On the Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil

 

The Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil has been 
the hot plug in the last week,

The good times just keep rolling for me with big numbers of slots on just about a nightly basis.  The hottest plug of the week has been a Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil in a white color.  This looks like a Jumpin' Minnow on steroids.  It casts great into the wind and has a swagger on the retrieve when you twitch the rod tip that seems to say, "come and get me!".  The movement seems to drive the stripers nuts. It has accounted for dozens of slots for me and my son Jon in the last week.

Here's a slot fish coming ashore tonight with a Hydro
Pencil stuck in its jaw.

Big Numbers of SLOTS!

 

Here's a slot that was landed this afternoon on
a Slug go. Fishing for slots has been very good.

The water is cold, the air is cold, and there should not be big numbers of fish around RI waters.  But, they are here, and the biggest surprise of the spring is the abundant numbers of slot fish along both the oceanfront and in the Bay.  I can't remember a year in which I have seen this many good size fish in April.  Yes, it's that good.

This past week I got out just about every day and landed more slot fish than schoolies.  On my best outing I was out fishing from shore with my son Jon a few evenings ago.  We landed a total of 16 stripers- ALL SLOTS in the 28 to 30 inch range.  That is phenomenal fishing for April.

The fish are also hitting a variety of lures.  I've landed fish this week on all my spring all star lures- Rebel Jumpin Minnows, Slug-Gos, bucktail jigs, NLBN paddle tails and Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencils.

If you get out this weekend and you find fish, they will probably be slots. As far as bigger fish, it's as good as it gets in April right now.

First Slot! Larger Fish Slowing Arriving

My first slot of the year was
landed yesterday. The fish was
released in good shape. Note the
sea lice on the fish's body.

 The first slot is in the books for me as I landed a 28 to 30 inch striper yesterday along the oceanfront.  I also had several more fish that were "close" to the slot along with some smaller fish.  In addition, I have heard of other slots taken in the last two days.  It all tells me that the larger fish, those 25 to 33 inch stripers, are here.  Their numbers are not great yet, but this is still early for those slot fish to arrive. Their numbers should swell in the coming days and weeks once some warmer weather arrives. 

By the way, that slot that I landed fell for a 4 inch Cocahoe minnow threaded onto a 3/4 oz. jighead.  I was fishing it slowly, right along the bottom.

Off to a Very SLOW Start

Here is one of five schoolies
landed this week. The spring run
of stripers has bee a trickle of fish
thus far.

 I fished long and hard for 5 days in a row this week.  I came away with exactly 5 fish, all under slots and mostly small. I would call the beginning spring striper run more of a trickle rather than a run. Doesn't matter where you fish.  There are a few fish all over in both the Bay and along the oceanfront, but no decent numbers anywhere that I looked, and I fished a lot of places.

Here is the problem.  The early run of fish in the past has been a schoolie game. And, loads of them.  We all know that the small fish are in very short supply. With few around, the early spring fishing is bound to be slow. The larger fish, near slots, slots and over slots, don't tend to arrive till late April and early May. I think that is when the fishing should perk up.

In addition, the weather has been all over the place this week.  Cold, warm, north winds, southwest winds, dry, rain.  But, I've seen weather all over the place in the past and it still was good because there were lots of schoolies around.

And, finally, I've seen a lot of guys around who just have no idea how to fish for these early run schoolies. I've seen fishermen with 12 foot surf rods casting 7 inch swimmers.  Come on man! It's very simple at this time of year- light tackle and jigs rule the surf.  Small bucktail jigs, Cocahoes and three inch NLBN paddle tails will catch the majority of the early season fish.

First Migrating Fish!

 Right on schedule, I landed my first migrating striper of the year along the oceanfront today. I knew it was a new fish because of the sea lice on its body.  The fish was just shy of a slot.  It hit a 4-inch Cocahoe minnow fished off a one ounce jighead. I had one other hit. I fished multiple spots and made a lot of casts but it was just this one fish. I tried in the Bay yesterday and blanked.

So, the season has started, and will only get better from here.

Its the first migrating striper of the year for me.  Look closely
and you will see sea lice on the back half of the fish.

Just Can't Let Winter Go!

 I haven't been fishing this much this winter,  but I have sure been enjoying my skiing. I'm up to about 60 visits to the mountains.  In recent weeks it has been good as ever with tons of snow north of us. I've especially enjoyed skiing with 2 of my grandkids who, like their father and grandfather, are addicted to it. I've also been doing some hiking with the grandkids in Vermont in the mountains. It's been so good, I can't just let it go.

Skiing with 2 of my grandkids in Killington, Vt.

My wife and I hiking with the grandkids in Vermont. Even the baby
joined us in a backpack!

On top of the world in Gunstock, NH today.
Free tickets for those over 70!

The Waiting Game

 

The NLBN paddle tails were hot lures
in the early going last year.

For the next month it will be a waiting game until we see the first migrating stripers arrive here in RI. It's been a warm winter but that does not necessarily translate into an early season. Stripers are just like migrating birds- they come north at just about the same time every year regardless of the weather. I like that time period from April 15 to April 20 to deliver the first big wave of fish.  You might see a few early season "scouts" before then. In the past few years, here are the dates that I caught my first stripers along the south shore of RI: April 19, 2021, April 15, 2022 and April 18, 2023.  Note that I tried several times with no success before catching my first ones each year.

Usually, small fish, schoolies, make up the bulk of the fish in April. However, we all know there is a shortage of small ones around, and I suspect that we are going to see good numbers of decent fish, slots, in the early going. Last year, my first 5 fish of the new year were all slots.  That could very well happen again this year.

In general, Narragansett Bay tends to produce about a week after the first fish are landed along the oceanfront.  I will hit my bay spots beginning at the end of April. Surprisingly, there are years in which we see more stripers in the Bay during the first month of fishing than along the oceanfront. That's because the Bay waters heat up much faster and they attract more early season bait.

The start is often a simple affair in terms of lures.  Pack a lot of jigs- bucktails, plastic bodies with jigheads and even floats and jigs. Last year I landed many early season keepers on bucktail jigs.  I also did real well in the early going on white NLBN paddle tails.