Numbers in Steep Decline

I've seen a major decline in the numbers of 
stripers in the last five years. This year is 
particularly bad.

The facts don't lie.  I looked back at my logs over the last five years to see what my numbers were each year up to this point from 2021 to 2025.  I was shocked, but not surprised, at what I found.

We are currently about halfway through the striper season for 2025.  It has been fair to poor for me, and it has gotten poorer as the summer has worn on. I have to go back to the moratorium days to find years with similar poor fishing.  I know other fishermen, particularly boaters, have been finding some fish.  Even some shore fishermen I know have hit it lucky once in a while especially for larger fish.  But, there is no question that the numbers overall are DOWN for most striper fishermen.

Here are my striper totals for the last five years up to the end of July:

2021- 703 stripers

2022- 350 stripers

2023- 272 stripers

2024- 222 stripers

2025- 183 stripers

Note that each year I fished about the same number of outings mostly from shore but sometimes from a kayak.  These are the totals up to the end of July.  The sizes have varied with a larger percentage of bigger fish in the last couple of years and more schoolies back around 4 or 5 years ago. No surprise here since research tells us the schoolie population is way down due to poor spawning years.

The naysayers will give you a lot of excuses about why they think I'm full of you know what.  You've heard many of them I'm sure. Global warming, warm water, the population is shifting north, the fish are mostly offshore, the bait has moved, and some people just don't know how to catch them!

One positive note here.  Better fishing could be coming. The pattern for me in the last five years has been much better fishing the second half of the year.  We have seen decent fall fishing.  I'm hoping that will happen.

In the meantime, I will keep plugging away and hope fishing improves.

Varivas Braided Line

 

My friend and charter boat captain, Jerry Sparks, got me hooked up with the Varivas line company.  This Japanese line company was looking for a surf fisherman that could be a field tester for them for their premium braided lines and fluorocarbon.  He recommended me, and I'm now using Varivas braided line.

I'll bet most of you haven't heard of this line. I don't know if it's sold locally but they are hoping to expand their market. The staff at Varivas sent be a bunch of samples to try out along with some info about this line. One specific important detail is that the line breaks at the lb. test listed on the package. She suggested I up my line strength from what I currently use (for the most part, Power Pro 30 lb. test).  Generally US made lines break above their lb. test. So, I spooled up with Varivas' 37 lb. test. I spooled my Daiwa BG with the Varivas 8 line in a blue color. I've used it now for several outings. 

Here's my initial reaction. "Wow!" This line is super smooth to the feel, limp and seems to be thinner than my Power Pro 30 lb. test. I also think it's a better casting line as I seem to get better distance.  I used light lures and heavy lures, casted into the wind and with the wind at my back, and I did not get a single wind knot, not even close.

I guess the true test of any line is how well it holds up when it counts. I'm hoping to land a few big stripers in the coming weeks in some real rugged spots. How well will this braided line hold up when a big fish pulls drag out and runs along the rocks and weeds?  We'll see, but for now, all is great with the line.

Here is what an Ai generated review had to say about the line:

Varivas braided line is generally well-regarded for its thinness, smoothness, and strength, making it a good choice for various fishing applications. It is often praised for its casting performance and ability to handle tough situations, like pulling lures out of snags. While it can be more expensive than some other braids, its quality and performance often justify the price for many anglers.  

In the Doldrums- POOR from Shore

 Striper fishing from shore has bottomed out in the last week.  I don't care whether you fish on stormy days or in the dead of night, it is just plain poor. Yes, we are in the dog days of summer, and July is not a very good month for shore fishermen here in RI.  Read the reports and you'll see it's not good in the Bay, it's not good along the oceanfront, and it's not even good in the Cape Cod Canal, a place that has saved me in past Julys.

There's lots of blame to go around for the poor fishing.  The water's too warm. That excessive warm spell we had last week really shot up the water temperatures sending a lot of fish packing.  There's very little bait close to shore.  That's true also.  Looks like we will just have to wait for the peanut bunker to arrive (mid August if we are lucky) to perk up the fishing.  And, the numbers of stripers are way down, a problem that was predicted to happen this year, and we are seeing it play out. 

All late spring and early summer, I had been having some good fishing in nasty weather.  Well, last week I had the stormy and rough conditions. I thought for sure I would score some big numbers and big fish in the white water, wind and rain.  Nope, two days of hard fishing in multiple spots and not even a hit. That REALLY tells you they are just not around.

I know many shore fishermen who have given up until September. I still plan to go, but only a couple of times a week just to keep it honest. I am now turning most of my attention to freshwater where I have been fishing for carp and having good success.  In the last three days, I landed 12 fish up into the high twenties (pounds), near record size for RI.  Several of those fish were over 20 lbs. So, that's a fishery that has been good, even in the heat of summer.

Rough, White Water Turns on the Striper Fishing

The shore fishing was very good
yesterday in some roughed up 
water. This slot fish has a bucktail jig 
in its mouth.  The jig was fished
off a wooden egg float.

 I got out yesterday from shore and had a banner day. Conditions were a perfect 10 if you were a surf guy.  It was overcast, the surf was roughed up from a front that passed through the day before and the water was white and moving. And, while the fishing had been mediocre for the last week, it lit up in the right conditions yesterday.

My lure of choice was an egg float with a half ounce bucktail attached.  I threaded on a three inch , white, Bass Pro triple ripple grub tail onto the jig.  That is so important when dealing with fussy fish and gives your jig that extra appeal.

Nearly all the fish I caught were in the white water in front of me.  I landed very good numbers of hefty schoolies and a couple of slots. So, while we think there are no fish around, they do seem to come around in the right conditions whether its July or October.