 |
There were lots of schoolies around
today. The Cocahoe fished off a
float was our best catcher. |
I'm guessing the cold nights of the last few days and dropping water temperatures have gotten the fish moving. Today was a real good day for us along the oceanfront. My son Jon and I fished the afternoon into the evening and found good numbers of stripers in multiple spots. It was old fashioned October action with big flocks of birds diving and schools of stripers blitzing on small bait. I will admit, though, the fish were fussy as once again, they were feasting on one inch bay anchovies. We ended up catching over 30 schoolies using such small bait imitators as small bucktail jigs, small Cocahoes off the float, Jumpin Minnows, and even small swimmers. We kept changing lures but nothing proved to be real effective. The Cocahoe off the float seemed to catch the most fish. Most of the schoolies we caught were from 20-27 inches (just below keeper size).
While we were catching in the afternoon, I found out that big bluefish along with some keeper stripers seemed to be in multiple locations along the oceanfront in the morning and early afternoon. These larger predators have been chasing big menhaden in the last couple of days that have been showing up randomly in various locations. Find that big bait and most likely you will find some big blues and large stripers chasing them.
Who knows what's in store for tomorrow as stormy weather along with a big east wind comes howling? I'm guessing the start of the storm could bring some opportunities for good fishing, but it will likely head downhill real fast.
