The Canal

[stiff tip]

the canal is a gift from the fish gods. its like nothing else we got in the northeast.tides fast tides slow , up n down , east n west. 24/7.. not the beach or surf.its the CANAL thats all

[fishman]

Us in Upper Michigan fishing the Great Lakes call it " surf fishing" I'm not saying we are right but that is what everybody here calls it.

[fishman]

Some places that have beef and fish meals call it surf and turf so is surf water and turf land?

[Rappin Mikey]

penguins is practically chickens.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Hey John---think we can push this one to 96 posts?

Well on the way....

[Mike P]

This knocks it down to 30 to go. We moved up ten places in 20 minutes

Didn't bite on Nobska Light---kinda surprising

[thefishingfreak]

some people say cucumbers taste better pickled

[Skitterpop]

would surfanal work

[Skitterpop]

Howzabout curf fishing?

[Skitterpop]

What do you call dropping live bunker and eels on top of fishfinder bass? Home shopping network?

[jkswimmer]

[What do you call dropping live bunker and eels on top of fishfinder bass? Home shopping network?] LMAO!!!!!!

[clambelly]

i would consider it surf fishing because i use the EXACT same gear in the canal as i would at nauset beach. i own 3 rods and i would and do use them all in both locations.

to me, there is no difference.

[MotoXcowboy]

Canangling

sounds like.. Kah nan gle

Cananglers Canangle

[Slipknot]

I like that Moto

Canangler, it has a nice ring.

[Squid kids Dad]

lol... dropping live bunker on fish..good one

[CanalGuy]

You have got to be kiddin me throwing bait in the canal any sissy can do huh? They better have some coin because it's gonna cost em alot of rigs. Don't knock sittin in a chair throwin chuncks drinkin beer just because you don't consider it "angling". There is 1001 different ways to catch fish in the canal and nobody can positively say one way is better than another. It is not Surf fishing everyone knows it's Canal fishing and to each their own. Jiggin, Pluggin, Chunkin what ever is producing is all that counts. Try throwing a chunk in a spot someone else has not told you about and get hung up. Yeah it's that simple. The Canal has been passed on for years showing there really is no spot that is his "own". Anyway not to get distracted it is not Surf fishing there's no waves.oke:

[stiff tip]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Canal fishing is like surfcasting, only harder.......... but with better parking and bigger rats.

i wish i would have said that.......its the same only different

[Flaptail]

Skitterpop, I love you! Great line and for this thread it was brilliant!

Canal fishing is a genre all it's own. There are methods there and plugs that were designed and made strictly with canal fishing use in mind ( Stan Gibb's pencil poppers, Cast-a-Lures slant face popper and Polaris were designed for canal fishing before anything else)

There is another place where the smae type of fishing exists on the east coast, the Delaware Canal. Our railroad bridge and thiers are twins built and designed by the same company. The tide extremes are no where near as great but the do have "breaking tides" and guys do fish them as we fish ours. No it's not surfcasting and it does alighn itself with shore fishing but's it's an entrely unique experience in bass fishing to be sure.

True surfcasting is done on sand beaches facing the open Atlantic where the structure changes day to day and the surfcaster has to constantly rethink his/her approach. Fishing the rocky ledges of the Elizabeth Islands and RI is a type of surfcasting but not surfcasting in it's purest form. The terrain once learned is easier to master as there are no major structural changes from day to day or week to week or season to season only the availability of bait and fish dictates success, once learned, affect the outcome. Change there is only significantly realized after a major weather event most likely being a hurricane and that is a rare occurence, yes standing on a slippery ledge in a high surf is very close and at times dangerous but the amount of guess work in figuring out the how and where is much less. Same goes for the canal and add live bait, fresh dead bait and it gets even easier,the hardest part being getting to your spot, which through little or no access and weather conditions, can be a dilemma.

A high surf fisherman, on an open Atlantic sand beach as we have on the outer Cape, Monomoy,Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, the southern shores of eastern Long Island, New Jersey, the eastern shore of Maryland, Virginia and the Outer Banks is surfcasting in it's highest form and I firmly believe taxes the skills and knowledge of a fisherman more than any other type of fishing thereby making it the most rewarding when everything you know, have learned and is put before you and analyzed and a decision made, lays a gleaming bass at your feet in a rush of white foam and sand.

But this was a discussion of the canal and I do love the canal and was once a confirmed rat but it isn't the most challenging place to fish that we have.

[Megabyte]

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& sure knows how to draw a crowd !

Is it called

Surf fishing or Surf catching

Canal fishing or Canal catching

Or ENJOYMENT !

[tynan19]

Must be something here to get 5/0 to speak.

Cold Fog, warm fog, night birds and snakes,

[striprman]

I have yet to see a person riding a surf board through the canal. I do believe I will at some point in time see it (ride the bow wave of a big old barge) or maybe a wind surfer.
I think canal fishing is certainly surf fishing, just don't get the "high surf" like on the beaches.

[bart]

where's TO?

[JohnR]

Flap - I disagree that Fishing the Sands is more challenging and thus a higher degree of surfcasting than clammoring out on rocks and ledges. Yes, the sand does move frequently but the clues are often much more prominent than when fishing from the rock & reef, especially when you have hopped a couple rocks to get to a reefline 25 feet from shore depths that hide the tell tale signs of the seabed. I feel that fishing the sand is actually easier - physically - on the body than fishing from hopped rocks (especially after a fall that is less likely on the sand to begin with). Fishing the sand also offers it's clues a little more readily than a rocky shore. A ledge typically ends close to the shorline a sandbar is typically visible as it runs parallel or angles out with it's associated structure.

Each has it's detractions and enhancements and I would say both are worthy of being high end surfcasting.

[Nebe]

if i kiss a #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& on the cheek am i gay? if he likes it is he gay?

in all sseriousness, IMO, surfcasting is casting into the surf with long rods, beefy tackle, etc. the canal is most Def. surfcasting.

[RIJIMMY]

all depends if there is tongue involved

[Canalman]

What happened Bill, someone catch a bigger fish than you in the ditch and now you have to discredit their catch???

[Canalman]

And how different is the canal than the channel?

[Skitterpop]

I`m trembling with excitement waiting for #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& to get back from Cutty and read all his fan mail

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


JR..... rocks and reefs are tougher on the body if you do a lot of moving about or swimming to them and readings ok if you scout at low. Rocks are very dangerous.

The sand requires more research I think due to its everchanging structure and walking in soft sand is a killer with waders and gear.

I`d say both are equally difficult for varying reasons.

[vineyardblues]

In the winter they call it ice fishing

[Karl F]

I got an extra 6 or 7 thousand seals.. think I'll send them to the ditch.
They can take several tons of mung with them too.
Than I can just worry about ever changing structure and miles of beach closures.

Apples and Oranges.. how can ya compare?
And.. Who gives a flyin' farq anyhoo...