CONFIRMED

Float and Jig Rules White Water for Schoolies

I fished yesterday evening for stripers with my son, Ben.  We found a spot where birds were working along some white water.  I'm guessing it was small bait and schoolies were right under them.  The fish were fussy as they often are when feeding on small bait.  The situation was tailor made for the float and jig.
I've written about this a lot and it is featured in my latest article in the Sept. issue of On the Water magazine. This rig is simply a homemade wooden float to which two to three feet of heavy mono is tied.  At the end is a small bucktail jig (quarter oz.) onto which a plastic curly tail is added.  The float is cast into a white water surf.  This works real well where there are lots of rocks and snags.  Simply reel it in and the white water and turbulence will impart the action. The float serves double duty as a casting weight, and the float  keeps the jig above the snags.

It worked wonders last night as we landed a total of 25 stripers, all hefty schoolies.  In the past I have also landed many keeper bass and large blues on this rig in a variety of locations from the RI shore to the outer Cape.

Rumors of Albies; No Confirmed Catches

I went down in the daytime yesterday hitting a number of locations along RI's oceanfront looking for false albacore.  I found nothing.  There are rumors that they are around. Fishermen think they have seen them jumping while other say they have hooked them but lost them.  Some boaters say they have caught them.  However, I can't seen to find a shore guy who has landed one in RI and I know a lot are trying, some of them fishing for the last seven days straight.  The strange thing about these fish is that there can be none around, and then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose and they are all over the place.  Let's hope that happens soon.

Fishing Perking UP

My son, Ben, who lives in Narragansett (URI student....tough life!), called me last night to tell me that he had a real good outing.  He fished the Gansett area from shore yesterday evening and came away with 15 stripers in just over an hour of fishing.  By today's standards, that would qualify as a terrific outing.

He said nothing was showing and no bait was evident.  He used a float and jig and immediately started catching fish.  They were all sizes from small ones to keeper size.  So, the fish are around.  It is a matter of moving around and finding them at this time of year. Ben tried several high percentage spots before finding these fish.
I am also getting reports from other fishermen around the oceanfront who report catching fish and increased activity.  It seems like the good fall fishing we were all waiting for has begun.

Another Round of Rough Water Kills Fishing

Just as the ocean began to calm down from Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Katia moved up the Atlantic to bring a big roiled surf to RI's oceanfront.  I last fished on Wed. along the oceanfront, and things weren't pretty.  The waves were big, 8-10 feet.  The water was very sandy and roiled and there was weed all over.  It was near impossible to fish anywhere other than protected backwaters.  And, I got nothing.Things have gone downhill even more since Wed.  My son, Ben, who lives down in Narragansett called to say the ocean was even more churned up today. 
Shore fishing is not looking good for the next few days or until the water calms down and clears up.  Too bad because things were looking up in the beginning of the week.

Back in the Groove

My fall season always starts the day after Labor Day.  So, in yesterday's nasty weather I headed down to the ocean determined to find some fish.  I found few fishermen around, but found decent numbers of big bass after dark.  I landed two keeper bass of 34-40 inches (see pics on left and right). I also had good action as I had a number of hits and had at least six other big fish on.  It was difficult to hold onto them in the charged up water and very rough conditions that I encountered. So, contrary to the poor fishing that I had been experiencing, this was a very good night.  Let the fall games begin!

100,000 Hits!

We hit a real milestone this week at RI Striped Bass.  The hit counter went over 100,000.  Unbelievable!  When I started this blog just over two years ago, I envisioned it as a local informational site.  At the time, I thought maybe a thousand hits a year.  Little did I know that striper fishermen from all over the East Coast would be visiting this site looking for information on the greatest gamefish to ever swim our waters, the striped bass. I have met fishermen at the Cape, in Gansett Bay, and along RI's oceanfront who have visited the site. I also see fishermen at some of the big shows in Worcester and Springfield in the wintertime who have been to the site for information.  Heck, I am sometimes walking in a mall and someone will come up to me and ask if I'm the guy who runs the RI Striped Bass website. It's crazy.
I will continue to try to bring my readers and followers the latest info on striper fishing here in RI, and hopefully, this will increase your catches as well as your enjoyment of the sport.  Good luck in the upcoming fall season and thanks for making my blog a great success.
Dave Pickering