Float and Fly Gets it Done

 

A wooden egg float with a pink
Deceiver fly was the hot set up
yesterday for stripers and albies.

I hit a pile of fussy stripers yesterday in front of me that were feeding on small bay anchovies.  Most fishermen who were tossing large plugs could not even get a sniff. So, I snapped on one of my old "finesse fishing" favorites in this situation, the float and fly.  The set up here was a wooden egg float with three feet of 30 lb. test Varivas fluoro trailing off with a homemade pink Deceiver tied at the end of the fluoro.  That pink Deceiver had the profile and movement of the bay anchovies and the pink hackles used on the tail acted as an attractor. In the past this fly was my most effective in this situation.

First cast in tight, had a hit.  Second cast in tight, hooked and landed a slot striper.  On the fifth cast, I decided to toss it way out.  Couple of cranks of the reel and BANG-  hooked, fought and landed a good sized albie when nothing was showing. 

The beauty of this set up is that it is very effective for stripers AND albies. While metal and epoxy jigs will lure the albies to hit, I never found them to be very effective for stripers.

My pink Deceiver fly is in the mouth of a slot striper

.

A few casts later I landed this albie on the float and fly.

Biggest Striper of the Fall comes from the KAYAK!

 I got the biggest fish in a while from the kayak today. The overslot "biggie" hit an unweighted Finesse Fish twitched on top in shallow water. I was using light tackle.  

I found a pile of stripers today.  While most of them were small, I did manage to catch several slots/ overslots. With all the fishing focus on albies these days, this is a reminder that there is still good striper fishing to be had, even though few are fishing for them.

Back in the Kayak

 

It was a productive day yesterday
in the kayak in Gansett Bay.

I decided to forgo the madness along the oceanfront yesterday and heading to a quiet spot in the Bay in my kayak. In the last month the Bay has offered steady fishing for stripers because of the vast amounts of bait (mostly peanut bunker) that has settled in there.

Yesterday was a typical outing.  After peddling around a lot, I eventually found good numbers of stripers busting on small bait. They jumped all over my weightless Finesse Fish as they often do.  These were all aggressive and hefty schoolies that had been well fed. I ended up catching good numbers.

The many nooks and crannies of the Bay offers a good alternative to the oceanfront and tends to hold lots of stripers if you can find them. In the right weather, a kayak is a perfect craft to take a stealthy approach which works the best in places like this.

ALBIES, BONITO and STRIPERS in Abundance

Bonito have also been in
the mix.

 

Albies hit the RI oceanfront
in big numbers this week. Here's
a large one I landed from shore.

It all broke open this week.  I just knew with the massive amounts of bait along the oceanfront that the fishing would explode.  And, it did.

The stripers and the bonito were already around with a few Spanish mackerel in the mix, and a few days ago big numbers of albies also hit the oceanfront.  Everything is feasting on the big schools of bay anchovies. While boaters have a big advantage on chasing down schools of albies, the shore guys are also scoring along deep water dropoffs at times. Mornings have been the most productive. There are tons of fishermen out their searching for the hardtails. I landed a couple this week on 1 1/2 oz. Clarkspoons, a hot metal lure.  Others are scoring well on white, amber or pink Albie Snax when the wind is at their back or when the fish are right in close. Boaters in particular are doing well with the Snax.

Lost in all this pelagic action is the fact that striper fishing has been super good in the last week with big numbers of bass around in the daylight in certain spots, especially in rough water.  In the last 4 days, I've landed close to 60 stripers from shore mostly using a float and jig and mostly fishing in white, rough water. I've seen very few fisherman even trying for stripers since most striper fishermen are directing their attention to the hot pelagic fishing.

There have also been good numbers of stripers around,
particularly in the evening. Most of them have 
been hefty schoolies but there are also slots
and overslots in the mix.

Massive Amounts of Bait Hits the Shore; Best Back to Back Outings this Year!

 A massive amount of bait hit the oceanfront in the last two days. The bait was bay anchovies of 2 to 3 inches, and big time numbers of stripers were on them.  It was fall blitz-like action that I haven't seen in a long time. Thousands of birds were diving from above as stripers were blasting from below.  It was two days of wild fishing for me which delivered big numbers of stripers from schoolies and slots up to an overslot of 40 inches. Most of the fish, however, were schoolies.

There were loads of fish, but I have to say they were fussy and lots of guys who were tossing large plugs were getting nothing.  When on small bait, stripers can be super fussy, and often you have to take a finesse approach to catch them.  Two artificials were very effective for me.  One the first day, I used an unweighted white Albie Snax which did the trick. On day 2, I had a stiff wind in my face so I went with a float and jig with a curly tail attached to the jig.

Hopefully, this is the start of consistent fall striper fishing.

Take a look at the bird/bait action below:

Post Labor Day Uptick

I found very good numbers of schoolies along 
the oceanfront today in some rough water.

 I know it is only one day after Labor Day, but already the fishing along the oceanfront has taken a big uptick for the better.  Today seemed to have good fishing no matter where you went with very few crowds. I love this time of year.

We had a big east wind today at the oceanfront and that kicked up the waves in certain locations.  Since the spring, every time I fished a rough surf, I've had good fishing.  Today was no exception.  I fished multiple spots and came away with real good numbers of stripers fishing in the white water pockets.  They were all schoolies in the 20 to 24 inch range.  All were caught on a float and jig.

In addition to the fish I caught, I saw birds working here, and there but no fish breaking. Still, a good sign. I'm guessing they were after micro bait that seems to be on the increase.  I also heard about some bonito, Spanish Mackerel and even some albies that were caught in various places along the oceanfront today.  Seems everything was active and on the prowl today.

This seems to be the start to fall fishing along the oceanfront.  With Labor day in the rearview mirror, it's time for the fishing to move into fall mode.