Bucktail Jigs....Hottest Lures so Far

 

This schoolie fell for a homemade
bucktail jig a few days ago along
the oceanfront.

The hottest lures for me in the early going has been bucktail jigs. I've gone mostly with the bucktail along the oceanfront, and I've fished it from the kayak in the Bay, and in both locations it has been my best producer.

I make all my own bucktail jigs.  I especially like the flat head jig in a half ounce size.  I make mine all white with red thread.  I always use a plastic curly tail on these jigs.  My favorite is a 3 inch, white, triple ripple grub tail from Bass Pro. In low water locations where a long cast might be needed, I will fish the bucktail off a wooden egg float.  In deeper water where I don't need a long cast, I will fish just the jig.

In past years, the Cocahoe has been my go to lure along the oceanfront in the spring.  In the Bay, it has been the Zoom fluke on a jighead.  But, this year, the bucktail lure has been the best for early season schoolies.  That could all change in the coming weeks, but right now, the bucktail rules.

This good size schoolie was taken on a bucktail jig yesterday
evening from the kayak.

Big Numbers from the Kayak

 

It was big numbers of stripers from my new
Old Town PDL kayak today.

I call this my maiden voyage since it was the first time I had taken my new Old Town Sportsman Pedal kayak out into the Bay to fish for stripers. And, it turned out to be a memorable maiden voyage with big, big numbers of stripers. In one  hour and a half span, I probably had a hit or a fish on just about every cast of my bucktail jig.

Having fished all evening from the kayak I can tell you that the pedal drive kayak is a gamechanger if you want to fish from a kayak. It really moves with pedal power and your hands are free to fish the whole time. It is also great to reposition yourself if you find the fish in a certain location which I did today.

I must have pedaled at least 4 miles today.  I would not have been able to paddle that distance. No way. 

Clearly, big numbers of stripers have moved into the Bay.  These come from the same mold as the fish

I caught this one while trolling a zoom fluke off
a float. The pedal kayak makes for easy trolling.

we were catching along the oceanfront. Maybe they are the same ones?  Generally, they are small, 10 to 18 inches on average, though I did have a couple of 20 inch fish today.  I also had a big one hit a Jumpin Minnow on the surface.  I'm sure it was a keeper.  My son, Jon, was also out today, and he did catch a keeper from his kayak along with big numbers of smaller ones.

Stripers Spreading Out; Other Fish Arrive

 

I caught this schoolie along with many more
today in a backwater location. The bucktail jig
was a hot lure today. The stripers are really
spreading out.

Those massive numbers of stripers that are now migrating along the RI oceanfront are also moving into other places too.  They are flooding into many of the backwater ponds and rivers along the oceanfront.  They are also streaming into the Bay in increasing numbers.

Today I decided to get away from the oceanfront crowds as I fished one of my backwater locations.  It was the same story as all week as I found big time numbers of schoolies there too.  All my fish today, all schoolies from 12 to 20 inches, fell for a bucktail jig spiced with a plastic curly tail.  The bucktail jig been a hot number all week along the oceanfront for me.

While all this striper action has been happening, there have also been some surprises. Some hickory shad have been caught in the schools of bass.  Also I know of at least 5 squeteague that have been taken in the last few days by fishermen casting for stripers. 

STAGGERING NUMBERS

Here's a hefty 25 inch schoolie
that I landed this week.  While 
most of the April fish are small,
there are some hefty fish in the
mix, even small keepers.

 The striper fishing has exploded this week along the RI south shore oceanfront.  If you were the right spots, you were finding massive numbers of migrating schoolies.

Today I fished in that big blow.  I was in a spot all to myself.  Not a single fisherman was in sight.  First 25 casts....25 fish.  And, it continued like this for hours with a fish or a hit on just about every cast of my bucktail jig. While most of these early stripers are small 10 to 16 inch fish, there are some bigger ones in the mix.  I've gotten at least half a dozen fish this week in the 24 to 26 inch range.  I even heard of a small keeper being landed.

For me it's been a bonanza for the last three days.  I'm getting fish in multiple spots but you might have to move around to find the big numbers.  The hot lures have been bucktail jigs and Cocahoes on jigheads.  In the last couple of days, I have done better on the bucks than the Cocahoes. The beauty of the jig is that it makes for safe and effective catch and release fishing. I've landed a lot of schoolies this week and there was not one mortality that I know of.

"A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words..."

 

While a picture is worth a thousand words, I can sum it up in just three words....They are here!

Kayak Rigging Ideas

 

A Few Fish and a Lot of Hype

 A lot of fishing reports came out today.  Most of them indicated that stripers were now being caught along the southern New England oceanfront.  What they failed to tell you was just how many fish were taken in the last few days. Yes, it is true that some fish were caught.  I have reliable info that confirms this.  But, the number of fish that were caught could be probably be counted on one hand. These fish, some of which had sea lice, were most likely the "scouts", those few fish that move along ahead of the main migration. Your chances of scoring a fish this week would be mighty slim given the scant numbers.

But, clearly the scouts have arrived, and the bulk of the migration should follow shortly. With favorable weather conditions starting on Sunday, I suspect next week will see the arrival of big numbers of stripers along RI's south shore and even in 'Gansett Bay.  Many of these fish should be in the 20 to 26 inch range with occasional slot limit keepers.  This is all based on the masses of schoolies that we had around last year.  Stripers in this size range gain about 4 inches in length a year, and we had a lot of 20 to 24 inch schoolies last year. So, expect big numbers of hefty schoolies this spring.

I got my surf bag ready yesterday.  I mostly packed it with jigs....Cocachoes on jigheads, flukes on jigheads and bucktail jigs. I also packed a lot of plastic like extra Cocahoes and Zoom flukes along with plastic grub tails that I'll use on the bucktail jigs. I'll fish these jigs alone or off a wooden egg float. It's not complicated in the early going, and jigs will catch the majority of the early season stripers. 

Unfavorable Weather Slowing the Start

 Nothing is happening right now along the oceanfront. Too cold, too windy, wrong wind, cold water.  Pick any one or all of the above.

While I've often predicted April 15th as the starting date (give or take a few days) on which the migrating fish arrive, it looks like that is not going to happen this year. Blame it on the unfavorable weather we are experiencing this week. It looks like it will happen a bit later once this crappy weather clears. 

The best weather we can wish for to get things going is warm weather with favorable west or southwest winds that warm the water and drive the migrating fish ashore along the oceanfront.  The last few days have seen cooler weather with north or northeast winds, the worst possible conditions. The next few days will deteriorate even more with cold and strong east and northeast winds. But, low and behold, better days are coming.  All of next week's weather looks very favorable, and if I were a betting man, I would say that we'll be catching big numbers of migrating schoolies and maybe even slot limit keepers a week from now.

It's coming, and it should be big time fishing at the start.

Review of Old Town Sportsman PDL 10-6 Kayak

 

Holdover Fishing Slow

 

A holdover comes ashore yesterday.  Holdover 
fishing has been slow. The masses of migrating
fish should arrive in a week to ten days.

This has not been a banner year for holdover stripers here in RI.  I have tried many times in the last month, and it has been a fish here and there.  My best day was 6 schoolies, but there have been a good number of blanks. Unlike other places (CT for instance), we have a very limited holdover fishery in RI which exists in a number of locations. It is generally inconsistent.

I got out yesterday from shore.  I fished about 2 1/2 hours along a shore that had been productive for holdovers in the past.  I came away with two fish, 16 and 20 inch schoolies.  I got them both on a Zoom fluke on a half ounce jighead, about the best holdover jig you can use.

Everything will change in the next week to ten days when the migrating fish arrive. Last year I landed my first migrating stripers along the oceanfront on April 15. I expect the same timetable this year give or take a few days. It's coming!