Stripers Jump All Over Jumpin' Minnow

I fished the Upper Bay tonight for schoolies.  As I arrived at my spot, fish started busting all over for small bait.  I reached in my plug bag and pulled out a Rebel Jumpin' Minnow. The fish were all over this plug and I landed quite a few decent schoolies with it.  The Jumpin' Minnow is a plug I should be using more often. It is one of those skimmers like a Zara Spook that seems to dart and jump and swim back and forth across the surface with an erratic motion as you vigorously jerk the rod tip with small pulls.  It drives stripers crazy, and they will aggressively attack this artificial.  In the past I have had good luck with it in the Bay but I know a lot of fishermen who do well with it at the oceanfront where it will usually outfish a popper, especially when the fish are fussy and feeding on top.

As far as plugs go, this one is relatively inexpensive as it sells for about 5 bucks.  I like the 4 1/2 inch model in a bone (white) color.  I suggest beefing up the hooks since the hooks that it comes with are quite flimsy.  The plug is lightweight and is ideally suited to light tackle fishing. Try them and I think you will be surprised just how good they are!

Bucktail Jig, My Ace in the Hole

Yesterday was another one of those days in which you could see a lot of fish, but you could not get them to hit. I saw lots of albies, stripers and bluefish.  Conditions were dead calm with little wind and clear water, a curse to begin with.  Add the fact that there were tons of small bait around and it made things even worse.  A lot of frustrated fishermen caught nothing.

I didn't kill the fish, but I did land some stripers (see photo at right) and bluefish, far more than I saw any other fisherman catch.  My key to success was a small 3/8 oz flathead, homemade bucktail jig spiced with a 3 inch Bass Pro triple ripple curly tail.  I can't tell you how many times this lure has saved the day for me, and it did again yesterday.
A small bucktail jig is a real good bet when small bait is around and fussy fish are feeding on them. Unlike other lures, the jig will get under the bait where the predators are lurking.  In addition, the bucktail jig is durable.  Yes, it will get you stripers AND bluefish.  A plastic on a jighead, so popular with fishermen these days, might also work, but the problem with plastic is that the bluefish will chop it immediately and the blues have a nasty habit of chopping the plastic right up to the hook.  Most always, they seem to avoid getting hooked while at the same time rendering the plastic worthless. 
Today, most fishermen don't even carry a bucktail jig in their bag.  These jigs are hard to find in tackle shops in small sizes so you almost have to make them yourself.  I guess plastics are more convenient and readily available.  Yet, I can tell you the bucktail jig remains a potent weapon with all the small bait around.  These days, just like years ago, the bucktail jig still remains one of the best lures you can use for stripers and bluefish.

ALBIES....Still Around in BIG Numbers

Today my son Matt joined my brother Steve and I out in the boat.  Our main goal was chasing down albies, and we did that all day long.  We found big numbers of them from Galilee all the way to Narragansett.  But, seeing 'em is a lot different that catching 'em.  At times they were busting in wide areas the size of a football field, but they were super fussy and hard to catch as they were feasting on small bay anchovies.  In fact, of the 15 -20 boats we saw trying, we got the only fish that I saw caught today.  We landed a total of 9 good sized ones (all went close to the ten pound range).  All except one were taken on the float and blue Deceiver fly that has been described many times on this blog.  One fell for a float 'n' fluke.  I must say that most of those fishermen not catching anything were using the not so Deadly Dicks.  Hmm, maybe those guys should start reading this blog!

Albies usually stick around until mid to late October.  Maybe there are a couple of good weeks left.  Get them while you can because the action is still hot as this Year of the Albies here in RI  just continues to produce.

Bay Back on Track; Oceanfront Remains HOT

The Bay is back.  After not fishing this area for over a month, I fished the Upper Bay today and came away with seven schoolies in various spots using small bucktail jigs (see photo at right).  My father fished this area yesterday and landed a dozen schoolies.  With water temperatures dropping in the Bay and lots of bait around, reports are filtering in about decent fishing for stripers as well as bluefish.

The oceanfront continues to run hot.  Everywhere you find bait, there are lots of fish, generally a mix of stripers, bluefish and albies.  However, you need to find the bait to find the fish.  Today, while I was catching schoolies in the Bay, my son, Ben called from the oceanfront to report some fantastic fishing he was into.  He excitedly told of a pile of keeper bass right in front of the rock he was standing on.  He could see dozens of big fish just tearing through schools of bay anchovies.  His score for the afternoon was eight keepers on small swimmers (see pic at left).

So, things are hot on two fronts heading into this long weekend. If you fish the Bay, hit a number of spots to find fish.  As far as the oceanfront, my advice is to ride around the oceanfront until you find the birds working and the bait. It's a guarantee you will find fish under the bait. It can happen anywhere from Narragansett to the Westerly beaches.

Beefing Up the Daiwa SP Minnow

You know what I think of the Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow from previous posts.  It is the best plastic swimmer out there to catch striped bass (see pic of big one I got last night at right).  However, realize it has its flaws.  The hooks and split rings are flimsy, or a better word would be junk.  Many fishermen, including myself, are finding that big stripers can bend the hooks and split rings.  There is a solution to this problem. I am beefing up all my Daiwa SP Minnows. 

Here's how it's done. Using split ring pliers, remove the original hardware. I then replace all the split rings with heavy duty 5.5H split rings (100 lb. test) from NJ Tackle (http://www.njtackle.com/ ). Next, add a new set of hooks.  I am using VMC 4X trebles, size 1/0, that I also purchased from NJ Tackle.  That will do it.  Since I have changed the hardware on my plugs, no problem with bent hooks or split rings.

 I'm amazed that a big company like Daiwa did not realize their hardware was sub par on these plugs. Don't these guys test their products before putting them on the market? 

Seeing 'em Does Not Guarantee Catching 'em

Today was a humbling day.  I saw tons of fish breaking, mostly stripers feeding on big schools of bay anchovies that were about an inch long.  It's always tough when stripers are feeding on bait that small.  There is no artificial that can match bait that small and that numerous. Your offering becomes a needle in a haystack. To make matters worse, the ocean was flat with no wind and clear water, always tough conditions to fool finicky fish.  Yikes, I was lucky to catch the 4 schoolies that I did manage to fool in the daylight.  I saw at least 25 other frustrated fishermen trying every artificial lure known to man, and I don't think the whole bunch of them managed 20 fish.

My son, Ben, and I decided enough was enough and we packed it in and went looking for false albacore.  Yes, we found them.......lots of them.  For a solid hour we had a jump to cast to every single throw.  But, they would not hit either.  We each had a whirl on a float and fly and that was it.  There were at least 6 boats in front of us with frenzied fishermen casting away and the whole group of them got nothing.

But, my bad luck day took a turn for the better after dark.   Finally, well after dark, I was able to snare two 35 inch stripers (see photo) on a Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow, a plug that has become  my favorite go to lure after dark. These fish finally made my day.

On FIRE!

The month has switched to October, but the results are the same.  The fishing continues at a blistering pace as I witnessed an all day blitz of stripers and bluefish today along the oceanfront.  There were so many fish that at one point that I stood on a rock and just watched hundreds of bass and blues in front of me swimming in the water whirling and feeding  in a slick of bay anchovies.

I fished with my son, Jon, today.  Together we landed ridiculous numbers of fish, maybe 40 bass and an equal number of bluefish.  We actually lost count.  He was using a Yo-Zuri swimmer which far outfished my bucktail jig.  But I stubbornly stayed with the jig because I did not want to deal with the treble hooks.  I also landed several decent fish on a Cocahoe on a jighead.  We probably had at least 8 keeper bass from 28-32 inches.  The rest of the stripers went 24-28 inches, real decent size.  The blues went 5-6 lbs. on average, but Jon had one big one that went about 12 lbs.

Today was no isolated blitz.  From what my sons and others tell me, this has been going on for three straight days.  It's mostly equal numbers of stripers and blues, but there are also false albacore in the mix.  Just wild fishing!  Our great fall fishing just keeps going.