WEED: A Real Big Problem

 Parts of the south shore beachfront have been inundated with red weed this spring. There is the most weed I have ever seen in my 65 years of fishing this area.  I was out yesterday and found places where the weed was piled 3, 4 and even 5 FEET high on the shoreline. In places there was reddish, brown weed saturated water as far as you could cast. In places, this goes on for miles. It has made fishing parts of the RI south shore impossible.

I have no explanation as to why the weed situation is this bad. Some say persistent big storms with southwest winds in the beginning of April brought it all in. Even those big northwest blows we had in the last three days did nothing to lessen the problem. 

The weed situation has really affected the fishing and the fishing activity. There have been fewer fishermen out this year than in previous years.  Pick your culprit: poor fishing, high gas prices, weed, bad weather, less fish.  Whatever the problem, April striped bass fishing has been way off.  I would venture to say the worst numbers I have seen in decades. Yes, there are fish around, but you have to do a lot of looking and casting. You also will have to first find clean water before you can even fish.

This is what parts of the RI south shore beachfront look like.
Mountains of weed are piled 3,4 and even 5 feet high on the 
shore, making fishing impossible in a lot of locations.

Photo of the Day....First 30+ Inch Striper

 

I landed my first 30+ inch striper this evening.
It was a migrating fish that was landed along
the RI oceanfront.  The fish took a bucktail jig.
Slots are becoming more plentiful in RI waters.

Hefty Schoolies/ Slots Arrive

It was an evening of hefty schoolies and
slots along the oceanfront for me. The
fish were running 24 to 28 inches. 
Bucktail jigs were the best lures today.

 I hit a banner afternoon today along the south shore oceanfront as I found good numbers of hefty schoolies and slots in the 24 to 28 inch range. It was my first brush with better size migrating fish this spring.  I got them all on big bucktail jigs (1 oz. homemade Spire Point jigs) spiced with 4 inch curly tails.  The oceanfront was very windy and rough today, ideal conditions in my book, and that contributed greatly to the good fishing.

The big problem right now along the oceanfront is weed.  That thick, red weed is all over the beachfront, but there are clean spots here and there.  It's a matter of finding those clean, fishable places that have fish. So, it might take some looking to find these better fish. I hit multiple places today before finding fish.

With May right around the corner, expect to find more and more larger stripers along the oceanfront.  Also in the coming days, the Bay should perk up as the fish make their way northward and into the warmer waters of Narragansett Bay.

A Disappointing Start

 

Here's one of the bigger ones I
landed this week. So far, spring
fishing along the oceanfront has been
a disappointment.

The spring migration is underway.  The fish have been around for most of the week.  But, unlike past years that brought huge numbers of schoolies in the early going, this year has delivered sparse numbers of them so far. No other way to spin it....so far, spring fishing has been a disappointment.

I got out four times this week and did a lot of casting in a couple of different spots.  I landed exactly 19 stripers that ranged from 12 inches to 25 inches.  Most were in the 14 to 18 inch range, typical of early season schoolies. All were landed on Cocahoes on a half ounce jighead.

The oceanfront has been rough and churned up with persistent strong winds out of the south quardrant for the last two weeks. That has brought tons of weed to the south shore beachfront.  A lot of spots are not fishable due to the weed and some places have weed piled up on shore that can be measured in feet rather than inches. That hasn't stopped a lot of guys from trying as there has been big numbers of fishermen in the more popular early season spots. 

In summary, lots of fishermen, few fish being caught. Hopefully things improve this week.

Sea Lice Tell the Story as the Scouts Arrive

 

Here is my first migrating
striper for 2022.  It fell for a
Cocahoe on a half ounce jighead.

The scouts have arrived along the RI oceanfront.  These "first" stripers are the frontrunners of the main migration of striped bass that should arrive in force any day now.

I made a lot of casts along the shore today in multiple spots and came away with my first two migrating stripers for 2022.  I know these were new fish because they were loaded with sea lice.  Sea lice is an indicator that these fish came in from the ocean.  Holdover stripers do not have sea lice.

My first ones fell for a Cocahoe on a half ounce jighead, a lot lure along the oceanfront in the early going.  That jig can be fished alone or off a float. 

Check out the sea lice on this fish that I landed
tonight.  Most migrating fish will have sea lice.

Not Much to Report

Wish I could tell you that it was a new,
migrating fish, but judging from the 
spot where I caught it, I'm pretty
sure it was a holdover.

 I wish I could tell you that the migrating fish were in, but they are not.  I've been trying along the oceanfront, and I know other fishermen who have been trying. I spent a lot of time casting yesterday with no luck on new, migrating fish.

I did, however, manage to try a holdover location and came away with a near slot. I was quite surprised that this fish hit a Rebel Jumpin' Minnow on the top.  The traditional thinking is that jigs are the way to go at this time of year, but after trying a jig for quite a while with no luck, I decided to snap on the minnow.  Several casts later, this fish blasted the topwater lure, and I was on.

I plan to continue hitting the oceanfront in the next couple of days. The way I see it, any day now!