Artificial Lure here with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report for Saturday, October 4th, 2025.

We woke to a crisp, classic fall morning—early October is prime time to be out here. Today’s sunrise was at 6:43 AM, with sunset coming up at 6:18 PM, so you’ve got around twelve solid hours of daylight to work with. Temps started off chilly, mid-50s before the sun broke the horizon, climbing toward the low 60s by mid-day. Light winds out of the northwest are making for comfortable casting, and skies are mostly clear with just a touch of haze hugging the surface.

Talking tides, they’re right where Canal regulars want 'em for active fishing. The first low tide slipped through at 1:49 AM, followed by a nice incoming push topping out at 7:18 AM with a 3.48 ft high. The next slack shows at 1:46 PM for the afternoon low, then another peak upswing at 7:40 PM with 4.04 ft on the board. These strong tidal exchanges always stir up bait and bigger fish, especially at the turn with water funneling into the herring runs and along those rocky banks (Cape Cod Canal RR bridge tide charts).

The fall striper run is in full swing. Reports from the Sandwich to Sagamore stretch say schoolie bass are stacked along the edges early in the day, with some keepers mixed in. A couple of locals landed slots in the 28–34” range on Thursday and Friday, mostly near the west end, and after first light you should see surface action ramping up with fish chasing peanut bunker and juvenile herring. Bluefish are popping through, not in the thick schools of summer but enough to slice a few plugs if you’re not watching your wire leaders. Tautog have been biting near the rocks at the east end—solid for anyone dropping crabs on jig heads—and black sea bass are still lingering deep mid-canal, especially on the bottom near the railroad bridge pilings.

For lures, there’s no beating a topwater pencil popper at dawn—big models in bone or mackerel patterns draw aggressive hits in the low light. When the sun gets up, switch to SP Minnows or Magic Swimmers in natural hues. A bucktail jig with a soft trailer, worked slow and low on the edge of the current, stuck several keepers Friday morning off the herring run. If you’re tossing bait, fresh chunked mackerel is the hot ticket, followed by seaworms and green crabs for the tautog bite.

Hot spots today: The east end by the Sand Catcher Recreation Area, prime on the incoming tide when herring get flushed from the run, and the west mouth around the railroad bridge—those pilings concentrate striper and sea bass, especially with water moving hard after slack.

Fish activity’s been steady all week, with the Thursday evening outgoing seeing a blitz of schoolie stripers. Friday’s afternoon slack produced fewer numbers, but heavier singles—maybe twenty fish per mile for those walking the bike path and flinging plugs hard. Bluefish action is best near mid-canal, especially at sunset. Tautog are consistent down deep at the east side rocks.

One tip from an old local: keep an eye on the birds. Gulls and terns will show you where bait’s getting smashed. If you see a bust up, get that popper or soft shad in early and let it drift with the current. Most big Canal fish are caught while the tide’s still pushing.

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