Back to the Kayak.....Found the Bait, Found the Fish

Kayak fishing has been hot in the
last few days with good numbers
of slots and decent bluefish.

 It's been real hot fishing the last couple of days for me from the kayak. I found big numbers of peanut bunker and sure enough, big numbers of hungry stripers and blues were after them. It was chaos at times as fish were breaking all around me on and off. 

The stripers were running from 24 to 30 inches with about 50% slot fish.  The blues were running 5 to 8 lbs. Everything was hitting Rebel Jumpin' Minnows and the fish were super aggressive.  Very hungry!

So, looks like this sudden good fishing lately is turning into a fall run.  More bait is showing up and more and more stripers and blues are after them.

A slot from this morning from the kayak!

Rough Conditions Deliver Big Numbers of Stripers

 

This slot fish as well as most of 
my fish in the last two days fell
for a 2 oz. bucktail jig with a pink
Fat Cow jig strip attached.

The drought is over for me.  It's been a great two days/nights of striper fishing here  in RI. I fished multiple spots and found fish in all of them. I caught in the daylight and after dark. The common thread  in all the places I fished was that the surf was kicked up, the wind was howling and the stripers were in an active, fall feeding mode.

I had really good numbers of slot fish as well as some over slot fish. I got them on a variety of lures- big bucktail jigs with fat cow jig strips (pink), large NLBN paddle tails and even a large metal Hopkins lure.  The bass were not fussy. I'm sure I could have caught with swimmers and poppers but I wanted to avoid the treble hooks for my safety and the fishes' safety.

It is interesting to note that I saw little bait and no bird activity.  The fish were just there in big numbers poking around the white water.

Hopefully, this is the start of sustained, consistent fall run.  

Blues More Plentiful than Stripers Right Now; No Albies

 

I landed this blue yesterday evening
from shore on a Cocahoe.  They 
outnumber the stripers right now.

The striper fishing from shore continues to be poor along the oceanfront in RI. In fact, the bluefish fishing is a bit better as they outnumber the stripers right now.  I think we got spoiled over the last two years that produced some of the best August striper fishing I had ever seen here in RI.  This year is a different story.  There is a lack of bait, notably peanut bunker, along the oceanfront right now. The last two years saw massive amounts of this bait along the shore; this year has brought very little so far. I also think you are seeing the decline in numbers of stripers, something many have been predicting for a while.  We know there are few small schoolies around due to poor spawning in recent years.  The pressure has been on the larger fish, slots and above slots, and those were taken out in record numbers this spring and early summer.  You just can't keep taking and expect the well to be always be full.

As for the bluefish, they have been around, though I've seen no schools of them.  There seems to be loners here and there.  In one place that I fish, you probably have to cast for several hours and maybe you will pick up a blue or two. Boaters have been seeing small schools of them whenever a bit of bait comes around.  The blues I am catching are also super skinny, a sure sign that they are not eating much. Many of the blues this fall have been large ones over 10 lbs.

As for the albies, there have been a scant few taken by boaters mostly out near Block Island.  The oceanfront has had none that I know of.  Last year they appeared at this time, but there was tons of bait around to lure them in.  I don't think we will see a lot of them this year until the big schools of bait arrive.  Realize that albies have traditionally been a September fish with the first week of September marking the start. The albie thing has also been no guarantee.  Over the past couple of decades, there have been some banner years with lots of them, some average years such as last year with some and there have been some years with none. No one can accurately predict what will happen with these pelagic fish that spend most of their life offshore in the deep water.

Burning A Lot of Gas for a Few Fish

 

Here is one of four stripers I landed
today on the float and fly, a great 
choice when the bait is small and the
bass are fussy.  In this case, the fly
was a homemade pink Deceiver.

I've been out fishing four days/evenings in a row.  I've fished loads of places in RI along the oceanfront and elsewhere.  So, I have a pretty good handle on what's going on with shore fishing.

The RI oceanfront is DISMAL. There is little bait around and few resident stripers around.  I thought this would be the week. I had good water all week.  With a northeast wind, cool temperatures and rain, I fished great conditions with a lot of white water. In those three days of hard fishing, I landed exactly one 20 inch schoolie.  That was the only hit I could muster in RI. Last year and in 2021, things were hopping at this time in RI with terrific numbers of stripers, some blues, chub mackerel and even some bonito. None of that is happening this year so far in RI from shore.

Fed up, today I got in the truck and headed north rather than south. I found considerably more bait and fish in the places I tried.  But, the fish were very picky since they were feeding on half to one inch baitfish (baby peanuts or bay achovies, not sure). So, I got out my killer-for-small bait trick- the float and fly.  That did it since I landed some fish.  Not crazy, but I had a couple of slots and a couple of schoolies and good numbers of hits. Hey, it was action!

So, there are some fish around. You just might have to burn though a lot of that near $4 a gallon gas to find them if you are fishing from shore.

August Shore Fishing Fizzles Out; Lack of Stripers, Some Blues

 

We are back into slow fishing for stripers from 
shore. There are some big bluefish around but
you will need to make a lot of casts to catch one!
This one took a bucktail jig spiced with a Fat
Cow jig strip.

A week ago I would have told you we were on our way to fall-like fishing along the RI oceanfront.  But, as soon as it appeared, it ended.  I found that one big school of peanut bunker that was getting blitzed by hungry stripers last week.  Since then, I have not seen a peanut bunker.  There have been no birds and no amounts of bait near shore in the places I am fishing.  Just plain fizzled out.

So, I changed tactics a bit and started working white water locations in the hopes of finding a resident fish or two.  In four evenings of fishing I managed to catch just four schoolies.  Also, there are some big blues prowling around the oceanfront. I did catch a couple.  Make a thousand casts and you might get one blue to hit. There are no schools of them.

Last year at this time, the striper fishing was hot.  Tons of peanut bunker and bay anchovies were arriving daily with big schools of stripers after them.  Not so this year so far.

Hate to say it, but you are looking at slow fishing this weekend if you plan to fish from shore. Nighttime and very early morning or stormy days will offer your best shot at catching a bass or two.

Massive Amounts of Bait Light Up the Fishing

 The last couple of days have featured October blitzes in August along the RI oceanfront.  Massive amounts of bait in the form of peanut bunker and bay anchovies have lured in big schools of stripers and bluefish.  As I predicted a couple of posts ago, the fishing would light up once the bait arrives which would be soon.  Regardless of how warm the water is, large amounts of bait change the game.  Well, it's here and the fishing is fantastic! Take a look at this video clip from yesterday.....all stripers after peanut bunker!

Stripers, Blues and DOLPHINS!

 The fishing along the oceanfront has taken a dramatic turn for the better. Since the hot weather departed big schools of bait, bay anchovies and peanut bunker, have streamed into the area.  This has attracted good numbers of stripers and blues as well as other predators.

Yesterday I was watching a school of fish the size of a football field on the surface way out, stripers I presumed. Suddenly the surface erupted with massive splashes.  I thought it was bluefin tuna.  However, I soon saw the backs of dolphins cruising through the melee.  There were hundreds of them.  They put on a fabulous show for about 10 minutes. It was the first time I had ever seen them so close to shore (maybe 150 yards away). Take a look at the brief video below I shot with my phone of this event.