Photo of the Day.....A Near Slot

 

I landed this near slot this evening just after dark. Fishing was
slow for the most part today with only 2 stripers and a few
hickory shad while doing a lot of looking and casting. 
My gut feeling is that fishing is winding down.

Thankful

 

As I write this blog post, my son Ben is down the oceanfront and into a big blitz of stripers on this Thanksgiving morning. Man, this has been a great striper year in RI.  Really one of the best of all time.  What is going on now is the grand finale to a year filled with fishing fireworks. We are lucky for what we have here in RI…..great fishing, loads of stripers, good access and loads of places to fish.

I will be spending Thanksgiving at my son Matt’s house with my sons and their wives along with the grandkids. As many of you know, I have four sons that I am very proud of.  You often see photos of them fishing on this blog. While they were a handful when they were young, they all grew up to be very good students, great athletes, dedicated workers, family oriented and wonderful people who are all well-liked by everyone who knows them. Since they all live within an hour of us, we see each other often, and we still fish a lot together, and I am really thankful for that.

Three of my sons, Matt, Chris and Ben are married to wonderful girls who are similar to them. I also now have four grandchildren.  Just in the last year we added two new grandchildren to the family. These kids, like their parents, are the BEST. The grandkids remind me so much of what my kids were like when they were young. All of them have a sense of adventure like their fathers and they have all a zest for life even at their young ages. They all have big personalities and smiles that are infectious.  All I have to do is smile at them and they are quick to return the joy. I hope I am still around when they get a bit older.  Can’t wait for the day that they join me in the surf fishing for stripers.

In the whole scheme of things, family is the most important part of life for me.  Fishing is simply a way to relax and enjoy the outdoors, a welcome diversion for me, and something I really enjoy. Retirement and good health allows me the opportunity to fish just about every single day.

As I get older I really cherish the times I can get out and fish because I know it won’t last forever.  But, I also love spending time with my own kids and the grandkids. I am lucky the way things turned out.  And, I am forever thankful for my wonderful and growing family.

My four bundles of joy, all future fishing buddies!

 

Good Times Keep Rolling

My son Jon landed this
near 40 inch striper from
the kayak today. Good
size fish are still in the mix.

 

My son Ben holds a hefty
schoolie that he cought 
recently at dark.

It's been a real cold and windy week, but the fishing continues to be hot along the oceanfront. There have been lots of peanut bunker schools migrating along the south shore, and that has attracted a lot of bird activity and a lot of scattered schools of feeding stripers. While the majority of the fish this week have been schoolies, there have been some good size fish in the mix.  On Sunday I fished with my son Ben.
  We found big numbers of fish along one of the south shore beaches. While we had dozens of hefty schoolies, we also had four slot fish and one over slot fish.  It was all on jigs....bucktails as well as Cocahoes.  Yesterday I scouted around and fished a number of spots.  I found schoolies in one location in the daytime, and after dark I had a solid slot (30 to 32 inches) along with another near slot.  Cocahoes caught all my fish.  Today, my son Jon got out in the kayak.  He had only one fish but it was a whopping 38 to 40 inches.

So, fishing is still very productive as we approach Thanksgiving. With a lot of people off from work on this holiday week, I'm sure many will be wetting a line. You should have no trouble finding fish along the oceanfront.

As Wild as it Gets

Gulls are hitting the water right in front of me.
They were after large peanut bunker.

 I walked out onto a deserted beach today.  Not a fisherman in sight and not a walker in sight.  But what I did see was a phenomenal sight of hundreds of gannets divebombing into schools of bait right in front of me. All the activity was about 200 yards off the beach so there was life there, and it would soon to turn into pure chaos.

Nothing at first and then suddenly I looked down the beach where I saw flocks of seagulls hitting the water and loons diving for bait.  It was all happening right in the wash, and I just knew there would be stripers there.  Sure enough, first cast with my NLBN lure, I was onto a decent schoolie.  I could now see stripers breaking in the wash after large (4 to 5 inch) peanut bunker that were flying out of the water.  The chaos moved down the beach, and I moved with it picking up stripers on just about every cast. Some were good size as I had several slot fish in the 28 to 30 inch range along with hefty schoolies in the 20 to 26 inch range.  For one glorious hour, it was a hit or a fish on just about every cast.

This slot fish took my NLBN lure.
This five inch paddle tail was red
hot today.

Make no mistake about it, the late fall migration of bait and stripers in here. It took awhile to get going, but it is here big time right now.  I have fished the last 5 days and have been getting about 25 fish a day.  While most have been schoolies, slot fish are in the mix daily.  

If you can stand the cold, you've got some of the hottest fishing of the fall right now along the oceanfront. 

Divebombing Gannets Along the South Shore

 

No Live Bait Needed (NLBN) Lures Hot this Week

I was fishing this lure off an 
egg float.

This is one of many 
schoolies that fell for an
NLBN lure.

 I was into a ton of fish last evening and I was fishing with my friend
Steve.  We were both catching stripers, but he was catching three to my one.  I was using a Cocahoe off a float, and he was using a lure called a No Live Bait Needed. This little lure was so effective that the fish could not resist it. So, being the good friend Steve was, he asked if I wanted to try one of these.  By the way I never heard of this lure.  So, I rigged one up on my float, and on the first cast, I caught a schoolie.  They came one after another on this lure. Note that I had minimal success on the Cocahoe and no success on the half ounce bucktail jig, but this NLBN lure worked wonders.

The NLBN lure is a small paddle tail that is a bit chunky, and it fits onto its own custom head that you need to purchase separately. It's profile is a dead ringer for a small peanut bunker.  I was using a three inch body with a half ounce head. I was so inpressed with this lure that I after I got home last night, I ordered quite a few of these.  The website is here . I believe the Saltwater Edge also has them.

I went back to the oceanfront today and same deal.  The bass were jumping all over this lure when used off a float. In two days, I had close to 40 fish on this lure.

I'm happy to report the striper fishing just exploded along the oceanfront in the last few days.  I've seen wide stretches of beachfront where birds are diving and fish are breaking for small bait.  There are even some gannets divebombing.  Most of these fish are schoolies, but there are some slots in the mix. The late fall migration is finally here.

One of loads of schoolies landed in the last 
few days.  The late fall migration is here.

Eureka! Finally Found Big Numbers!

 My two week drought is over.  I found bait along with fish in multiple spots today along the oceanfront. In three spots, I found fish breaking after small pods of bait (looked like silversides). I used bucktail jigs as well as Cocahoes to catch big numbers of bass that ranged from small schoolies to slot fish.  Most of the fish were in that 18 to 24 inch range.

I suspect the shot of cold weather that we got yesterday and today has finally gotten the fish and bait moving. With the cold weather continuing, we should find decent fishing in the coming days. Dress warmly.  When I left my location tonight that I was fishing after dark, it was a cool 36 degrees!

The setting sun reflects off a schoolie that I landed
right at sunset tonight.  For me, fishing was hot along
the oceanfront today and tonight.  It was my best day
so far in November.

Why so Poor?

 In years past, that first half of November was peak time along the RI oceanfront for stripers.  This year it has been about as poor as it can be.  I was out yesterday prior to that big storm.  It was ideal conditions in late afternoon and early night.  The wind was moderate, it was rainy and the surf had a lot of clean, white water.  I landed exactly two schoolies while trying multiple spots into the night.  I had two other friends out in different places.  They also landed a few schoolies. For all of us, a disappointing outing.

So, what's the story here, and why is it so poor this November.  Here's a few ideas:

This is one of two schoolies that I 
landed last night. Striper fishing
along the oceanfront has been poor
in November.

1. Water is too warm- Yes, a lot of people think that's the case and the cooler weather will bring improved fishing. But, is the fishing any better north of us? I was at the Cape Cod Canal last week and it was poor the day I was there.

2. No bait- That is also a problem as I have seen very little bait in all my travels in November. Many people say it is in the backwaters and the Bay.

3. Blame it on the YOY- A lot of people in the know are citing the poor young of the year index in the Chesapeake Bay.  This measure of spawning has been poor in the last 4 years, causing far fewer schoolies which we tend to see at the end of the year and at the beginning of the year.  By the way, early spring fishing was also poor.

4. A lot of fish left early this year- True, we had outstanding striper fishing back in September and October.  But, with each storm (and there has been a lot of them), more and more fish and bait left.

For whatever the reason, the fishing is poor right now along the oceanfront, and the calendar keeps ticking away. I know fishing gets inconsistent after Thanksgiving so if it is going to happen, I hope it happens soon.

So Poor for This Time of Year

 We are mired in some of the poorest shore fishing for stripers I have ever seen in November.  This lull along the oceanfront has been going on for close to two weeks now.  There have been very few fish, little bait, no birds working and no fish showing.

Still, there are lots of people out trying and looking.  Today, I fished one of the more popular and productive beaches along the RI  south shore on this beautiful 70 degree day.  Before dark I counted 20 guys out there casting away.  I landed one small bluefish and another guy caught a small bluefish and that was it.  The mass of fishermen remained at and after dark, yet no more fish were caught. The conditions were perfect with a lot of white water and some small bait in front of me, yet not a single striper was caught. Later, on my way northward, I stopped and fished at two more "high percentage spots". Once again, no bait, no fish, no hits.

I have to say that I was quite surprised at the glowing fishing reports that appeared in numerous publications over the weekend. On what planet were they reporting this great striper fishing because I know of no one who fishes who is reporting any great striper fishing in the last ten days along the RI oceanfront.

So, some say the end is near.  I'm not buying it.  I think we are in a protracted lull that hopefully breaks once we get a shot of cooler weather.  I'm thinking the cooler weather will move some bait and stripers along the oceanfront, I plan to keep looking and fishing for stripers up until at least Thanksgiving, beyond if the weather stays warm. 

Lets hope our fishing gets back on track in the coming days because so far, November has been a bust.

Photo of the Day- "The Sunset was Great; The Fishing Not so Great"