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Winter Groceries in the Cape Cod Canal: Mackerel, Herring, and Pollock Abound
This is Artificial Lure with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report.
Cold, quiet morning on the Ditch. Air temps are sitting in the low to mid‑30s with a light northwest breeze, and it feels every bit of it. According to the National Weather Service for the Sandwich/Bourne area, we’re looking at a mostly clear, crisp day with light winds, so it’s fishable if you bundle up.
Tides at the Canal are running small and soft. CapeTides shows an early morning high just after dawn, followed by a late‑morning to midday ebb and an evening flood pushing back in. That gives you two real shots: the first light top of the tide and the late‑day push when that current starts to lean west and pick up a bit.
Sunrise is right around 7 a.m. with sunset just after 4:10 p.m., so your daylight window is short. The best activity window lately has been the gray light at dawn and the last hour before dark, with the middle of the day very slow.
According to On The Water’s December Cape Cod report and local shop chatter out of places like Goose Hummock and Red Top, the striper run is essentially wrapped up in the Canal. Any bass around now are scattered holdovers, mostly schoolies, and they’ve been more common way back in the bays and estuaries than on the main Ditch. If you do bump into a Canal striper this week, it’s a bonus fish, not a pattern.
The story in the Canal right now is the winter groceries. A recent Cape Cod Canal audio report on Spreaker notes solid life with **mackerel, herring, and some pollock** pushing through on and off. These aren’t wall‑to‑wall blitzes, but small pods sliding by with the tide, especially around the east end and the mid‑Canal deep water. Guys soaking Sabiki rigs have been picking a few macks and the occasional pollock for the table and bait.
Best offerings:
- For mackerel and herring: small **Sabiki rigs** tipped with a sliver of bait, or tiny epoxy jigs and metals in the 7/8–1 ounce range. Green and silver or plain chrome have been the ticket.
- For the odd pollock: slightly heavier metals, 1–1.5 ounces, dropped deeper and jigged near bottom during the stronger part of the current.
- If you’re stubbornly bass‑minded: downsize to soft plastics on 3/8–1/2 ounce heads, or small bucktails with a pork rind or soft‑plastic trailer, fished painfully slow in the slack pockets.
Bait guys have been doing best with **sea worms, clam, and mackerel strips**, either on simple high‑low rigs or a fish‑finder set on the edge of the channel. You’re mostly prospecting for a mixed bag: holdover schoolies, the odd white perch near the mouths, and bottom life like scup or the very occasional tog clinging to structure.
Couple of local hot spots to consider:
- **Scusset / east end**: The east entrance and along the State Pier has been the better bet for mackerel and herring when the east‑going current is running. Work Sabikis mid‑column on the stronger part of the tide.
- **Railroad Bridge / mid‑Canal**: The deep, fast section has given up some pollock and scattered macks. Focus on the edges of the channel and let your metals swing near bottom.
- If you’re chasing that long‑shot winter striper, try the softer water inside the bends near Bell Road or the west end flats around Mass Maritime on the slower stages of the tide.
Dress warm, mind the icy rocks, and keep expectations realistic. It’s a good time to fill a bucket with bait, test some cold‑water gear, and just enjoy a quiet Ditch.
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Published on 1 week ago