Ah, the bird watchers and blitz seekers are out in full force these days. I see them pulling in and out of the parking areas scanning the surface of the water with binoculars looking for diving birds, pods of bait or breaking fishing. No diving birds in sight and these fishermen move on to the next spot. Many of these fishermen will drive from Watch Hill to Narragansett in a day without ever making a cast.
You won't find a lot of bait around. With the peanut bunker nowhere in sight again this year, it will be a lean November, baitwise. However, schoolies are still around in big numbers. In the last three weeks, my sons and I have managed to catch well over 200 schoolies with nothing showing on most days. I can only surmise the bass are grubbing along the rocky bottom because they are only taking bucktail jigs or Cocahoes mounted onto jigheads. Occasionally, you can get one to come up and hit a needlefish, especially in shallow white water. Many of these fish are unusually skinny for this time of year, proof that there is little food around.
I have concentrated my efforts in recent weeks in the Narragansett area from Pt. Judith to Galilee. Lots of fish seem to be holed up in this area and they have remained for weeks even though the area has been hit with high winds and very rough water, making shore fishing challenging. Maybe they are sticking around because there are no schools of bait to follow southward.
So, to all the bird watchers out there who are complaining that there are no fish around.....get out and cast. You may be surprised at just how many stripers there are!