One and Done

 I got out yesterday figuring this would be my last outing along the oceanfront if the fishing was poor. I tried multiple late season spots that had produced in past years. I made a lot of casts and came away with exactly one small schoolie and one hickory shad.  I saw no bait, no birds working and no other fishermen until a few showed up at dark in a popular "meeting and bs spot". It felt like it was over.

From what some of the townies are telling me, there is still a trickle of fish moving through. Normally at this time, it should be a lot better with a last hurrah and lots of action.  Not this year.  I think we are really seeing the shortage of fish which we have seen most of the year. Normally, there aren't many stripers towards the end anyway but with a lot less fish around, there really aren't many. Hate to say it, but it's a preview of what's to come next year.

So, unless I hear anything great, my season is over. I may dabble in holdover fish but they have not been in their winter locations either at this point, another bad sign. I'm still freshwater carp fishing, but they have also slowed to a trickle in this cold weather.

But, alas ski season is just about here, and I'm ready to go.  I also have high hopes for ice fishing this year as last year was just super for me on the hardwater. So, always something to do year round here in New England if you like the outdoors.

Winding Down

 

I landed this schoolie yesterday while fishing
in some rough, white water.  It hit a NLBN
paddle tail fished off a float.

It looks like the cold weather is here to stay.  And, with it, the striper fishing has really cooled off along the oceanfront.  Yes, there are still some around, but I get the sense that things are winding down with a lot less fish around as the days tick away.

I fished the last two days and made a lot of casts.  In those two days, I saw very few fishermen around in some popular spots. There were no fish showing but some around. Yesterday I did find some schoolies while just plugging while walking along a beach.  They were hitting NLBN paddle tails fished off a wooden egg float.  I had some great white water in front of me, and most of the fish were lurking in the white. Today was a different story.  It was dead flat calm which brought dead fishing.  I saw good amounts of bait (peanut bunker) and occasional birds and gannets diving at them, but no stripers.  It's always a bad sign when there's lots of bait and no stripers. By sunset, I was the only one fishing a wide expanse of beach.  No fish, no fishermen. I even fished a good spot later after dark.  Once again, bait there, but no stripers.

So, we are moving slowly toward the end of another season.  I'm sure you can catch some here and there along the south shore beachfront in the next couple of weeks, but be prepared for some skunkings also. It is winding down.

Big Blows = Big Opportunities

 I just love fishing in rough water, and there's been plenty of it in the last month with all the big blows that have been occurring. Those big winds, especially those right in your teeth, generate a lot of white water and a moving surf.  It stirs up the bait and gets the stripers active.

Today was a perfect example. I fished this afternoon in a big southerly blow.  I'm guessing the wind was gusting up to about 40 miles an hour. It was coming right at me in the spot I was fishing. And, while I could punch out my wooden egg float and NLBN paddle tail only about 15 yards, it was no problem.  The fish were right there in the white water in close. In fact, I landed a couple of fish just as I was pulling the float out of the water!

Today's fish were an improvement over the small schoolies I had been catching during the week. I landed a couple of thirty inch slots along with good numbers of hefty schoolies. I can almost guarantee that if the water were calm I would have caught nothing.  

I'll take those big blows anytime over calm.

Today's big blow produced some hefty schoolies
and a couple of slots in the white water,

Migration in Full Swing

 

This is one of many hefty schoolies
that I landed in the last couple of 
days. This one hit my NLBN
paddle tail, a hot lure this fall.

The stripers and bait are on the move along the oceanfront.  The last few days have featured big blitzes of schoolies in multiple locations. Most of these fish have been huge schools of schoolies in the 18 to 22 inch range, sizes of fish that have been in short supply all year.  But, they are here now as they had to come down from waters north of us. There have also been some slots in the mix as I got one today and saw some yesterday, and I even heard of some over slots landed after dark in the last couple of days.

While the last few days of fishing have been very good, yesterday was LIGHTS OUT.  I was into fish from morning until after dark in one location as massive schools of stripers were chasing down huge schools of peanut bunker, another baitfish that has not been around the oceanfront for most of the fall. All this action has grabbed the attention of an army of shore fishermen. In one particular spot I was fishing yesterday, I must have seen at least 250 stripers landed in a couple of hours by roughly 20 fishermen. With the stripers feeding on peanut bunker, they were charged up and not fussy. All types of plugs and jigs seemed to be working.  I got just about all my fish, close to 40 of them, on 3-inch NLBN paddle tail.

So, the peak of the fall run is here. I'm sure this hot fishing will continue in the days and maybe the weeks ahead.  The migration is underway!

Big Time Action in the Big Blows

 

It was hot fishing in the big blows of the last two
days. Sizes up to slots.

Wow, the wind has really been howling in the last two days. Yesterday I could barely stand with the wind in my face gusting over 50 miles per hour. Today it was a bit less but still howling. And, yes, I was fishing both days and catching up a storm.

I caught stripers both days but today was REALLY crazy.  I was into an all afternoon blitz of stripers on small bait (once again).  The fish were somewhat fussy so I went with my finesse stuff. I was catching with my wooden egg float and a 3 inch NLBN paddle tail coming off the float.  The fish today were mostly hefty schoolies with some slots in the mix. I landed a couple of dozen fish in the last two days, really good numbers. 

In my last post I predicted that October's great fishing would roll right into November and judging from today, it has. I think this hot fishing will just continue as the masses of small bait have not moved in a month and the stripers are heavily into their fall feeding.