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| I landed this blue yesterday evening from shore on a Cocahoe. They outnumber the stripers right now. |
The striper fishing from shore continues to be poor along the oceanfront in RI. In fact, the bluefish fishing is a bit better as they outnumber the stripers right now. I think we got spoiled over the last two years that produced some of the best August striper fishing I had ever seen here in RI. This year is a different story. There is a lack of bait, notably peanut bunker, along the oceanfront right now. The last two years saw massive amounts of this bait along the shore; this year has brought very little so far. I also think you are seeing the decline in numbers of stripers, something many have been predicting for a while. We know there are few small schoolies around due to poor spawning in recent years. The pressure has been on the larger fish, slots and above slots, and those were taken out in record numbers this spring and early summer. You just can't keep taking and expect the well to be always be full.
As for the bluefish, they have been around, though I've seen no schools of them. There seems to be loners here and there. In one place that I fish, you probably have to cast for several hours and maybe you will pick up a blue or two. Boaters have been seeing small schools of them whenever a bit of bait comes around. The blues I am catching are also super skinny, a sure sign that they are not eating much. Many of the blues this fall have been large ones over 10 lbs.
As for the albies, there have been a scant few taken by boaters mostly out near Block Island. The oceanfront has had none that I know of. Last year they appeared at this time, but there was tons of bait around to lure them in. I don't think we will see a lot of them this year until the big schools of bait arrive. Realize that albies have traditionally been a September fish with the first week of September marking the start. The albie thing has also been no guarantee. Over the past couple of decades, there have been some banner years with lots of them, some average years such as last year with some and there have been some years with none. No one can accurately predict what will happen with these pelagic fish that spend most of their life offshore in the deep water.
