Metal to the Rescue!

 

This Hopkins metal lure delivered yesterday
in the wind and heavy surf.

I was looking at a skunk yesterday.  I was fishing great water and rough conditions, and I just knew there were fish around but I was not getting them. I was fishing mostly with my bucktail jig.  It was not working. I thought to myself, "maybe a longer cast in these rough conditions might just do it." So, I reached in my bag for a large metal Hopkins lure.  This thing casts like a bullet even into a stiff wind.  It got me an extra 15 yards over the bucktail, and it was just enough to get me to where the waves were breaking. Just a few casts into using the Hopkins and I was on. The fish ended up being a slot.  I landed several more fish with the metal including a good sized over slot.

That Hopkins lure is one of those specialty lures that I use when conditions dictate it and when a real long cast is needed. Yesterday it worked like a charm, and delivered.

Best Week of the Year

 

I've got my thumb in the jaw of
another good size slot that fell for
a bucktail jig with a pink Fat Cow
jig strip. Fishing has been read hot
in the last week for me.

For me, this has been the best week of the year for saltwater fishing. I fished hard the last 5 days in a row and caught staggering numbers of stripers of all sizes from schoolies up to over slots. My count in the logbook shows close to 100 stripers landed and released in the last five days. Roughly thirty percent of those fish were slots.  I also had tow fish of 40 inches.  Add to that a bunch of blues from little 5 pounders to gators in the low teens. 

The action has also been widespread.  I landed very good numbers in the surf along the oceanfront, but also got big numbers from the kayak in the Bay. Along the oceanfront it was all bucktail jigs scoring with the rougher the water, the better.  In the Bay, it was all topwater action with a Rebel Jumpin' Minnow catching the most fish.

Wind, rain and rough water is coming for the weekend.  I say "bring it on" since the roughness has really turned the fish on.

The best of the fall action is now here. Hopefully it stays that way!

Here's a slot taken from my kayak in the Bay
today. Action in the Bay has also been red hot.

Brute Strength

Today's biggie was a brute of a fish- big head,
big girth and strong as an ox.

 I landed a brute of a fish today. It was one of those "old fashioned" fish we used to catch 30 and 40 years ago.  It was at least 40 inches long with a  big head and a wide girth.  And it possessed some brute strength.  

The fish took a two ounce homemade bucktail jig with a pink Fat Cow strip added.  It was able to put up a drag screaming fight, and I knew I was onto a good fish within seconds after hooking her. That jig that it hit was made with a heavy duty size 7/0 Mustad hook.  I've never seen one of these bend until today.

When I got the fish ashore I was astonished to find this fish actually bent the hook in half in its vice grip jaw. I was lucky I did not lose the fish. I kept the hook and jig as a reminder of just how strong a larger striper can be. Take a look at the hook and jig below.

By the way, all was good here as the fish was released in good shape to fight and maybe bend a hook again!

The fish above was able to bend this
heavy duty 7/0 Mustad jig hook. Big,
strong stripers can possess incredible
brute strength.

Storm Fizzles; Fishing Sizzles

 

This slot fish, one of many today, took a large
bucktail jig with a Fat Cow jig strip.

It was the storm that wasn't. Today's surf was supposed to be dangerously high and super rough. It wasn't.  In fact, by evening, the ocean was flat as a pancake with a gentle northwesterly breeze. The water was clean with no sand in it along the places I fished today.

Like many other fishermen I did not plan to fish today. But, I got several calls from friends who were fishing and catching this morning so I decided to go down and try. I'm glad I did.  I hit some of the hottest fishing of the fall today in a spot I had all to myself.  Big numbers of stripers were after peanut bunker.  These bass were all charged up and were in a feeding frenzy blasting the peanut bunker right out of the water as well as any offerings that I tossed their way.  I got some fish on bucktail jig with Fat Cow pink tails.  I got other fish to take a 5 inch NLBN paddle tail on a once ounce head.  Still, other fish went for my topwater offering, a Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil in a bone color. The one common thread here was that all the fish were good size. They were mostly all slot fish in the 28 to 30 inch range. The action lasted well over three hours!

I'm guessing this rough water that we had a few days ago moved a lot of fish and bait ashore. I know it was as good as it gets today in the daytime.  I'm hoping it continues. 

Huge, Dangerous Waves Pound the Coast

 If you are even thinking about fishing anywhere along the oceanfront in the next few days, forget it.  I went down today to try and get in one more day of fishing, and it was impossible. I saw huge hurricane driven waves in the 8 to 15 foot range coming right over the East, Center and West Walls around the Harbor of Refuge in Narragansett. Keep in mind the Hurricane itself is two days away from brushing the coastline.  I can only imagine how bad it is going to become in the next few days. 

Realize, too, that many of the access points and rights-of-ways were shut down along with the parking today. Access points in Narragansett at Hazard Ave., Newton Ave. and Bass Rock Rd. were all shut down. In protected places where I could get a look at the water, it was all roiled up with sand and weed, making for poor fishing conditions.

I'm guessing very protected areas in Narragansett Bay or the coastal ponds could be fishable, but realize all that rain we got in the last five days (10 inches in some places) has really screwed up the water in the Bay.  I got out in my kayak a few days ago and saw coffee colored water all over the place.  The fishing was also poor.

These big waves will have a big effect on our fishing.  I'm guessing it will be at least mid next week before the water begins to clear along the oceanfront and some worthwhile fishing returns.

Check out the video clip below of the big waves coming right over the East Wall in Narragansett.

Blitz of the Week!

 It's been a big week of fishing here in RI with everything from stripers to albies.  Today's blitz of stripers was one of the biggest I have seen in a long time.  The stripers were after massive schools of bay anchovies.

Photo of the Day

 

They say "a picture says a thousand words", but in this
case the picture says just three words. "THEY ARE IN!"
Albie Master Tim shows how it's done.