Fished the morning tide today with live Herring! West tide, One Keeper @ 31", a 28", and a 27", my friend hooked up with a 28", we missed a few runs, still rusty! Great morning! Tight Lines!

Are they getting anything on artificials at the Canal? What artificials would you use to imitate the herring?

Thanks!

Herringless, some do fairly well with surface swimmers and plugs but the best bet is that live herring in the canal. Some also drift and "swim" whole dead herring and do almost as good as the liveliners... Haven't been to the ditch yet this year though...Been fishing near it...

Any reason that you don't want to get the herring or just that they have been tought to come by in some places this weekend?

It's a pain to net them and try to keep them alive. Do the bait shops stock dead herring?

Thanks!

Just about every bait shop around will have dead herring, frozen or sometimes fresh. Some can even sell you live herring but that gets difficult. What area are you from??

Herringless....

On Friday afternoon I landed a 32" bass using a large castable chrome spoon/large herring fly teaser combo. This was far from blitz conditions, though. It was my only hit of the day, and not even an aggressive take, as I fouled hooked this fish. A great tug of war though, since the current was hauling.

Slack tides near dawn later this week may find surface activity....if the bass are actively chasing herring on top, tossing plugs can bring success...

Harry

John, I'm from the Middleboro area. From my house I can be fishing in the Canal in 1/2 hour. Tom's is the closest bait shop. I could stop by Bud's on my way down. Cape Cod Charlie doesn't open early enough for me.

Herringless

Herringless, you can get permits for various herring runs, usually at the town hall during the work week. Show up with a bucket and for a couple bucks, they'll give you anywhere from a half dozen to a dozen and sometimes more depending on what regulations are for the particular herring run. There are several runs in Middleboro but they have limited permits and tend to stop giving out herring earlier than other runs. I have a list of runs I received from Mass DMF <a href="http://striped-bass.com/regulation/massherring.shtml" target="_blank"><!--auto-->http://striped-bass.com/regulation/massherring.shtml</a><!--auto--> that gives some detail about where and who runs it. Even if you want the herring to fish dead later, get a bucket and ice them down...

Now to remove my live-herring mindset, top water plugs coming up as Harrible said, always a blast at the Canal!! Harrible has pointed me in the right direction many times in the past so I'm listening. My Canal fishing this time of year is limited. I only get down there a few times and with herring. I tend to get down there more come late June and into July with plugs going top water -

Hey Harrible, how goes the battle??

Hi John....enjoy this site, great input from #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& and others...keep it up!

I am happy to say the Ditch is getting better everyday for those who like to toss plugs and jigs. This morning's activity picked up where last fall left off...Deja Vu All Over Again.

I started jigging at dawn. About two hours into the east, is was hits on every cast for about 45 min....all "cookie-cutter" fish of about 27" and extremely robust...middle linebackers all, I'd say they ran 8-9 lbs. This is extremely encouraging since larger fish may be in the offing in the next couple of weeks using the same techniques.

I'd guess these fish were on the move. Had to cast a mile to get 'em, they were right on the bottom and the current was hauling. Fish Far, Deep and Thin: 80+ yds, 3-4 0z., Braid.

Hope to see you this season...

Harry

Hope to see you Harrible. One thing I have not doen yet is Jig the Canal. Plugs, eels, and herring but never jigged it for more than an hour...Looking forward to trying it soon...

I plan on fishing the West end of the Canal Friday morning with Herring, I won't go near there during the tourney! To crowded for me! Traffic's always a mess! Thank goodness the fishing is good everywhere else! Will post results. The tides and current directions look good! Bigger fish should be moving in! TIGHT LINES!