Striper Fishing the Cape Cod Canal: Locating the Best Spots

Certainly nothing beats the excitement of seeing a huge striper smack a surface plug at the Cape Cod Canal. Nevertheless with regards to repeatedly hooking sizeable striped bass along the shores of the “Big Ditch” (as it is referred to by locals), focusing on fishing the deeper section of the land cut can pay off in an even bigger and more consistent way.

Having said that, you can’t just throw a jig, bait or lure in some random spot in the ditch and anticipate good results. The Canal has its own hot spots and dead zones like every other fishing area down the striper coast. Being able to find the spectacular drop-offs, under water humps, rugged ledges and unremitting rips is crucial to regularly taking large fish off the Canal’s bottom. The anglers who know the right spots are almost always the guys weighing in big fish at the bait and tackle shops.

Fish often flock to regions of structure like bees to honey. This is true whether we are talking about fluke, sea bass, or tautog. Striped bass in particular enjoy areas filled with significant structure. Add a strong current to the mix and these structure filled spots become even more appealing. Typically the stripers will position themselves deep in a hole, or right behind a rip. The structure breaks up the relentless current, more or less in the same way a building blocks a stiff breeze.

Classic bass theory declares that cow striped bass make use of current altering pieces of structure to achieve a competitive advantage over food items. The strong Canal current pushes all kinds of bait fish and prey items downstream. Opportunistic bass frequently position at the rear of a part of structure, and then suddenly ambush prey as it tumbles down in the current.

One of the easiest ways to discover areas worth fishing is to pay attention to differences in the surface water of the Big Ditch. Bass holding areas of structure will most likely produce disturbances in the regular stream of the current. Most likely, clues to the site of the actual bass attracting structure reveal itself as a wake, ripple, whirlpool etc. on the surface of the Canal.

Strolling the banks of the Cape Cod Canal, or better yet driving your bike on the service road, and keeping a close eye out for discrepancies on the Canal’s surface is a superb approach to at least obtaining an idea of where to cast a line.

Standing waves are probably one of the most tell-tale signs of an underwater rip. If you unearth a spot with standing waves, the actual striped bass attracting structure will likely be situated slightly up current of the waves. This holds true concerning any sort of difference on the surface-the bass holding structure will be a little bit up current.

It is now time to zone in on the exact location of the structure you will be basing your fishing efforts around. This may be accomplished by fan casting a location with a jig or bank sinker. Be sure to utilize a jig or sinker hefty enough to reach bottom despite the swift current. I normally start out with four oz . and go heavier or lighter based on existing conditions. Having a reel loaded with braided fishing line will also make it easier to detect bottom.

Cast your offering upcurrent and maintain a precise count on the amount of seconds it takes the jig to achieve the Canal’s bottom.

To provide an example, one excellent canal fishing location which I frequent each spring has a high prominent peak combined with a deep, steep hole. It takes my jig 7 seconds to reach bottom on the top of the shallow peak. Having said that when cast into the deep gulley, it can take my jig twenty seconds ore more to get to bottom. Due to the difference in the amount of time required for my jig or lure to reach bottom, I know that I’m successfully delivering my lure smack dab in the middle of the strike zone. More often than not strikes come once the jig plummets into the deeper pocket behind the shallow peak.

Fan casting an area in this fashion will be easiest during the last hour or so of the west tide, slack tide, and also the beginning of the east or incoming tide. This is the time of low water in the Canal.

The Cape Cod Canal is full of awesome jigging spots. Yet it may take a long time and effort to discover the top spots. Many people give up before finding success. However the best fishermen are those who are willing to fight through the learning curve.

Nevertheless if regularly yanking big stripers from the Cape Cod Canal’s bottom is important to you, then your effort put into revealing these exceptional jigging spots will be worth the hard work needed to locate them.

Ryan Collins is a Cape Cod charter and commercial striped bass captain. His fishing website My Fishing Cape Cod, is geared around helping anglers catch more and bigger fish. Check out his website for the best Cape Cod Canal striped bass fishing hot spots.