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| Today, I landed my first striper for 2023. It hit a Cocahoe on a jighead. |
Don't get too excited. Yes, I did land my first striper of 2023. But, it was a holdover. The first migrating fish are still months away from hitting our shores.
Holdover stripers do inhabit many of the coastal ponds and rivers along the RI oceanfront and in the Bay. There are some, but their numbers pale in comparison to the big populations you hear about in the big rivers in CT. It's often a case of finding a fish or two that want to hit. And, in RI, finding holdover stripers can be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
I like to get out on days like this (warm and rainy) when I'm not skiing and just cast away in a number of spots hoping for a hit or a fish. If I get a fish, great; if not, it was nice to get out and cast in the middle of January. Catching any number of fish is simply a bonus.
Today's fish was a schoolie about 20 to 22 inches. It hit a Cocahoe minnow. It was the only hit I had. This was my third outing for holdovers in January. I found good numbers of holdover stripers in mid to late December, but so far, January has proven to be difficult.
