Friday, June 12, 2020

Biggest Surprise So Far

Here's a decent blue taken recently from Gansett Bay.
They have been abundant.
It's not schoolies.  Everyone predicted a ton of these and that has happened. We've got everything from the hefty varieties of 24 to 26 inches to the micros of 10 to 14 inches and everything in between.
It's not keepers.  Everyone was predicting they would be in short supply, especially the bigger fish over 35 inches. That's why we have a slot limit. A big RI striper from shore these days is 30 inches. Just not a lot of bigger fish around from shore.
But, ah, the bluefish.  Nobody thought we would see an abundance of these.  That's why the bag limit went down to only 3 fish per day.  But, to everyone's surprise, these fish have been really abundant so far this year in Narragansett Bay. They have generally been running from 4 to 7 lbs., but there are some biggies around too.  I'm talking big ones over 10 lbs. Some recent evenings I've fished it has been hit after hit of aggressive blues. They have especially liked my Rebel Jumpin Minnow or my Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil. But, to be honest, on some nights they are so aggressive they would hit a cigar with a hook attached to it. I've gotten big numbers from shore, boat and kayak.
With the blues so abundant, I've gotten word of some fishermen piling bluefish like cord wood in the trunk of their cars.  Not surprising since this business of keeping undersized fish or more than the bag limit was rampant last year in Gansett Bay. Here we go again this year. The law is 3 blues per day for all those who want to follow the law.