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Written by Mike P
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CANAL ABCs
photo by member 5/0
The Cape Cod Canal is one of the Northeast’s most productive
striper fisheries. Few places, if any, allow an angler to fish 30-plus
foot depths mere yards away from where they’re standing. The deep, fast
moving waters lend themselves to daytime action that can often outpace
the fishing at night. However, many beginners are intimidated by the
rugged structure and fast moving currents. While there’s no substitute
for putting in the hours and racking up experience, hopefully, the
following paragraphs will serve to “de-mystify” the Ditch.
The Canal, including the sea approaches, is over 17 miles long,
but only a little under 8 miles is fishable from shore. Bank fishermen
have almost unlimited access to the land cut, which runs from the end
of the eastern jetties to the state pier at the Massachusetts Maritime
Academy in Buzzards Bay. The Canal is part of the Intracoastal
Waterway, and is operated and maintained by the US Army Corps of
Engineers. At present, no user fees or permits are required to fish.
This has been the case since the Federal Government assumed ownership
in the 1930s, and hopefully will continue indefinitely. The Canal runs
in a general east/west direction, and both the north (mainland) and
south (Capeside) banks have parking areas that allow frequent access.
Some of these are lighted and paved parking areas equipped with
restrooms, and some other are just dirt turn-outs along the highways.
Some of the paved areas are gated after dark, but most remain open
around the clock. In addition, a lighted and paved service road runs
almost the entire length of the land cut along both banks. While
non-government vehicles are prohibited, the roads offer 24-hour
pedestrian and bicycle access. Many of the regulars have rigged up
“Canal cruisers”, bicycles set up with rod holders and baskets. A bike
is a big boost to mobility, as it allows you to park at one end, load
up, and pedal off to your hearts content in search of fish.
THINK CURRENT, NOT TIDE
Most fishermen are used to scheduling their fishing around the
time of tidal height, or “high tide/low tide”. The stage of the tide
can be important, as it affects the location of rips and backwashes in
various places, but for a beginner, the best advice that can be given
is to disregard tide and think current. The Canal has a fairly swift
current, and it results from a 3-1/2 hour difference in the time of the
tides in the bays at each end of the Ditch. Also, Cape Cod Bay, at the
eastern end, has an 11 foot difference (called “tidal range”) in water
levels at high and low, whereas Buzzards Bay has only a 4-6 foot range.
These two factors account for the current. The current flow can be
predicted with a great deal of accuracy. When the water level in one
bay is higher than the other, the current will run in the direction of
the lower water level. When the levels are equal, the current will be
slack. Canal tide charts and the Eldridge Guide predict the time of
current change. This is the key---plan your fishing around the
direction of current. Some spots produce well on an east current, and
some produce better on the west. Also, you have to tailor your methods
according to the current flow. If you’re fond of fishing bait on the
bottom with a sinker, with few exceptions, this is best done around
slack tide, as the heaviest sinker you can throw won’t hold bottom on a
raging current. If you doubt this, you’ll do little more than add to
what is already one of Earth’s richest lead deposits. On a running
current, the best methods are drift-chunking using light rubber-core or
egg sinkers to help get a chunk down below the surface, drifting live
eels, using sub-surface swimmers like a Gibbs bottle plug or a darter,
or deep jigging with heavy bucktails, jig-heads and plastic, or an eel
skin jig. At slack, productive methods include fishing bait on the
bottom with a sinker, and plugging with lures like a Gibbs Polaris by
day, or a big metal-lipped swimming plug by night.
GEAR UP
The Canal has some of the most rugged bottom that I’ve ever
fished. It is, in truth, a junkyard on the bottom. When you throw in a
current that can exceed 5 knots on a moon tide, you can see why it’s no
place for light tackle. Canal fishermen use rods from 8 to over 11
feet. In my opinion, the longer rods are really only a good idea at
lower stages of the tide, when you can stand on an exposed mussel bed
or other flat spot, and have room behind you to get off a good cast. I
usually carry two rods with me—a 9-1/2 footer and a 10-1/2 foot one.
The rod should be able to handle 4-6 ounces of weight and still load
with two ounces at the low end. It should have a lot of backbone, in
order to lift a jig off the bottom in 30+ feet of water, and to put the
boots to a fish that’s trying to bury its nose in that junk on the
bottom. All of my rods are custom models. There are many blanks that
could serve as the guts of a Ditch stick. I’ll list a few—in 9 foot
lengths, some good ones are the Batson 1089, the All Star (Breakaway)
1088, and the Lamiglas GSB 108 1M. In 10 foot models, I like the All
Star 1208 or 1209, and the Lamiglas GSB 120 1M or the XRA 1205, as well
as the old reliable fiberglass 121 3M. Going up the ladder, there’s the
Lamiglas XRA 126 1MH at 10-1/2 feet, which in my opinion is the best
Canal rod going for big plugs and heavy jigs, then the 11 foot XRA 1322
and the All Star 1418/2 for situations requiring the ultimate in
casting performance.
Most Canal regulars use conventional reels. They offer big
advantages in casting, and in controlling a big fish in heavy current.
I’ve retired most of my older reels, and use Abu Garcia Ambassadeurs
almost exclusively. The smaller 6500 size reels, as well as similar
sized Calcutta 400s and Penn 965s, can be used if spooled with thin
braided line. My preference has always been the larger 7000 size
Ambassadeurs. Many old timers still prefer to use non level-wind reels.
Some still use the old Penn Squidders, but most now use more modern
reels like the Newell 229 and 235, and the Daiwa Sealine 30s.
If you’re more comfortable with spinning reels, I would suggest
that you invest in a model with strong gears. Fortunately, they are
available. The spinning reels I have the most confidence in are the
older Penn Z-series models 704 and 706, the newer Mitchell Nautil 7500,
and of course the Lexus of spinning reels, the Van Staal.
Some holdouts still do all of their Canal fishing with mono. I’ve
switched over to the new thin braids for almost all of my Ditch
fishing. They offer many advantages. They are incredibly thin for their
strength. The thin diameter means it penetrates the water better and
isn’t as wind resistant, which allows you to get a jig down to the
bottom better. They allow you to use a lighter jig, which is less prone
to hanging up. And, their sensitivity is unbelievable. You can feel the
bottom better, you can detect when your jig is hanging up sooner which
allows you a better shot at rescuing it, and you can almost feel the
fish breathing on your lure before it hits. There are a few drawbacks
to braid, and lack of stretch can be a two-edged sword. It’s easier to
tear hooks loose from poorly hooked fish, especially with a stiff rod,
and it’s easier to put too much pressure on treble hooks causing them
to straighten. Also, when using surface plugs like Polarises and pencil
poppers, it’s easy to catch “buck fever” by yanking the lure away from
a fish before it has a chance to get the hooks in its mouth---so mono
still has its place in my tackle bag. I suggest 25# or 30# mono, 30#
Fireline, or minimum of 50# spun braid for the Canal.
WHERE TO FISH?
In my opinion, too many guys get hung up on “spots”. Whenever the
talk turns to the Canal, you’ll hear the same spots getting thrown
around—the Cribbin, Portagee Hole, the Radar Towers, the Jungle and so
on. The traditional spots earned their lore, but they also attract
crowds. There are thousands of spots where you might find the fish. I
watched someone from New Jersey, who had never seen the Canal in his
life, pull out a 40# bass on his second cast in a spot that doesn’t
have a name. What I suggest is riding the Canal on a bike by daytime,
and scoping out the structure. Look for points and mussel beds that jut
out from the bank. Look for places where there are rips, backwashes,
and seams between the main current and a backwash. Make some casts with
a 3-4 ounce bank sinker, to get a feel for the bottom. Feel the sinker
bouncing and take note of places where the bottom suddenly drops down a
few feet. Carry a notebook and jot places down. You can find almost any
spot easily—every pole that holds a navigation light has a placard
displaying a station number on it. They start at “pole 10” at the east
end and run all the way up to “pole 385” near the railroad bridge. If
you find a spot that you think might hold fish, jot down, for example,
“ledge 30 yards west of pole xxx” in your notebook, and try it out that
evening. If you want to try the traditional spots, get the pole numbers
from a local tackle shop, or obtain a Canal map from the Corps of
Engineers. They’re also available in certain tackle shops.
THE “BREAKING” TIDES
Often you’ll hear the regulars talk of “the breaking tides”.
They’re referring to the twice a month low slack current, where it
falls around the time of first light. For most of the Canal fishing
season, these tides occur for 4-5 days around the new and full moons.
Some old timers also call them “minus tides”, as they are marked by one
or two asterisks in the official Canal tide chart. What it means,
basically, is that bottom clearance at dead low tide is less than
normal because the tide ebbs more on the new and full moon. Often, on
these early morning slack tides, fish will be seen thrashing on the
surface chasing bait. These are the times you want to have your big
surface poppers with you, and be able to cast accurately. Yellow plugs
work year-in, year out on these tides, and mackerel pattern plugs are
also productive whenever the macks are present in quantity. Bait
supplies vary from year to year, and some years, plugging is slow. In
other years, you can find bass tearing up the surface from one end of
the Ditch to the other.
Well, those are the basics. There’s no substitute for hands-on
experience, so take these words as a starting point and put in the
time. Good luck and hope to run into you in the dead of night this
season.
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