As you may remember, we ran Eddie’s story “Canal Log: Learning From Last Year” in the May 2024 edition. This is the Fall Run conclusion of that story and we hope it will point your Canal excursions in the right direction this fall.
While the bait in August of 2023 has differed from what we’ve seen in 2024, one fact remains: there’s no shortage of bait. Last year we saw peanuts butterfish, mackerel and silversides, this year it’s been bunker, mackerel, herring fry and squid. If last year can be used as a guide, one of the moons this month is likely to see a heavy push of larger stripers entering the canal. Last year it was the lead up to the full moon that fell on the 29th and the fish stuck around into October. The Ditch was on fire with 40-plus inch fish breaking everywhere, especially Bell Road. Every level of the water column was producing, but Bill Hurley Canal Killers and Ocean Born Wideback minnows worked better on most days than pencils.
Jack Barton had a terrific late-September morning with 40-, 42- and 46-inch heavyweights that all fell for his Striper Gear Shaddy Daddy on the bottom and Jimmy Kelly landed a ‘personal best’ with a well-fed 46-incher. A 44-inch striper was released seconds before a larger fish was stolen off the hook in close by Bubba the seal! Marine Corps veteran Steve Colleran told me ‘pink’ was the color in October due to a heavy presence of squid; he tricked a 35-inch linesider with a pink Al Gags Whip-It Fish on an early east flood tide. Expert angler Charlie Murphy had another great season, seeming to find slots when nobody else could and my Striper Gear wacky mack Rocket found its mark on a healthy 38-inch bass. “Bull” MacKinnon, who has fished nearly every day until Christmas Eve for the last couple of decades, landed several fish including a 22-pounder on a Wally’s wonderbread pencil.
Certified Canal Rat Bill Walsh enjoyed a mid-November blitz as hungry fish were found at every level of the water column with a half-dozen slots hitting his white Savage. Bill was wetting a line in the crisp fall air on another morning on Murphy’s Beach at the base of the East End Cape side jetty. The surfcaster on his left and his right both had their rods bend at almost the same time. They were both fighting the same fish with one angler gaining line as the other would hear his drag start barking, then vice versa, back and forth. Finally, the striper ended up right in the middle at Bill’s feet with a hook from each fisherman in its mouth! Bill released the fish, which was way over slot, and let the fishermen decide who gets to claim the catch! Bill then caught his own 38-incher and the only hook in its mouth was from his own green mack Savage.
This summer did not shape up to be as productive as last year but there have been some bright spots, a 30-pound striper it is a much bigger deal than it was last season. Like when Bob “Bull” MacKinnon caught 34 fish in three days including a 22-pounder with his green mack Wally’s 4-ounce pencil. The most unusual catch was made by Zak “Attack” Baker when his blue Magic Swimmer was hit so hard he thought he was muscling a 40-pounder, but it turned out to be two 20-pounders, one on each treble! Bill “On the Grill” Prodouz enticed a 43-inch linesider with a green mack Striper Maine-iac pencil that weighed the Boga down to 31 pounds and I fooled a 30-pounder with a white Guppy Jobo Jr., on a blind cast, that exploded on my plug with splashes like a 4-year-old in the tub!
Those happy success stories, however, were countered with many long stretches of disappointment. Frustration was evident as many anglers, like Bill Walsh, “Paulie the Painter” Gravina and Jimmy “Kells” Kelly, tried to change their luck by heading for rivers and beaches as well as open ocean where Walsh boated a 39-pounder. Let’s hope that a huge school of bait finds its way into the Ditch for the fall run so that the dinner bell rings loudly for the predators!
As we look forward to the fall run, Canal Rats will have new species to look forward to, such as false albacore, bonito and the return of tautog. But those that know the Canal best will tell you that you can catch many more species like fluke, sea bass, bluefish and scup. And you never know what you might see, especially in the fall, when sharks are often seen riding the currents or even whales. Editor Dave Anderson told me he once saw a juvenile humpback breach in the area of Split Rock on a September morning about 10 years ago! It’s not just the fishing that true Canal Rats love, it’s that feeling that anything is possible and the familiar faces that become friends over the years of fishing this amazing place.
Doherty is a retired Massachusetts District Court Clerk-Magistrate and the author of SEVEN MILES AFTER SUNDOWN and LAUGHS, LIES & AMERICAN JUSTICE. He had fished the east end of the Canal so often that other anglers started calling him East End Eddie, thus a nickname became a pen name. He can be reached at eastendeddie789@yahoo.com
