Podcast Episode Details

November Chill Hits the Cape Cod Canal - Slow Tides, Stubborn Fish, and Tactics to Tempt Them

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This is Artificial Lure with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report for Friday, November 7th, 2025.

Sunrise hit at 6:36 a.m. this morning and we’ll see sunset at 4:26 p.m. Conditions are classic November—chilly and brisk, that stubborn northwest breeze keeping the itch in your trigger finger. Today’s tide is running large, with a tidal coefficient of 85, which means heavy current and a ton of movement in the Canal. High tide will hit around 11:45 a.m. over at Bourne Bridge and the next low won’t be until 6:56 p.m., so you’ve got prime water pushing hard through mid-day, with slack tapering off in the afternoon. All that current means the fish are hugging the bottom, and you’ll want to adjust your tactics accordingly.

On the ground, the saltwater bite is definitely off from peak, but that’s not to say it’s dead. Reports from Canal Bait and Tackle this week point to slow action overall with mostly holdover striped bass rather than fresh new pushes. Still, there’s a handful of dedicated Canal rats picking up schoolies on metals at first light, and a couple bigger keeper bass have been landed if you time the tides with the breaking dawn. As for numbers, you’ll work for them—expect shorts with the occasional thick fish mixed in, especially near rocky structure and known eddies.

Tautog action is the big fall story right now. According to Sports Port in Hyannis and the recent On The Water report, keeper tog up to 19 inches are still coming up for shore anglers, but you need to find pockets where you can swing your crab rig into a soft spot between the snags. If you’re patient and persistent, this is your shot at fresh fillets for the table. Most locals are getting it done early, just as the first sun hits the Canal stones.

Top lures for stripers are the classics—look to slender metals like Ava-style diamond jigs with green or red tubes, Deadly Dicks, and Crippled Herrings. These all cast a mile and hold bottom in the gnarly current, perfect for imitating the late-run sand eels and peanut bunker. On the slower retrieve, throw Hopkins Shorties or Kastmasters if you spot bass feeding shallow or up high on tide changes. Single Siwash hooks give you the best chance of sticking fish, and a bucktail teaser fifteen inches above your jig still picks off tentative bites.

For tautog, nothing beats green crabs or Asian shore crabs rigged on a simple tog rig—a bank sinker and sharp 3/0 hook. Bring plenty, the Canal rocks are hungry. Slow, steady lifts just off the bottom get the bite, usually quick and decisive when the current slackens.

Hot spots to check today: drop in near the East End around the Herring Run, especially during the last quarter of the incoming. If you’re after tog, try right under the Bourne Bridge pilings or the Maritime Academy docks—both spots are notorious for sticky bottom but hold some of the best November blackfish.

So it might not be the screamer blitzes of September, but there’s still fish to be caught if you work for it. Bundle up, play the tides, and keep your presentations low and slow.

Thanks for tuning in to today’s Canal report. If you want more local insight and up-to-date action, don’t forget to subscribe. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

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Published on 1 month, 1 week ago