I was thinking of getting the rust of my cast in the Canal next Saturday after going to M&D's any body else?

Gibbs... I was actually thinking of doing the same thing as I drove past the canal on the way to Mike's. Will see how the weather pans out for next weekend. If it's going to be nice.. I'm in..
Bob

is it too cold now?

Too cold to catch ....Yes :(
Too cold to try out some reels and rods picked up over the winter?? Not in the least... :D
Besides.. if I don't get out there soon, I'm gonna lose whats left of my mind...:smash:

yeah, i feel ya. i tried canal once, but i didnt like it.

I have a ton of stuff to pick up at Mike's anyways

Originally posted by Notaro
yeah, i feel ya. i tried canal once, but i didnt like it. :smash:

The Canal is not made to be liked the canal is amde to feared and thats why we happy few dare to challenge the jungle and bring in some huge Cows
they call us CANAL RATS

ahh! i lose my rigs on the canal every 20 minutes. so what's the best advice you can give me? what part of canal should i try?

Best advice.... (that I can give)

*Stock up on jig heads and rubber...(lots)
*Try and find one of the Canal Regulars to help you learn how to fish it.. (i'm fairly new to the Canal, two years now, but am willing to help you as best I can)..
*Watch and listen to the guys that look like they know what their doing. (chances are that they do)

Best places to fish..

*Which of the 5,000 holes and favorite rocks do you want to know about?????? ( The entire canal is productive, but everyone has their favorite places depending on the tide, current, light, moon, etc.....etc....etc...etc...)

The canal is a place you love to hate.....and every once in a while.. if the stars are all aligned, and the Canal Gods smile upon you.. you hook up with with one of those Mommas we all chase..

for 6 jigs i'll tell ya where fishaddict fishes...;)

notaro...some parts of the canal are little more forgiving on jigs...east end tends to have a sandier bottom than the west end...cribbin area is a mine field...railroad bridge is rocky too...believe it or not, but if you're not losing gear, your probably not fishing deep enough...

Notaro, if it takes 20 minutes to lose your rig you're not fishing where the fish are. You should be losing them every other cast your first time there. You gotta be on the bottom...........

*groans* damn, i'm so confused! okay, i did hit on the bottom with my 8 ft beachcomber surf set. is a long cast required?

The Ditch is the source of all of my troubles.

Because of this place, it causes me to

-spend lots of $$$ on specialized tackle
-spend $$$ on very expensive gas
-lose sleep fishing the place
-lose sleep thinking about fishing the place
-lose productivity at work by daydreaming about the place
-lose productivity at work by posting on striped-bass.com
-increase my exposure to unhealthy levels of lead
-babble incoherently at the office on Monday mornings

TROUBLES.. NO..:rolleyes: That sound perfectly sane to me....but what do I know....That chits going thru me brain already

hahaha, that's funny, man.

Well said Wee Wee........That about sums it up for most of us...

JJ.. how many jigs it gonna cost for you to show me your favorite rock??????:D :D :D

BTW.. I picked up a Patriot 1209 from Mike this weekend.. Will have it wrapped and ready before the first keeper is brought to shore...

Am hoping to graduate from "Surpa Status" this year.. :faga:

Buy Jigs and Buy more Jigs if you ain't losing jigs you aint fishing right and obviously you are fishing right so dont worry thats why I carry several reels several spools tons of Jigs
And alot of snickers bars
Keep at it it's worth it

hahaha, hey, gibbs, what outfit would you recommend me to buy for the canal?

Plugging
Lamiglas Ron Arra Surf Pro Spinning
XRA1321 11' 1 .835 9 8 12-20 7/8-3 $260.00
Stradic 4000-6000
Fin-Nor Ahab $240.00 (a little heavy but a great drag system)
Power-Pro 17

Conventional
Lamiglas Ron Arra Conv.
XRA1322 11' 1 .900 10 11 15-30 1-5 310.00
Abu Garcia 7000C3 price varies
Newell Price Varies
The blanks are expensive but I feel they are worth it and if you would like to talk to the designer email him at ronarra@lamiglas.com
or send him a PM here at Ron Arra
Then PM MikeCC here he'll build the rod for you.

Jigging
Allstar Break Away 10' (I think it's a break away or a Whiplash ask Mike)
Or Custom Patroit 1209 10'
Abu or Newell
You can ask me or other guys here about those reels

You need at least a 10' rod and a big reel and be ready to loose stuff it's exspensive and you need both rods to match conditions plus it's only money. Any other Questions feel free to ask

oh my god, you must be donging me, man! expensive gears? why is it nesscary to have an expensive gear?

Some guys have smaller budgets.
Notaro what kind of fishing do you want to do in the canal?
Allstar makes a 10' factory 1 piece rod that alot of the guys use for jigging. You can go with a custom if it is in your budget. You can also use it for chunking.
You can go conventional or spinning the choice is yours.

..notaro

I agree with you. The Canal isn't worth the effort. All you do is lose jigs & rigs...and your temper at the same time. The Canal is SO over-rated. I know I'm not going to waste my time there this season.


...not to mention......the little boats like this one, that constantly break you off

You mean like the Royal Princess Cruiseliners that go by?...

It is frustrating, but so worth the hassle when you tie into one of them canal cows!...

There's always something to see when at the canal!

Even if it's your gear going bye bye...

I'm hoping to hit the Breachway & Newport as much as I can this year!

And also some areas that are too good to mention!:D

I'm with you Bloo...the big ditch is certainly a curious place, but I'd rather lose my gear (at a MUCH slower rate) somewhere else. Sure, you can get into the fish there, but after losing the third jig, I become a little trigger shy about finding the bottom. It's just too costly for me to fish that place the way it should be fished. So...I only think I'll see the canal while I'm driving over it from now on.

yup i've thought all of those things waaaaay more than once....

usually you hear some reports around this time of year about cod in the ditch.

ya never know, throw a bucktail on the end of that rig and you might just get lucky with a cod....

i wonder though, i haven't heard those phantom cod reports this year...

i'd love to test my casting ability and some new wraps that I made over the winter, but i'll be in vegas this weekend spending some of my hard earned tackle money......:-)

thespecialist- chunkings on a spinning gear.

bloocrab-canal drove us nuts. besides, i saw some guys catch flukes from the canal.

don corleone- im with ya. im gonna try canal next spring.

stroth-it's a lucky chance a dude can get a cod from the canal. oh cape cod... gotta love it so much.

I have exspensive taste but it's only money

Dido TheSpecialist I metioned the allstar it's a great canal rod

Notaro if I was chunking in the canal and was on a budget, I would go with a 10' UglyStick, and a good reel with a large spool. If money was not much of a problem, then a custom Allstar 1209.

gibbs- i do have expensive tastes for food.

sam- ugly sticx? maybe i can try that. do i really have to hit it on the bottom? what part do you fish on the canal? is a long cast required?

maybe we better ask ron arra to instruct us. his clinets got a big striper after 3 or 4 casts.

I only fish the Canal with plus
Two yes a long cast is required
and Three get the On the Water Book on Fishing locations on the Cape it has about ten pages on the canal

Ugly Stiks are not Sensative enough go with the All Star

Give a man a fish he'll eat for a day
Teach a man to fish the canal he'll eat big fish forever

...only fish the Canal with plugs

..Ifish.....don't restrict yourself to one style of fishing. Bait on the bottom has landed many big fish in the Ditch...along with LIVE herring :D......even tins produce well, when worked properly. A good fisherman is versatile.

..yes a long cast is required...

..preferred, but NOT required. Fish will come up right along the weeds searching for feed.

..please don't take this in a negative way. Stay focused and determined.

I jig when I have to
I like killing'em on top water for the rush
I like jigging in the wind
but nothing beats the top

your right about the cast but when them cows are a jumping in the middle I want to get em

...and those cows do LIKE the middle...;).....especially chasing the macs around....

bloocrab- thanks for your positive reinforcement. okay, i will try that. okay, which spot do you like to fish on the cape cod canal? the railroad, marinetime academy, or where?

Lots of differant ways to fish the Ditch. Long casts are nice but most of my big fish have been caught very close to the rocks. Hooking a large way out is a tough way to fish, you lose the fish alot of the time too many things can go wrong. When the cows come through there are spots that they will be closer than the middle. I usually wait for some closer activity not try to cast on breaks too far out.

The Canal really can vary you need to know locations for the tides If you get the On The Water locations book it gives you all that information

But go exploring

I fish the Maritime alot
Both Canal for cows and Flats for Schoolies
if your looking to learn man let me know I'll give you more info

Most of the time, when you cast at breaking fish, accuracy counts as much as distance. It's tempting to throw at the fish in the middle, but only a few casters are able to hit a 3 foot target at 90 yards. And a lot of times it comes down to that degree of accuracy--especially on a running current.

Tony can tell you the number of times we've thrown on fish in the middle and missed, and during the retrieve, have big fish break inside of 30 yards, which we could do nothing but curse at. Accuracy at 30 yards is a lot easier than at 3x that distance. Nowadays, I know what my chances are of getting a plug right on a fish, and if it's not a good percentage, I let others try their best. The best feeling in the world is hooking a fish right in front of a guy 50 feet away whose plug is 50 yards downcurrent ;)

I've seen 40 pound plus fish push squid and pogies right up onto the rocks, 4' long fish sitting in holes 20' from shore, and fish breaking on whiting right along the edge of the drop-off.

I caught a Keeper just hovering a plug over the water what a rush!


your right Mike but I like letting the plug fly over the canal

fishgibbs- yes, i am looking to learn. flatties? hmmm, this one i gotta do. but i need a "safe spot" on the canal to fish. so i can get the ideas of fishing on the canal.

canalrat-so i shouldnt be concerned abt casting far like ron arra. i can cast with my efforts, right?

mikepp- who is tony? thank you for the tips, mike. man, i have a lot to learn about fishing.

Tony=canalratt1. We go back to before Al Gore invented the internet :D

ah, i see, mikep. alright, i will PM tony.

the safest spot for flats fishing would be the tidal flats at the foot of the RR bridge on the Cape side in Gray Gables it's a good place to get your canal legs.

re u serious? i never seen that place, man. do u have a pic or a map of it?

Ive been fishing that hole since i was 7
It's in the On The water book or at www.capecodcanalfishing.com

or check the canal map on Mike's web page there is public parking right behind the flats

i dont see the flats on the cc webcam

Mike you know exactly what I'm saying! If the cows are breaking way out a few will always come in close these ones are the ones I target. The spots Notaro and IFG's have to be learned but you put your time in and explore there are a few. Don't limit yourself to fishing only one way here some years the surface action can be very dissapointing, keep an open mind and try some things. Jigging, chunking and live eels have thier place and will get you more and bigger fish than plugging surface breaks. Soon live and fresh herring will be the bait after that the options vary.

Notaro, don't go out on the mudflats at Bell rd. alone. Go with someone who has done it before and knows the water. Best to wear an inflatable vest also for safety.

okay, thanks, canal rat. i will try. i have been dying to use a eel. but what rod should i use for eeling? i know how casting a eel can be tiresome.

Originally posted by Notaro
i dont see the flats on the cc webcam

Notaro - you cannot scout fishing spots on the Internet. You must scout spots with your boots and its even a good idea to leave the rod at home when scouting. Also, never attmept the more difficult spots unless you are with someone that has a lot of experience there. Too many lives are lost surffishing that could have ben prevented!

i know how casting a eel can be tiresome.
How is casting an eel tiresome? Have you ever casted an eel?

define the "most difficult spots," john. and

I'll second, third, fourth and even fifth what slip and John said about the flats. I've seen a couple of near drownings there. Go with someone who knows the safe way out there.

u know what? canal isnt safe for me! who is willing to tutor me about canal? i dont want to pay a lot on ron arra bec i spent on crapola for my spring breaks and fishing excursions.

Originally posted by Notaro
define the "most difficult spots," john. and

The spots that will at best break your ass and at worst, will take your life. This is not a joking matter. People here have lost friends who were extremely knowlegable. It can happen all too easy to someone new to a spot.

So , I'll define "difficult spots" as those that can easily take the life of the unprepared. And I'll say that being "prepared" requires you to be fishing with someone knowledgeable in the area...

Believe me when I say that I don't want to sound like a jerk here but your discussions online here for the past two months have done nothing to make me feel that you will approach surfcasting safely and with enough respect for the dangers involved. Consider these words of advice offered with the best intentions: You need to make a reasonable plan for fishing this year and stick to it. Find a fishing partner that has some experience that you can work with and learn some of the ropes before getting into the more challenging aspects. If you chose to go a different route, all I can say is that you should stick to easier salt fishing.

i am trying not to limit myself but I have only done plug fishing and a little jigging but i plan to jig more this year

Notaro the tidal flats are pretty safe you can even fish without touching the water.

When the time comes I can hook you up

johnr- okay, if it's that what you think. alright, but i understand what you mean. i almost drowned in rockport once. i will take those advices. thank you for your advices. and i will be aware of those dangers involved.

IFG- thanks, man. we will see about it. email me or soemthing.

Fishing the whole cove area of the flats from the bank is safe, except for one or two mudholes that you might go down into over your ankle.

Wading out to the mussel bed that's about 200' from the end of the lot at Bell Road is a different story. Many of us here have fished there since before you were born. There's a safe way out and a way out that will result in them fishing out your carcass from around Cleveland's Ledge Light. Also, the same thing can happen if you take one step too many off that mussel bed. I grabbed one guy by his wader suspenders one night and both of us almost went in before I dragged him back up. There's also the suction created when a big tanker, freighter or cruise ship goes by, and getting dumped on your can by a wake. That mussel bed is a place you should go to first in daylight, and you should follow someone out there who has been there before and knows the safe way out, and where to stand on that mussel bed to avoid problems.

notaro..here is a little suggestion that will be fun and show you some ways of fishing the canal. in 3-4 weeks get your backpack and pack a really nice lunch for you and your friends. get your bicycles or rent some and start peddeling along the access road and just check out how people fish. you will learn and see more in a couple of miles, than anyone could tell you in a month... and you'll have a nice picnic lunch to boot.

whoa, mikep, that scared me more. alright, i will treat it with safety. so i will bike around like redcrbber suggusted. and also eat a good lunch.

Not trying to scare ya--just telling you to make the first trip out there with someone who's been there before. After that you'll be fine. Just stand high and dry on the mussel bed when a large ship is approaching ;)

The marshy bank around the cove is a great fly rod spot---techically it's private property but the present owner doesn't seem to care. Mostly schoolies.

i know, but im kinda inexperienced on the canal. interesting... but on the marsh area, you would probably need a boat, right?

No boat fishin in the canal proper......

Though I have seen guys motoring thru, trolling, and bringing up fish.....but technically, that that's illegal.......

No need for a boat. From the end or the parking lot at Bell Road, you can hop over the rocks and climb down to a grassy marsh bank area. There are often schoolies in that cove. I would only do it after dark as I imagine the owner might not want a ton of people there during the day, and it is private property, after all. The fish are mostly schoolies, and the bottom is all mud, so use light tackle and small lures.

On the other side, there's a public right of way, but the sign "disappeared" years ago and has never been replaced. I couldn't even begin to provide directions, it's one of those things you have to see to find. And the street might be posted against parking nowadays.

tks, mike.alright, is that near marinetime academy?

No it isn't it's on the other side in gray gables

i see, thanks, man.