Biggest Striper of the Fall comes from the KAYAK!

 I got the biggest fish in a while from the kayak today. The overslot "biggie" hit an unweighted Finesse Fish twitched on top in shallow water. I was using light tackle.  

I found a pile of stripers today.  While most of them were small, I did manage to catch several slots/ overslots. With all the fishing focus on albies these days, this is a reminder that there is still good striper fishing to be had, even though few are fishing for them.

Back in the Kayak

 

It was a productive day yesterday
in the kayak in Gansett Bay.

I decided to forgo the madness along the oceanfront yesterday and heading to a quiet spot in the Bay in my kayak. In the last month the Bay has offered steady fishing for stripers because of the vast amounts of bait (mostly peanut bunker) that has settled in there.

Yesterday was a typical outing.  After peddling around a lot, I eventually found good numbers of stripers busting on small bait. They jumped all over my weightless Finesse Fish as they often do.  These were all aggressive and hefty schoolies that had been well fed. I ended up catching good numbers.

The many nooks and crannies of the Bay offers a good alternative to the oceanfront and tends to hold lots of stripers if you can find them. In the right weather, a kayak is a perfect craft to take a stealthy approach which works the best in places like this.

ALBIES, BONITO and STRIPERS in Abundance

Bonito have also been in
the mix.

 

Albies hit the RI oceanfront
in big numbers this week. Here's
a large one I landed from shore.

It all broke open this week.  I just knew with the massive amounts of bait along the oceanfront that the fishing would explode.  And, it did.

The stripers and the bonito were already around with a few Spanish mackerel in the mix, and a few days ago big numbers of albies also hit the oceanfront.  Everything is feasting on the big schools of bay anchovies. While boaters have a big advantage on chasing down schools of albies, the shore guys are also scoring along deep water dropoffs at times. Mornings have been the most productive. There are tons of fishermen out their searching for the hardtails. I landed a couple this week on 1 1/2 oz. Clarkspoons, a hot metal lure.  Others are scoring well on white, amber or pink Albie Snax when the wind is at their back or when the fish are right in close. Boaters in particular are doing well with the Snax.

Lost in all this pelagic action is the fact that striper fishing has been super good in the last week with big numbers of bass around in the daylight in certain spots, especially in rough water.  In the last 4 days, I've landed close to 60 stripers from shore mostly using a float and jig and mostly fishing in white, rough water. I've seen very few fisherman even trying for stripers since most striper fishermen are directing their attention to the hot pelagic fishing.

There have also been good numbers of stripers around,
particularly in the evening. Most of them have 
been hefty schoolies but there are also slots
and overslots in the mix.

Massive Amounts of Bait Hits the Shore; Best Back to Back Outings this Year!

 A massive amount of bait hit the oceanfront in the last two days. The bait was bay anchovies of 2 to 3 inches, and big time numbers of stripers were on them.  It was fall blitz-like action that I haven't seen in a long time. Thousands of birds were diving from above as stripers were blasting from below.  It was two days of wild fishing for me which delivered big numbers of stripers from schoolies and slots up to an overslot of 40 inches. Most of the fish, however, were schoolies.

There were loads of fish, but I have to say they were fussy and lots of guys who were tossing large plugs were getting nothing.  When on small bait, stripers can be super fussy, and often you have to take a finesse approach to catch them.  Two artificials were very effective for me.  One the first day, I used an unweighted white Albie Snax which did the trick. On day 2, I had a stiff wind in my face so I went with a float and jig with a curly tail attached to the jig.

Hopefully, this is the start of consistent fall striper fishing.

Take a look at the bird/bait action below:

Post Labor Day Uptick

I found very good numbers of schoolies along 
the oceanfront today in some rough water.

 I know it is only one day after Labor Day, but already the fishing along the oceanfront has taken a big uptick for the better.  Today seemed to have good fishing no matter where you went with very few crowds. I love this time of year.

We had a big east wind today at the oceanfront and that kicked up the waves in certain locations.  Since the spring, every time I fished a rough surf, I've had good fishing.  Today was no exception.  I fished multiple spots and came away with real good numbers of stripers fishing in the white water pockets.  They were all schoolies in the 20 to 24 inch range.  All were caught on a float and jig.

In addition to the fish I caught, I saw birds working here, and there but no fish breaking. Still, a good sign. I'm guessing they were after micro bait that seems to be on the increase.  I also heard about some bonito, Spanish Mackerel and even some albies that were caught in various places along the oceanfront today.  Seems everything was active and on the prowl today.

This seems to be the start to fall fishing along the oceanfront.  With Labor day in the rearview mirror, it's time for the fishing to move into fall mode.

Labor Day Weekend Outlook- Looking Good!

Striper fishing has been super for me from the
kayak. There are lots of hefty schoolies along 
with some good size slots and overs.

 If you are a saltwater fisherman you realize that Labor Day is usually the turning point when fishing goes from bad to better. Well, it's happened earlier this year.  I'm guessing the cooler weather has had a big effect in jumpstarting the improved fishing.mThe last week has been the BEST week of fishing for me all year. My striper numbers and sizes have improved dramatically, blues are in abundance in some locations, and the albies I posted about (last post) give me hope that they might be here soon.

I have been out in my kayak as well as fishing from shore in the last 7 days. For me, the key to success has been fishing in the Bay. Some places in the Bay are loaded with bait right now (mainly peanut bunker),  and that has brought in a lot of predators.  On the other hand, the oceanfront has improved but is still off compared to other years. A lack of bait and the recent extreme waves have caused the marginal fishing for stripers and blues along the beachfront, although sharpies fishing at night are finding some success. All of this might improve in the coming days and weeks. Contrary to recent reports you might be reading, there are NOT a lot of bonito around.  I know guys who fish for them every day in all parts of the oceanfront from shore and boat, and they have been catching very little. It's all part of the albie and bonito hype that comes along at this time of year.

From the yak, the plastic Finesse Fish
fished weightless has been a hot lure.

From the kayak, it's been mostly stripers for me.  I'm using my usual Finesse Fish (5.75 inches) in a white color.  I fish this weightless on a BKK Titan Rider hook (size 5/0).  It's a finesse game that requires finesse tactics.  I am using 30 lb. test Varivas Braid (super fine and casts beautifully) along with a Varivas fluoro leader. Just twitch the plastic on top or just below the surface and reel slowly.  You want the Finesse Fish to dart back and forth like a reel fish.  The other morning I fished a shallow water shoreline with no fish showing and came away with 12 stripers.  Many of those were slots and maybe some over slots.

Blues are on the rampage in a number of shore locations in the Bay almost daily, but they are fussy.  I've been doing best using DOA paddle tails and Cocahoes on  half ounce jigheads. I'm going through lots of paddle tails.  I hate using plastics for bluefish, but they are rarely taking the hard plugs.  Most of these bluefish are 3 to 5 lbs. I've seen several mini blitzes of them in the past week.

So, fishing is really looking up as we go into this Labor Day weekend. Hope you get out and catch some of the action.  Fall fishing has started. early this year.

The Birthday ALBIE and Other Surprises!

 

Matt with a big albie on his 39th birthday!

Today was my son Matt's 39th birthday. He took a vacation day from work, and wanted to know if I wanted to join him and my 4 year old grandson Troy on a fishing expedition to Vineyard Sound in his boat. I was all in! We went there in the hopes of landing a "birthday bonito" as we heard there were some hitting there. I had also bought Troy his own saltwater fishing rod, and he was hoping to catch his first saltwater fish on it.

Just a short ride from the boat ramp we found birds working and fish breaking.  At first Matt thought they were bonito, but I knew the breaks were too big to be bones.  They were albies, and there were good numbers of them.  But, as is the case most often in Vineyard Sound, they were super fussy as they were feeding on small bay anchovies. We threw everything we had in our bag of tricks and had no takers.  Finally, Matt tied on a small pink epoxy jig and threw it into a bunch of fish on the surface. Bang, one hit it, and it was off the the races. This was a big battle, and we knew it was a decent size one.  When we got it to the boat, WOW, it was a big one in the 8 to 10 lb. range. But, that would do it for the albies as the wind picked up and the fish were gone.

Troy and Grandpa with a black sea
bass that Troy caught all by himself on
his new fishing outfit!

But, the bottom fish were there in abundance. I helped Troy with his new outfit.  We were vertical jigging our albie lures and catching black sea bass and scup.  There was a lot of them, and Troy ended up catching and landing one all by himself on his new rod that Grandpa gave him. I think the black sea bass was as much a thrill for him as Matt's albie was for him! As a bonus we also got a couple of scup.

So, super successful day and always great to get out and spend time with my kids and grandkids, especially "fishing time".

The scup were also hitting our
epoxy jigs.