The spring-time arrival of the striped bass at the Cape Cod Canal is one of the most highly anticipated fishing events of the entire season. Six long months of no striped bass is quickly replaced by top water blitzes, beautiful mornings and fantastic striped bass fishing.
The first striped bass of the year at the Canal generally arrive early in May and are typically on the smaller side.
A lot of guys do pretty well on these small fish which is great. However I usually find myself fishing estuaries and the beachfront during the first week of May. I tend to wait and fish the Canal when the bigger bass begin to filter though.
These much larger striped bass pass through the Canal beginning at some point in mid-May. By the end of the month a steady stream of 15-60 pound striped bass are filtering into and out of the land cut.
Most of these schools of striped bass are using the Canal for feeding and migration purposes. Over the past few springs the Canal has boasted astounding amounts of mackerel, herring and menhaden during the spring. Couple these forage fish with the lobsters, crabs and other Canal creatures roaming the bottom and the table is set for epic striped bass fishing.
In addition to great feeding opportunities the Cape Cod Canal also significantly reduces the overall mileage that these fish need to log in order to reach their summer feeding grounds. To put it simply, the Cape Cod Canal is a food-filled shortcut that large schools of striped bass find very alluring.