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| This is the first of multiple slots landed today from shore. The larger fish have arrived. You just have to find them! |
It didn't take long for my crappy spring to turn very positive. I had a great spring outing in an unlikely spot today as I landed 7 slots along with many other schoolies from shore. The season has begun for me!
Many of my old favorite places were just not working so I decided to really mix things up today and try a place I never fished before in the spring here in RI. Not saying if this was in the Bay or oceanfront. Irrelevant since the fish are in both areas right now. What surprised me was the size of these fish. The first five fish I landed, all on a one ounce bucktail jig, were all slots from 28-30 inches. Yes, the bigger fish have arrived. I ended up getting a couple of more slots on a Yo-Zuri Hyro Pencil later in the day. This is unusual since I rarely have fished topwater offerings in April in the past, but this was working today with these active fish. Unheard of to see a slot fish come up and blast a surface offering on April 18. I also landed some hefty 24 inch schoolies. ALL of these fish had sea lice on them so I know these were fresh, migrating fish.
So, the fish are here. While I usually catch my first keepers (slot fish) around the end of April, today's biggies were certainly early. I think this is the way things are going to go in April. I'm guessing the slots will outnumber the schoolies which is great for the present, but poor for the future. This should set the tone on how the fishing will go for the rest of the year.
