Artificial Lure here with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report for Friday, September 12, 2025.

Sunrise this morning was 6:19 AM and sunset’s at 6:56 PM, giving us a nice spread of daylight for working the Canal. Looking at the tides out of the Buzzards Bay entrance: your low is just wrapping up near 6:12 AM, with a high rolling in by 1:08 PM and another low around 9:00 tonight. If you’re stacking your trip with peak activity, that pre-dawn and early afternoon window is your best bet. Expect a classic Cape September—crisp, dry air, highs pressing toward the low 70s, and a friendly northwest breeze at your back. Great casting weather.

The bait run is full tilt right now—peanut bunker, silversides, and even a few late lingering macks and squid are thick through the Canal, and the bigger fish have noticed. OnTheWater and thefisherman.com both report linesiders to 40 inches pushing through, with the best action on the west end at the changing tides—especially the first light feed. Early birds fishing topwater spooks, walk-the-dog plugs, and mag darters before sunrise have connected with both keeper and overslot fish. Once the sun cracks the horizon, switch to epoxy jigs or bucktails tipped with a worm or curly tail for the mid-morning and mid-channel work.

If you’re live-lining, eels after dark or chunks on the bottom after peak tide have produced some quality bass this week. Outgoing tides send bait downstream and bunch up hungry fish at bends like the Railroad Bridge and the Herring Run. The East End rip has also kicked up a few hefty bluefish—choppers up to 12 pounds smashing pencil poppers and metal slabs alike. For bottom anglers, the word from Meat Wagon Charters and area regulars is that fluke, scup, and black sea bass are still bending rods on squid strips or spearing, though the bite slows toward slack.

Got an itch for variety? Albie fever is catching. Pods of little tunny have been blitzing all along the Canal mouth and out into Buzzards Bay. Small epoxy jigs in “electric chicken” or olive have tricked more than a few this week—put the time in and you’ll be rewarded, especially at first light near the bulkheads. Bonito aren’t far behind, with some sharpies reporting hookups on flashy metals when the schools pin bait against the rocks.

Best baits right now:
- Live eels and chunk mack for big bass, especially at night and near the west end.
- Epoxy and soft plastic jigs for the morning albie blitz.
- Squid strips and clam for bottom fish.
- Topwater plugs and pencil poppers for surfand casting

Hot spots:
- The Railroad Bridge—always a funnel for big bait and bigger bass, especially the outgoing tide.
- Herring Run—mornings here have been hot for both bass and the occasional surprise blue.

If you’re in the game for a wall-hanger, those giants are still offshore—big bluefin have made sporadic guest appearances east of the Cape, with charter crews like Cambo and Reel Deal picking off beasts on trolled macks and casting jigs at the bunker balls.

September on Cape Cod Canal is what we wait for all year. Loads of bait, heavy linesiders, blues on the prowl, and shots at hardtail speedsters. Be sure to match your gear to your target; the early run isn’t slowing down just yet.

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