Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Cape Cod Canal fishing report for Friday, June 20, 2025.

First off, the sunrise came up bright at 5:08 AM, with sunset stretching out until 8:21 PM, giving us plenty of daylight to work those morning and evening bites. Weather’s holding classic early summer—comfortable temps, a light breeze, and mostly clear skies, perfect for long sessions on the banks or hopping from hot spot to hot spot.

Checking the tides, today’s first high came in around 5:30 AM and the first low at 11:55 AM, so if you’re just heading out, that dropping tide is prime for targeting bass and blues, especially near the west end and the Railroad Bridge area. Those Canal currents are always ripping, so beef up your gear as needed and watch your footing near the rocks.

On to the fish: the Canal’s lit up with typical June action. Striped bass are coming through in good numbers, with a healthy mix of schoolies and cows—plenty over 30 inches, and a few pushing that 40-inch mark, especially at first light and on the slack before the turn. In fact, just this week, anglers reported productive runs during early morning tides, nailing big stripers on jigs and topwater plugs. According to On The Water’s latest report, some real Chesapeake cows are still moving through, so keep your eyes peeled for those bruisers.

Bluefish action has ramped up along the south-facing beaches and in the Canal itself. There are choppers in the mix now—these aren’t all just cocktails. Pencil poppers and metals are drawing plenty of aggressive hits, and a handful of northern kingfish have shown up around the east end.

Don’t snooze on fluke either, especially if the wind lays down. I hooked into a nice backwater fluke on a jig-and-teaser rig this week; a simple 3/8-ounce jig tipped with a Gulp swimming mullet and a Spro bucktail teaser about 18 inches above worked wonders. Most are shorts, but work through those, and you’ll find a few solid keepers for the table.

Hot spots right now? The west end near the Sandwich bulkhead for those big stripers on the move, and the area around the Railroad Bridge has been a steady producer for both bass and blues, especially at dawn. If you’re looking to mix it up, the edges of the shoals outside the east end have been good for fluke and the occasional blue blitz.

Best baits and lures this week: loaded up jigs, soft plastics on heavy heads, and topwater plugs like pencil poppers and spooks are the ticket for stripers and blues. For those targeting fluke, Gulp-tipped jigs and bucktail teasers are hard to beat.

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