Massive Schools of Bay Anchovies Arrive; Fishing for Big Stripers, Albies and Bonito Blow Up along Oceanfront!

 

Huge numbers of big stripers hit the shore in the
last two days along the oceanfront.

The shore fishing along the oceanfront in the last few days has exploded. Huge schools of bay anchovies arrived right after Labor Day and the fish were on them big time.  Yesterday I saw massive schools of bonito and large stripers busting all along the shoreline where I was fishing. It was an on and off ALL DAY feed.  Right before dark I saw one of the biggest schools of stripers I have ever seen. There were acres and acres of them. They were right on the shore at times with their fins and tails on the surface just gorging themselves on the bay anchovies. And, these were all BIG fish in the 30 to 45 inch range.

I had the best day of fishing I've had in the last five months.  I ended up with 10 large stripers (mostly over slots) and 2 large bonito. I had three stripers in the 41 to 45 inch range. I also saw probably a dozen fish over 40 inches landed by other anglers along with dozens of bonito.

Big numbers of good size bonito have been
in abundance in the last few days.

I tried to key my offering on matching the bay anchovies so I used a wooden egg float and a homemade pink Deceiver fly to catch most of my fish.  It seemed to be the most effective artificial as it seemed to outfish many of the lures other fishermen were using.

Clearly the migration of fish has started.  Let's hope this action continues. It's just what we have been waiting for!

The float and fly was a killer yesterday.  It's a great imitator 
of bay anchovies and caught most of my fish.

Photo of the Day- A "Rare" Striper from the Yak

After blanking the last two days from shore, I decided to
get out in the kayak tonight. I got one striper, a hefty schoolie
on a Finesse Fish.  Stripers have been tough to come by
these days as there are not many in RI waters right now.

 

Labor Day Weekend Outlook

 

There are a few resident stripers around but the
action overall is slow. Hope for some rough,
white water this weekend to have your best shot.

The fishing is moving slowly into a fall mode. Some stripers, some blues, some bonito and even some albies around, but there is not a lot of anything right now. Still, you can find some action is you really look.  Boaters have a big advantage in that they can move around.  Shore fishing is a hit and miss deal. So, here's the report:

Stripers- Tough right now since you are targeting resident fish. There are no migrations yet. I got out several times this week and hit a bunch of spots from shore.  The best action was in white, rough water where I landed 5 fish.  These were mostly schoolies with a slot or two. I got all the fish on a wooden egg float and jig. My sharpie friends who have been slugging it out at night report poor fishing. Some of my boating buddies are also reporting poor striper fishing.

You had to really look to find anyone else casting for stripers.  Most are sitting on the sidelines and waiting for something to happen. Still, if we get a shot at northeast winds, cloudy weather and rough water this weekend, you could find some fish. I know I will be trying.

Pelagics-  That bonito bite that we had a few weeks ago has fizzled.  There are still some around but you have to really look.  The boaters are faring much better since they can move around a lot. It's been a slow bite for shore fishermen.

Albies hit the shore a couple of days ago in one particular location.  It was hot for a few days but poor this morning as my son Jon was trying.  He had one blow up and saw a couple landed by huge numbers of guys/boats.  The word is out. They are not widespread yet but this just might be the start. Worth looking around in the reliable spots this weekend.  Advantage for boaters.

Blues- I still have yet to land a blue this year, and I have not seen any. I heard of a few small ones being caught this week by shore fishermen, but no numbers.  Look for spots where lots of bait gathers.

Beware of Sharks- We are still loaded with brown sharks.  I know of a couple of surfcasters who won't wade past their knees to fish.  Some guys fishing eels at night have hooked sharks.  Others who manage to hook a fish have had their fish cut in half.  It's a big problem.

In a Lull

 That fishing that was perking up two weeks ago along the RI oceanfront has dissipated like a morning fog. Suddenly there are no stripers to be had as far as I'm concerned. In my last 5 outings from shore, I've gotten one schoolie. I've put in a lot of effort with nothing to show for it.

On just about every outing I've seen small micro bait.  The terns are picking at it but no stripers. Occasionally bonito will harass this small bait, but they have been in short supply lately also.

Last year the striper fishing from shore suddenly perked up in the first week in September.  Hopefully this happens again. 

I am also hoping to see some peanut bunker soon, a bait that really gets things moving.  I haven't seen any yet, but realize this is usually a September event.

And, let me finally say that I've seen very few striper fishermen fishing from shore along the oceanfront or in the Bay lately.  I'm guessing a lot of fishermen are waiting on the sidelines for something to happen.

INCREDIBLE Evening from the Boat

 

Earlier in the week I made plans with my son Matt to go out
fishing on Thursday evening in the boat with the grandkids.  Only problem was once Thursday got here the weather forecast was calling for a 50% chance of rain. We decided to go anyways and bring the raincoats just in case.  Heck, if it got too wet, we'd just head in.

I told the kids I had a feeling that this would be a good night if it didn't rain.  Pressure dropping, storm on the way for later, light winds and calm water- all good indicators for action. I said, " I have a feeling we are going to catch some big ones tonight!" And, we joked about who was going to catch the biggest fish.

Well, it started off slowly but the action picked up dramatically about 7:00.  I saw a telltale sign of fish when I saw a jump in the distance.  We motored over to that location, and suddenly the fishfinder lit up. It indicated fish from top to bottom in 40 feet of water. We casted our 9 inch Slug-gos out and the Slug barely hit the water, and both Matt and I were on. These were hard fighting over slot fish.  For the next hour it was a hit or a fish on just every cast and all these fish were over slots.  The grandkids got into the act as they started fishing with minimal help.  They landed many fish that seemed to be as tall as them and struggled to hold them up for a photo. As darkness came in, the action petered out but not before we landed 15 to 20 big fish.  These were fish up to 40 inches longs.  The Slug-go which had a single hook up front was an easy catch and release lure and all the fish were safely released.  The grandkids loved  watching the fish swim away.

This was probably the best outing we ever had from Matt's boat for stripers. It was just an incredible night, just as I had predicted. It never rained except for a sprinkle. We also never saw another boat as we had this pile of fish all to ourselves,

 By the way, grandpa landed the biggest fish!

Photo of the Day- "Back in Business"

 

It's been a while (June) since I've landed a striper this
big. They are back as the shore fishing has picked up dramatically.
This fish was released in great shape.

Massive Schools of Microbait/ Big Numbers of Stripers Hit the Oceanfront

The Albie Snax was the only
artificial that would work
last evening. The stripers were
on micro bait about a half inch long.

In the last two evenings I've found huge amounts of bait and big numbers of stripers on them. There were birds diving, schools of fish breaking and individual fish here in there  I haven't seen this much surface activity since last fall.

The massive amounts of tiny bait, bay anchovies, has set off a feeding spree along the oceanfront. It's just what we have been waiting for months to happen, and it's here!

Be aware, though, these stripers are tough to fool when they are on small bait.  Last night I had schools of fish or individual fish breaking to cast to for 2 straight hours.  I ended up with 3 stripers and one more on.  Yes, poor results for the amount of fish I saw. My fish were all caught on Albie Snax fished on a deep, slow retrieve. I tried everything in my bag of tricks to imitate small bait- small bucktails, float and fly, Jumpin' Minnow and NLBN paddle tails.  Nothing would even get a sniff except the Snax. And, there were times that I threw the offerings into a pile of breaking fish. I can tell you no one else except my son Jon could catch a fish and there were a good number of guys trying.

While I left a few breaking fish at dark, my son Jon stayed.  He had live eels in the car.  He's had good success fishing eels at night in the past when the fish were fussy and on small bait. It happened again for him. In a couple of hours of tossing the eels, he landed 5 stripers OVER 40 inches apiece along with a breakoff. Those are the most large fish I have heard about from the surf in over 2 months.

This is one of 5 big fish over 40 inches that Jon
landed after dark on eels.

The striper action from shore is finally here and here big time. As long as the bait remains the action will continue to be good. Good luck trying to catch them!