Cape Cod Canal report: stripers stack at the east end, shore tog heats up, and a long run of minus tides begins

The Cape Cod Canal's fall run is in its last chapter, but the next two weeks line up well. In an Oct. 24 podcast report on My Fishing Cape Cod, AJ Coots of Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay described a tough, windy week for stripers that is giving way to calmer weather and strong tides.

Coots says the canal's striped bass have consolidated at the east end. Fish move in, then slide back out into Cape Cod Bay instead of pushing deeper into the canal. Tinker mackerel are around in small numbers, and bonito, albies and bluefish have been popping in and out mid-canal. His advice is to jig, using bucktails or short, fat paddle-tail soft baits that match the tinker mackerel, and to add something pink in case fish are keyed on squid.

Tautog are the bigger story. With north winds, shore anglers have been fishing green crabs on the sheltered west end. Coots names three spots that are less likely to eat gear: the beach side of the Cape-side jetty, the fishing pier where you can fish straight down, and the small beach near Mass Maritime. He says to bring plenty of weight. Boaters out of Taylor Point are finding keeper tog on structure in Buzzards Bay, around the pylons, Stony Point Dike and Cleveland Ledge. Under the mid-October rule change, Massachusetts allows five tautog per angler at a 16-inch minimum, only one 21 inches or larger, and no more than 10 per boat.

The full moon on Monday, Oct. 26, starts what Coots calls an unusually long run of minus tides: through Nov. 1 at Sandwich, and through Nov. 8 by the railroad bridge on the west end. Forecasts call for highs in the low to mid 60s and lighter westerly winds, which could make this the best window left in the season.

Photo: An angler casting from the rocks beneath a bridge on the Cape Cod Canal. Credit: My Fishing Cape Cod.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: My Fishing Cape Cod — Fall Run Full Moon Cape Cod Canal Report with AJ Coots of Red Top (Oct. 24, 2026).