Labor Day Weekend Outlook- Looking Good!

Striper fishing has been super for me from the
kayak. There are lots of hefty schoolies along 
with some good size slots and overs.

 If you are a saltwater fisherman you realize that Labor Day is usually the turning point when fishing goes from bad to better. Well, it's happened earlier this year.  I'm guessing the cooler weather has had a big effect in jumpstarting the improved fishing.mThe last week has been the BEST week of fishing for me all year. My striper numbers and sizes have improved dramatically, blues are in abundance in some locations, and the albies I posted about (last post) give me hope that they might be here soon.

I have been out in my kayak as well as fishing from shore in the last 7 days. For me, the key to success has been fishing in the Bay. Some places in the Bay are loaded with bait right now (mainly peanut bunker),  and that has brought in a lot of predators.  On the other hand, the oceanfront has improved but is still off compared to other years. A lack of bait and the recent extreme waves have caused the marginal fishing for stripers and blues along the beachfront, although sharpies fishing at night are finding some success. All of this might improve in the coming days and weeks. Contrary to recent reports you might be reading, there are NOT a lot of bonito around.  I know guys who fish for them every day in all parts of the oceanfront from shore and boat, and they have been catching very little. It's all part of the albie and bonito hype that comes along at this time of year.

From the yak, the plastic Finesse Fish
fished weightless has been a hot lure.

From the kayak, it's been mostly stripers for me.  I'm using my usual Finesse Fish (5.75 inches) in a white color.  I fish this weightless on a BKK Titan Rider hook (size 5/0).  It's a finesse game that requires finesse tactics.  I am using 30 lb. test Varivas Braid (super fine and casts beautifully) along with a Varivas fluoro leader. Just twitch the plastic on top or just below the surface and reel slowly.  You want the Finesse Fish to dart back and forth like a reel fish.  The other morning I fished a shallow water shoreline with no fish showing and came away with 12 stripers.  Many of those were slots and maybe some over slots.

Blues are on the rampage in a number of shore locations in the Bay almost daily, but they are fussy.  I've been doing best using DOA paddle tails and Cocahoes on  half ounce jigheads. I'm going through lots of paddle tails.  I hate using plastics for bluefish, but they are rarely taking the hard plugs.  Most of these bluefish are 3 to 5 lbs. I've seen several mini blitzes of them in the past week.

So, fishing is really looking up as we go into this Labor Day weekend. Hope you get out and catch some of the action.  Fall fishing has started. early this year.

The Birthday ALBIE and Other Surprises!

 

Matt with a big albie on his 39th birthday!

Today was my son Matt's 39th birthday. He took a vacation day from work, and wanted to know if I wanted to join him and my 4 year old grandson Troy on a fishing expedition to Vineyard Sound in his boat. I was all in! We went there in the hopes of landing a "birthday bonito" as we heard there were some hitting there. I had also bought Troy his own saltwater fishing rod, and he was hoping to catch his first saltwater fish on it.

Just a short ride from the boat ramp we found birds working and fish breaking.  At first Matt thought they were bonito, but I knew the breaks were too big to be bones.  They were albies, and there were good numbers of them.  But, as is the case most often in Vineyard Sound, they were super fussy as they were feeding on small bay anchovies. We threw everything we had in our bag of tricks and had no takers.  Finally, Matt tied on a small pink epoxy jig and threw it into a bunch of fish on the surface. Bang, one hit it, and it was off the the races. This was a big battle, and we knew it was a decent size one.  When we got it to the boat, WOW, it was a big one in the 8 to 10 lb. range. But, that would do it for the albies as the wind picked up and the fish were gone.

Troy and Grandpa with a black sea
bass that Troy caught all by himself on
his new fishing outfit!

But, the bottom fish were there in abundance. I helped Troy with his new outfit.  We were vertical jigging our albie lures and catching black sea bass and scup.  There was a lot of them, and Troy ended up catching and landing one all by himself on his new rod that Grandpa gave him. I think the black sea bass was as much a thrill for him as Matt's albie was for him! As a bonus we also got a couple of scup.

So, super successful day and always great to get out and spend time with my kids and grandkids, especially "fishing time".

The scup were also hitting our
epoxy jigs.

Most Blues I've Seen in a Long Time

 

Small bluefish in the 3 to 5 lb. range were on
the rampage this evening in the Bay.

I hit a big pile of bluefish in the Bay this evening. In was fall action with schools of blues tearing through schools of peanut bunker. This has been going on for a while, but the intensity was cranked up tonight.

I ended up landing 10 of them.  They were 3 to 5 lbs. Hard to believe but they were fussy.  They would not take a hard plug.  The hot lure tonight was a small D.O.A white paddle tail on a half ounce jighead.  Yes, I went through a lot of paddle tails.  My friend and charter boat captain, Jerry Sparks, gave me some of these D.O.A's to try out. No question, they are effective. Dare I say just as effective as the NLBN paddle tails and a whole lot cheaper.  They also come in bags of 12. Those D.O.A paddle tails are a soft plastic, a pure white color and they have great movement in the water. I'm looking forward to trying them on stripers and chub mackerel in the fall along the oceanfront.

The hot lure tonight for me were these D.O.A 
paddle tails mounted on a half ounce jighead.

So, like it or not, it's shaping up to be a big time bluefish fall run. We'll see if the action shifts to the oceanfront in September or whenever the bait decides to move out.

"Ace in the Hole" Delivers

 I

I've landed good numbers of bluefish this week
in the Bay where the water has been fishable.

n the last few days it has been way too rough and dangerous for me to fish the oceanfront.  But, I haven't missed a day as I turned to my ace in the hole when the oceanfront is unfishable. The waters from the mid Bay to the upper Bay have been calm, clean and fishable in  all this roughness. I've been fishing up a storm in this area where it has been LOADED with huge schools of peanut bunker.  That has attracted good numbers of small bluefish and occasional stripers.  At times this week, I have seen numbers of bluefish just blasting through the peanut bunker as if they were on an October binge. I've been getting my fish on bucktail jigs, paddle tails and Rebel Jumpin Minnows. 

Between the bait and the cooling water temperatures, it has caused the fish to become much more active. A hint of fall is in the air and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Wind, Rough Water Light it Up AGAIN

 

They were around yesterday in the rough water.

It's been a familiar theme for me since the early summer. Rough and stormy weather have delivered the good fishing. Calm waters and it has been poor. 

I got out yesterday along the oceanfront. It was super windy and rough.  There was a lot of white water in any location where the wind was coming at you.  I saw no bait and birds, and there were no fish breaking.  Yet the stripers were in many of the white water pockets that I fished.  And, I caught good numbers of them in multiple spots.

My hot lure of choice was an egg float and a half ounce bucktail jig spiced with a curly tail.  This is a killer in this type of water yet few use it.  I saw a few other people fishing using big poppers and big Kastmasters.  They caught nothing.

The hot ticket in the rough water was
an egg float with a half ounce
bucktail jig trailing off.

All of yesterday's fish were schoolies in the 20 to 25 inch range.  I haven't seen many fish in this size range this year and was surprised there was not a slot in the mix.

With real rough water coming, I'm guessing there will be good windows of opportunity to catch in the coming days.  Proceed with caution though since there is a fine line between good fishing water and too dangerous to fish conditions.

They're Back! Blues Arrive in Increasing Numbers

 

There are decent numbers of bluefish
around in Narragansett Bay.  They are
chasing down huge schools of 
peanut bunker.

In the last week I caught more bluefish from shore than I've caught the whole rest of the year.  They've arrived in Narragansett Bay chasing down huge schools of peanut bunker.  These are generally small, averaging 3 to 5 lbs., but I have seen some big breaks from larger blues.

With so much bait around, they can be difficult to catch.  You'll see a big school of bait raining on the surface and you might see a blue or two spray them up.  I have not seen big numbers of blitzing fish yet, but it's coming.

These blues can also be fussy.  They love my expensive NLBN paddle tails, dead ringers for peanut bunker. Instead of going through one paddle tail after another, I have been opting to go with small, half ounce bucktail jigs with a plastic grub tail.  It's not as effective as the paddle tails but still works, and it's durable.  They have turned their noses up on poppers so far, but I'm guessing that will change too.

All my focus has been on fishing the Bay in the last week or so where the action has been good for blues and an occasional schoolie.  The oceanfront is still a dead zone except for that occasional big striper caught late at night on eels.

Back in Business

 

Back in business with a couple of hefty schoolies
from the Yak this evening.

I've been catching in the last few days.  I found the Mother Lode of peanut bunker and there have been bluefish and stripers on them. It's not crazy, but it looks like the start of some better fishing. It's about time! 

Yesterday I fished from shore and landed three bluefish.  These were small ones of 4 to 5 lbs, but very feisty.  Today I went out in the kayak and landed a couple of decent sized schoolies. Both outings saw huge schools of peanut bunker hugging the shoreline with occasional predators spraying them up.  

I'm guessing my first fall blitz is coming soon if we can get some cooler weather

Glad Someone is Catching!

 

Hailey Pickering, age 6, hoists a good
size sunfish.

I took the grandkids fishing in freshwater yesterday. We fished a very productive and easy to access pond called Jabob's Pond in Norwell, MA, which was right near their house.  They had a blast catching bluegills and sunfish using mealworms which I bought at Petco since I could not dig any earthworms in this dryness. After catching dozens of fish, I had to practically pry them away from the spot when it was time to head home.

If you have younger kids or grandkids who want to get into fishing, the easiest route is to target bluegills and sunfish in an easy to fish location.  It will keep their attention and the action can be non-stop! 

Troy Pickering, age 4, just landed a
good size bluegill!

By the way, my grandkids use light, regular spinning outfits. Far more trouble free than a push button reel. And, both kids who are 4 and 6 years old, can cast on their own.

As the Magazine Article says, " Summer Storms Light up the Surf"

 

My latest magazine article is titled, 
"Summer Storms Light up the Surf".
I was living this story in the last
two days!

My latest article in The Fisherman magazine just came out in the August edition.  It's titled "Summer Storms Light up the Surf".  I've been living this article in the past two days. In the article I write about how summer storminess dramatically improves the surf fishing for stripers. There can be nothing around for days, even weeks, and a cool summer northeaster comes along and bingo, the fishing improves.

That's just what happened in the last few days for me.  I was out both yesterday and today fishing some rough water in the northeast winds.  In spots where I hadn't caught anything in weeks, the fish appeared in the turbulent white water. I landed good numbers of schoolies up to near slot size using a combination or artificials. Bucktail jigs (alone and off the egg float) and albie snax were the hot lures. Nearly all the fish were taken in pockets of white water close to shore. Note that nothing was showing, no bait, no fish breaking, but they were there.  So, there are some fish around if you make an effort to find them.  Few fishermen were out trying as I could count the other fishermen I encountered in two days on one hand.

By the way, I really put that Varivas braided line I've been writing about to the test. I pulled some of my fish out of rugged, rocky, weed strewn areas with no problem. It also casted super well into the wind. I was also using the Varivas Fluorocarbon for my leaders and line trailing off my float.  It proved to be very tough stuff in the rocks.

I landed all schoolies fishing the white water pockets.

My blue Varivas braided line performed
super in the rocks and weed.  I was also using
Varivas fluoro for my leaders.