Uptick in Activity.....Is the Fall Run Starting?

Here's one taken from the kayak
last evening. There has been a big
uptick in activity the last few days.

 Fishing is improving.  Just maybe a fall run is underway.  We'll see if it continues. Here's what's been happening in the last few days:

*Out in the kayak in the Bay, I've landed 16 fish, a combination of stripers and blues.  I saw a lot of bait and fish feeding.

*My son, Jon, has also been out in the kayak where he landed 45 bass up to slot size in the last couple of days.  He was fishing a different area than I was fishing telling me there are fish spreading out in different spots.

* Bonito are still running along the oceanfront as I have friends that are getting them. It continues to be a hit or miss deal but they are around. They guys are putting in a big effort and it's paying off.

* One of my friends called to say he was watching a school of fish today working on top close to shore along the oceanfront.  It was the first time he has seen this this year.

* Another friend told me he was into blitz type action with stripers a couple of days ago.  He said they were on big schools of peanut bunker moving along the shore.

* Finally, my son Chris sent me a video of stripers breaking for bait all along the beach for the last two days near his beach house at the Cape.  They were on the Cape Cod Bay side one day and on the Vineyard Sound side the other day. They are moving!

Photo of the Day- "FINALLY, Hit the Jackpot"

 

I'm back in the kayak, and it was a great move.
Found the bait and found the fish.
Landed good numbers of stripers and blues.

Mediocre

 

There are some bonito around but it is a hit or miss
deal.  I landed this one yesterday from shore. 

I'm being generous when I say the shore fishing here in RI is mediocre.  Compared to other years at this time, it is way off. In the last three days/evenings of fishing for me, I've landed a grand total of three schoolies and one small bonito. 

There are a few stripers around, and you have to make a lot of casts in a lot of spots to maybe get one fish. All those bonito that the reports are raving about.... the truth is that they are around, but it is a hit or miss deal.  In one particular hotspot where up to 50 anglers a morning gather at daybreak to cast for them, the word is that there has not been a single bonito caught in 6 straight days. I know several boaters who have not seen or caught a bonito in days. And, no one I know has seen or caught an albie.  They are just not around yet.  Finally, bluefish are almost non-existent.  I've landed two since August and have not seen another one landed.

So, what the heck is going on? There is simply little to no bait along the oceanfront to draw in the predators.  There are small pods of it here and there but no big amounts that would lure bass, blues and pelagics like in  past years. In some of the backwaters where there is bait, there are no predators on it.

We are just about in the middle of September and we've seen no sign of any fall run of any fish.  Things change fast at this time of year, and who knows, maybe shore fishing will change for the better in the next few days or weeks.

Slight Improvement

 

It was one lone striper last evening along with
a bluefish.  Fishing has improved slightly though
it is still way off for this time of year.

The poor shore striper fishing from the summer continues, but there has been a slight improvement in the last couple of days.  I'm beginning to see some small schools of bait along the oceanfront, something I have not seen in weeks.  These are mostly small bay achovies although some fishermen are reporting seeing some peanut bunker.  Big schools of peanut bunker would really get the fishing going.  I've also seen a few fish breaking and birds working over these bay anchovy schools. Some of these predators are bonito which have been popping up here and there.  But, some are also stripers and blues. 

 I was out last evening and did find some bait with a few fish on them. The ocean was flat and the water was clear making it difficult to fool the few fish that were around. I managed to get a striper and a blue along with a couple of sea robins on a bucktail jig.  While this is nothing to write home about, it beats my last three outings in which I was skunked.

Hopefully these cooler nights and dropping water temperatures will get the fish moving in our direction and feeding.  

Labor Day Weekend Fishing Outlook in RI

 Labor Day weekend is here, and there are sure to be a lot of fishermen out and about along the oceanfront. If you are fishing from shore, the outlook is poor.  From a boat, you have a much better chance at finding something although that action is also slow.

We are coming off the worst year of striper fishing in the summer from shore in DECADES here in RI.  There have been very few fish around with a fish here and there whenever the ocean gets rough.  In calm water there tends to be nothing.  There is little bait along the oceanfront, a problem we have had all summer. I have been skunked my last two outings this week while seeing nothing- no birds, no bait, no fish. There is some bait in the Bay and in the backwaters, but there are no fish chasing it.  My son Jon was out in the kayak last night in the Bay and found loads of bait but no fish. I don't really know what's going on with the boaters along the oceanfront, but the reports (if you can believe them) paint a rosy picture of decent numbers of big fish in deeper water.

Fishing for blues from shore is no better.  In a lot of ways it's even worse than striper fishing right now. I've landed a grand total of 5 bluefish this year, and they all have been big. With little bait around, you won't find many bluefish. This has been the poorest year of bluefish fishing in a real long time.

Many fishermen have turned to chasing the pelagics.  There have been some bonito around, especially is the deeper water drops along the oceanfront.  On occasion, I have seen some breaking in my last few outings, and I've even caught a couple. These tend to be small, from 12 to 20 inches on average. Pack some epoxy jigs, small swimmers and metal spoons and hope they show up in front of you. There are no albies around yet, at least from shore. There have also been some mackerel around.

So, that's it.  The last few years brought great fishing on Labor Day weekend, traditionally the start of the fall runs.  I don't see that happening this year. I plan to spend most of my time in freshwater this weekend.  Good luck if you try saltwater.  You'll need it!

Could this be the start of a fall run?

 

Small bonito were harassing small bait 
yesterday. They have been popping up here
and there along the oceanfront where bait
shows up.

Yesterday, for the first time I saw lots of bait.  From my vantage point I could see multiple schools of bait way out being harassed by birds from the top and predators from below.  It was small bait which I suspect was rain bait.  Occasionally a school would come in close and I was able to reach it with my metal lure.  I suspected it was small bonito hitting the bait, and I was right. I managed to catch a couple and had a few more on.

Later I moved to another spot as the sun was setting.  Right before dark a school of peanut bunker moved right by me. A short time later I landed a striper and a large fluke.

This sudden influx of bait close to shore is a sure sign that fall fishing is right around the corner for shore fishermen who have been suffering through a poor summer.  Every year this seems to happen sometime in August. It's a bit late this year, but I think we are looking at improved fishing from shore in the next few days and weeks. Could this be the start of a fall run along the oceanfront?

Scoring in the Rough Water

I found good numbers of stripers yesterday evening
in some white water. This one was taken on a large
bucktail jig with a pink jig strip added.

 I feel like the fishing is perking up slightly. I've been seeing some micro bait here and there especially in the backwaters in the last week.  I even found some fish breaking a couple of nights back. 

Yesterday, I went out to fish some rough white water along the oceanfront.  The oceanfront has calmed down considerably since those hurricane waves of two days ago, and you can easily fish most spots, though there was still a small roll coming in.  The water was also very clean in the two places I fished and free of sand and weed

I landed good numbers of fish while casting into areas that had the most white water and turbulence. I got most of my fish on the float and jig, a good bet to fish in these conditions where a long cast might be needed.  I also had one fish on a big jig with a pink jig strip. I saw no birds working or bait in these places.

All the fish this evening were small, averaging 18 to 22 inches. I haven't seen many of these smaller fish around this year, so it was a bit of a surprise.