Massive Amounts of Bait Hits the Shore; Best Back to Back Outings this Year!

 A massive amount of bait hit the oceanfront in the last two days. The bait was bay anchovies of 2 to 3 inches, and big time numbers of stripers were on them.  It was fall blitz-like action that I haven't seen in a long time. Thousands of birds were diving from above as stripers were blasting from below.  It was two days of wild fishing for me which delivered big numbers of stripers from schoolies and slots up to an overslot of 40 inches. Most of the fish, however, were schoolies.

There were loads of fish, but I have to say they were fussy and lots of guys who were tossing large plugs were getting nothing.  When on small bait, stripers can be super fussy, and often you have to take a finesse approach to catch them.  Two artificials were very effective for me.  One the first day, I used an unweighted white Albie Snax which did the trick. On day 2, I had a stiff wind in my face so I went with a float and jig with a curly tail attached to the jig.

Hopefully, this is the start of consistent fall striper fishing.

Take a look at the bird/bait action below:

Post Labor Day Uptick

I found very good numbers of schoolies along 
the oceanfront today in some rough water.

 I know it is only one day after Labor Day, but already the fishing along the oceanfront has taken a big uptick for the better.  Today seemed to have good fishing no matter where you went with very few crowds. I love this time of year.

We had a big east wind today at the oceanfront and that kicked up the waves in certain locations.  Since the spring, every time I fished a rough surf, I've had good fishing.  Today was no exception.  I fished multiple spots and came away with real good numbers of stripers fishing in the white water pockets.  They were all schoolies in the 20 to 24 inch range.  All were caught on a float and jig.

In addition to the fish I caught, I saw birds working here, and there but no fish breaking. Still, a good sign. I'm guessing they were after micro bait that seems to be on the increase.  I also heard about some bonito, Spanish Mackerel and even some albies that were caught in various places along the oceanfront today.  Seems everything was active and on the prowl today.

This seems to be the start to fall fishing along the oceanfront.  With Labor day in the rearview mirror, it's time for the fishing to move into fall mode.

Labor Day Weekend Outlook- Looking Good!

Striper fishing has been super for me from the
kayak. There are lots of hefty schoolies along 
with some good size slots and overs.

 If you are a saltwater fisherman you realize that Labor Day is usually the turning point when fishing goes from bad to better. Well, it's happened earlier this year.  I'm guessing the cooler weather has had a big effect in jumpstarting the improved fishing.mThe last week has been the BEST week of fishing for me all year. My striper numbers and sizes have improved dramatically, blues are in abundance in some locations, and the albies I posted about (last post) give me hope that they might be here soon.

I have been out in my kayak as well as fishing from shore in the last 7 days. For me, the key to success has been fishing in the Bay. Some places in the Bay are loaded with bait right now (mainly peanut bunker),  and that has brought in a lot of predators.  On the other hand, the oceanfront has improved but is still off compared to other years. A lack of bait and the recent extreme waves have caused the marginal fishing for stripers and blues along the beachfront, although sharpies fishing at night are finding some success. All of this might improve in the coming days and weeks. Contrary to recent reports you might be reading, there are NOT a lot of bonito around.  I know guys who fish for them every day in all parts of the oceanfront from shore and boat, and they have been catching very little. It's all part of the albie and bonito hype that comes along at this time of year.

From the yak, the plastic Finesse Fish
fished weightless has been a hot lure.

From the kayak, it's been mostly stripers for me.  I'm using my usual Finesse Fish (5.75 inches) in a white color.  I fish this weightless on a BKK Titan Rider hook (size 5/0).  It's a finesse game that requires finesse tactics.  I am using 30 lb. test Varivas Braid (super fine and casts beautifully) along with a Varivas fluoro leader. Just twitch the plastic on top or just below the surface and reel slowly.  You want the Finesse Fish to dart back and forth like a reel fish.  The other morning I fished a shallow water shoreline with no fish showing and came away with 12 stripers.  Many of those were slots and maybe some over slots.

Blues are on the rampage in a number of shore locations in the Bay almost daily, but they are fussy.  I've been doing best using DOA paddle tails and Cocahoes on  half ounce jigheads. I'm going through lots of paddle tails.  I hate using plastics for bluefish, but they are rarely taking the hard plugs.  Most of these bluefish are 3 to 5 lbs. I've seen several mini blitzes of them in the past week.

So, fishing is really looking up as we go into this Labor Day weekend. Hope you get out and catch some of the action.  Fall fishing has started. early this year.

The Birthday ALBIE and Other Surprises!

 

Matt with a big albie on his 39th birthday!

Today was my son Matt's 39th birthday. He took a vacation day from work, and wanted to know if I wanted to join him and my 4 year old grandson Troy on a fishing expedition to Vineyard Sound in his boat. I was all in! We went there in the hopes of landing a "birthday bonito" as we heard there were some hitting there. I had also bought Troy his own saltwater fishing rod, and he was hoping to catch his first saltwater fish on it.

Just a short ride from the boat ramp we found birds working and fish breaking.  At first Matt thought they were bonito, but I knew the breaks were too big to be bones.  They were albies, and there were good numbers of them.  But, as is the case most often in Vineyard Sound, they were super fussy as they were feeding on small bay anchovies. We threw everything we had in our bag of tricks and had no takers.  Finally, Matt tied on a small pink epoxy jig and threw it into a bunch of fish on the surface. Bang, one hit it, and it was off the the races. This was a big battle, and we knew it was a decent size one.  When we got it to the boat, WOW, it was a big one in the 8 to 10 lb. range. But, that would do it for the albies as the wind picked up and the fish were gone.

Troy and Grandpa with a black sea
bass that Troy caught all by himself on
his new fishing outfit!

But, the bottom fish were there in abundance. I helped Troy with his new outfit.  We were vertical jigging our albie lures and catching black sea bass and scup.  There was a lot of them, and Troy ended up catching and landing one all by himself on his new rod that Grandpa gave him. I think the black sea bass was as much a thrill for him as Matt's albie was for him! As a bonus we also got a couple of scup.

So, super successful day and always great to get out and spend time with my kids and grandkids, especially "fishing time".

The scup were also hitting our
epoxy jigs.

Most Blues I've Seen in a Long Time

 

Small bluefish in the 3 to 5 lb. range were on
the rampage this evening in the Bay.

I hit a big pile of bluefish in the Bay this evening. In was fall action with schools of blues tearing through schools of peanut bunker. This has been going on for a while, but the intensity was cranked up tonight.

I ended up landing 10 of them.  They were 3 to 5 lbs. Hard to believe but they were fussy.  They would not take a hard plug.  The hot lure tonight was a small D.O.A white paddle tail on a half ounce jighead.  Yes, I went through a lot of paddle tails.  My friend and charter boat captain, Jerry Sparks, gave me some of these D.O.A's to try out. No question, they are effective. Dare I say just as effective as the NLBN paddle tails and a whole lot cheaper.  They also come in bags of 12. Those D.O.A paddle tails are a soft plastic, a pure white color and they have great movement in the water. I'm looking forward to trying them on stripers and chub mackerel in the fall along the oceanfront.

The hot lure tonight for me were these D.O.A 
paddle tails mounted on a half ounce jighead.

So, like it or not, it's shaping up to be a big time bluefish fall run. We'll see if the action shifts to the oceanfront in September or whenever the bait decides to move out.

"Ace in the Hole" Delivers

 I

I've landed good numbers of bluefish this week
in the Bay where the water has been fishable.

n the last few days it has been way too rough and dangerous for me to fish the oceanfront.  But, I haven't missed a day as I turned to my ace in the hole when the oceanfront is unfishable. The waters from the mid Bay to the upper Bay have been calm, clean and fishable in  all this roughness. I've been fishing up a storm in this area where it has been LOADED with huge schools of peanut bunker.  That has attracted good numbers of small bluefish and occasional stripers.  At times this week, I have seen numbers of bluefish just blasting through the peanut bunker as if they were on an October binge. I've been getting my fish on bucktail jigs, paddle tails and Rebel Jumpin Minnows. 

Between the bait and the cooling water temperatures, it has caused the fish to become much more active. A hint of fall is in the air and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Wind, Rough Water Light it Up AGAIN

 

They were around yesterday in the rough water.

It's been a familiar theme for me since the early summer. Rough and stormy weather have delivered the good fishing. Calm waters and it has been poor. 

I got out yesterday along the oceanfront. It was super windy and rough.  There was a lot of white water in any location where the wind was coming at you.  I saw no bait and birds, and there were no fish breaking.  Yet the stripers were in many of the white water pockets that I fished.  And, I caught good numbers of them in multiple spots.

My hot lure of choice was an egg float and a half ounce bucktail jig spiced with a curly tail.  This is a killer in this type of water yet few use it.  I saw a few other people fishing using big poppers and big Kastmasters.  They caught nothing.

The hot ticket in the rough water was
an egg float with a half ounce
bucktail jig trailing off.

All of yesterday's fish were schoolies in the 20 to 25 inch range.  I haven't seen many fish in this size range this year and was surprised there was not a slot in the mix.

With real rough water coming, I'm guessing there will be good windows of opportunity to catch in the coming days.  Proceed with caution though since there is a fine line between good fishing water and too dangerous to fish conditions.