ALBIES, BONITO and STRIPERS in Abundance

Bonito have also been in
the mix.

 

Albies hit the RI oceanfront
in big numbers this week. Here's
a large one I landed from shore.

It all broke open this week.  I just knew with the massive amounts of bait along the oceanfront that the fishing would explode.  And, it did.

The stripers and the bonito were already around with a few Spanish mackerel in the mix, and a few days ago big numbers of albies also hit the oceanfront.  Everything is feasting on the big schools of bay anchovies. While boaters have a big advantage on chasing down schools of albies, the shore guys are also scoring along deep water dropoffs at times. Mornings have been the most productive. There are tons of fishermen out their searching for the hardtails. I landed a couple this week on 1 1/2 oz. Clarkspoons, a hot metal lure.  Others are scoring well on white, amber or pink Albie Snax when the wind is at their back or when the fish are right in close. Boaters in particular are doing well with the Snax.

Lost in all this pelagic action is the fact that striper fishing has been super good in the last week with big numbers of bass around in the daylight in certain spots, especially in rough water.  In the last 4 days, I've landed close to 60 stripers from shore mostly using a float and jig and mostly fishing in white, rough water. I've seen very few fisherman even trying for stripers since most striper fishermen are directing their attention to the hot pelagic fishing.

There have also been good numbers of stripers around,
particularly in the evening. Most of them have 
been hefty schoolies but there are also slots
and overslots in the mix.

Massive Amounts of Bait Hits the Shore; Best Back to Back Outings this Year!

 A massive amount of bait hit the oceanfront in the last two days. The bait was bay anchovies of 2 to 3 inches, and big time numbers of stripers were on them.  It was fall blitz-like action that I haven't seen in a long time. Thousands of birds were diving from above as stripers were blasting from below.  It was two days of wild fishing for me which delivered big numbers of stripers from schoolies and slots up to an overslot of 40 inches. Most of the fish, however, were schoolies.

There were loads of fish, but I have to say they were fussy and lots of guys who were tossing large plugs were getting nothing.  When on small bait, stripers can be super fussy, and often you have to take a finesse approach to catch them.  Two artificials were very effective for me.  One the first day, I used an unweighted white Albie Snax which did the trick. On day 2, I had a stiff wind in my face so I went with a float and jig with a curly tail attached to the jig.

Hopefully, this is the start of consistent fall striper fishing.

Take a look at the bird/bait action below:

Post Labor Day Uptick

I found very good numbers of schoolies along 
the oceanfront today in some rough water.

 I know it is only one day after Labor Day, but already the fishing along the oceanfront has taken a big uptick for the better.  Today seemed to have good fishing no matter where you went with very few crowds. I love this time of year.

We had a big east wind today at the oceanfront and that kicked up the waves in certain locations.  Since the spring, every time I fished a rough surf, I've had good fishing.  Today was no exception.  I fished multiple spots and came away with real good numbers of stripers fishing in the white water pockets.  They were all schoolies in the 20 to 24 inch range.  All were caught on a float and jig.

In addition to the fish I caught, I saw birds working here, and there but no fish breaking. Still, a good sign. I'm guessing they were after micro bait that seems to be on the increase.  I also heard about some bonito, Spanish Mackerel and even some albies that were caught in various places along the oceanfront today.  Seems everything was active and on the prowl today.

This seems to be the start to fall fishing along the oceanfront.  With Labor day in the rearview mirror, it's time for the fishing to move into fall mode.