The Best Cape Cod Canal Striper Strategies
Fishing the Cape Cod Canal after sunset is often a unique and sometimes very spooky undertaking. There's no shortage of intriguing characters, wildlife and strange noises along the rip-rap at night. However if you are hoping to dramatically improve your odds of reeling in an enormous striper from the Big Ditch, then hitting up the Cape Cod Canal at night will indeed be right up your alley.
The night time angling for the Canal begins to develop with the advent of the initial real big striped bass. Ordinarily by Memorial Day substantial bass have settled back into the Canal-this is when the evening fishing actually starts to turn on. At this moment of the season, nightime outings are often hit or miss proposition as massive bio masses of stripers move via the Cape Cod Canal right into Cape Cod Bay. In other words, you may land stripers one evening and then fail to entice a single bite the next. As soon as the following push of large bass swims in through Buzzard's Bay the after dark fishing starts to produce yet again.
By July the after dark fishing will become a lot more steady. The majority of the striped bass population has settled firmly into their summer months haunts, which usually makes Cape Cod Canal fishing a little bit less hit and miss. It is rather possible to land keeper fish just about every night of the week, granted you can focus on the most productive fishing spots.
The vast majority of the stripers that are caught after dark are hooked on bait, jigs and subsurface lures. Pedaling along the service road, hunting for breaking bass is clearly not a possibility. Having a solid understanding of the best locations and tides is far more important when fishing the Canal after dark than when fishing during the day.
The the vast majority of massive striped bass taken through the night are taken out of holes, rips and close to sections of structure. Focusing on these zones will noticeably increase your likelihood of hooking into a large striper.
Fishing jigs on the bottom in these zones, or swimming a lure or eel over a rip is a surefire method to catch the attention of a nice bass. Quite a few Big Ditch anglers opt to fish artificial lures when the tide is cranking, then change to live or chunk bait during the slack. Many of the biggest stripers ever taken in the Canal have been hooked on a chunk of bait fished on the bottom during the course of a nighttime slack tide.
Based upon what the biomass of stripers decide to do, September and October at the Cape Cod Canal might be either superb or discouraging. If a bio mass of striped bass opts to swim through the land cut on their migration south, then the fishing at the Canal will be stellar. However if the predominant body of fish chooses to swim around the arm of Cape Cod on their migration, then Cape Cod Canal fishermen will be out of luck.
Having said that, even during slow autumns fishing the Cape Cod Canal at night during September and October can result in substantial striped bass. As always, focusing on fishing the best Cape Cod Canal fishing spots during the most productive tide is the most important component for Cape Cod Canal fishing success.
The night time angling for the Canal begins to develop with the advent of the initial real big striped bass. Ordinarily by Memorial Day substantial bass have settled back into the Canal-this is when the evening fishing actually starts to turn on. At this moment of the season, nightime outings are often hit or miss proposition as massive bio masses of stripers move via the Cape Cod Canal right into Cape Cod Bay. In other words, you may land stripers one evening and then fail to entice a single bite the next. As soon as the following push of large bass swims in through Buzzard's Bay the after dark fishing starts to produce yet again.
By July the after dark fishing will become a lot more steady. The majority of the striped bass population has settled firmly into their summer months haunts, which usually makes Cape Cod Canal fishing a little bit less hit and miss. It is rather possible to land keeper fish just about every night of the week, granted you can focus on the most productive fishing spots.
The vast majority of the stripers that are caught after dark are hooked on bait, jigs and subsurface lures. Pedaling along the service road, hunting for breaking bass is clearly not a possibility. Having a solid understanding of the best locations and tides is far more important when fishing the Canal after dark than when fishing during the day.
The the vast majority of massive striped bass taken through the night are taken out of holes, rips and close to sections of structure. Focusing on these zones will noticeably increase your likelihood of hooking into a large striper.
Fishing jigs on the bottom in these zones, or swimming a lure or eel over a rip is a surefire method to catch the attention of a nice bass. Quite a few Big Ditch anglers opt to fish artificial lures when the tide is cranking, then change to live or chunk bait during the slack. Many of the biggest stripers ever taken in the Canal have been hooked on a chunk of bait fished on the bottom during the course of a nighttime slack tide.
Based upon what the biomass of stripers decide to do, September and October at the Cape Cod Canal might be either superb or discouraging. If a bio mass of striped bass opts to swim through the land cut on their migration south, then the fishing at the Canal will be stellar. However if the predominant body of fish chooses to swim around the arm of Cape Cod on their migration, then Cape Cod Canal fishermen will be out of luck.
Having said that, even during slow autumns fishing the Cape Cod Canal at night during September and October can result in substantial striped bass. As always, focusing on fishing the best Cape Cod Canal fishing spots during the most productive tide is the most important component for Cape Cod Canal fishing success.
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 trolling for striped bass and giant tuna.
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