i dont think your kidding i just got back from western carribean went down tuesday to get my over priced shellfish permit only four trucks at the ramp i use(RR tracks)

It is funny you mention that everyone will be there this weekend.

I will actually be up there this weekend at some point.

Mention a spot and you even got guys from NY coming up for it. :jump1:

This is so true... Maybe I was a little hard on the guy..

But if this was a fall report the fact that he added in a weight,,, It could lead to a Madhouse...

I've heard of fish in the Canal but I didn't know you could fish it.

Panama, right?

Saying the canal is hot isn't spot burning. THis comes up every year. Wait till the photos come out of catches at the canal. That usually will flame up something too!

The problem really isn't the Canal--there's 15 miles of spots.

The problem is that there aren't 15 miles worth of places to park.

Some places are close to residential neighborhoods, and the residents who pay Canal-front taxes don't like being awakened by slamming car doors, and guys y#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g it up and carrying on at 4 AM. They complain to their selectman neighbor. The selectman starts calling the police chief, and he tells his boys to go out and ticket cars. Or, if they're parked on Corps of Engineers property, the chief calls Bill Norman, the engineer in charge, and they start locking gates at dusk and not opening them until about 8 AM. I have it on very good authority that, due to fed-up homeowners nearby, a very popular spot is going to be gated after dark very soon.

Right now you can't access the Canal at the RRB in Buzzards Bay--the lot is closed for construction and access to the Canal is totally fenced off--which means that people will park on nearby residential streets and maybe cut through private property.

None of the popular Capeside parking areas along Sandwich Road can hold more than 5-10 cars, and I will bet a good amount of money that this coming weekend, 50 or more cars will be parked by Halfway Gate. Sooner or later some poor fisherman is going to get clipped and killed by a car zooming by at 60 mph, and many of those roadside turn-outs will have No Parking signs posted afterwards.

So no, you can't burn 15 miles of shoreline, but you can sure as hell shut down access. Here's some of what we lost just recently.

Bourne Bridge Capeside, gated after dark. Cars park outside the gate. There's room for maybe 6 cars there at best--so late arrivals park alongside the road, and sometimes encroach on it, causing traffic to slow down.

Aptuxet now has a chain across the road. You have to park outside by the windmill and there's room for maybe 6 cars.

The Canal Crossings property in Buzzards Bay, behind the post office--what used to be called Playland. Boulders placed across the access road. Have to walk in now over soft sand.

Old Bridge Road, posted No Parking from 10 PM to 7 AM.

Same at Savery Avenue by the stone church. The No Parking signs now extend a hundred or so yards up Savery Ave.

Pole 230 on the Cape side. There used to be pull-in parking for 7-8 cars. But they placed a line of boulders there because of the stench of drained livewells. Now 3 cars at most can park alongside the boulders.

Mr. Gallo, who owns the construction company under the Sagamore Bridge has, in the past, threatened to close his gates and only allow selected and trusted fishermen keys to access his land there.

Just bear this in mind--the only Corps lot that doesn't have a gate is at the herring run--all of them can be closed after dark, and almost all of them have abutting homeowners.

If you park by the radar towers and look to the left, you'll see a gate across an overgrown paved road. That gate wasn't there 15-20 years ago--that whole area was called "The Jungle". Many vehicles could park in that area, down that road. In fact, when they started running the campers out of the regular lots at night, back in the late 60s, that's where they all went, the old timers in their converted bread trucks.

I've fished the Canal since the 1960s. I've seen what happens when fishermen get to be pains in the ass. They get run out of public property after dark. And they miss those early morning spring tides because those lots don't open until 8 or 9 in the morning.

Whether the internet, the cell phone trees, the papers, the tackle shops, whether any or all of them are to blame--you can burn the Canal. Take my word for it.

But hey--what do I care--I live within walking distance of it. :grins:

holy breadcrumbs!...it's May and there are striped bass in New England!
if one was truly internet savy, he would know right where to look for a juicy report to chase.....messageboardspotburningflamewars are so 2004....:rotf2:

Don't chase yesterdays.....find your own tomorrow!!:uhuh:

ahhhhh my eyes!!!! they BURN!!!!! THEY BURN!!! catch some for the poor shmuck whos got to work his ass off for the next 3 weeks :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::w all::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wal l:

You'd be in a wheelchair after she was finished ...:uhuh:

Woohoo! Everyone can park on Mike's lawn! :uhuh:

I don't have a lawn--if you can find space between the bushes and trees, you're welcome to park there--or in the lot at the development's ballfield 100 yards up my street.

Walking distance is relative, too. "Walking distance"--for me--in a case of sheer necessity. It's still a good mile and a half to the ditch. :rotf2:

I don't mind this being posted as long as it is in the San Fransisco Gazzette.

:uhuh:

Wow talk about possesive LOL. I only want to fish on one rock.
Access is an issue at times but it's more attitude than access. respect is bread by making someone feel welcome not puttin the porcupine quills out.
We went through this a few times up here. A few of us went to the home owners and abutters and worked it to get some eticuit signs put up. You know please respect the neighbore ,don't slam car doors,talk quietly,don't leave trash around,[especially fishing trash]and so on worked wonders for both groups.acess has improved and the places are cleaner. even the cops work with us to help set it up. Just an idea. Ron

I just meant the fishing was good. GFY

That would never work out in MA.....too many Mass Holes out there that don't give chit!

:gh:

Mike .. I didn't see beloved Leper Land (behind PlayLand) on your list .. Boulders there too .. no more access..

Wait til the pogies show up :rotf2:

Wow! I never knew what GFY stood for. Thanks!

:jump1:

get a nite job, weekdays rule at that place, although over the years they are even more crowded.
This time of the year No fish in the canal would be more of a story than fish being there. Harmless spot burn in my book, although I would never post it.:angel:

Pogies are here in small numbers. Saw some rather large mac's swim by yesterday.

went there this am,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 

for my 1st time EVER!!

that place is HUGE,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
and was loaded wit surfcasters for miles once the sun came up.

packed parking lots and Old Codders just shaking their heads.
one guy, as i was leaving said, "in all my yrs here, i've NEVER seen
this many cars at that lot. this is CRAZY, where'd they all come from?"

swing and a miss on a gray dawn hit, first cast of the year,
kinda caught me off guard, DAMMIT! after that, sum wild tail slaps, four birds working sporadically,
sum herring pushing thru and being pushed up~~~~ noting tails and swirls, i'd say high teens low twenties.

the worst part is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i "think" i LIKE it there. will definitely give it another go before it turns awff. cain't wait to drown some snakes there sometime. Capeside,,,,,,,,,,,,,STRONGside!!! for food and this latenight ho that was giving me the once-over :bl: :bl: :bl: for me, no joy either side, but it definitely has its allure~~~~ which is why i never went there before, life is much simpler when ya just blow by the 495 exit off of 24 on the way to Li'l Rhody.

still debating whether or not to add it to my repetoire~~ TEMPTING, very tempting :wall: :wall: :wall:

I went from 1992 to 2003 and never fish in RI....and I LIVE here. That was when the Back was hot and you could find a sand bar all to yourself loaded with big fish. I fishing with another guy and we would fish Friday and Saturday nights, drive up for one tide. Drive home, spend quality time with the family and sleep maybe 3 hours and then do the 300 mile round trip again the next night.The Cape gets in your blood. Guys have lost their jobs, gotten divorced, left their families, all to fish the Cape.

The Canal can be very humbling. You can figure out the Back in a few weeks if you concentrate on the tides, wind, and the way the fish move. The Canal is a different story. It changes not on the tides so much but more on the water movement. The different structure and where the fish setup on a certain time, wind, tide, moon...etc, etc. I suspect I will never figure it out. I am batting about .250. Which translates to getting skunked 3 out of every 4 times I go.

PRECISELY, my good man!!!
 

and THAT is the draw/challenge for me,,,,,,

1) there are sooooo many pieces to the Ditch Puzzle
2) it is absolutely beautiful there
3) it is one of the MOST UNIQUE places i will ever fish
4) there are the legendary tales of amazing "runs" in it's glorious past, and
5) it definitely grabs you and sticks in your craw~ from the first second you see, feel, touch, taste it!!

on the surface it seems simple enough, find the bait/the fish
and you are GOLDEN!!! in reality, i imagine it to be much, MUCH, more complicated than that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

hey piemma, at .250 you're doing waaaaay better than over half the SOX, and prolly most of the rest of us stiffs who'll gladly take the skunkings for ONE auspicious night at this most iconic Striperin' Nirvana. i am pretty shore, its toooo late for me~~~ for she had me at High<<<>>>Low :bl: :bl: :bl:

look for me,,,,,,,,,,,,,i'll be the one behind the old fogie's push-cart shaking my head and muttering under my breath things like, "i couldn't just stay on 24, NOOOOH!! i had to come to tha DITCH!!!" can't wait till i sea her again :uhuh: :uhuh: :uhuh:

Cape Ann has a canal?

There are canals everywhere,,, I think Montauk even had one a few nights ago,,,,:rotf2::rotf2::rotf2: