Welcome to the site.

PM me your address, I'll send ya some stuff for the lad. :)

And later in the season, he'll have a BLAST with the snapper blues.

Father in law is coming this weekend. Well, guess he'll be going to the canal with my boy and me if he wants to see him. ;)

Another two hour outing at the Canal tonight and still nothing. Saw two carcasses on the edge so there is something in that ditch...just not for me.

4:30-8:00 am this morning at the Canal, Herring Run area....nothing. There were A LOT of people fishing this morning.

At the risk of upsetting a lot of people, I don't think the canal is the best place to learn saltwater fishing.

Although some years there are a few days of spectacular fishing (and several are probably imminent), catching fish with any consistency in the canal is very difficult to say the least and takes a lot of experience, skill, connections, and expensive tackle. Most guys who fish the canal (Sauerkraut, for example) have no clue and are showing up hoping to get lucky and have something (or more precisely, lots of somethings) pop up in front of them. 9 times out of 10 that isn't happening.

Particularly if you have a kid with you and own light tackle, I think you would be far better off to find somewhere easier to fish (Buttermilk Bay, Back River, or any BB or SShore beach with rocks and jetties) and move around throwing small stuff at dusk (bring bug spray) learning to hunt out and catch small-medium fish. Sure, you will miss some epic fishing in the canal.....so what? The consistent quality of the fishing experience will be far better than the addictive feast or famine fishing lottery that is the canal. There will be plenty of time for that later when you and your son are more experienced.

How far up the rivers do these fish go? I have a peaceful spot I've fished with no luck but just love the peacefulness and beauty of the location. Perhaps I am fishing for the wrong fish there or using the wrong tackle. I've tried finding friends who fish but everyone I know gave up fishing long ago.

It wasn't totally unproductive. The boy found a nice pencil popper lure in the rocks and I got to watch others running pencil poppers and shads so I got a good idea how to reel them in.

Imagine my surprise when I came home today. Wifey said I had a large box waiting for me. Wait, I didn't order anything I could remember. Then when I saw it was from a residence I remembered. I got a whole ton of stuff from a very generous Spence! Boy and I looked over and over at the stuff. I am floored by the generosity. We are going to pick the boy up a tackle box for some of this stuff.

Hope to get a trip or two in this week.

PROST!

Any surf area suggestions for me in either Wareham (preferable) or Falmouth? Don't want anyone giving up a hot spot, just a kindly suggestion. Not looking for monsters, just a good chance at either the boy or I to hook onto a fish.

Again, for the second time, there are tons of BOOKS on the subject. You can google "fishing spots in Wareham".
Go to the library and pickup some of the books I listed in my post a week ago. Most of the guys on the striper boards are not going to give you specific spots to go and fish. We all learned the hard way, on our own.:chased:

Tried the library, didn't have a single one of those books. Got a couple books but not very good ones, mostly almanac-like. Going to see if we can get them on the SAILS network from another library.

Did the google thing too, not very fruitful yet, it is a swamp of too much information and with work, kids, and garden season hot, I haven't had the time to roll up my sleeves and dig in there yet.

Think I am going to leave the canal and go back to the Agawam River again. Not that I've had luck there either but it is closer, more private, and a beautiful spot. If it was ALL about getting fish it would be called CATCHING and not FISHING. :)

On the Water publishes a cheap guide book for the cape that I think includes the Wareham area. Called "Fishing NE-Cape Cod Guide". I'm pretty sure Red Top has it. The information in it is very good.

Thanks, I'll check it out. None of those books are in SAILS either. I'll wait for one of the libraries to have their book sales and see if I can pick up some good reads cheap.

And another great ending to a day to find another S-B member's generosity. Son is giddy poking at lures and guessing what they will catch. Gotta get out there tomorrow night and Thursday morning I think.

A kind soul also pm'd me some great advice that I will try as well. I'll get one of these stripers yet!

Keep it at, it's a numbers game.

Back 40+ years ago when I started chasing Stripers there was no internet and almost no books or magazines on fishing for Stripers. The "sharpies" all kept their mouths shut and you only learned by doing. Trial and error.

You are really fortunate to have guys who are willing to share the info but as Numby said: "it's a numbers game". The saying the old timers had when I was a young pup was "you got to put your time in". It holds true today. You can get all the advice you want but nothing is better than doing. Just go and make the mistakes we all made and eventually you will get the idea.

Another outing, this time southside of Falmouth on the beach. If the rain holds out, hitting a river tonight and/or tomorrow morning since I have two days off.

Bleh, changed plans and went to the ditch. Nada.

keep at it...also do searches on this site...LOTS of info right here if you look around....
there is a How - to section as well

I would get at least a nine foot rod so that you can fish a variety of different places and lures. even if you do hook up with a fish you're going to have a lot of trouble landing it ,using a seven foot rod in the canal. i also agree with numbskull that the canal is not the best place to learn. try any of the southside beaches all the way up to chatham until early june. look for s structure(rocks, sandbars, jetties) or moving water. fish dawn or dusk. poppers and metal, pink and pearl bombers. also agree with what others have said. there are a lot of books on the subject as well as tons of info right here on the site using the search function.

ps. eels at night retrieved extremely slow take big fish...

I've got three rods 10' plus. Not high quality stuff, rods I got at yardsales cheap but workable.

I'm contemplating a trip in the morning. Haven't decided yet the canal or the Agawam River.

Went learning on the Agawam today. Got a couple chases but not hits. Pretty darn low tide this morning.

Really set now. Boy was VERY surprised today when a package arrived in his name. Now he not only has some cool lures, he has a nice box of his own to keep them in. Amazing people here on this board. Now we just gotta get a bass...

Holy high tide tonight Batman! Nothing but a bunch of bug bites. Here fish fish fish, here fish fish fish.

So the question for tonight is "fish the ditch or try some Scup or what have you at the Narrows"?

Looks like a non-fishing Memorial Day weekend for me. Just too much going on. Maybe get some time in this week.

Well, it looks like my season is mostly done. I have been diagnosed with colon cancer. I go under the knife the 22nd. How quickly I recover will dictate whether I will be looking forward to next season or getting in a bit more this season. Thanks to all the kind people helping me with tips and tackle this year. I'll get a striper someday!

Oh boy, what horrible news. I checked in to see if you and your son had gotten their first bass and .........ugh. As a young father with a young family this has to be a very tense, almost unbearable, time for you and your wife. So much at stake. Good luck with your surgery and I hope this is early stage disease. We all will be pulling for you.

Holy crap Two If....thats horrible. My best wishes to you for a speedy recovery.

Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery! Keep the positive thoughts and be ready for the fall run!