Uptick in Activity.....Is the Fall Run Starting?

Here's one taken from the kayak
last evening. There has been a big
uptick in activity the last few days.

 Fishing is improving.  Just maybe a fall run is underway.  We'll see if it continues. Here's what's been happening in the last few days:

*Out in the kayak in the Bay, I've landed 16 fish, a combination of stripers and blues.  I saw a lot of bait and fish feeding.

*My son, Jon, has also been out in the kayak where he landed 45 bass up to slot size in the last couple of days.  He was fishing a different area than I was fishing telling me there are fish spreading out in different spots.

* Bonito are still running along the oceanfront as I have friends that are getting them. It continues to be a hit or miss deal but they are around. They guys are putting in a big effort and it's paying off.

* One of my friends called to say he was watching a school of fish today working on top close to shore along the oceanfront.  It was the first time he has seen this this year.

* Another friend told me he was into blitz type action with stripers a couple of days ago.  He said they were on big schools of peanut bunker moving along the shore.

* Finally, my son Chris sent me a video of stripers breaking for bait all along the beach for the last two days near his beach house at the Cape.  They were on the Cape Cod Bay side one day and on the Vineyard Sound side the other day. They are moving!

Photo of the Day- "FINALLY, Hit the Jackpot"

 

I'm back in the kayak, and it was a great move.
Found the bait and found the fish.
Landed good numbers of stripers and blues.

Mediocre

 

There are some bonito around but it is a hit or miss
deal.  I landed this one yesterday from shore. 

I'm being generous when I say the shore fishing here in RI is mediocre.  Compared to other years at this time, it is way off. In the last three days/evenings of fishing for me, I've landed a grand total of three schoolies and one small bonito. 

There are a few stripers around, and you have to make a lot of casts in a lot of spots to maybe get one fish. All those bonito that the reports are raving about.... the truth is that they are around, but it is a hit or miss deal.  In one particular hotspot where up to 50 anglers a morning gather at daybreak to cast for them, the word is that there has not been a single bonito caught in 6 straight days. I know several boaters who have not seen or caught a bonito in days. And, no one I know has seen or caught an albie.  They are just not around yet.  Finally, bluefish are almost non-existent.  I've landed two since August and have not seen another one landed.

So, what the heck is going on? There is simply little to no bait along the oceanfront to draw in the predators.  There are small pods of it here and there but no big amounts that would lure bass, blues and pelagics like in  past years. In some of the backwaters where there is bait, there are no predators on it.

We are just about in the middle of September and we've seen no sign of any fall run of any fish.  Things change fast at this time of year, and who knows, maybe shore fishing will change for the better in the next few days or weeks.

Slight Improvement

 

It was one lone striper last evening along with
a bluefish.  Fishing has improved slightly though
it is still way off for this time of year.

The poor shore striper fishing from the summer continues, but there has been a slight improvement in the last couple of days.  I'm beginning to see some small schools of bait along the oceanfront, something I have not seen in weeks.  These are mostly small bay achovies although some fishermen are reporting seeing some peanut bunker.  Big schools of peanut bunker would really get the fishing going.  I've also seen a few fish breaking and birds working over these bay anchovy schools. Some of these predators are bonito which have been popping up here and there.  But, some are also stripers and blues. 

 I was out last evening and did find some bait with a few fish on them. The ocean was flat and the water was clear making it difficult to fool the few fish that were around. I managed to get a striper and a blue along with a couple of sea robins on a bucktail jig.  While this is nothing to write home about, it beats my last three outings in which I was skunked.

Hopefully these cooler nights and dropping water temperatures will get the fish moving in our direction and feeding.