In the last week, we had the warm weather, we had the southwest winds and we had a warming ocean, BUT we did have the fish. The migrating stripers have been few and far between so far, way off for this time of year. I know of a scant few that have been taken in various spots along the oceanfront and in the Bay. Those fish had sea lice so I know they were fresh fish. I still have not caught a migrating fish for 2023, and I have tried a number of times in the last week.
Here is what I think is going on. First off, most of the early arrivals are schoolies. We know the schoolie numbers are way down due to poor breeding in recent years. I think we are seeing the results of that. The slot fish are the biggest category of stripers right now, and I think we are still about two weeks away from seeing big numbers of those. I think they are coming in astounding numbers. Also, weed is a big, big problem as it was last year. Many of the good early season spots along the oceanfront are loaded with weed, making fishing impossible. Finally, don't confuse the holdovers with the new, migratory fish. The reports this week will tell of good numbers of stripers in places here in RI. Those are mostly holdovers. Finally, this is still a bit early in the year for big numbers of fish. Maybe it will happen this week.
