Not Good News

With a heat wave knocking on our door and water temperatures soaring into the seventies, we are in the dog days of summer. We are also in that period of time which seems to be the slowest of the year if you are a shore striper fisherman. The reports I have gotten from all over southern New England in the last two weeks paint a picture of some poor fishing.
I have been hitting the upper Bay several times a week. The news from that area is that I am catching a striper here and there. I am also getting blanked at times. There are good numbers of small blues around at times. I know of several guys who are fishing RI's south shore and Narragansett. They are getting a schoolie or two at times, but they are also getting blanked at times. Even the reports from the Cape Cod Canal from guys I know who have been there tell a tale of marginal fishing. Line up twenty guys who know what they are doing on the right tides and a few small keepers might be caught. It seems to be inconsistent from the reports I am getting.
Let me also say that there are not many fishermen out there. This could be due to the poor fishing or the increasing gas prices or maybe a combination of both.
I am predicting that this marginal fishing will continue through August and may not perk up until mid September when stripers start feeding up for the fall migration.