It's that time of year when boaters have a big, big advantage over shore fishermen. In the past, the exception has been the Cape Cod Canal, but this year, the Canal has been fishing poorly so far.
Most of the stripers in RI have been heading to deeper water in the last couple of weeks. That means a migration out of the upper and mid Bay to deeper and cooler spots in the lower Bay, along the oceanfront and at Block Island. In deeper water, the boaters have the advantage over shore fishermen, and they can cover so much more territory.
I've heard of a lot of good catches from boats in the last week. I've heard of almost none from shore. And, you don't need a real big boat to get them. My son, Jon, had two fantastic days from the kayak recently. In two days, he landed 30 stripers from 30 to 42 inches along with several big blues from the yak. He simply paddled around looking for schools of pogies and fishing around those schools. Right now, if you can find schools of pogies in either the lower Bay or along the oceanfront, chances are pretty good there are big fish under them.
