Wild! That is the only way I can describe the scene yesterday. I got down to the oceanfront in the evening and as I looked out in the first spot I stopped I could see hundreds of birds diving in a wide area. They were in close, out far, everywhere. So, I quickly grabbed my rod and headed to the shore. What was causing all the commotion were vast schools of tiny bait. That was being attacked by big schools of small snapper blues. And, that was being attacked by an occasional striper. Everywhere you looked there was bait and some kind of fish breaking.
 |
It was all schoolies yesterday. A small bucktail jig with a
curly tail was the hot lure. |
The stripers were scattered. It was an individual fish here and there breaking or just hanging in the white water. They were not schooled up and not very aggressively feeding. Maybe it's the warm water (low to mid 70's). Still, I managed to pick up a few fish on a bucktail jig and the other guys I was with were also picking up a few. Yesterday's fish were schoolies in the 22-24 inch range. These fish seem to be everywhere that bait exists. Some places have more fish than others. It's a matter of finding them.
For anyone looking for action, I will warn you that there is a lot of weed around, especially along the sandy south shore that is vulnerable to a south and southwest wind. I know one state beach where even swimming is impossible in some sections in the thick red and black weed that covers the shoreline and shallow water. From my travels I can tell you that there is more weed south of Point Judith than there is north of there. The rocky areas around Narragansett, Jamestown and Newport seem to have cleaner and more fishable water than along the south shore beachfront. There are pockets of clean water along the beachfront, but you have to find them. If you are fishing from a boat it doesn't matter since the weed is generally close to shore.
So, we are in the midst of a very good stretch of striper fishing. I would say unusually good for early August.
