Thursday, September 11, 2025

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.