Loads of Small Stripers; Tons of Small Bait

 

I landed this hefty schoolie today
on a bucktail jig. There have been
big numbers of small bass in the last
few days along the oceanfront.

The good times are rolling at the RI oceanfront with the migration is full swing.  This week we've seen tons of small bait, mostly bay anchovies that are a half to an inch long.  In places their masses have turned the water brown.  Last night I was on a beach and saw big numbers of them being washed right up onto the sand. The abundant bait has lured all kinds of fish right close to shore at times.  While smaller stripers have made up the big numbers, I have also seen some hickory shad, bonito, bluefish and black sea bass.  Just about everything is eating this stuff.

Today I had a banner day in some stormy conditions.  I landed big numbers of stripers, mostly schoolies, working my float and bucktail jig in the white water where I was fishing. While most of my bass were in the 18 to 24 inch range, I also managed one slot fish. Mixed in with all these schoolies this week have been some slots and even some over slot fish.

All year we have seen very few schoolies. It's been mostly slot fish. So this is a bit unusual. There have been big numbers of these smaller fish in the last week so that is a good sign.

There was a glut of bait in front of me today.
Here cormorants are feeding on the bay 
anchovies along with seagulls diving down
for the bait. Stripers were lurking below!

Photo of the Day- "Slug-go Scores After Dark"

 

I landed this 30 inch striper last night
after dark.  I have been getting some
decent fish lately at night and all the action has
come on the Slug-go.

                                                  

Chubbies Putting on a Show

 

Chub mackerel have been around in good numbers
this week.  I've caught good numbers on a 
3-inch NLBN paddle tail.

Although we usually see these fish in September, the chub mackerel are staging a late season show.  They have been around the oceanfront this week in good numbers. It's the first time I have seen them this year.

These are easily recognized by the way they blitz on the surface.  The water will "boil" in a froth when they attack schools of small bait. They move fast.  I've seen many schools pop up this week, and maybe I had 5 seconds to get the lure just ahead of the breaking fish.

This species of mackerel is quite chunky.  They measure 12 to 15 inches in length but have wide girths.  They fight well for their size.  I catch most of mine on a small, 3-inch NLBN paddle tail.  Other fishermen might use small epoxy jigs or small metal lures, similar lures you'd use for albies or bonito.  Going small is the key.

Check out this school boiling on the surface yesterday.

WILD Outing- Stripers on Top, Bonito Below

 

Good size stripers were on the prowl in recent
days. The float and fly was the ticket.

It's been a wild couple of days for me as I have been chasing down big blitzes of fish.  Both stripers and bonito (yes, they are still around!)  are feeding on huge schools of small bay anchovies that are sometimes less than an inch in size. What has been bizarre and something I have not seen in the past is that BOTH bonito and stripers are in the same mix. For the most part the stripers have been slurping on top while the bonito have been down deep and not showing but still feeding.

Yesterday I kept rotating lures.  When the stripers were slurping in front of me, I would go with the float and fly, a combo that has been deadly in the last few days.  It far out fished anything other fishermen were throwing. When no stripers were showing, I switched to a green backed Colt Sniper lure that was a killer for the bonito. I would cast out as far as I could and let the lure sink almost to the bottom.  Then, I would reel fast. I had either a hit or a fish on at least 50 % of my casts.

Bonito were feeding down deep, often under the 
stripers.  The Colt Sniper lure was a hot lure
yesterday.  A fast retrieve was best.

I ended my day with 20 stripers landed.  They were just about all slots. I also landed 5 bonito but had a ton more hits and fish on. The bonito were running 3 to 5 lbs., generally the size we've had all fall.

Blitz of the Week!

 The striper fishing has gone from red hot to ice cold in a matter of days. On Friday I hit one of the biggest blitzes of fish that I have seen in years.  At one point a school of fish in front of me was bigger than the size of a football field. It was a wild scene with fish breaking, birds diving and bait flying out all over the place.  It was all slot size fish with even some over slots in the mix.

Two days later I can't find a fish anywhere. Our up and down year continues!

Float and Fly Kills It Today

 

The float and fly was super effective
today because the stripers were feeding
on small bay anchovies.

Today was the best day of fishing for me this year! I hit a massive blitz of stripers that were feeding on small bay anchovies.  This is a slender baitfish that is super hard to imitate, but I have a trick up my sleeve for when this happens. While a number of fishermen had a very difficult time getting the fish to hit, they were readily smashing my float and fly.  These were all decent fish, mostly slots with one large overslot that I landed.

The killer was the float and fly.  The fly, a homemade pink Deceiver, is a perfect imitator of this small bait.  It has the profile, size and the movement to imitate bay anchovies.  The egg float is simply a casting weight to get the fly out.  Reel slowly with and occasional pull of the rod tip.  Even stop reeling once in a while.  Many hits will come on the stop. 

Many fishermen will knock this set up saying it only catches small fish.  Not true. This is the same crowd that mistakenly will tell you that you have to use a big plug to catch a big fish. Not when the fish are feeding on two inch baitfish. Today out of hundreds of fish landed, I had the biggest one I saw,  a fish that I estimated to be 23 lbs.

One of many, many fish that fell for the float and
fly today.  Note the pink Deceiver in the fish's mouth.

Stripers Gone Wild!

 

                                                     

                                             It was a wild day at the oceanfront as stripers were on

                                             big schools of small bay anchovies!