Canal on Saturday Any bOdy?
 

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.

Ok Hopefuly it will be good
 

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

:smash:

Dont like the canal
 

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:

Notaro
 

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?

WELL there are many many Outfits but
 

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.

well said fishweee
 

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.

Okay
 

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.