November 1 2012

Big November Striped Bass | Fishing Report for Nov. 1

2  comments

So I was pretty curious as to how Hurricane Sandy would affect fishing on Cape Cod.  Would it kill whatever is left of the 2012 Cape Cod striped bass fishing season, or would things heat up again?

Well I headed down to the Cape Cod Canal this evening to find out.  It was a gorgeous night to say the absolute least.  It was one of those trips that I know I will remember once winter settles in.

I headed to the same area that produced a bunch of small stripers last week, with hopes that there could be a larger guy mixed in.  My second cast produced a solid WHACK so things were looking good.

After a few casts I was on to the first fish of the night.  This was definitely no monster but he put a bend in the rod which felt good.  In November I think it is important to try to enjoy each and every fish you hook, because you just don't know if that will be your last bass until spring.

After releasing that little guy I got back to working the bottom.  It wasn't long until I felt my jig getting pummeled, however I was having trouble hooking up.  It was easy to tell that there were plenty of small fish throughout the area.

cape cod canal fishing

Cape Cod Canal Fishing Report | Big Bass in November

Larger bass have no trouble at all when it comes to sucking down a jig, but the small guys can be a little tricky.

After a bunch of miss hits I managed to hook up again around 5:15pm with another little tike.  Not complaining!

Just as the sun began to set the tide began to slack off.  Usually I throw on a plug, live eel or swim bait during slack but for some reason I just continued with the jigging.  Like they say, if it 'aint broke then don't fix it.

I made a long cast just slightly up-current and let the jig free fall towards the bottom.  I was using my "go-to" 4 ounce lead head with a 9 inch Slug-Go super glued to the lead head.  Super glue is pretty important, as it won't take long for the Slug-go to slide off the lead head without it.

To help mask the smell of the super glue I'll often rub on a scent of some sort.  I have no scientific evidence of the super glue being detrimental to the effectiveness of the Slug-go, but I can't imagine it smells lovely to the bass.  Recently I've been using scent sticks from Bio Edge, which do actually smell rather stinky which is a good sign in my opinion.

It took about 18 seconds to reach the bottom, which is a considerable distance especially with it being almost low tide.  I began pumping the rod as I had all trip, keeping the jig a yard or two off the Canal's unforgiving terrain.

As the jig swung around in front of me, no more than 30 feet from the rocks I had a take from a fish that I immediately knew had some shoulders.  The rod doubled over in a fashion I have not felt in too long.  Fish on!

The bass took a hard dive right towards the bottom.  Over the years I've lost more big striped bass in this spot than I've caught, so I buckled down on the drag and horsed the bass up from the bottom.  I knew this could be the last big bass of the season and I really didn't want to lose her.

I could feel the braid rubbing up against sea weed laden rocks and who knows what else.  After some good grunt work the fish finally turned and eased his way in towards the rip-rap.

Because I had tightened the drag down the bass still had plenty of gusto left.  As you'll see in the below video the fish thrashed around a bit as I brought her in to shore.  Not going to lie, I was slightly nervous about losing her, so I just held my breath and hoped the hook would stay put.

Luckily it did and after an awesome fight I had a nice 25 plus pound bass at my feet.  I'll take it!

So needless to say there are still some nice bass around the Cape Cod area.  Who knows how long these big bass will stick around so I really hope you are able to get out and do some striper fishing of your own.

If you'd like more details about tonight's trip and more information about targeting big November striped bass at the Cape Cod Canal then check out the Extended Report by clicking the link below.

Extended November 1 Cape Cod Canal Fishing Report

I hope to be able to fish hard tomorrow and Saturday so I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Tight lines and go get 'em,

Ryan

    • Thanks JP! If that’s the last real nice one I get this season then that is A-OK with me. It was definitely a great surprise.

      Have you been able to get out fishing lately? I’m kind of surprised by this last push of fish, maybe they’ll stick around for a few days.

      Gluck!

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