Three Hot Lures for the Bay

Schoolie and small keepers are plentiful in the Bay right now.  This has been a week of close to a hundred fish landed for me.  Yet, I have seen frustrated fishermen catching nothing.  Many of these guys are using the wrong stuff.
Here are the hottest three lures to use:
1.  Bucktail jigs-  I especially like a small, homemade (1/4-1/2 oz) flathead jig or "Upperman" style jig.  I like these jigs in all white made with red thread.  Add a three inch white plastic grub tail for added action.  You can fish the bucktail alone or off a float.
2.  Fork tailed plastic on a jighead-  My favorite here is a Zoom fluke mounted on a 3/8 oz. jighead.  My favorite color is albino.  These can be used alone or off a float also.
3.  Skinny plastic-  I have been using a white, 7 1/2 inch Slug-Gos all week to take some decent fish.  This lure can be used alone or put on a leader with a teaser ahead of it.  Rig this with a Texas style curved hook or a swimbait hook.

Bay or Oceanfront? ..........A Toss-Up

This decent size schoolie was landed
tonight in the Bay using a Slug-Go.

So, where's the hottest spring fishing right now.  In my opinion, it's toss-up between the Bay and the oceanfront.
In the last week I have been fishing just about every evening/night.  I have concentrated on the Bay.  These are spots that are anywhere from a quarter to half the distance to the oceanfront for me.  The Bay is much closer to home and a big saving on gas.  And, the Bay is running hot right now in multiple spots.  I've been getting anywhere from 4-15 fish an evening with usually a small keeper in the mix.  The fish I am getting are considerably bigger than the fish I was getting along the oceanfront.  The Bay fish are also more active, hitting Slug-Gos along the surface.  They are also hitting at night.
My two youngest sons who live in Narragansett continue to see very good action along the oceanfront.  They are getting big numbers of fish, but the fish are small with nothing close to a keeper.  The fish are also hitting only in the daylight hours with high noon being terrific at times.  The other day my son, Ben, was fishing during mid day and had a hit or a fish on every cast for an hour. The hot lures along the oceanfront have been Cocahoes or small bucktail jigs with shrimp fly teasers. My kids seem to be getting more fish an outing but I am getting bigger ones.
So, in my mind, it's a toss-up as to where the best fishing is right now in RI.  The good news is both the oceanfront and the Bay are really good right now.

Slug Go and Teaser......Deadly Combo

This good size schoolie
hit the Slug-Go at dark.

This combination of a Slug-Go and
Red Gill teaser has been a deadly
combination in the last two evenings.

I fished the Bay again tonight and loaded up on fish.  Most were schoolies in the 16-22 inch range, but I also had another large fish that was maybe a keeper, maybe just under a keeper. The fish tonight were hitting well after dark, a real good sign that the fish are becoming more active.
The hot artificial combination that has been scoring big time in the last two nights has been a Red Gill teaser set up on a leader along with a white, 7 1/2 inch Slug-Go at the terminal end.  The leader that holds this all this together is made with 30 lb. test mono and is about 2 1/2 feet long.  The teaser (Red Gill) dangles about 6 inches off the leader's swivel.  This is cast out and twitched along with short pulls of the rod tip as you retrieve at a slow to moderate speed.  The Slug-Go moves erratically in the water and stripers simply can not resist slamming it.  One fish out of seven or eight will take the teaser which sometimes leads to double headers.  This is hot stuff right now.

First Bay Fish; First Keeper

My first keeper of the year was landed in the
Bay and was taken on a Red Gill teaser.

Things are now moving quickly as fishing is dramatically improving all over the state. I got out tonight in the Bay from shore and had a very good outing, landing 10 stripers.  While most were schoolies, I did get one small keeper, the first of the year for me.  The fish were also active with many slamming Slug-Gos twitched along the surface. Shallow Bay waters heat up quickly at this time of the year as Bay water temperatures tend to run about 5-8 degrees warmer than the oceanfront. That will cause the fish to be more active.  Besides the Slug-Go being hot, I also landed fish on a Zoom fluke on a jighead as well as a Red Gill teaser. With warmer weather headed our way this weekend, I suspect we will see an increase in the number and sizes of keeper fish around.

Fish Spreading Out All Over

Sea lice is on the tail of this schoolie.
Most of the fish taken today were
loaded with sea lice.

I headed down to the oceanfront today to fish different areas.  I put on the waders, walked and plugged along a sandy beachfront.  I ended up landing 17 schoolies with some hefty fish in the 25 inch range.  Got most of them on Cocahoes. While I was catching in my location, my son, Jon, was fishing an area several miles north of where I was.  He reports landing 26 schoolies and one hickory shad on shrimp fly teasers and Cocahoes.  At the same time, my friend Dennis was fishing 20 miles north of us up in the Bay.  He called to tell me he landed 18 schoolies up to near keeper size.  He was getting them on Slug-Gos and Red Gill teasers.
The fish are now ALL OVER the place and you can catch them whether you are fishing the oceanfront or the Bay.  It's simply a matter of getting out there and fishing.  Spring schoolie fishing is hitting its stride right now.  It's happening.

A Cocahoe matched with a shrimp fly teaser accounted for this double header.
Fish are now plentiful in the Bay as well as along the oceanfront.

Schoolie Fishing EXPLODES

Over a hundred schoolies were
landed in one spot tonight.
The spring migration has arrived.

Fan tailed plastics threaded onto
lightweight jigheads were the hot
lures this evening.

One spot. One hundred fish landed tonight.  Any doubts that we would even get a  spring migration were erased tonight as I saw a small army of fisherman hauling in one fish after another in a popular spot along the oceanfront.  And, I didn't see just schoolies.  I also saw a couple of fish that were right around keeper size.  The hot lures were plastics with a fan tail.  My son, Ben, and I landed good numbers on a Cocahoe minnow (white, 3 inch) threaded onto a half ounce jighead.  Ben also got one on a shrimp fly teaser. Many of these fish were loaded with sea lice, a sure sign that these are migrating fish. With warm weather and southwest winds in the forecast for this weekend, it looks like banner fishing.  The spring migration is here, and it's about time!

FINALLY, Some Good News

My son, Jon, is the first in the Pickering family to hit it big this year.  He fished the oceanfront this evening and landed 12 schoolies up to 20 inches.  Previous to tonight he had been catching a fish here and there in the last couple of days, but tonight was the first "good" night of the new season in which he was able to catch more than one fish.  All his schoolies fell for Cocahoe minnows fished on a lightweight jighead.
With warm weather and favorable winds expected in the next few days, I'm guessing the fishing will light up along the oceanfront and maybe even up in the Bay. This should be the weekend to get your first fish of the year.  FINALLY!