Fishing Frenzy

Undoubtedly nothing beats the rush of looking at a substantial striped bass smashing a top-water plug at the Cape Cod Canal. Nonetheless in relation to systematically catching good sized striped bass along the "Big Ditch," centering on working the lower levels of the land cut usually pays off in the form of big stripers.

However one can not plan to just chuck a jig, bait or lure any place in the canal and expect to be rewarded with big bass. This slim ribbon of fish filled water does have its productive areas and dead zones like many other fishing area across the striper coast. Being capable of locating the dramatic drop-offs, underwater hills, rugged ledges and unyielding rips is essential to systematically taking large stripers off the Canal's bottom.

Bass flock to areas of structure like bees to honey. Frequently the fish will situate themselves at the bottom of a gulley, or directly behind a rock ledge. The structure disturbs the powerful current, virtually in a similar manner a building obstructs a harsh breeze.

Traditional bass theory claims that cow stripers may use current altering pieces of structure to realize a competitive advantage on prey. The powerful Canal current propels different types of bait and prey items through the Canal. Crafty bass regularly take position downcurrent of a part of structure, then ambush prey while it tumbles in the current.

One of the easiest ways to locate spots worthy of fishing is always to pay attention to variations in the surface of the canal. Striped bass holding bits of structure will usually produce disturbances in the typical flow of the current. More than likely, indicators to the location of the bass attracting structure reveals itself as a wake, ripple, whirlpool etc. on the surface of the canal.

Walking the banks of the Cape Cod Canal, or better yet driving your bike on the bike path, and keeping a close eye out for variations on the canal's surface is a great option to at the least get an idea of where to fish.

Standing waves are perhaps one of the most tell-tale clue to an underwater rip. If you dig up an area with standing waves, the actual striped bass attracting structure will likely be found just up current from the waves. This applies with regards to any type of variation on the surface-the fishy structure will be a bit up current.

It is now time to zone in on the exact location of the structure you will be basing your fishing efforts around. This can be carried out by fan casting a spot using a jig or bank sinker. Be certain to utilize a jig or sinker hefty enough to arrive on the Canal's bottom despite the powerful current. I normally start with four oz . and go heavier or lighter based on existing conditions.

Cast your bait, lure or jig up current and keep an accurate count on the amount of seconds it takes the jig to reach the Canal's bottom. Certainly the shallower the water, the quicker the jig will get to the bottom-the deeper the water, the longer it will take.

As an example, one fantastic canal jigging location I typically frequent each May and June boasts a large prominent peak combined with a deep, steep hole. 7 seconds is required to reach bottom on the top of the shallow peak. At the same time when cast directly into the deep hole, it will take my lure more than 20 seconds to get to bottom. Due to the change in the amount of time it takes my lure to reach bottom, I know that I'm successfully delivering my lure smack dab in the midst of the strike zone.

Fan casting a spot in this manner will undoubtedly be easiest during the last part of the west tide, slack tide, and the start of the east tide.

The Canal is littered with fantastic fishing hot spots. Nevertheless it will take a lot of time and effort to discover the best spots.

Nevertheless if systematically pulling large striped bass off the canal's bottom is important to you, then the time expended in finding these excellent jigging spots will undoubtedly be worth the hard work needed to find them.