As Big as they Get!

 

They just don't get much bigger
than this alligator blue landed 
from the kayak today.
You have to look around to find
them.  Most likely they are around
schools of large bait.

The epic action for monster bluefish just continues in Narragansett Bay.  The last two evenings I caught them from the shore.  Today I got them from the kayak.  Wherever you can find bait, you most likely will find bluefish. And, the bigger the bait, the larger the blues.

Today I found large amounts of big peanut bunker, those 4 to 5 inch ones.  They were being blasted by large bluefish as well as stripers.  When this happens that Rebel Jumpin' Minnow is a dead ringer for this baitfish.  And, it worked to perfection today landing big numbers of stripers from schoolies to small slots and good numbers of huge bluefish up to 18 lbs.

This has been a strange year of fishing in the Bay. We've had good numbers of big bluefish but the large stripers (over 40 inches) have been scarce.  That's because we don't have large schools of adult menhaden all over the place like we had the last two years. However, the peanut bunker is abundant in spots (not everywhere and they move around).  Find that bait and you are likely to find big bluefish and stripers up to slot size. 

Photo of the Week- A Spectacular Fight

 

Not a tarpon but certainly fights like one! The hard
fighting blues have put on a show in recent weeks!

Epic Bluefish Action from the Yak

They have been huge and they have been
plentiful.

 In the last week, I have experienced some of the very best bluefish action I have ever encountered.  These blues are some of the biggest I have ever seen with good numbers of fish in the 15 to 20 lb. range.  Even the smaller ones are over 10 lbs. There are also a lot of them.  Except for a couple of fish, most of my gator blues have come from the kayak.

These blues are attracted to the warm water of the Bay at this time of year, although there are some good reports of them along the oceanfront also.  They come into the water waters of the Bay where the food is plentiful.  The smorgasbord is abundant- siliversides, large menhaden, peanut bunker and worms are all over the place.

All of my action has been on topwater offerings.  I've done especially well with spook type plugs like the Rebel Jumpin' Minnow and the Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil.

My advice to anyone who wants to catch these from a kayak is to be prepared.  Bluefish can be pose a danger when being landed.  I like to really tire them out, and once the fish is close to the yak, I will grab it with a Boga Grip.  Once in the hold of the gripper, I'll take my pliers and unhook the fish while in the water.  Once unhooked, I open up the gripper and let them go. You don't want to bring a blue into the Yak with a plug in its mouth. Lots of things can go wrong under that scenario.

The blues have been averaging 12 to 15 lbs.
There are some in the 15-20 lb. range in the mix!

Holiday Weekend Outlook: Slots, Schoolies, Blues

 

Big blues are showing up in both the Bay
and along the oceanfront. They are generally
where the bait is.

Memorial Day weekend is almost here and I suspect a lot of fishermen will be out and about in this beautiful spring weather. I've been out every evening in the past ten days.  I've fished from shore as well as the kayak and the results are the same: good numbers of stripers and some big blues, and not one single blank.  I've been spending my time mostly in the Bay, but I also hit some fish along the oceanfront. So, both areas offer good fishing right now.

Blues- They are around, and there are some real big ones.  The bigger ones are mostly on big bait (large pogies) but they are also feeding on silversides in some of the low water coves in the Bay. I got one last week that probably went 16 to 18 lbs. from shore and I had another monster from the kayak. I also had some of those 8 to 10 lbers. in the mix. I can tell you they are not all over the place, and you might have to go looking. They move when the bait moves. Topwater spook-type plugs have worked the best for me with the Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow the best producer. Boaters have a big advantage here in that they can move around and find the blues.

Stripers- They continue to be the headline as we have good numbers of slots as well as hefty schoolies (20 to 28 inches) around. There are rumors going around that bigger fish (over slots) are under the schools of pogies. Problem is that the Bay is not loaded with pogies yet so the bait as well as the much larger fish might be tough to find.  But, there are plenty of slots and schoolies around.  Last evening I fished from shore and found schoolies slamming schools of silversides.  I caught big numbers of them on a 4 inch Zoom Fluke threaded onto a 1/2 ounce jighead.  Earlier in the week, I found a good mix of schoolies and slots from the kayak in some skinny water.  These fish were taking unweighted super flukes fished on top. Along the oceanfront last week I hit a bunch of fish in some rough water while fishing a float and blucktail jig. Rebel Jumpin' Minnows and Slug-gos have also been working from both the shore and kayak. Boaters once again are at a big advantage because they can move around and find the fish. Shore fishermen will have the best luck from evening into the night and early morning.

There are good numbers of slots and hefty schoolies
around. Boaters have a big advantage but they
can be caught from shore especially in the evening
and after dark.

Photo of the Day.....This Morning's Slot

 

It was another good outing fishing from
the kayak. This slot fish fell for a Super 
Fluke twitched on top

Good Fishing From the Kayak

 

It was good numbers of hefty
schoolies and small slots from the 
kayak this evening.  The hot lure
was an unweighted Zoom fluke 
twitched on top.

I've been out in the kayak several times in the last week. Like shore fishing, I've found good numbers of stripers in the Bay while fishing from the yak.

Tonight I found a good bunch of them in some calm water, but they were oh so fussy.  While I did fool about a dozen fish I must have had 50 or 60 follows and whirls.  The only thing I was able to catch them on was an unweighted Super Zoom fluke rigged with a swimbait hook and fished on the top.  The trick was to bring it in fast with twitches of the rod tip and then stop reeling.  The fish would generally take on the stop if they were going to hit. This was no silver bullet as some fish would simply whirl and turn away, but some got excited enough to slam the offering. Most of tonight's fish were hefty schoolies but I did have a few fish that I would guess were just slots.

Newsflash- Striper Regulations About to Change

" On May 2, 2023, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Striped Bass Management Board (Board) voted to take emergency action to implement a 1 fish at 28″ to less than 31″ size slot limit for all ocean recreational striped bass fisheries coastwide.

This action responds to the unprecedented magnitude of 2022 recreational harvest, which is nearly double that of 2021, and new projections indicating that the stock has a very low chance of rebuilding if the higher 2022 fishing morality rate continues. The 31″ size restriction is designed to reduce harvest on the 2015 year-class, one of the last strong year-classes in the population, and a major factor in the recreational fishery’s increased harvest in 2022.

States must implement compliant measures as soon as possible and no later than July 2, 2023— or risk being found out-of-compliance and having a full harvest moratorium enacted. The emergency action will be in place for 180 days but could be extended by the Board. See the ASMFC press release for more information. The ASMFC will be holding informational webinars later in May on this action; details will be released as soon as possible."

Here's my thoughts on this:

*Kind of crazy to have a three inch slot.  What's next, 28 to 29 inches. If the stripers are in such bad shape, why not have a moratorium now?

*Changing regs in mid season will be a nightmare to enforce.  Heck, many in the fishing population have no idea what the current regs are right now.

* No mention in all of this about commerical fishing restrictions. Will their numbers be lowered too?

* In a state like RI, poaching is rampant. Any plans to deal with that?

*What set this all off was the big recreational harvest last year in which fishermen took out double what was caught in 2021. Big problem here is that anglers are allowed one fish a day. You can't believe how many fishermen will take a fish every single day and if they fish with spouse and kids, they will take one for each of them also. All legal, but not helping the fishery.  Another argument for shutting it down.

* I see a high mortality rate coming from those fishing with live pogies in the Bay.  Generally it is those 31 to 35 inch fish that are caught using this bait. Even when using a circle hook, expect a lot of gut hooked fish that will have to be released dead.

Finally, A Big Night at the Oceanfront

I was a night of abundant schoolie
along the oceanfront.  The hot lure
was the Cocahoe.

 For me, the Bay has been the hotspot for striper fishing this spring, though I have caught on and off along the oceanfront this spring. Because of the inconsistency along the oceanfront, I haven't fished much at the oceanfront. Because the tides were not favorable in the spots I like to fish in the Bay, I decided to try the oceanfront tonight. I had my best night of the year numbers-wise.  I landed very good numbers of fish while fishing some rough, white water with a wind in my face.  Perfect conditions.  My best lure tonight was a 4-inch Cocahoe mounted onto a 3/4 ounce jighead. All of tonight's fish were schoolies, far smaller than the abundant slots I have been catching in the Bay. Still, many of tonight's stripers were hefty schoolies around 24 inches.  Nothing wrong with that.

In addition to the hot fishing, I was treated to one of the best rainbows I have ever seen over the water. A real bonus.  Check it out below!

I was treated to this spectacular rainbow tonight.