Well, the good times can't last forever. Up until this year, we had been on quite a run of winter fishing in the Providence River. But, this winter it has all slowed to a crawl. In past years I would average about a hundred fish a month in January. Not this year. With a decent effort ( at least a fifteen times fishing this month on the right tides and conditions), I have landed a grand total of 10 fish. The fish are not there in any numbers and the fishermen are not around either....that says a lot.
We shouldn't be surprised by this lack of fish. Fishing was fair to poor in the Upper Bay in the summer and late fall with the numbers of stripers way down. Additionally, the trend of the last five winters in the Providence River has been a downward spiral with decreasing numbers of stripers.
I don't believe the striper fishery is as healthy as many would lead you to believe. There was a noticeable lack of schoolies around in the Bay and along the RI oceanfront this year, and that does not bode well for the future.
We shouldn't be surprised by this lack of fish. Fishing was fair to poor in the Upper Bay in the summer and late fall with the numbers of stripers way down. Additionally, the trend of the last five winters in the Providence River has been a downward spiral with decreasing numbers of stripers.
I don't believe the striper fishery is as healthy as many would lead you to believe. There was a noticeable lack of schoolies around in the Bay and along the RI oceanfront this year, and that does not bode well for the future.
