Thursday, July 26, 2018

A Preview of Things to Come?

This schoolie was one of a dozen stripers
landed in a couple of hours fishing. 
Schoolies continue to be around in good
numbers along the oceanfront and in the Bay.
I fished the RI oceanfront last evening.  It had a fall feel to it with rough and white water, lots of wind and lots of current. The conditions were more like you would find in October rather than July.  It was perfect water to find stripers, and I found them in good numbers.
All the fish I found were all schoolies.  They were very aggressive, slamming my float and bucktail jig that I worked in the white water.  These fish were 15 to 23 inches long for the most part, just what we  have been seeing since the spring here in RI. Keepers have really been in short supply for RI surfcasters so I did not head down with the intentions of catching anything big.
If I were betting, I would guess that what I saw last night will play out over and over again this fall. Call my experience last evening a fall preview of things to come. I'm guessing we are going to see lots and lots of schoolies and very few larger stripers come the fall. And, bluefish...forget it.  With the exception of a few small ones in the Bay, they are really non-existent, and I think it will be that way in the fall also.