I set out on this fresh water fishing escapade on Friday, February 12th.
It was a chilly morning. My phone weather app was broadcastings a high of 11 degrees for the day.
I dressed in triple layers; top and bottom.
If you fish in this cold weather I recommend investing in a set of Under Armour 2.0 Cold-it is worth every cent.
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I packed up my gear and my favorite fishing companion - Mackerel.
Mackerel is a one year old Black Lab, Great Dane mix. We call him “Mack” for short.
When Mack and I arrived at the pond, we were greeted by Kyle, my fishing buddy.
Due to a recent cold snap, fishing areas had become limited, and this pond was feeling the effects of the cold.
However, there was a nice patch of open water to fish.
Getting Started Trout Fishing
We had four rods in the water in record time. Two of our rods were rigged with air injected night crawlers.
The other two were rigged with shiners.
During this trip we fished everything off the bottom. Our rigs consisted of a 1/8 oz slide sinker and about 3 feet of mono leader tied to a small circle hook.
I use a small circle hook because trout have very small mouths, a larger hook is not be necessary.
Helpful Tip
When the temperature drops to the low teens and below, the fish always bite during the warmest part of the day.
During this time frame the sun is high in the sky, beaming down into the water.
In my experience, the fish shut off after 2pm during the winter.
The bite really dies once the sunsets below the trees.
About twenty minutes into our fishing excursion, we had our first strike on a night crawler.
It was an aggressive hit, and I was pleasantly surprised to see my indicator bobber fly into the air.
I set the hook, and the fish began peeling line from my spool.
After a decent fight and a few jumps we had our first rainbow of the day and oh my was this fish a fatty!
I was tempted to keep the fish, just to see what she had been eating.
But after a few photos I quickly released the trout back into the frigid water.
Brown Trout & Salmon?
Shortly after the fat rainbow was released, one of Kyle’s rods when off.
Kyle was on with a brown trout.
Once ashore, I snapped a few photos and released the fish.
Not five minutes had passed when one of my poles went off with another decent size brown trout.
It was now high noon, and the fishing was really picking up.
I caught another small rainbow on a night crawler. Just as I was letting it go, one of Kyle’s rods doubled over, promising a good sized fish.
After a great fight Kyle landed what looked like a salmon?
I am not 100% sure and I know the salmon program ended last season.
Local fishing gurus, I need your help with this one. Please feel free to provide your feedback by commenting below.
A Great Day Of Trout Fishing
On Cape Cod
I apologize to the vegans/ vegetarians/ PETA, but the potential salmon was gut hooked and quickly began bleeding.
Plus Kyle needed something for supper, so we decided to keep it.
Kyle and I fished for another hour with each of us landing another rainbow.
I then lost another brown trout about 5 feet from shore after it spit the hook. The fish just sat there, mocking me.
I rebaited with another shiner and tried to coax the fish into biting again, but it just eyeballed the shiner and eventually swam back into the deep.
Despite the cold temperatures the trip ended up being a great for everyone.
Even Mack had a blast running around in the snow and chasing ducks.
Stay tuned for our next fishing adventure.
MFCC members can access more about where to trout fish on Cape Cod by clicking below.
Nice trout, i didnt realize they you could catch em from shore. They move in closer to shore during the cold ?
You can catch them year round from shore on cape. In the colder months I find the middle of the day works best. When it warms up dusk and dawn is good,
oops, my mistake. closer examination of your photos showed that this is not the pond I like to fish…….
this pond is in Harwich. Is the pond you fish in Chatham by chance?
I’m pretty sure I recognize the nice little pond- one side has a cranberry bog on the other side of the bank? If this is that pond (again rather small with only 1 house on it) it is not stocked with salmon but is stocked every spring with brookies, ‘bows and browns. I caught a rather large salmon looking fish last Oct. using flies and my belly boat- it was actually a brown that had silvered up.
Enjoyed the trip you posted, thanks
I spent 3 hours last Sunday fishing at Cliff Pond with Power bait without success. It looks that I have to try the night crawlers and the shiners. I will try it again this Sunday. Thanks for the report!
Good luck! I’ve given up on powerbait. I find the live bait leads to bigger fish and a wider variety of species.
I know that pond. Great spot, lots of action. Was super surprised one late afternoon in the early fall years ago to drop by and cast a few times with a Kastmaster.
Great to see the super-aggressive browns following it and taking it.
It was a 3/4 oz lure more commonly used for stripers.
Others use a deer-hair fly known locally as a Stezko Popper. It acts like a mini Striper Swiper for great top-water action. Never got to know Tony other than by his paintings and flies. He was one of the greats for sure.
in March, they’ll also take what we called a Provincetown Wooly Worm.
There are some big fish in that pond.
There are definitely some big fish in that pond. I’ve seen 15lb salmon taken out of there. the biggest I’ve caught in there was 8lbs. I’ve heard a rumor the hatchery released some big breeder browns in there the last couple seasons.
Thats a tiger trout. You can tell by the squigly lines.
First time posting on your page. Figured I’d shed a little light on the rainbow trout/salmon comparison. If you have any good pictures of the “salmon” take a look at its tail. If its covered with small spots it’s most likely a rainbow. Also, the anal find on a rainbow is a bit bigger than that of a salmon.
Sounds like you guys had a great trip. Thanks for all the helpful tips and advice. Tight lines!
Thanks for the Info!
When I was a kid 15-17 I went to a Boy Scout camp in Myles standish state park they put brownies in there up to 10 lbs also that fish isn’t a salmon it’s a tiger trout
Must be a “Ryan Convention” going on! That sure was a salmon-Great job!!!
Apparently the name coincides with being a great fisherman 🙂 Thanks Jay.
That is an impressive trip, especially considering the cold temps! Sounds like you guys really got into them good. I usually fish night crawlers the same way, but never fish shiners. Were you free-lining them, or were they on a weight? Did you have many hits on the shiners vs the worms? Thanks for the great report!
Thanks Ryan,
I was fishing them on an 1/8oz slide weight with about 3 feet of leader. I usually cast them out and let the weight of my indicator bobber kind of pull them closer to the weight. all of the browns came on shiners, plus the salmon. all of the rainbows were on the worms. I do catch the occasional rainbow on a shiner though. I really like fishing shiners in the spring and fall when Largemouth bass are still pretty active. I caught some nice largemouth fishing shiners for trout.
If the wind is at my back I will put a shiner under a bobber to fish the top part of the water column. Only when the wind is directly behind me so I don’t have to keep recasting as it drifts around.
Thanks for the tip! Sounds like a pretty good way to spend a winter day. Keep catching ’em up!