To all my Loyal Followers.....

 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Grading the 2023 Season Here in RI

 

It was a very good year for slot and above slot
stripers from shore and kayak in Narragansett Bay.

This season had its ups and downs. Striper fishing overall was very good for large fish, slots and above, but a lack of schoolies was evident.  Bluefish showed in good numbers with large fish fairly plentiful in the first half of the season. Albies were a disappointment overall.  Here is an in depth look at how things went for me in 2023.

Stripers:

Schoolies- We continue to see a decline in the numbers of schoolies which is probably due to poor spawning over the last five years in the Chesapeake Bay. The lack of schoolies, mostly those fish in the 14-24 inch range, was evident in the spring as the spring run of these small fish was poor along the south shore. I knew we were in for a different type of season when I landed my first five stripers along the oceanfront on April 18.  They were all slot fish! It would be the first time in decades that I failed to catch a striper at the West Wall (hotspot in past years) in the month of April even though I tried there often.  The schoolies were just not around in any numbers. For me, the Bay fished better than the oceanfront in the spring.  It was mostly slot fish there with some schoolies mixed in.  In fact, I caught very few small stripers through much of the year except in the late fall when we did have fair numbers of 16 to 20 inch schoolies around. Grade for schoolies-C-

Slot fish- The year started off at a 28-35 inch slot and then slimmed down to 28-31 inches. Regardless of what size you are using, there were very good numbers of these larger fish. Once again, the Bay fished hotter for me than the oceanfront in the spring and early summer.  I was getting good numbers of these fish from both shore and kayak. May was especially good.  Mixed in with these fish were good numbers of large bluefish (more on that later). This was a year in which I found less big menhaden in the Bay, although these slot fish were very willing to hit plugs like Jumpin Minnows, weightless flukes and Finesse Fish and NLBN paddle tails. This hot fishing for slots carried right into the fall with September being the best month of the fall.  The big northeast blows from mid to late September brought super fishing along the oceanfront in the rough water.  Still, the Bay continued to produce real well since a lot of peanut bunker were holed up in the Bay which attracted big numbers of slots. October and November fishing overall was subpar along the oceanfront. Note that we saw very few schools of peanut bunker along the oceanfront in mid to late fall. Grade for slot stripers-A

Both slots and over slots were abundant in 2023.
This one was taken in a September northeaster.
September was the hottest fall month this fall.

Over Slots- Those bigger fish, mostly over 35 inches were also around in good numbers, though I thought there were less around than last year. In other years I would find these fish around schools of large menhaden in the Bay. With less of this large bunker around, there were less large stripers around. Still, I was catching fair numbers of those 35 to 40 inch fish from both shore and kayak in the spring. September was excellent for slots and above slots in the stormy weather. My biggest striper of the year from RI, a 45 incher was caught on a float and jig in a September northeaster.  I had quite q few fish from shore in the 40 inch during that rough September weather along the oceanfront.  I also got several 40 inch stripers in the Bay fishing around schools of large peanut bunker from my kayak. Grade for over slots- B

This monster blue was landed in 
Narragansett Bay in May. There
were some monsters around, especially
in the first half of the season.

Bluefish- I will say that I landed more bluefish this year than any year in the last decade. And, I had some monsters.  They were around in good numbers, especially from May to September.  While I never found massive blitzes of these fish, these seemed to be mixed in with the stripers.  I found more in Narragansett Bay than along the oceanfront and had some wild days from my kayak in late spring. My first big hit on blues happened on May 20 in the Bay when I landed 17 from shore with fish up to 10 lbs. This hot fishing for blues would continue right into early summer as I landed many bluefish up into the 15 lb. range. The big ones were especially keying on the sparse schools of big menhaden.  I was also getting big loners along the oceanfront, mostly on bucktail jigs. But, the blues seemed to all disappear as fall progressed and I caught very few in October and November. Grade for blues- B

Albies- One word spells it out- SUBPAR. Overall, the shore fishing was way off, but you had a better shot at catching from a boat.  There were some around, but way off compared to other years.  In fact, this will be the first year in recent memory that I failed to catch even one albie.  In all my travels I never saw any within casting range.  Those sharpies who put in a lot of time and effort from shore probably caught less than half of what they caught in 2022. I threw in the towel on these and opted to put in my time chasing the far more abundant stripers. I think the lack of peanut bunker and the big storms along the oceanfront in September contributed to the subpar albie fishing this year. Grade for albies- C-

I caught good numbers of big blues from the kayak
in Narragansett Bay.  They were often feeding
with the larger stripers.

Subpar November Exposes Big Problems

 

Here's a November schoolie that hit
my NLBN paddle tails. It was a 
subpar November with schoolies in
short supply.

November is in the books, and it was NOT memorable.  There was a time just a short while ago when November shore fishing was lights out. I remember that surf casters would simply sit on a lawn chair on any of those south shore beaches and just wait for waves of fish to move along the beach.  Almost daily blitzes were common  along much of the south shore of RI.  In fact, I wrote many times that November was the new best month of the fall.  Not this year. That has all gone by the wayside this in what I think might be a new trend for future Novembers.

For me, this November was a matter of picking off fish here and there.  I would probe the white water, fish the boulder fields and work the breachway currents in search of a fish here and there.  Rarely did I find blitzing fish with birds diving and lots of bait. And, even when I did find numbers of fish, I rarely saw anything showing. 

This subpar November fishing exposes a big problem with the striped bass fishery.  Novembers in the past, especially the second half of the month, used to be dominated by small schoolies, those fish in the 16 to 20 inch range.  Those schoolies used to make up the bulk of the late November migration.  Today, because of poor spawning in the Chesapeake Bay for the last 4 years, there are fewer and fewer of these schoolies around.  Generally, I saw almost none all year until the end of November when we had some.

Everyone will rave about the bigger fish that were around in good numbers this year, mostly slots in the 28 to 31 inch range, but I also think there were less of them than last year for shore fishermen. Mixed in with those few November schoolies were occasional slots and even over slots that I caught mostly after dark. But, once again, less of them than last year.

This all points to a disturbing pattern of less fish with the pressing problem of far fewer schoolies. It does not bode well for the future unless the regulations are tightened.