Artificial Lure here with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report for Thursday, October 23, 2025.

Sunrise hit at 7:04AM and we’ll see sunset wrap up at 5:48PM, giving us just under 11 hours on the water. Skies are partly cloudy this morning and warming into the upper 50s, with mild breezes—classic October canal weather. The tide’s moving well today, with a high coefficient of 76, which means brisk currents and prime opportunities, especially as the early morning and midday tides stack up. Low tide came through at 6:48AM and we’ll see high water swing back in around 12:49PM, making both ends of that window solid for targeting active fish. If you’re working the Sagamore stretch, expect similar pushes and plan your casts around those moving waters.

Striped bass activity remains fired up as big fall schools push through. Veteran canal sharpie East End Eddie Doherty reports monster action last week, with Bull MacKinnon wrangling a colossal 50-pound, 15-ounce bass at the east turn tossing Wally’s white pencils into blitzing fish. Word is he hooked 26 stripers on one tide, and nothin’ under 40 inches. Dr. Johan Frenje was into a 37-inch linesider with a 4-ounce Al Gags white paddle tail jigged on a hard-running tide—so bring the heavy stuff and fish it deep.

Plenty of slot and school-sized stripers are feeding throughout the water column. Metal lures like Deadly Dicks and Kastmasters get down to them, but swimming plugs and topwater pencils have been the ticket during low-light hours and active blitzes. Try tossing them along rip lines and rocks near the East End turn or the herring run. At night, swimming plugs are producing well, especially in the deeper channel sections.

Tautog fishing is hot right now, boosted by the new Massachusetts limit of five fish per angler per day since October 15, with only one over 21 inches allowed. Most tog are coming from hard structures—rocks, wrecks, jetties, and canal bridge abutments. The bite has been strongest on green crabs or Asian shore crabs fished tight to structure. Jigs tipped with these baits work best. Expect to see keepers pushing 16 to 23 inches coming onto the deck, and plenty of shorts to keep rods bent. Lower canal ledges and mussel beds along the East Sandwich wall are the hotspots.

Black sea bass and scup have slowed but remain mix-in catches if you’re on the bottom with crab or squid. Bonito and false albacore sightings have dropped, but always keep a small epoxy jig handy for a surprise blitz.

If you’re new to the fall canal game, focus on:
- Topwater pencils and big soft plastics (white or olive) for stripers during moving tides and dawn/dusk.
- Bucktail jigs and swimbaits inside, with swimming plugs in the main channel after dark.
- Green crabs or Asian crabs on tautog jigs fished at the east mooring basin, railroad bridge, or Sandwich wall for tog.
- Metal like Kastmaster or Deadly Dick for deeper stripers and a chance at late bluefish.

Hot spots today:
- The East End turn, especially just after sunrise and on the incoming tide.
- The herring run for topwater and late-night plug action on bigger bass.
- Railroad bridge pilings for tautog and channel stripers.

Lots of folks saw dolphins sweeping through the canal this past week—always a good omen for bait in the water. If freshwater’s your thing, the stocked trout and largemouth bite’s been excellent throughout Cape ponds. But on the canal, it’s all about timing your tide, matching the hatch, and staying mobile.

Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure’s Cape Cod Canal report. Don’t forget to subscribe for more tight lines and local intel. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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