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| There are some bonito around but it is a hit or miss deal. I landed this one yesterday from shore. |
I'm being generous when I say the shore fishing here in RI is mediocre. Compared to other years at this time, it is way off. In the last three days/evenings of fishing for me, I've landed a grand total of three schoolies and one small bonito.
There are a few stripers around, and you have to make a lot of casts in a lot of spots to maybe get one fish. All those bonito that the reports are raving about.... the truth is that they are around, but it is a hit or miss deal. In one particular hotspot where up to 50 anglers a morning gather at daybreak to cast for them, the word is that there has not been a single bonito caught in 6 straight days. I know several boaters who have not seen or caught a bonito in days. And, no one I know has seen or caught an albie. They are just not around yet. Finally, bluefish are almost non-existent. I've landed two since August and have not seen another one landed.
So, what the heck is going on? There is simply little to no bait along the oceanfront to draw in the predators. There are small pods of it here and there but no big amounts that would lure bass, blues and pelagics like in past years. In some of the backwaters where there is bait, there are no predators on it.
We are just about in the middle of September and we've seen no sign of any fall run of any fish. Things change fast at this time of year, and who knows, maybe shore fishing will change for the better in the next few days or weeks.
