VARIVAS on the Ice

 

The weather was cold, but it was
hot fishing today while jigging.
I had a chance to try out some 
Varivas nylon line today, and it
worked out well as you can see
from the photo!

As many of you know, I am a line tester for Varivas lines.  I've written a lot about their braided lines and fluorocarbon for saltwater applications. Now, I'm back to ice fishing when I'm not skiing, and I had a chance today to try out some of their monofilament lines (called nylon line) on my ice jigging rods.

I received several samples of Varivas lines to try ice jigging. I spooled up one of my outfits with 6 lb. test Super Trout Advance line, a thin monofilament line.  On the end of the line I tied on about a three foot shock leader.  I used Varivas 10 lb. test Extreme Shock leader.  Like their braided lines, these lines were super thin for their pound test, but provided a great feel for those "soft" hits you get while jigging. I was jigging a small gold Kastmaster with a Berkley Gulp maggot on the hook. I was trying out the maggots for the first time.

I got a chance to put the lines to the test as the action was very good.  I landed about fifteen fish with a lot of variety- largemouth bass, crappie and yellow perch. Some of the bass were decent size. So, the two things I was trying out today- the Varivas line and the Gulp maggots worked great.

By the way there was about 8 inches of ice where I was fishing in nearby MA although about two to three inches of it was that crappy, snowy ice. Still, there was at least 5 inches of hard, solid ice. There was also a good amount of snow on the ice as you would expect.

If you are interested in Varivas lines, visit the website at https://www.varivas.fishing

The main line on the reel was Varivas Super Trout Advance
in 6 lb. test.  My shock leader was 10 lb. test Extreme Shock Leader.

St. Croix LEGEND Surf Rods

 As many of you know, I did a review on my St. Croix Avid surf rod a while back on this blog. That rod was great and served me well. One day last fall I was using it along some rocky dropoffs when I hooked a decent size striper. I was on a high perch and when I got the fish rear the rocks, I did something really stupid.  I attempted to lift the fish up, and when I did, I heard a "snap". My favorite surf rod was now in two pieces. I knew the rod had the best warranty in the rod business-no questions asked if it breaks, one of the great advantages of St. Croix rods.  I filled out all the paperwork and sent the required $60 payment for replacement under warranty.

Unfortunately, the replacement rod was not in stock, and I would have to wait till December for the rod to come in.  In the meantime, I planned use an old Mojo surf rod I had. It was just way subpar compared to the newer Avid rod.  With two months left to the season, I decided to check out the St. Croix website and see what else was available. That's when I noticed they had the 10 foot Surf Legend in stock.  So, I went ahead and purchased it.

I bought a 10 foot medium power, moderate fast action rod, #GSS100MMF2.  The website describes this rod as "an elite surfcasting performer" and I have to agree 100% with that evaluation. This rod has a legendary feel to it.  It's a bit stiffer than the Avid, and it has a real solid feel to it. But, it's still lightweight. It has a lot of power on the cast and is super solid when fighting a good size fish. The website says it can handle 1 to 4 oz. plugs and I agree with that assessment. 

Everything about this rod is elite- a beautiful blue color, titanium guides and a unique a handle of neoprene overlay that looks and feels cool. In addition, the Legend carries an incredible 15 year warranty. Yes, it's pricy, but not any more expensive than some of the top brands of surf rods these days.

So, I finished off my season with my St. Croix Legend, fished in some rugged terrain with big water and came away with a good number of large fish. I have to say the rod performed flawlessly. 

I think I have found my ultimate surf rod.

This is my new St. Croix Legend surf rod that I used at the
end of the fall. It was a elite performer and was flawless
on the cast and on the fight.

First "Big Show" Seminar- New England Fishing Expo, Jan. 31

 

I start my 2026 fishing seminars at the big shows on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2:00 at the New England Fishing Expo in Marlboro, MA. This is one of the biggest pure fishing shows in New England.  It features a lot of freshwater fishing as well as saltwater fishing.  There are reps from a lot of companies showing their new stuff as well as independent tackle dealers selling their wares along with guides and charter boat captains. They also feature an all-star line-up of seminar speakers.  The seminar schedule is on their website at nefishingexpo.com

I will be doing my all new 2026 striper fishing seminar titled Situational Striper Fishing. From the high surf of the oceanfront to the backwaters of bays and ponds, we’ll explore a number of situations (how-to approaches) that striper fishermen encounter as they cast for these gamesters. Such topics as how to fish skinny water (from shore and kayak), how to tackle rocky shorelines, how to take a finesse approach, big bait tactics, storm tactics, and many more situations will be covered to help anglers to catch more fish and bigger fish.  The seminar mostly focuses on shore fishing, but has segments for boaters and kayakers.

The New England Fishing Expo runs for three days from Jan. 30 to Feb.1. It is held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlboro, MA (181 Boston Post Rd.) right off Rt. 495.

Hope to see many of my followers at the show!

On the Ice

I landed this nice size largemouth
bass today while jigging.

 With all these cold temperatures the ice is thickening all across southern New England.  I got out in the last couple of days and found safe ice in northern RI and nearby MA. The ice seems to be running 3 to 6 inches thick with higher amounts the further north you explore.

Today I got out with my two youngest sons, Ben and Jon.  Jon is an avid ice fisherman and fishes extensively in the three state area of RI, MA and NH. He's already been steadily hitting the ice for the last couple of weeks, mostly in NH. Ben is on "maturnity" leave and has some time on his hands. He also lives on lakeside property along a very productive shoreline so that makes things easy.

We mostly jig when we ice fish and that usually leads to a lot of fish and a lot of variety.  Today we landed perch, pickerel, largemouth bass and yellow perch in good numbers.  Ben and I were jigging small, 1/12 oz. Kastmasters tipped with fake, plastic meal worms.  Jon, who landed the most fish, was using a 1/12 oz. grub jig. We cut a lot of holes looking for fish using my power auger, a real valuable tool when ice jigging. It's a trial and error game and we hit the jackpot after about a half hour of fishing.

Jon landed this good size pickerel on a grub jig.

If you are looking for some wintertime action, think about jigging freshwater ponds in southern New England.  If you are fishing in RI, CT, or NH, you will need a new 2026 freshwater fishing license.  In RI, your old 2025 license is good until the end of Feb.

St. Croix Avid Inshore Rod- Love this Rod for Light Tackle/Kayak

 

My St. Croix Avid Inshore rod was a perfect
choice for the kayak as well as light tackle
fishing from shore

This past year I bought a new St. Croix Avid Inshore Spinning Rod.  My choice was a 7 foot, 3 inch model that was rated medium heavy for lures in the 1/2 to 1 1/4 oz. range.  By the way, that rating was perfect. This rod was a beautiful light blue color, something many other fishermen commented on.  Aside from its great looks, the rod was lightweight, sensitive and durable, and performed admirably.

I had originally bought this rod to fish from the kayak as 7 to 7 1/2 feet are ideal sizes to fish from the yak. I also wanted it to be a bit beefier since that is also a plus when catching big stripers and blues from the yak. On it I mounted a Daiwa BG 4000 reel along with 37 lb. test Varivas braided line  This was my primary rod I used from the yak all season. I must say the rod performed flawlessly when fishing from the yak, and I landed a good number of big stripers up to 40 lbs. using it.

I used this rod a lot in the fall for
in-close fishing for fussy stripers
feeding on micro bait. It was great 
for light tackle applications

As the season wore on and the game along the oceanfront turned to a finesse type of approach, I began using this outfit more and more for in-close, light tackle fishing for fussy stripers. This rod was terrific for fishing smaller lures like Albie Snax, small NLBN paddle tails and the float and fly, all hot lures for stripers feeding on micro bait. I landed lots of stripers over 20 lbs., some blues and even some albies on it. Perfect for finesse fishing when the fish were in close feeding on small stuff.

If you are looking for a light tackle rod that can be used from shore, boat or kayak, consider the St. Croix Inshore series. They come in a lot of different sizes. I highly recommend this rod.

Grading the 2025 Season

 Overall, 2025 was a year of decline in many ways.  The striper fishing, especially from shore, continues on a downward and disappointing trend here in RI. Fishing for bluefish of all sizes was poor overall.  The one bright spot was a good run of pelagics in the fall which got a lot of people very excited.

It was a very good year for slot fish, though
over slot fish were in short supply from shore.

Stripers- During the first half of the year, I was headed for a super poor year here in RI.  It was a bad spring with few schoolies and a bad summer with a general lack of fish.  But, all of a sudden out of nowhere, the fall delivered outstanding striper fishing, particularly in the daytime.  Fall nights, though, were poor overall. I'm guessing the influx of huge schools of tiny bait, bay anchovies, lit up the striper fishing.  That bait would stick around for two straight months.  This small bait is a daytime phenomenon and it just lit up the daytime striper fishing for mostly slot and overslot fish. 

In all, I landed 630 stripers in 2025, a real drop-off from just 5 or more years ago when I was consistently landing over 1,000 a year. I wish I could tell you it will get better next year, but I really think we are on a downward slide.

Schoolies- It was not good for smaller fish, particularly stripers under 24 inches. I scored my first migrating fish on April 15 along the south shore, right on schedule.  But, that day I would land only one schoolie and that set the tone for a lack of fish in the spring along the oceanfront. I fished many days in some hotspots of past years and the most I could catch on my best day was a measly 10 schoolies. This poor schoolie fishing would continue into the summer and early fall along both the oceanfront and the Bay.  It was not until late fall in November that we would see good numbers of schoolies. That was the last hurrah to a poor schoolie year. Grade for Schoolies- D

Slots- They were more plentiful as they now make up the bulk of the striper population.  I landed my first slot in the Bay on April 24, very early by past standards.  Slots were around early in the Bay due to large numbers of adult bunker that also arrived early (but also left early). The Bay was good (not great) for me for slots from late spring through early summer. I was getting them from both shore and kayak.  While I had few nights with big numbers of slots, I was usually able to get a slot or two on just about any evening of fishing. I was into a brief flurry of decent fishing in early June when tons of sandeels invaded the oceanfront and brought a lot a stripers with them.  These were all fish from just under slots to just over. I had several nights where I landed 10 to 15 fish on plastics and red gill teasers. Fishing in rough, white water conditions was best. These big numbers of slot fish reappeared in the fall (Sept. and Oct.) but now they were on Bay anchovies and very fussy. I had to take a finesse approach and landed lots of fish on Albie Snax, float and flies and small paddle tails. I had many days with over 20 fish from shore and just about all would be slots. I would just ride around and look and generally I could find a blitz somewhere just about every day. Grade for Slots- A

My biggest fish of the year came in June and was
landed from my kayak.

Over Slots- This is a year that we began to see a decline in the real large fish. Most of the over slots I was catching were in the high 30 inch range.  I landed just a few 40 inch fish from shore and kayak, way off compared to past years. My biggest fish came from the kayak and I estimate the fish was in the 45-50 inch range.  Yes, a real monster, but that was my only fish over 45 inches for the year.  Note that many of my friends who slugged it out long hours after dark also had disappointing numbers of big fish after dark.  They were just not around in any numbers from shore, although some boaters I know did very well in the deeper water. Grade for Over Slots- C

Bluefish- It was another poor year for blues here in RI, especially from shore.  I landed my first on on May 1 and from then on it was few and far between although I had a few big ones in the teens from Narragansett Bay. Like the larger stripers, these were after adult bunker.  I also hit some small ones in late summer and early fall in the Bay as they found some peanut bunker to feast on in the upper Bay.  Like the past few years, the fall was a major disappointment for bluefish.  Tons of small bait around but very few bluefish. Grade for Bluefish- C-

Pelagics, albies and bonito,
were around in good numbers
and attracted loads of fishermen.

Pelagics- The albies came back after a no-show in 2024.  In addition, the bonito were also back in good numbers. On some days, the albies touched off a frenzy in certain spots with loads of fishermen shoulder to shoulder, and ethics non existent.  Crossed lines, boaters and kayakers squeezing shore fishermen, shore fishermen trying to hit boaters with lures, shore fishermen claiming spots and arguments all over the place.  Welcome to pelagic fishing, 2025, here in RI. Most of the time I stayed away from the mayhem and chased stripers in some of my quiet locations. I did manage to catch some albies and bones. I got my first bonito of the year on Sept. 8 on a silver Clarkspoon, a very hot lure this year. My first albie came on Sept. 9.  I got more pelagics as the year progressed catching some on Albie Snax and the float and fly while trying for stripers.  Often they were feeding together. Grade for Pelagics- A-

Happy Thanksgiving to All My Loyal Readers

As I get older, I am ever so thankful that I can still get out
and fish every day.
Enjoy this special day with family and friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!