Uptick in Activity

 

The fishing has seen an uptick in the 
last week.  Kayakers and boater have had
the advantage. I landed this one a few
days ago from the yak.

The recent very high and low tides delivered improved action for stripers here in RI. The improvement came in both the Bay and along the oceanfront. There have been better numbers of stripers, some big ones and occasional big blues in the mix.

No question that boaters have seen the biggest uptick.  The fish are scattered and the more moving around you can do the better.  The same goes for kayakers although the wind has been bad for the most part in the last week. I've had steady success in the kayak when I could get out.

The shore guys are also catching but it's a grind. It's also become a nighttime game for the most part. But slug it out and you could catch a monster fish.  I've heard of catches in the high 40 inch range this week. I've also seen some monster blues caught that weigh in the low to mid teens.

Photo of the Day- "Scoring from the Kayak"

 

I've seen a big uptick in fishing from my kayak during
this Memorial Day Weekend. This decent size striper
hit a weightless Finesse Fish twitched on top.
Weightless plastics fished on top have been hot.

Upping the Finesse Game

 

Here's a serious fish landed last evening from
the Yak using a my finesse approach.

I was back in the kayak last evening, and I decided to make some changes to my fishing approach. I made some changes that hopefully would add more effectiveness to my finesse game.  I have been dealing with fussy fish lately that woud follow and whirl but not really take my plastic offering.  I was hoping to change that.

I was using the same lure- a 5.75 inch Lunker City Finesse Fish mounted onto a BKK Titan Rider Hook. I decided to change out the leader.  I now went with a fluorocarbon leader to replace the regular mono leader.  I was using VARIVAS leader material in 30 lb. test.  One of my charter boat buddies gave me some and told me to try it out. This stuff was super thin and soft unlike other stiff fluoros I tried in the past.  I also cut down on the hardware on my leader.  I went with a smaller cross-lock snap that replaced the larger line clip.  I also went with a smaller swivel at the line end.

It all worked out well as I hooked my first 5 out of 6 hits, all decent size schoolies and slots.  And, these were solid hits- no fooling around. Can't be sure if it was the fish in an active mood or what I was using?  But, I intend to find out in the coming days as I up my finesse game.

My leader material was this 30 lb. test
Varivas Fluoro Carbon.

My hot lure was a weightless 5.75 inch
Lunker City Finesse Fish mounted 
on a BKK Titan Rider hook, size 5/0.

Mediocre Fishing Continues; Numbers Way Down

 

I landed this decent one a couple of nights ago
in a backwater location.  Overall, there are a lot
less stripers around this year, but there are some
quality fish.

As we head into Memorial Day weekend, the key word to describe the striper fishing here in RI is MEDIOCRE. Spring fishing should be peaking right now, but it isn't. It's easy to blame the weather or blame the lack of bait, but the bottom line overall has been that the numbers are way down this year. No surprise there!

I'm still catching but getting way less than in past years.  In places where I would catch a half a dozen fish a few years ago, I am lucky to get one fish. This applies to the many places I have fished in the Bay as well as along the oceanfront from shore.  The same results have happened in my kayak fishing. A lot less this year than in other years.

If there is any good news here, it's that there are some decent size stripers around. Roughly half of the stripers that I have landed this spring have been slots. But, once again, the numbers are not there.

The hottest lure for me in the last week or so has been an Albie Snax in a white color and rigged with a BKK Titan Rider Hook (size 5/0). The fish  have been fussy, and the Snax has worked better than anything else in my bad of tricks. Easy to fish- twitches of the rod tip and reel in slowly with an occasional stop.

It seems that boaters are scoring much better right now than the shore guys. Their advantage is that they can cover a lot more water looking for fish.  Those fishing the Bay and backwaters are also doing better than those fishing out front.

Good luck if you get out this holiday weekend.

Back in the Kayak

Back in the kayak and catching!

 I took the kayak out in 'Gansett Bay several times in the last week. I was mostly fishing skinny backwaters and taking a finesse approach when doing it. While I did better than I have been doing from shore, it was still mediocre fishing compared to past years.  I put 7 fish in the yak, but none were slots or overs.

All my fish were taken on a weightless 5 3/4 inch Fin S fish twitched on top with a stop every once in a while. As I have written many time before,  most of my hits came on the stop. Another interesting phenomenon I encountered was a lot of spooked fish.  I would peddle along and I'd scare one fish after another in spots.  They seemed to be near the surface just doing nothing. On one outing, I must have spooked close to a hundred fish, but only caught one that evening. So, there are fish around, but just not feeding at times.

One other note- I saw just about no bait in the multiple locations I fished.  The one time I did see a small pod of bait, fish were breaking on them, and I nailed five of them in short order. 

Going "Finesse" in Skinny Water

 

The Albie Snax mounted on a BKK
Titan Rider hook was a hot
lure last evening.

My son Jon and I went out last evening in an off the beaten path location in Narragansett Bay.  This was a quiet skinny water cove where we have had success in the past with decent sized stripers. This is one of those spots where big plugs have little to no chance of scoring. If you want to catch in places like these where stripers are generally super fussy, you need to take a finesse approach.

We immediately snapped on weightless plastics.  Jon used a 7 1/2 inch white Slug-go while I put on a white Albie Snax.  These were weightless offerings with just a BKK Titan Rider hook up front. I've written a lot about how to fish these....slow retrieve, twitches of the rod tip, stop every once in a while.  I've also written that you will get a lot of hits on the stop. That happened last evening many times.

Jon and I came away with five decent fish landed, and they were all slots.  We also had a lot of other hits and swirls, a sure sign that good numbers of stripers were around. I would bet that if we were using large plugs here, we would have gotten nothing.

A finesse approach works well in quiet, skinny
water spots. It got us many good size fish
last evening.

Inconsistent

 

Jon Pickering holds a slot fish that was taken
from shore.  These larger fish have been hanging
around places that have schools of menhaden.
The fish was released in good shape. 

By now the striper fishing should be humming here in RI.  It's not.  In a few words to sum it up, we are in the midst of a mediocre spring that has been very inconsistent. I thought it would really perk up by now since the water is warming, but it is not happening especially for shore fishermen. There is also a noticeable lack of small bait.

I've been out just about every day/evening for the last two weeks.  While I've had very few skunks, it has mostly been one fish here and there.  The oceanfront has had fair numbers of small fish at times, but no bonanza of fish. Most of them that I have caught there have been schoolies in the 12 to 18 inch range.  I haven't even seen anyone get a fish over 24 inches.

The Bay is fishing better for larger fish.  That is because there are schools of menhaden in various places that are attracting slot and over slot fish. These fish will only take the real thing. The fishing with menhaden is best done by boat or kayak. Find the bait and you tend to find some fish.  Still, I have been able to catch  a number of slots and even an over slot recently but there have been no big numbers.  In places where I get a couple of fish one evening, I'll go down the next evening (with the same conditions) and get nothing.

As for bluefish, I got that one over a week ago, and I've not gotten or seen one since. They have not been around.  They haven't even been around the schools of menhaden.  Maybe too early?

Good but not Great; First Overslot Landed!

I landed this hefty overslot last 
evening in the Bay.

Here's the scoop on the latest striper fishing.  It's been good but not great. The fish are now spread out along the oceanfront and throughout the Bay.  There are good numbers of all sizes.  Schoolies seem to dominate along the oceanfront while the Bay has some hefty slots and even over slots.  I landed my first over slot of the year yesterday evening in the Bay.  I suspect that slug of large fish that are in the Bay have followed schools of adult menhaden that I have seen in different parts of the Bay. I've seen no bait along the oceanfront.

Thus far these have been my best lures.  For schoolies along the oceanfront the NLBN in a three inch , white model has been hard to beat.  But, other paddle tails like a Cocahoe and Al Gag's have also worked. In the bay, topwater plugs rule.  My best producer there has been a Yo- Zuri Hydro Pencil in a bone color. Other topwater plugs that have scored have been standard poppers and Doc lures. White or bone color have been the best.

I have to say that we had better and more consistent fishing last year.  While this year has been super at times, it has mostly been an on and off deal though I have only had one blank in the last two weeks. I think the weather has added to the inconsistency.

First BLUEFISH of the Year

 Surprise, surprise! I landed my first bluefish of the year this evening along the oceanfront.  The fish, about 6 lbs., hit a NLBN paddle tail that was intended for a striper.  This is very early for a blue along the oceanfront.  With everyone complaining that the water is so cold, it was even more unusual for this blue to be around.  We'll find out in the days to come if this was a fluke or if a run of spring blues has started.!

First blue of the year landed this evening.