A Hit-or-Miss Deal

This is one of 6 schoolies that I landed today
at and after dark.  A small school of  peanut
bunker hit the shore and the stripers were
on them. Find the bait and you will
most likely find the fish.

I was talking to a guy today at one of  the south shore beaches.  He drove two hours from a location in MA to come and fish the RI south shore.  He has been doing this for many years and commented about how he used to do this a lot years back, and catching fish used to be a sure bet at this time of year.  Not these days. Today he fished multiple spots from early AM until near dark and got nothing.
I can tell you that others have caught good numbers of fish in the last few days along the south shore, the place to be at this time of year.  Most of those who did make out well found a lot of bait.  Where bait moves, especially peanut bunker or large menhaden, it is almost a sure bet you will find stripers and bluefish. But, finding that bait and the fish is very much a hit-or-miss deal.  Trying to pick off a fish here and there with no bait around is difficult, if not impossible along the south shore beachfront these days.
I was heading for a blank today.  I fished the south shore for much of the daylight hours and got nothing.  Then, I decided to ditch this area and headed north right before dark.  I fished my new spot for half an hour with no success.  Then, it happened.  Right at dark I saw a small school (about the size of my truck hood) of peanut bunker in front of me.  As soon as I saw this bait I hooked up with a schoolie. In the next 45 minutes, I landed 5 more stripers proving once again that if you find the bait, you most likely will find the fish.