It's been a long times since I've caught one of these.....

I landed this weakfish, or squeteague, a couple
of nights ago.  It's been decades since I've caught one.
I also saw others caught. Yes, they are around.
This one was caught on a NLBN paddle tail.

 

Hot Stuff

 

This was the hot ticket in the last
two days when stripers were feeding
on peanut bunker.

The glut of small stripers continues unabated.  I hit a massive blitz of them today.  There seemed to be fish everywhere in front of me as big schools of stripers had peanut bunker pinned up against the shore.  Birds everywhere, fish busting and frenzied baitfish running for their lives! The first 35 casts I made I landed 35 stripers.  There were that many.

Today was almost was a repeat of what happened yesterday but in much calmer water.  The interesting thing about yesterday, a day I was fishing with my sons Ben and Jon, was that Ben was outfishing his father at least four fish to my one.  I was using the egg float with a half ounce bucktail jig.  Ben was using an egg float with a 3 inch NLBN paddle tail with a half ounce jighead. That seemed to be a more effective peanut bunker imitator. The bucktail had been working real well for me when slender bay anchovies were around, but not so good with the peanut punker.  So, I switched jigs and started catching more.

Today I just went with the float and NLBN paddle tail and it worked wonders again.  You can use the paddle tail alone when a long cast is not needed.  Use it off a float when you need a long cast or when you are fishing rocky areas.  This set up is also great when casting into a strong wind.

Ben Pickering lands a slot fish in some
rough water yesterday using an egg float with a NLBN
paddle tail. 

There has been a glut of small stripers around in 
the last few days with an occasional slot.
The egg float with a NLBN
paddle tail has been my best producer.

Loads of Small Stripers; Tons of Small Bait

 

I landed this hefty schoolie today
on a bucktail jig. There have been
big numbers of small bass in the last
few days along the oceanfront.

The good times are rolling at the RI oceanfront with the migration is full swing.  This week we've seen tons of small bait, mostly bay anchovies that are a half to an inch long.  In places their masses have turned the water brown.  Last night I was on a beach and saw big numbers of them being washed right up onto the sand. The abundant bait has lured all kinds of fish right close to shore at times.  While smaller stripers have made up the big numbers, I have also seen some hickory shad, bonito, bluefish and black sea bass.  Just about everything is eating this stuff.

Today I had a banner day in some stormy conditions.  I landed big numbers of stripers, mostly schoolies, working my float and bucktail jig in the white water where I was fishing. While most of my bass were in the 18 to 24 inch range, I also managed one slot fish. Mixed in with all these schoolies this week have been some slots and even some over slot fish.

All year we have seen very few schoolies. It's been mostly slot fish. So this is a bit unusual. There have been big numbers of these smaller fish in the last week so that is a good sign.

There was a glut of bait in front of me today.
Here cormorants are feeding on the bay 
anchovies along with seagulls diving down
for the bait. Stripers were lurking below!

Photo of the Day- "Slug-go Scores After Dark"

 

I landed this 30 inch striper last night
after dark.  I have been getting some
decent fish lately at night and all the action has
come on the Slug-go.

                                                  

Chubbies Putting on a Show

 

Chub mackerel have been around in good numbers
this week.  I've caught good numbers on a 
3-inch NLBN paddle tail.

Although we usually see these fish in September, the chub mackerel are staging a late season show.  They have been around the oceanfront this week in good numbers. It's the first time I have seen them this year.

These are easily recognized by the way they blitz on the surface.  The water will "boil" in a froth when they attack schools of small bait. They move fast.  I've seen many schools pop up this week, and maybe I had 5 seconds to get the lure just ahead of the breaking fish.

This species of mackerel is quite chunky.  They measure 12 to 15 inches in length but have wide girths.  They fight well for their size.  I catch most of mine on a small, 3-inch NLBN paddle tail.  Other fishermen might use small epoxy jigs or small metal lures, similar lures you'd use for albies or bonito.  Going small is the key.

Check out this school boiling on the surface yesterday.

WILD Outing- Stripers on Top, Bonito Below

 

Good size stripers were on the prowl in recent
days. The float and fly was the ticket.

It's been a wild couple of days for me as I have been chasing down big blitzes of fish.  Both stripers and bonito (yes, they are still around!)  are feeding on huge schools of small bay anchovies that are sometimes less than an inch in size. What has been bizarre and something I have not seen in the past is that BOTH bonito and stripers are in the same mix. For the most part the stripers have been slurping on top while the bonito have been down deep and not showing but still feeding.

Yesterday I kept rotating lures.  When the stripers were slurping in front of me, I would go with the float and fly, a combo that has been deadly in the last few days.  It far out fished anything other fishermen were throwing. When no stripers were showing, I switched to a green backed Colt Sniper lure that was a killer for the bonito. I would cast out as far as I could and let the lure sink almost to the bottom.  Then, I would reel fast. I had either a hit or a fish on at least 50 % of my casts.

Bonito were feeding down deep, often under the 
stripers.  The Colt Sniper lure was a hot lure
yesterday.  A fast retrieve was best.

I ended my day with 20 stripers landed.  They were just about all slots. I also landed 5 bonito but had a ton more hits and fish on. The bonito were running 3 to 5 lbs., generally the size we've had all fall.

Blitz of the Week!

 The striper fishing has gone from red hot to ice cold in a matter of days. On Friday I hit one of the biggest blitzes of fish that I have seen in years.  At one point a school of fish in front of me was bigger than the size of a football field. It was a wild scene with fish breaking, birds diving and bait flying out all over the place.  It was all slot size fish with even some over slots in the mix.

Two days later I can't find a fish anywhere. Our up and down year continues!