The Cape Cod Canal is among the most difficult and rewarding locations down the entire East Coast of the United States to fish for striped bass. Few locations on earth offer the shore bound fisherman a better chance at catching a striper in the 40 pound range.
The man-made land cut has provided amazing fishing the past few seasons. The spring run of large striped bass has been just as impressive, if not more impressive than the famed autumn migration.
If this spring is anything similar to spring of 2010, large schools of trophy size fish should enter the canal during the second half of May. For the serious striped bass angler, the "Big Ditch," as it's referenced by canal regulars, will likely produce a number of the biggest stripers of the year.
Timing is Everything
The canal will support a population of bass from May through October. But to truly cash in on superb canal fishing, a fisherman must be at the canal when a large biomass of bass moves into the land cut.
Regrettably it is inherently tough to predict when this will occur. However it may help to stay up-to-date on Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay fishing reports. Accounts of big schools of surface feeding stripers in Buzzards Bay will frequently trickle in a few days, to a week, before a canal blitz.
These fish are on a northward migration route that usually brings them directly into the Cape Cod Canal - in contrast to the longer trip around the arm of the Cape. At this time of the season the canal is stuffed with herring, mackerel, whiting as well as a plethora of other prey items. The canal naturally sets the stage for a first class fishing opportunity.
Top-notch fishing seems to occur in stages as biomasses of stripers migrate through the land cut north into Cape Cod Bay. Often time's spectacular fishing will occur for a day or two as the school migrates passes through the ditch. A phase of slower fishing develops, until the next large push of bass transpires a week or so later.
I recall a Thursday morning last season when anyone who could cast a plug more than 30 feet was into big fish. It did not take long for word to spread, and by Saturday morning the canal was brimming with anglers. However the biomass of stripers had speedily exited the canal late Thursday/early Friday. I did not see a single fish taken that Saturday morning.
Top Water Bass Action
The top water action at the canal can be downright nutty during the spring. To put it simply there are not many areas in our neck of the woods where a shore bound angler can have a shot at casting surface plugs to 30 pound bass.
With that said, not everyone will take advantage of the fantastic top water action during spring at the canal. Lengthy casts greater than 200 feet are usually needed to reach breaking bass.
Loading the tail end of a productive aerodynamic surface plug with weight can noticeably boost casting distance without hurting the action of the plug. Using ultra thin braided line and the best rods and reels money can purchase will unquestionably help. However nothing can beat perfect casting technique.
Bass are relatively easy to fool with top water plugs if the bass are aggressive and honed in on larger prey items such as tinker mackerel. It can be a completely different predicament if the bass are focused on smaller prey such as juvenile whiting.
On numerous occasions last year, canal anglers witnessed smaller bass feeding aggressively on small prey items at the crack of dawn. All efforts to catch these fish went unrewarded as it was nearly impossible to reach these breaking striped bass with a plug that matched the small stature of the bait these schoolie stripers were feeding on.
However as the morning and tide progressed, the tinier prey items were replaced by much larger mackerel. Larger bass replaced the schoolies, and everyone began catching. Things change quickly this time of the year at the Cape Cod Canal.
10 Best Fishing Spots
The Cape Cod Canal is likely one of the East Coast's very best striped bass fishing locations. Montauk, NY may just be the only spot on Earth eclipsing the Cape Cod Canal with regard to productivity and popularity with surfcasters.
The Cape Cod Canal is one of only several locations across the striper coast where fishermen casting from shore regularly catch 20, 30, 40 and 50 plus pound striped bass.
There's an enormous learning curve relating to catching striped bass from the "Big Ditch". Figuring out the tides, techniques, and productive spots often requires decades. Plenty of anglers find targeting stripers at the Canal remarkably frustrating, and quit before ever creating a chance to succeed.
Occasionally it appears as if anyone who can cast greater than 20 feet can catch a significant striped bass out of the Canal. During the past few seasons these legendary blitzes have usually transpired throughout the spring. The striper fishing throughout these times is often fast and furious.
Yet for almost all of the fishing season, the sole anglers hooking big stripers with any amount of consistency would be the folks concentrating on the correct fishing spots during the best tide. This knowledge typically takes years of learning from mistakes in an effort to acquire.
The majority of these hot spots support some type of bottom structure. Substantial rips, holes and rocky peaks carpet the full span of the Canal. A number of these spots feature extraordinary depth changes. In some areas the bottom will drop 30 feet in a matter of just a couple of yards.
There's no lack of productive fishing spots throughout the Cape Cod Canal. I have a list of around twenty five unique holes which I pick and choose from when planning a trip to the Canal. Even so I would be telling lies if I told you that all of those holes fishes equally well. Certainly some of these spots fish better than all the other locations.
The main factor to catching a lot of stripers at the Canal depends on the fisherman's ability to identify the very best fishing spots. The very best areas in the Canal typically feature incredible rips, holes, and rocky peaks which fish flock to similar to bees to honey. This particular guide shares with you the precise locations of 10 of the best Cape Cod Canal fishing spots. Just as vital, this booklet clarifies which tides produce best at every spot and why this is so.
Acquiring this knowledge usually takes numerous years of experience to be able to crack the Canal code to discover the spots that produce and which spots don't. In many cases the difference between catching and not catching can be measured in just a few yards.
The Ebook contains:
Precise locations (to the yard) of rips, holes and rocky peaks The exact yardage each hole is from the rip-rap Helpful diagrams and photos showing the best places to cast from Guidelines regarding how to point your cast in a spot which will bring your jig, bait or lure directly through the strike zone Specifics about the ideal tides in each spot and why certain tides produce more big bass than others.
Thorough descriptions of the structure found in each spot.
Fishing the right spots at the right tide is the simplest, quickest, and most effective way to improve your catch rate at the Canal.
The man-made land cut has provided amazing fishing the past few seasons. The spring run of large striped bass has been just as impressive, if not more impressive than the famed autumn migration.
If this spring is anything similar to spring of 2010, large schools of trophy size fish should enter the canal during the second half of May. For the serious striped bass angler, the "Big Ditch," as it's referenced by canal regulars, will likely produce a number of the biggest stripers of the year.
Timing is Everything
The canal will support a population of bass from May through October. But to truly cash in on superb canal fishing, a fisherman must be at the canal when a large biomass of bass moves into the land cut.
Regrettably it is inherently tough to predict when this will occur. However it may help to stay up-to-date on Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay fishing reports. Accounts of big schools of surface feeding stripers in Buzzards Bay will frequently trickle in a few days, to a week, before a canal blitz.
These fish are on a northward migration route that usually brings them directly into the Cape Cod Canal - in contrast to the longer trip around the arm of the Cape. At this time of the season the canal is stuffed with herring, mackerel, whiting as well as a plethora of other prey items. The canal naturally sets the stage for a first class fishing opportunity.
Top-notch fishing seems to occur in stages as biomasses of stripers migrate through the land cut north into Cape Cod Bay. Often time's spectacular fishing will occur for a day or two as the school migrates passes through the ditch. A phase of slower fishing develops, until the next large push of bass transpires a week or so later.
I recall a Thursday morning last season when anyone who could cast a plug more than 30 feet was into big fish. It did not take long for word to spread, and by Saturday morning the canal was brimming with anglers. However the biomass of stripers had speedily exited the canal late Thursday/early Friday. I did not see a single fish taken that Saturday morning.
Top Water Bass Action
The top water action at the canal can be downright nutty during the spring. To put it simply there are not many areas in our neck of the woods where a shore bound angler can have a shot at casting surface plugs to 30 pound bass.
With that said, not everyone will take advantage of the fantastic top water action during spring at the canal. Lengthy casts greater than 200 feet are usually needed to reach breaking bass.
Loading the tail end of a productive aerodynamic surface plug with weight can noticeably boost casting distance without hurting the action of the plug. Using ultra thin braided line and the best rods and reels money can purchase will unquestionably help. However nothing can beat perfect casting technique.
Bass are relatively easy to fool with top water plugs if the bass are aggressive and honed in on larger prey items such as tinker mackerel. It can be a completely different predicament if the bass are focused on smaller prey such as juvenile whiting.
On numerous occasions last year, canal anglers witnessed smaller bass feeding aggressively on small prey items at the crack of dawn. All efforts to catch these fish went unrewarded as it was nearly impossible to reach these breaking striped bass with a plug that matched the small stature of the bait these schoolie stripers were feeding on.
However as the morning and tide progressed, the tinier prey items were replaced by much larger mackerel. Larger bass replaced the schoolies, and everyone began catching. Things change quickly this time of the year at the Cape Cod Canal.
10 Best Fishing Spots
The Cape Cod Canal is likely one of the East Coast's very best striped bass fishing locations. Montauk, NY may just be the only spot on Earth eclipsing the Cape Cod Canal with regard to productivity and popularity with surfcasters.
The Cape Cod Canal is one of only several locations across the striper coast where fishermen casting from shore regularly catch 20, 30, 40 and 50 plus pound striped bass.
There's an enormous learning curve relating to catching striped bass from the "Big Ditch". Figuring out the tides, techniques, and productive spots often requires decades. Plenty of anglers find targeting stripers at the Canal remarkably frustrating, and quit before ever creating a chance to succeed.
Occasionally it appears as if anyone who can cast greater than 20 feet can catch a significant striped bass out of the Canal. During the past few seasons these legendary blitzes have usually transpired throughout the spring. The striper fishing throughout these times is often fast and furious.
Yet for almost all of the fishing season, the sole anglers hooking big stripers with any amount of consistency would be the folks concentrating on the correct fishing spots during the best tide. This knowledge typically takes years of learning from mistakes in an effort to acquire.
The majority of these hot spots support some type of bottom structure. Substantial rips, holes and rocky peaks carpet the full span of the Canal. A number of these spots feature extraordinary depth changes. In some areas the bottom will drop 30 feet in a matter of just a couple of yards.
There's no lack of productive fishing spots throughout the Cape Cod Canal. I have a list of around twenty five unique holes which I pick and choose from when planning a trip to the Canal. Even so I would be telling lies if I told you that all of those holes fishes equally well. Certainly some of these spots fish better than all the other locations.
The main factor to catching a lot of stripers at the Canal depends on the fisherman's ability to identify the very best fishing spots. The very best areas in the Canal typically feature incredible rips, holes, and rocky peaks which fish flock to similar to bees to honey. This particular guide shares with you the precise locations of 10 of the best Cape Cod Canal fishing spots. Just as vital, this booklet clarifies which tides produce best at every spot and why this is so.
Acquiring this knowledge usually takes numerous years of experience to be able to crack the Canal code to discover the spots that produce and which spots don't. In many cases the difference between catching and not catching can be measured in just a few yards.
The Ebook contains:
Precise locations (to the yard) of rips, holes and rocky peaks The exact yardage each hole is from the rip-rap Helpful diagrams and photos showing the best places to cast from Guidelines regarding how to point your cast in a spot which will bring your jig, bait or lure directly through the strike zone Specifics about the ideal tides in each spot and why certain tides produce more big bass than others.
Thorough descriptions of the structure found in each spot.
Fishing the right spots at the right tide is the simplest, quickest, and most effective way to improve your catch rate at the Canal.
About the Author:
Captain Ryan Collins fishes for striped bass and Bluefin tuna off Cape Cod, MA. Visit his blog, myfishingcapecod.com for insider tips about how to troll for striped bass and giant bluefin tuna.
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