Friday, June 19, 2009

Blues on the Increase; Stripers on the Decrease


It happens every year in Narragansett Bay around this time. The water begins to warm and larger stripers head to deeper water in the lower Bay. The menhaden are still around, a good bait supply for increasing numbers of bluefish that favor the warmer water.

I have been out the last 4 evenings from shore, boat and kayak. I've also fished various spots....the Providence Shipping Channel, Conimicut, East Greenwich Bay and other upper Bay locations. In every spot, I have found decent numbers of bluefish. East Greenwich Bay had small, cocktail blues in the 12-16 inch range chasing small bait. The Seekonk River in Providence had large bluefish slamming scattered schools of menhaden. In between all this action, there are still some large striped bass to be had (we landed fish up to 35 lbs. this week), but you will go through lots of menhaden that are falling victim to bluefish.

The big blues are hitting menhaden (chunks, whole and dead, and live) while smaller blues will hit poppers, swimmers and plastics.