Not Good

 Many people will be on vacation in the next week, and many will want to fish for stripers. If you are planning to fish from shore, the outlook is fair to poor.  From a boat, you have a better shot at catching but even that is way off compared to other years.

Traditionally June has been a good month of shore fishing for stripers here in RI.  In the past, we've had them on two fronts in RI  in June- in the Bay and along the oceanfront. In the past, large schools of pogies (menhaden) brought good numbers of big blues and keeper bass to the Bay from both shore and boat.  In the past the oceanfront has seen big schools of sandeels and squid that would draw good numbers of striper to the supper table.  None of those things happened this year. In the last month, it's been a lack of bait and a lack of both stripers and blues.  In fact, I can't remember a poorer June  overall than I've seen this year.

The fishing in June has been poor overall, but 
there have been some quality fish around if you can 
find them. Expect a lot of blanks in the
coming weeks with an occasional good day
or night. Bait has been scarce. 

Most of June has been a skunk fest for me in many different locations.  It's been the same for a good number of sharpies that I know. But, for those who persisted, there were occasional days and nights here and there that had some decent fishing from shore in June. I think there were some small pods of fish moving around the oceanfront and occasionally I would find them especially in rough water. A little over a week ago, I had one good night where I caught a good number of fish in some really charged up water. These fish were all generally slots and over slots. There was no bait around so I can only surmise that these fish came in close in the white water turbulence to look for food. The next night was not so good in great conditions and by the third night, there was nothing.

On yet another day this week, I fished in a completely different location where the water really dropped off, a good bet because fish tend to seek that cooler, deeper water at this time of year.  I had great conditions, but could only lure one large schoolie to hit. I would have bet anything I would have killed them in this location based on past experiences.

My experiences of the past week (out every night) are examples of just what is happening.  My friends who fish all the time are doing the same thing- a good night here and there with decent size stripers but a lot of blanks in between. I think the two main factors contributing to this poor shore fishing are a lack of bait and a declining striper population. 

So, as many of you hit the vacation week fishing, I would only say keep at it and move around, because you will hit a good outing eventually.  Look for rough water conditions and work the deeper dropoffs from shore. You will fare better from the boat than shore because you have a lot of mobility to move around.

Good luck because you'll need it!

Storminess Turns 'Em On!

 

Here's a slot coming ashore in the suds.
The shore fishing lit up for me last 
night in some rough water.

I had yesterday circled on my calendar for the last week.  I knew
great conditions were on the way. A big blow from the southwest was predicted with high surf conditions. A full moon high tide would occur just after dark. And, there was a possibility of rain.  It was all the ingredients needed to turn the fish on. This was the exact pattern that produced many, many times in the past for me.

Even though I have not had a big day of fishing in almost a month, I felt this was my best shot in a long time. And, it didn't disappoint.

I found a good number of stripers in some charged up water that resembled a tropical storm. I had them eating a big bucktail jig spiced with a pink Fat Cow jig strip, a real hot combo for me last year. I landed nine good size fish.  Most of them were slots with one over slot fish. I saw no birds, no bait, and no one else fishing.  The fish were just there and you had to try to find them.

The hot lure last night was
a big bucktail jig spiced
with a pink Fat Cow jig
strip.

While the June fishing was a big disappointment overall, last night confirms that there are pockets of good fish around. You just have to be persistent and look.  My guess is that many shore fishermen have thrown in the towel till the fall since I have seen very few fishermen around in the last two weeks.

As Poor as it Gets Right Now

 Striper fishing went from a fabulous April to a mediocre May to an incredibly poor June. I have never seen it this bad at this time of year from shore along the oceanfront and in Narragansett Bay. I still am out just about every evening and trying many different locations to try to find fish, and it's been little or nothing. Many of my diehard friends are all reporting the same poor fishing.

Poor is what's going on yet the reports we see coming out of the papers and magazines paint a rosy picture. Read carefully and you will find that they focus in on large fish being taken, mostly from boaters. They tend to focus on those one or two large fish being reported.  Yes, there are pockets of large fish around, but they are few and far between and a lot of effort is going into catching these few big ones, mostly by commercial rod and reelers or by those slugging it out all night, night after night with eels. Overall, there are few slots, very few schoolies and very few blues around right now.

Perfect Storm has led to this.....We are in the midst of a perfect storm causing the poor fishing right now.  There is little to no bait around except for sparse schools of micro bait.  The abundant sandeels that we saw last year in June that led to great fishing are not around this year.  There are few to no pogies in the Bay, thus leading to the exceptionally poor fishing there. Do you think the commercial harvest of them earlier in the spring had anything to do with this? The peanut bunker have not arrived yet.  We'll be lucky if they come by in early August. Many cite the extreme amounts of  rain we had this spring as the culprit to screwing up the bait situation. Add to all of this a declining striper and bluefish population and you've got a bad mix. 

We've seen bad early seasons in the past.  For me, the Cape Cad Canal had often come through when fishing turned sour in RI in past years.  But, not this year (so far). Fishing has been poor there also, way off compared to past years. I know many fishermen who have been there many times, caught nothing, and they are giving up until they hear something positive. I'm pulling for the Canal to heat up in July. traditionally the best month of fishing there.

So, we are in the midst of generally poor fishing here in RI. With extremely warm weather coming, I hate to say this, but I don't see it picking up anytime soon. But, I plan to keep looking!

June Moon Disappoints; No Bait, No Fish!

 

This striper took a small Slug-go fished from the
kayak this week.

Since that last post I wrote, fishing has really taken a dive along both the oceanfront and the Bay. We had the new moon this week and that always gets surf fishermen excited because of the big tides and water movement. All that is fine but when there is no bait around, big tides mean nothing.

I fished 7 evenings/nights in a row in both the Bay in my kayak and along the oceanfront from shore.  I had one banner night from the yak where I DID find bait and there were fish busting everywhere.  They were fussy, though, since they were on micro bait. I did manage to put ten bass and one blue in the yak using an unweighted Finesse Fish and small Slug-Gos. Half the bass were slots. I went back to the same location the next evening and caught just one schoolie. There was no bait and the mass of fish moved on.

The rest of the week I fished multiple locations along the oceanfront. Each night except one I landed only one fish an outing, all slots. I could find no bait, and very few fish.  Those fish that were abundant a week and a half ago seemed to have moved on.  

This was the lone bluefish I landed
this week.  They have not been 
around in big numbers.

I have a number of friends and contacts who fished hard this week along the oceanfront hoping for a bonanza on the new moon.  They ALL report poor fishing.  Even my son Jon ventured down to the Cape Cod Canal, a real good bet on the new moon tides.  He got nothing and only reported seeing a few fish taken with crowded conditions. And, the upper Narragansett Bay, so good in past years at this time seems to have no pogies and no stripers.

So, we are entering the summer on a real poor note.   If this year follows past patterns, we won't see an uptick in consistent fishing until big schools of peanut bunker arrive.  That could happen in late July, but August seems a better bet.

Firing on All Cylinders

 

Here is one of many fish landed last evening
on a Zoom Fluke fished off a small jighead,
a great choice when the stripers are on small bait.

We are back to hot fishing.  Maybe it's the new moon tides coming or maybe it's an influx of small bait that has gotten things going.  Whatever the reason the striper fishing right now is very good from both shore and boat and very good in the Bay and along the oceanfront.

The oceanfront has had some big bass for those will to put in serious hours after dark.  But, there are even fish up to 40 inches being taken in broad daylight. Hot lures along the oceanfront are Slug-gos, needlefish plugs and the Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil. I was down the ocean a couple of days ago and dropped a massive fish that hit my Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil.  After a long battle, I lost the fish.  When I reeled in my plug, one of the hooks on one treble was broken off and the other hook was straightened out.  These were VMC 4X hooks!

The Bay has also perked up.  I was out from shore yesterday and landed 19 fish on three inch Zoom flukes fished off a half ounce jighead.  While most were schoolies, I did also have a slot. Find a school of fish, and they are likely a mix with schoolies, slots and over slots all in the same school.  My son Jon was out in the kayak this morning and he landed decent numbers of slots and over slots fishing 7 1/2 inch Slug gos.

Note that the fish are also showing in many spots, chasing small bait.  Many fishermen are complaining they are fussy and hard to catch, but if you keep working at it, you are likely to find a something they will hit. Keep it small and take a finesse approach.