Daytime Fishing in a Lull; Nighttime Your Best Bet

 

I landed this schoolie last night on
a bone colored Daiwa SP Minnow.
The nighttime action has been far 
better than the daytime action in
the last week.

We've hit a late October lull. All along the oceanfront fishermen are wondering what happened to our outstanding daytime fishing which saw surface blitzes on a daily basis throughout much of October. The last week has been slow. The bait seems to be gone for the most part, and the fish seem to have left also. While I have caught just about no fish in the daytime in the last week, I have been steadily picking up fish after dark so they are still around in good numbers. I've been getting them after dark on Cocahoe minnows and Daiwa SP Minnows.  The bone colored SP Minnow has been my best color.

Don't think for a minute we are nearing the end.  There are still a lot of fish north of us and a lot of fish in 'Gansett Bay.  That is all coming toward the RI oceanfront in November. The consistent fishing should hold up until at least Thanksgiving.

Photo of the Day...."A Rare Bluefish"

 

I landed this blue this evening on a jig
with a pink Fat Cow jig strip attached.
The last time I landed a bluefish was
back in July.  They have just not been around
in any numbers this fall.

Could Our Striper Fishing go from BOOM to BUST?

 These are unprecedented times.  We have some of the best striper fishing ever for large fish (over 28 inches).  I never remember a period in time where it has been better than this. And, with this abundance of large fish, they are being caught and taken out in record numbers by recreational fishermen. 

But, there are problems coming.  The striper population is top heavy.  Nearly all of the fish are over 25 inches. While I've landed (and released) thousands so far this year, I can't tell you the last time I caught a striper under 20 inches.  Maybe back in May.  There are just no small ones around. All you have to do is take a look at that Young of the Year Index from Chesapeake Bay to realize that we have a problem. This barometer of striper spawning shows a dismal year for 2022.  In fact, this is the 4th dismal year in a row. There are few small ones coming along in the population, and that spells trouble for the future.

The situation we see today is similar to the good ole days before the crash in the 1980's that led to the moratorium. But, today's situation is a bit more complicated. There are far more recreational fishermen today than back in the 1980's. The outstanding fishing has brought out masses of new striper fishermen.  Even guys with little or no experience can easily catch slot stripers these days.  Heck, there were so many stripers one week in a spot that I fish that fishermen were snagging them on a daily basis. As the DEM would say, "legal but not ethical". Many recreational fishermen are also keeping as many as they are allowed to keep. Good fishermen have no problem getting a keeper every time out.  I know fishermen who are taking their 7 slots a week (a fish are day times 7).  Yes, legal, but why not let a few go for the sake of the fishery?  So, record numbers of slots are being caught and taken out of the population. How long can this go on?

Add to that, poaching is at epidemic levels here in RI. On just about every outing, I see this devious stuff going on. I've seen fishermen hiding multiple fish in the rocks. Still, others use runners to bring fish back to hide in the trunk of their cars as they continue to catch more. Some boaters will fillet their illegal catch while out on the water. The latest tactic that's come up in the last week is anglers keeper over slot fish. When confronted they will get very defensive, and tell you it's their right to keep whatever they want, and you should mind your own business. DEM has made a few well publicized busts in recent weeks, but they will catch only a small fraction of the law breakers.

So, when you add up the recreational catch and the poaching catch (which I believe is almost as high as the legal catch) you can easily see that we are heading for trouble down the road. The fishery just can not sustain this pressure with no small ones in the pipeline to take the place of the larger fish being taken out of the population in record numbers.

Hot Pink!

 

Here is a good size slot taken last
evening on a large bucktail jig
spiced with a pink Fat Cow jig strip.
Pink has been a hot color for 
stripers this fall.

Most of you know I am high on the color pink. I have been catching loads of stripers this fall on my homemade pink Deceiver flies fished off a float when small bait is around. So, when I saw these Fat Cow jig strips in a pink color, I just had to give it a go. 

In the last few evenings, I have been catching good numbers of stripers up to slot size using these pink jig strips attached to large bucktail jigs. In the past, I always opted for white pork rind or white jig strips, but after my success with these, I am sold on these pink jig strips.  Very effective!

High Percentage of RI Stripers with Skin Lesions- Myco or Something Else?

 

Many stripers in RI have skin lesions
like the one pictured here that I 
landed last week. I'm pretty sure
this is not myco disease, but use caution
when handling fish that look like this.

Many of us have noticed a high percentage of stripers in RI waters with skin lesions this fall. In fact, a few weeks back, roughly 50 percent of the stripers I was catching had these skin lesions. At first, I thought this could be myco disease.  I've read about this disease (mycobacteriosis) that affects many stripers in southern waters.  It can be deadly once stripers catch it.  It can also cause infections in humans if you are handling the infected fish and have cuts or abrasions on your hands. 

But, myco disease is rare in northern waters, I found an article in On the Water Magazine that outlines a study that the MA Division of Marine Fisheries did back in 2012 when a high incidence of stripers with skin lesions were being caught in MA waters.  Biologists determined this was not myco, but rather a skin infection that was likely due to high spring and summer water temperatures which is exactly what we had this year. A photo of a fish in the magazine article was very similar to the photo of the fish I landed last week.

So, I don't believe these RI fish have myco disease.  Still, I would advise caution when handling stripers with skin lesions. Consider wearing gloves to unhook such fish. And, if you are taking one of these fish home to eat, cooking it properly is advised by the experts.

Darters

 

The Yo-Zuri Mag Darter landed this 
good size slot fish last week in some
rough, moving water. 

With all this wind and rough weather lately, I find myself fishing darters more and more. I have rarely written about this plug since I generally use SP Minnows or Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnows when I want to use a swimming plug.  But, these are lightweight plugs compared to a beefy and heavier darter.  When the wind is howling and the surf is moving, the darter is a great specialty plug to use.

I've got a number of different darters, but the one I have been using recently has been the Yo-Zuri Mag Darter which weighs in at 2 ounces.  I have used this numerous times in the last three weeks and have scored good numbers of slot fish with it.  I like to use this plug in places with current, and I like to use it at night.  These places can be breachway flows or even surf generated current that you find in rough water. I'm not high using this plug in calm water with no current.  The current is what gives this plug action.  When the water runs up against the face of the plug, the plug wiggles back and forth on a slow retrieve.  You can feel that movement in your rod tip. I will also give the rod tip short occasional pulls which breaks up the rhythmic movements with an erratic movement, or something different.

By the way, my favorite color is bone.  Most of you know by now I favor white colored plugs both day and night.

Back to the Bay in the Kayak

 

The unweighted Zoom Fluke on a swimbait
hook was the only thing that would fool
the fussy stripers today!

This was not the best weekend along the oceanfront for me. The fish were hard to find and there were few of them. A change was needed.

So, on this beautiful and tranquil day I decided to head out in the kayak.  I found loads of fussy fish feeding on massive amounts of peanut bunker.  Still, I managed to fool a good number of them and ended up with a mix of slots and hefty schoolies.  I had to resort to a finesse game as I fished the unweighted Zoom fluke on a swimbait hook and twitched it along on the retrieve. Not a silver bullet but it got me some fish. That seemed to do it and no other plug or lure got so much as a look.

Photos of the Day!

The float and fly did the trick today.
The surf was dead flat, the bait was tiny
and the stripers were fussy!

The full moon rises from the sea on a beautiful evening.

 

Holiday Weekend Outlook......Fantastic Striper Fishing Awaits

This past week saw wild weather swings but one thing remained the same along the oceanfront.  It was exceptional striper fishing.  We had big numbers of large fish in that northeast blow in the beginning of the week. The hot action was widespread from Westerly to Newport with exceptional numbers of fish in the 28 to 40 inch range.  In mid week, the big blows and rough seas subsided, but the fishing remained excellent.  Finally, we had this bluebird weather of the last two days along with flat calm seas, but still the fishing still remained excellent.

In the last seven days I have been able to find blitzing stripers somewhere along the oceanfront and even in multiple locations on a daily basis.  Today, I walked into a massive mid day blitz that stretched for about half a mile along one stretch of oceanfront (see the video below on just a small part of the action).  The stripers were blitzing on huge schools of bay anchovies.  They were fussy, but the float and fly was a killer, landing big numbers of stripers in the 25 to 30 inch size range. About half the fish I landed today were slots.  At one point I looked down into the clear water, and just like looking into an aquarium, I could see thousands of stripers in front of me.

The action has been red hot in the daylight hours but it has also been very good after dark.  I got good numbers of stripers when fishing at night several times this week.

Albies made an appearance today in some sections of the coast but it appears like their numbers have been greatly reduced as a result of the northeast blow.  Still, I know of several that were caught today, and I did see some breaking way out in the spot I was fishing.

Bluefish have been non-existent. While I saw thousands of stripers landed this week, I did not see a single bluefish caught.

So, it looks like this weekend should deliver big time striper action along the oceanfront and even in the Bay.  You might have to do some looking, but chances are pretty good that you will come upon a blitz of stripers wherever you fish.

Biggest Fish of the Year!

 Striper fishing has been so, so hot in this nasty northeaster.  I've been catching lots of schoolies, lots of slots, and today I landed my biggest fish of the year.  A fellow fisherman had a tape measure, and the fish measured out at a whopping 47 inches. I've had a number of 45 inch stripers from the kayak this year, but overall this has been the biggest, and it came from the surf.

The interesting thing about this fish is that it fell for a float and jig rig.  I was using a small, half ounce, homemade H style jig trailing off a homemade egg float(see photo below) Many fishermen who think they know what they are talking about will tell you that the float and jig only catches small fish. Absolutely not true and this fish proves it.  I also have many photos of other 40 + inch fish that I have caught over the years on this set up. In the right spot and conditions, it could just be the most effective thing to use on stripers of all sizes.

The float and jig has been the hot ticket in the
last few days.  While many will say
it's a set up to catch small fish, I beg
to differ.

This 47 inch fish was landed in today's northeaster.

It was revived and released in good shape.

Northeast Winds Light up the Fishing

Yes, I did fish in that gale today, and yes, it was very fantastic.  I also fished yesterday in the start of the storm, and it was good also.  In fact, today was one of my best days of fall fishing from shore even though I could barely stand up in the severe wind.

Give me rough water and wind anytime over tranquil conditions. Roughed up water and strong winds seem to charge up the fish into feeding. They will hit with reckless abandon in these white water conditions.  In the last two days it was the bucktail jig fished alone or off an egg float that lured big numbers of stripers top hit.  Once again, it was very good numbers of keepers with half the fish being slots or even above the slot and half the fish being hefty schoolies.

In the latest edition of The Fisherman magazine, I did an article called "Storm Strategies" .  In the article I outlined two keys to finding success in stormy weather.  It involved fishing the right and safe spots as well as using the right lures. One main lure that I highlighted was the bucktail jig as I used today.  As far as spots, I will let you figure that out.

By the way, I was fishing with two guys today who read this blog all the time. The two guys left right before all hell broke loose. You just never know when things will turn on in stormy conditiosn.  There is always some luck involved!

I landed this big fish in today's gale.  I had many fish in this
size range as well as good numbers of schoolies. The float and 
jig as well as lone bucktail jigs have been hot in the northeast
wind.