Ocean Calms Down and Fishing Cools Off

Schoolies have been tight
to the shore in the NE wind
and rough water.

Schoolies have been plentiful,
but keeper bass have been scarce.

The ocean has been really stirred up in the last week, but it has delivered very good numbers of fish to the shore. We've had a strong and persistent northeast wind that has sent big waves and a lot of white water pounding the east facing shorelines.  If you could find clean and fishable water, the fishing was hot.  Most of the shoreline along 'Gansett faces east and I have worked that area for the last five days. Birds have been diving along here all week in various spots chasing down small bait (bay anchovies) and lots of stripers were right up against the shore feeding. I fished for the last five days and caught and released a load of schoolies, but surprisingly, I could only manage one lone small keeper after dark last night.  Keeper bass have really been in short supply. Equally surprising has been the total lack of bluefish.  I have only landed one small bluefish from shore this whole fall.  It has been decades since I have seen so few bluefish.  I have no idea what is going on.
The wind switched direction today and the ocean calmed right down.  The fishing calmed down with it, and the big numbers of schoolies seem to have disappeared at least temporarily. Still, there were birds diving here and there today way out, a sign that there is still bait in the area.

Good Times Keep Rolling in the White Water

Fish on was a common event today
as over a hundred fish were
landed by a half dozen  fishermen.

It was very good fishing from the shore again today in a charged up surf.  In fact, yesterday and today were the best two days in a row I have fished this fall.

Either a Cocahoe or
bucktail jig fished off a
float were the hot lures.

I picked a location where the wind was blasting in my face and good size waves were rolling in forming a sea of white.  It is just the conditions that stripers love.  Mix that with a lot of small bait (bay anchovies) and you have the recipe for a great fall day of fishing.  The fish, all schoolies, were around in big numbers.  I fished with about half a dozen other guys this afternoon/evening and I would estimate there were over a hundred fish landed and released.  The hot lure combination was a float and some type of jig, either a bucktail or a Cocahoe on a jighead.  I caught most of my fish on the bucktail (3/8 oz. flathead with curly tail) fished off the float. I also saw a sharpie nailing a good number of fish on a tin lure.
With the northeast wind and rough water predicted for this weekend, it looks like the fishing should remain good.  Find some clean and rough water with bait and you should have decent action. Schoolies and occasional small keepers are around in big numbers.

Coming Alive in Rough Water

Today featured white, rough water with a stiff northeast wind. It was a real stormy day, but it was my type of day for fishing the surf, the type of day that was always a sure bet in the past.
And, it was good.  I met my son Ben in one of our favorite spots.  There was no one else fishing here when we met up.  Of course, most fair weather fishermen stay home in miserable conditions like this, but we live for it. I knew it would be good from my initial glance at the water.  Birds were working all along the surf line, constantly diving down for bait that was within a cast of shore.  Immediately, we began hitting one schoolie after another, some way out at the end of the cast but some within ten feet of where we were wading. This went on for an hour an a half until darkness put an end to the action.  The hot ticket today was the float and Cocahoe, a consistent producer all fall, and a real good choice when stripers are feeding on bay anchovies.
So, once again, a storm lights up the fishing for us.

From Best Day to Worst Day

Two days ago I had my best day of the fall.  Today I had my worst day of fishing this fall. I was hoping the fishing would perk up after Friday's big hit, but it has died again.  Welcome to this fall's up and down fishing.
Today was one of those days I would have predicted would be good.  The weather was cloudy and drizzly, we a light to moderate northeast wind that produced some moving white water along with a choppy surf and we had a big moon tide.  However, all of that didn't matter because there was no bait around and no stripers.  Unlike other outings where I could see fish way out, today there was nothing in at least four spots I fished.  I fished all these spots hard, but realize it is near impossible to pick off a resident fish from shore.  The fish are under the bait.  No bait, no fish....it's that simple.
We are about halfway through the fall season and it has very much been a hit or miss proposition from shore with more misses than hits.  I'm hoping the fishing will become more consistent but don't count on it.

Big Time Shore Blitz! Finally!

Many of the fish today
were small keepers
up to 30 inches.

The hot lure today was a small
white Cocahoe fished alone an
not on a float.

Finally, a big time shore blitz of stripers hit the spot we were fishing in today.  It was the best day of shore fishing thus far this fall.  Unlike the past month when the schools of bait and stripers held way out off the shore, today they hit the shoreline with a vengeance.  Like a storm surge coming ashore, everything...birds, vast schools of bay anchovies and big schools of hungry stripers all charged the shore.  At one point I was standing on a rock and I looked down and right at my feet were dozens of keeper bass along with some smaller ones just tearing through the bait.  It was like looking at an aquarium.  This type of action went on for hours and there was hardly a fisherman around except for my two sons and me.
In all we landed 75 -80 stripers today with at least 25 of them keepers in the 28-30 inch range.  We got no big fish but just about everything was over 24 inches.  These fish were hefty and well fed.  I will tell you that the fish were fussy.  They always are when they are on those small bay anchovies.  The hot lure today was a small, three inch Cocahoe fished alone (no float).  You couldn't cast it way out but when the fish are at your feet, you don't need a long cast.  I tried after dark and landed half a dozen schoolies on black, Deceiver teasers fished ahead of a black Hogy.
It was quite the day and hopefully the start of a trend. We've waited a long time for this.

Bait, birds and tons of stripers all hit the shore today setting
up some wild action.

After Dark Does It

A homemade black Deceiver teaser
was effective tonight.

Some of the larger schoolies
were hitting the skinny Hogy.

Today was a weird day from shore.  I got down to the oceanfront in late afternoon.  In the first spot I stopped at there were several big schools of stripers way out and well out of casting range. For two hours these fish were on the surface eating away just teasing the few of us on shore.  Once in a while, they would come in close enough for my son, Ben, to reach them with his ten foot rod. He landed several schoolies on the float and jig while I got nothing.

On cue, everything disappeared at dark.  However, I decided to stay and try into the night.  I used a 9 inch, black, skinny Hogy with a black Deceiver teaser rigged ahead of it.  In the past, this has been one of my go to rigs at night.  Well, it worked like a charm as I began getting hit after hit, sometimes two or three hits on a single cast.  I have no idea what the fish were doing, but they were not getting hooked!  I must have had 20 hits before I landed my first fish, a schoolie, on the teaser.  I landed quite a few more fish after that with half falling for the teaser and half on the Hogy.
So, maybe the key to catching those daytime fish that seem to hold way out is to fish after dark.  Clearly, this evening those fish moved close to shore with darkness. 

Boaters Have Big Advantage; Shore Fishing Continues Poor

Today's outing from shore
produced this lone schoolie.

I got down today to fish from shore.  I slugged it out all afternoon into the night in a number of locations and landed one lone schoolie at dark.  There was practically no one fishing and for good reason.  Shore fishing has been poor.  Yet, if you ride around and scan the ocean's surface way out with binoculars you can find birds diving here and there and an occasional fish breaking way out. I have spotted fish way out on just about every outing, including today.  Everything....birds, bait, stripers and blues are way out and not close to shore.

Fishing from the boat this weekend was fantastic.
Bait, birds and stripers all seem to be all hanging
way out and well out of range of surfcasters.

We went out in the boat this weekend and had a banner day. I have friends who have been fishing in boats, and they all report good and consistent success along the oceanfront from Narragansett to Charlestown.  However, I also know a lot of fishermen who have been fishing from shore and they all report fair to poor fishing. They all complain that there is little bait near shore and very few blues and  stripers except for occasional schoolies.
I think we need some stormy weather to get things moving.  The beautiful, tranquil weather has been going on for a month now. In the past storms like northeasters and tropical storms have moved a lot of fish and lit up fishing after they have passed.