I went to the upper Bay early to check out some old favorite spots as well as to explore some new areas. It was a new area that I had not previously fished in the past that really produced. Landed a grand total of 37 stripers, all of them schoolies from 14-24 inches (see photo at right). At times the fishing was wild with fish busting on the surface and aggressively hitting my Zoom fluke before I even had a chance to retrieve it! I think these aggressive fish were keying on the lure hitting the water and they immediately attacked it. Numbers wise, this was my best day of the fall. So much for the lack of schoolies in RI!
The hot lure as it always has been for winter fishing was the 3 or 4 inch Zoom fluke mounted on a small jighead of 1/4 to 1/2 oz. (see photo at left). No need to carry lots of lures for winter fishing.
Stripers winter over in many locations in Narragansett Bay in such places as the Seekonk River, the Providence River, other river systems on the east side of the Bay as well as the ponds of the south shore and Narrow River. Winter stiper fishing is often a matter of finding fish that want to hit as I did this evening.
