Many will tell you this is the very worst year of fishing for stripers and bluefish along the RI mainland shore in a very long time. I have to agree. Will it perk up? If so, when w
ill it begin to happen?
ill it begin to happen?It began to perk up last year around the beginning of Sept. with a mix of stripers, bluefish and false albacore around. That was all lured close to shore by large schools of bay anchovies (see pic at right). But, not this year. Back luck for us this year t
hat we had the huge waves from Hurricane Earl last weekend and then very strong southwest winds afterward that dirtied the water with sand and weeds. Last year also saw a big second wave in the numbers of stripers and bluefish along the oceanfront around mid September (see photo at left of last year's fishing). Once again, there were large numbers of bay anchovies around and that perked up the fishing. I am hopeful that will again this year if this bait arrives. We also need some cool weather to drop the water temperatures which are running way above normal due to this record breaking heat which has persisted into September. Watch for a string of several cool nights into the low fifties to perk things up. Better yet, hope for a northeaster. That always perks perks up the fishing at this time of year.
hat we had the huge waves from Hurricane Earl last weekend and then very strong southwest winds afterward that dirtied the water with sand and weeds. Last year also saw a big second wave in the numbers of stripers and bluefish along the oceanfront around mid September (see photo at left of last year's fishing). Once again, there were large numbers of bay anchovies around and that perked up the fishing. I am hopeful that will again this year if this bait arrives. We also need some cool weather to drop the water temperatures which are running way above normal due to this record breaking heat which has persisted into September. Watch for a string of several cool nights into the low fifties to perk things up. Better yet, hope for a northeaster. That always perks perks up the fishing at this time of year. There are no sure bets here, but I have never seen a year without a decent fall run here in RI. With lots of fish to our north in the Cape Cod Canal area, along the outer Cape, and around the islands expect those fish to move through RI eventually. I'm confident it will happen.
