spring. That's usually the first couple weeks of May, but this year's very different because we're going to have a full moon in the last week of April.

The reason the full moon is so important is squid love to bite on a full moon. That's when the tides are the strongest, and that's when the fight is on. It's a short fishery, it's going to last you 2–3 weeks because right behind it is the stripers and the blue fish that come in. That pretty much kills that party. This should be an interesting year. As the water warms up, I think the squid fisheries are going to start off early this year in April. 

Kevin: Let's get into your wheelhouse here—cod and haddock. I know that you're an avid haddock fisherman. I know that that's a big springtime thing for you and your family. Let's get into talking about some springtime, cod and haddock, the where, the when, the how. I know we're a little bit early, but I want to get folks excited for that fishery. 

Cod and Haddock


Bruno: Yes, sure. I think haddock historically has been a great fishery on Stellwagen. For whatever reason in the last two years, it hasn't been that way. For the last two years, there was a good amount of haddock right in Cape Cod Bay off of kind of by you, off of Duxbury and Plymouth. 

Kevin: Yes. 

Bruno: Right in 80 feet of water, that's kind of where the haddock has been coming every year for the last two years. Interesting to see if they stick around Stellwagen or if they come all the way down Cape Cod Bay this year.  That's usually starting right around Easter. Again, it's based on water temperature, but I would say in the next week or two, the haddock is going to start coming around our way.

Kevin: When will you splash your boat, Bruno, and start snooping around? 

Bruno: The gaviota is splashing on April 14th. 

Kevin: Nice.

Bruno: That's when we're going to work the cobwebs out of it. I might possibly go East to do some bottom fishing. I got to check the regulations and make sure, but that's the idea to go East to Chatham, some bottom fishing, and then get out there for that squid bite, and then do some haddock.

Kevin: Bruno, I know in your family, it's a haddock affair. I think it's your cousin that is starting to make some of his kind of homemade custom rigs for haddock available on his online shop. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? 

Family-made cod and haddock jigs


Bruno: Yes, my cousin Eddie is starting a new online tackle company called Monomoy Tackled it’s going to be based out of Chatham. He's not going to have a big store. Nice thing about that is he's offering personal hand-tied cod and haddock rigs that we've been using since back from my uncle's days, back before we had great white sharks and seals on the Cape.

It goes back. These rigs have always worked for us. These are the rigs that we use when we go East to Chatham, or haddock fishing up in the Stellwagen. It's a limited supply because he ties them by hand. Soon as that launches, I'm going to let all the members know where they can get them before he runs out. 

Kevin: Absolutely, we'll have to get the website and everything, up on the podcast so everybody can go take a peek at those. Bruno, until we get that hot kind of spring fishing bite, the haddock bite. There's other things that you can do here to kind of satiate your fishing appetite around Cape Cod. One of the things you wanted to chat about today and touch on real quick was winter flounder as well?

Fluke and Winter Flounder


Bruno: Yes, as you start getting into May. The black bass, winter flounder have really bounced back to Cape Cod Bay from previous years, and it's a great fishery. If you can get out of Cape Cod Bay and find yourself a mussel bed, mussels work great as bait for those. There’s some spots on Cape Cod Bay where you can find those winter flounders up to 17 inches, so that's another great fishery. 

That doesn't get talked about as much as haddocks does but it's a great fishery. As a matter of fact, if you don't have a boat and you want to come down to Cape Cod—I am saying this because I'm always pushing for tourism here on Cape Cod because I know it's such a big part of our local economy. There's a charter boat, it's actually a party boat that goes out of Sassoon Harbor, called the, help me out with this Kevin, called the...

Kevin: Is it the Albatross?

Bruno: Yes, exactly, exactly. That's a great family old business, very good place to go with your kids. They're relatively inexpensive, if you don't have a boat, you want to do some plum fishing, that's your best bet on Cape Cod with you. Come down today and check out our beautiful little island.

Kevin: Two other things, Bruno, that folks can do, that I know you wanted to talk about until the saltwater game really heats up. One, being holdover stripers, that folks can kind of look to target that are still around here, if you dig deep enough in Cape Cod, and the other is the freshwater fishing we have on Cape Cod.

Holdover Stripers


Bruno: Yes, you know what? I was talking to my friends down at Riverview bake shop in Yarmouth. They were talking about how guys are getting a consistent striper up to 18 inches up river rocks Southside of the Cape. Also I got to tell you, if you want to look at freshwater, freshwater bite with the trout right now, especially inside of some of these smaller kettle ponds from what the guys were saying down the river view is fantastic right now. Because a small kettle pond is warmer, so you're getting a nice trout bite, nice smallmouth bass bite, and then you got some decent brook trout right inside up in the park over on Brewster at the Nickerson Park. 

Kevin: Well, those are certainly outstanding options, Bruno to kind of wet the appetite for our upcoming saltwater fishing season. I want to thank you for kind of being back on board with us this year. Doing the fishing reports, and I'm really excited for the summer to come, my man. 

Bruno: Yes, I can't wait. We'll see you guys out there. If you see me out there on the forums, I take notes at this point, what I look like, and what the boat looks like, feel free to give me a shout. We'll see you out there, tight lines.

Kevin: Next up on today's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast is Danny Jones from the Goose Hummock shop down in Orleans. Danny, how are you this morning? 

Danny: Very good. Thank you. How are you? 


Kevin: Good. It's a little foggy up here in Plymouth, where I am. Is it pretty foggy down Cape or is it clear down in Orleans? 

Danny: No, we got a little bit of fog over town, cold here, but the wind is gusting pretty good here. We get 20, 25 mile an hour winds and stuff. Typical spring day here in Cape Cod.

Kevin: We're a little bit early in the season to talk about saltwater fishing. One of the reasons we like to bring our friends from the Goose Hummock in is to talk about freshwater fishing and the opportunities that Cape Cod presents with, not only its rivers, but all the kettle ponds. Have you got a chance to do some freshwater fishing the spring?

Freshwater Fishing Report

Danny: I have, I been out freshwater fishing a few times over the weekend on my days off. The State of Massachusetts started their annual stocking program the first week of March. The stocking program is pretty much in full swing. I've been over to Cliff, and little cliff inside Nickerson State Park. The first stocking they did was around a brook trout, which were some nice brook trout, they put in up to two, three pounds. I got into a few of those with some of the guys here from the shop, and now they stocked some rainbow trout as well. It's pretty much a full swing. 


Kevin: Can you talk a little bit about what baits have been successful for you? Or what baits have been going pretty well in the shop so far this spring? 

Most Effective Baits & Lures

Danny: This year we’re really ramping up some freshwater season. We brought in a lot of new lures, and new spinners, I've got plenty of Thomas Bouyants, Bakers Lures—which were suspending lures that you just cast and retrieve, Colorado Spoon, Mepps Spinners, Iron Candy, Shiny Silver Spoon has been very effective, I'll have those up in the store here and by the end of the week. We got a wide variety of different spoons, we have freshwater bait as well, there are plenty of trout worms, night crawlers, and the shiners.


Just a few weeks ago I had an opportunity to be fishing with the ponds. Fishing shiners and I got the biggest brown trout of my life, was nine pounds, two ounces, so the beautiful fish. 

Kevin: Can you talk a little bit about the largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing as well? I know that where you know pre-spawn for largemouth and smallmouth, but maybe a little bit of intel or info on how to best target those fish this time of year or as we move into April?

Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass

Danny: Yes, largemouth bass, we should start seeing some schoolie herring and start to show up in some of these ponds, coming in from the ocean. That largemouth bass are going to start moving into some of the shallow water, typically on the Southside where the sun shines longer. I know, one of my employees here, he got a large like a five pound largemouth, out of Peters Pond just a few days ago, actually on a Bakers Lure when he was casting for trout. The smallmouth, I haven't heard too much, they're probably still a little bit of deeper water, 15–20 feet. Each day with warmer water temperatures the both of those fisheries are going to get better and better.


Kevin: Let's talk about shellfishing real quick Danny. I know that's something that I really picked up during the quarantine, during Coronavirus last year. I went out and got my shellfishing license for the first time ever. I did a lot of digging for steamers, I did some quohogging, I collected muscles. Let's talk about the Goose Hummock and shellfishing. I know Phil, when he was on last October with me, he really wanted to talk a lot about all the different things that you guys offer your shellfishing from and down on Cape Cod. 

Shellfishing Information


Danny: Yes, we can carry the R.A. Ribb Rakes, which are made locally here in Harwich. I've got at least 12–14 different styles. There's some turtlebacks, baskets, some of your basic scratchers, some of your short handles, hose they call them, for soft-shelled clams, and we have baskets as well, your typical baskets. Each town on Cape Cod gear has different regulations, where to go and what you can keep for the week. We sell quite a bit of clamming equipment, we have the quahog gauges you can attach right to a basket, the rakes range anywhere from $89–$150. 

We have both stainless steel and steel. We have just about everything you need to get you started for clamming. With the whole COVID thing that has been going on, this past season we sold an enormous amount of clam baskets, clam rakes, and the gauges. We have plenty of all that equipment for you to get into clamming. 

Kevin: I would like to say here on the podcast as well speaking from experience. Your shellfishing license or permit, depending on what town you live in. In the town of Plymouth where I am, it was only $10 last year. It's a very affordable, cheap permit to buy. I think maybe on some of the other towns on Cape Cod, it might range in the $20–$25.

Danny: I reside in the town of Brewster and my resident clamming license is $20 for the season, but you can't beat that.

Kevin: No, exactly.

Danny: It's a great thing for me to do on a Sunday morning, at low tide to walk out into the bay with the sun coming up, to get my basket of clams that just absolutely majestical would be out there all alone. Get your clams, make some chowder or stuff, use for the week. 

Kevin: I would absolutely encourage folks to look into their specific town to see what a permit might cost. Probably anywhere between $10 and $25. When you get your permit, along with it will come a map of all the different areas that are open and close to shellfishing for your specific town. Definitely want to encourage folks to look into that. 

Another thing I wanted to talk about in the springtime here is just what the Goose Hummock does in terms of marine service provider. I know that you guys are open, you're working on boats, you're getting boats close to being in the water. I know that the back area of the Goose down across the road there is where all that magic gets done, not necessarily your area of expertise, but just wanted to give you a second and talk about how busy you guys are down there.

Marine Service Information


Danny: It's ramping up with each day with warmer temperatures. We did have quite a few boats that will shrink wrap that we're down storage, that are now getting unwrapped and getting sea trial, to getting ready for the season. We have a full time mechanic down there, Nick, he's a great mechanic. Like I said, we're ready to go. Feel free to call, make an appointment if you want to get your boat in for commissioning to get out of the water for the season. Do it sooner than later because if it's anything last year where it can be crazy busy already all over again. In downstairs, in the outdoor center, we do offer a wide variety of different kayaks, and paddleboards, and pedal driven kayaks for sale as well, to get you out on the water. 

Kevin: Danny, I just wanted to give you an opportunity real quick to talk a little bit about yourself and what your fishing plans are for 2021. Once the salt water season does kick off, what type of fishing are you looking forward to doing most, is it kind of stripers and blues from the shore, is it going offshore for tuna? What's your gig?

Saltwater Fishing Forecast


Danny: I do just about everything to be honest with you. In the beginning of the season, usually, a good friend of mine, Captain Rich, will try to get a haddock tripping. We get up on the banks, Southeast corner of the banks, and try to get some haddock. As the season progresses, the water warms, we’ll start catching some schoolie stripers, we’ll actually do a little winter flounder fishing in the Cape Cod Bay as well. Then as the season progresses then we'll start sea bass fishing outside Bass River, and later in the season then we'll really get into tuna fishing. I do a lot of fishing on his boat as well for bluefin tuna. 

Kevin: I understand that Phil purchased a new Contender this year. 

Danny: I believe he did. I believe he's got a 44 foot Contender on the way here. That's going to be very exciting to hopefully get out do a little canyon fishing as well in that big boat. 

Kevin: Yes, I’m going to say, a boat of that size makes the canyon definitely accessible to Team Goose. No doubt about that. 

Danny: Exactly. 

Kevin: Well, Danny, I really appreciate you taking the time to visit with us on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast. It was a pleasure to meet you, and hopefully we can get you on the show later in the year. 

Danny: Excellent. Sounds good, a pleasure talking to you and you have a great day. 

Kevin: Thank you to Danny Jones from the Goose Hummock shop down in Orleans. It was a pleasure getting to meet Danny and welcome them into our little podcast family here at My Fishing Cape Cod. That's going to put the wraps on this first edition for 2021 of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast. 

Want to give a quick thank you to all of our guests that joined us on today's program. Starting off with MFCC Founder and Creator Ryan Collins, then was Bruno Demir from down at Cape & Islands Mitsubishi, and last but not least you just heard from first time podcast guest Danny Jones down at the Goose Hummock in Orleans. That's going to do it for this week's edition of the MFCC podcast. Like Ryan said off the top of the show, we hope to speak with you again in the near future and the next one to two weeks. Until then, this is your host Kevin Collins signing off, tight lines and take care.

Thank you for tuning into the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast. For the latest local news information and fishing reports, be sure to log onto myfishingcapecod.com from all of us at My Fishing Cape Cod, tight lines and take care.

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

You may also like

Springtime Fishing with Captain CullenFishing enthusiasts and angling aficionados, gather around as we dive into a comprehensive Zoom call crafted from a

Read More

Striped bass pretty unique creatures if you stop to think about it. What other fish species can be targeted in open water, up

Read More
>