Streaky

Here's a small keeper that I landed last week
after dark. Recent fishing has been an on/off
deal as the weather is playing havoc with
the fishing.

Last week I hit four days of some of the best fishing I have seen in recent years along the RI oceanfront in October.  Large schools of peanut bunker up to 5 inches long seemed to be everywhere, and they were luring big numbers of stripers, many of which were keepers. Then, a cold front hit and everything ended. The bait moved on and the big numbers of stripers disappeared. That was followed by several days of real tough fishing with a few fish here and there for those few guys willing to work for them.
The weather has turned brutal, feeling much more like early December weather rather than October weather.  And, the wind has been relentless.  One day it's blowing hard northwest, the next day is a gale from the northeast, the next day a huge blow from the southwest.  I think all that windy turmoil has put the gaff into consistent fishing.  As long as this weather remains unstable, I think the fishing will continue to be a hit or miss deal.
I was down the oceanfront yesterday and while I only managed one schoolie, I saw phenomenal numbers of birds, bait, and breaking fish about a quarter mile offshore. At one point I saw a school of fish that had to be a half mile long. They never came to within a cast of shore. This has been going on in multiple locations along the oceanfront in this big northwest wind of the last couple of days.  That wind which tends to push migrating fish offshore.
The migration is full steam right now.  It is only a matter of being at the right spot at the right time when mayhem comes ashore.