Every report you read about striper fishing from shore points to the Cape Cod Canal as the hottest area to fish in New England right now for keeper stripers. I've been fishing this place on and off for several years now and have discovered a few things that might be helpful for a beginner. Here goes.
1. Get to this
website,
http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/ccc/recreation/recreation.htm It will give you all the info you need to know about tides, access, rules, etc.
2.
Hotspots- The east end of the Canal is the place to be in the summertime. The Sandwich side has less guys and less fish in my opinion but can be hot at times. The Scusset side has more fishermen and more fish. There is a fee to park at Scusset; the other side is free.
3. Best tide- Definitely the high dropping. If you look at the tide charts from the website above, you will notice times of the high tide in Sandwich. The water in the Canal starts moving to the west (best movement) an hour before the high tide. The best tide to fish is from the high tide to 2-3 hours down. Water has to be really moving for it to be good. Also, those moon tides with a single or double asterisk are far better tides because they offer more water movement.
4. Best times- If you have the right tides, by far the best times are daybreak and dusk. After dark can also be good. Overcast days are better than sunny days, but if the bait is around high noon can produce.
5. Best lures- Jigs on the bottom, pencil poppers on the surface, skinny plastic swimmers in a mackerel color. Hottest lure this year has been a Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow. You can't even find them online as guys as buying them out.
6. Equipment- Most fishermen go big in here because a long cast is beneficial as fish will break a lot of time way out. Standard equipment for most fishermen is a rod in the 9-12 foot range, braided line (30-40 lb.) and big spinning reels. You will see guys along here who can cast a pencil popper out 300-400 feet.
I admit to not being an expert on canal fishing, but the info above will certainly be helpful to beginners. Good luck if you try.
Well. I'm not surprised by this news story that says RI is the fastest warming state in the US. Here is the quote.
My guess is that most fishermen out there were taught to fish by their fathers. I know that is the case in our family. My father had three sons and we all turned out to be lifetime fishermen. We were taught at an early age how to fish and grew up catching bluegills and largemouths in the local ponds. From there, my father taught us how to fly fish, catch trout and even tie flies. In the wintertime, the kitchen table would turn into our fly tying operation. When we became teenagers, my father got into saltwater striper fishing in the 1960’s and that began a lifetime passion for me. My father bought an old four wheel drive jeep back then, and we would head to the sands of the Cape or the south shore or RI to fish for striped bass right off the beach. Back then you could venture everywhere on the beaches without regulations or permits and we did! After the Jeep, he bought an old bread truck which he made into a camper that we used on weekends and vacations to fish for stripers and blues. For all those who have the high priced campers of today, imagine 5 people and a dog sleeping in a bread truck for a week. We loved it! I have to credit and thank my father for everything I know about fishing today.
2. Hotspots- The east end of the Canal is the place to be in the summertime. The Sandwich side has less guys and less fish in my opinion but can be hot at times. The Scusset side has more fishermen and more fish. There is a fee to park at Scusset; the other side is free.
Wow, what I saw last night was spectacular. I knew the Cape Cod Canal had fish because my son, Ben, has been fishing there with good success, averaging about 5 keepers an outing. He has been fishing some days both morning and night, scoring equally at both ends of the day.
Yesterday, I decided to give it a try in the evening. I went down with my sons, Matt and Ben, along with Matt's friend Mike. Things were slow at first with a couple of fish here and there in the daylight. But, once dusk came and darkness arrived, the fish turned on big time. The four of us landed over 20 keepers caught on a combination of Hogys as well as mackerel colored swimmers. We had nothing huge with mostly fish in the 30-36 inch range. But, I saw a good number of fish dragged out of the canal that had to reach in the 40-46 inch range, some fish that easily weighed over 40 lbs. All the reports claim that this hot fishing has been going on for over a week now and these reports are absolutely true. This is all being fueled by an influx of bait, mainly small mackerel, butterfish and sandeels. On any given tide, there are well over a hundred fishermen lining the canal, and at times everyone is hooking fish. My son, Ben, reports that a couple of days ago he estimated at least 200 keepers were landed in a short stretch of a couple of hours.
