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Stripers Hitting Soft Plastics on Dropping Tide at Cape Cod Canal
This is Artificial Lure with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report for Monday, October 27th, 2025.
We’re starting off with clear skies, crisp October air sitting around 55 degrees at dawn, and hardly a cloud to be seen. Winds are mild out of the west at 9 mph, gusting up to 16—a classic fall canal morning. Humidity’s at 78%, water temperature steady at 62 degrees, and no rain in sight. Sunrise rolled in at 6:58 am with sunset coming at 5:56 pm, so you’ve got just under eleven hours of light to put in your casts.
Tide-wise, we’re working off a low at 2:15 am, then a significant high tide at 7:33 am, dropping to a low again at 2:46 pm and bouncing up for the evening high at 7:58 pm. The bite will be best around those turning points, especially the early morning major window from about 9:20 to 11:20 am, which lines up sweet with the dropping tide—a notorious trigger for activity in these waters according to local tide charts and fishingreminder.com.
The fall migration is in full swing—striped bass are the headline. Canal regulars reported solid action on schoolie and slot-size stripers this weekend, with a handful of keeper-sized fish taken at the east end beneath the Sagamore and among the infamous rocky rips at the west end Bourne Bridge. Albies are thinning out, but a few speedsters have still been reported down towards the Mass Maritime side on the last of the flood tide. It's mostly all about the stripers now, with a side chance at some feisty bluefish mixed in, especially during the afternoon ebb.
Soft plastic paddle tails in bone or pink have been a staple, everything from 5" up to 7", rigged on 1–2 ounce jigheads—small enough to imitate peanut bunker and silversides, which have been heavily present along the rocks. Canal rats dragging classic Slug-Go’s or Savage Sandeel jigs at dawn scored a few beefy bass before sunup, and the ever-reliable Magic Swimmer in mackerel or bunker has drawn aggressive strikes on the twitch-and-pause. Night anglers drifting live eels have picked up a few bigger fish off the mainland side's deeper runs.
Best natural bait right now is live eel or a chunk of fresh mackerel. Pluggers tossing needlefish and pencil poppers at first light, especially down by the railroad bridge and mid-canal around the herring run, have also found success. The early outgoing tide near the mid-section—especially "The Ditch’s" famous Cribbin and the Scussett Beach entrance—has been hot, though don’t discount the holes near Bell Road late afternoon on the return high.
For pure numbers, it’s been a bass-bite show this week, with some locals tallying dozens of schoolies on soft plastics. A couple 30-inch class fish were landed by those willing to put in the cold, dark hours around the trestle and east end, report the voices on the “Cape Cod Canal, Massachusetts Daily Fishing Report” podcast.
To sum it up: fish the moving water, especially the dropping tide during the morning and pre-dusk hours. Use soft plastics in natural baitfish colors, bring a few big topwaters for sunrise, and don’t forget the eels if you’re aiming for a true fall cow.
Hot spots to focus on today:
- The mid-canal “Cribbin” stretch on a dropping tide
- The east end under the Sagamore on first light, and
- The railroad bridge area running the edges as the water moves out
Thanks for tuning in to your Cape Cod Canal fishing report. This is Artificial Lure reminding you to subscribe for updates and check back daily for the latest bite. Tight lines everyone!
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Published on 6 days, 3 hours ago