Miles of Bluefish; Loads of Stripers

Most of the stripers we landed were
good size from big schoolies to small
keepers.  At times they were mixed in
with the schools of blues.

There are massive numbers of small
bluefish, 3 to 5 lbs., in the Bay right
now.  The Jumpin Minnow was the hot
plug yesterday.

With the hurricane waves over and the condition of the ocean uncertain, my brother and I decided to hit the bay yesterday from the boat.  It was the right move, and proved to be our best outing of the year from the boat.
THERE WERE FISH JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE.  We found bonito breaking in mid Bay.  We found acres and acres of bluefish and we found big numbers of stripers close to shore.
The bluefish action was phenomenal.  At one point there were fish breaking for miles.  We could turn around 360 degrees in  a circle and see blues breaking everywhere we looked.  These were blues on the smaller side, what the Bay has right now, fish of 3 to 5 lbs. on average. What they lacked in size they made up for in aggressiveness. At times, the stripers were mixed in with the bluefish. At other times, the stripers were close to shore in shallow water.  All the stripers we landed were decent fish of 22 to 30 inches. They were feasting on peanut bunker that was close to shore in astronomical numbers.  The blues were feeding on both peanut bunker and massive schools of bay anchovies.
All our fish were taken on Rebel Jumpin Minnows.  We crushed all the barbs on the trebles to make for easier catch and release.
This year is turning to be epic for bluefish in the Bay.  It is the best I have seen as far as numbers in probably TWO DECADES.  With all that bait and stripers and blues in the Bay, it looks to be a phenomenal fall for oceanfront fishing once all those fish leave the Bay in the coming weeks.