This was one of the best big fish days we have had in years in the RI surf. At a time of year in which my kids and I would have been happy to land one more keeper bass, we landed a whopping twenty keepers today. We're talking 28-40 inch fish. We had at least a few fish that pushed the 40 inch range. In addition, we landed at least a dozen more stripers that were just below keeper size. On top of all that, we had 20 bluefish that went 5-13 lbs. It had to be one of the biggest big fish days I have ever had along the RI south shore beaches at this time of year.
I knew we were in for a spectacular day as I scanned that shoreline with binoculars and saw a pile of bait and birds working. Gannets were hitting the water within ten yards of the sand. There were gulls and cormorants also going crazy. When I went down to the shoreline, I noticed blackened water and baitfish whirling.....blueback herring. Just the big bait I was looking for.The fish were active and most of the artificials we used were producing although poppers did the most damage. We also landed fish on needlefish plugs and swimmers. Surprisingly, my sons and I had all the fish to ourselves as we never encountered another fisherman.