My New Fishing Bike, a Ride1Up Portola

 

Here is my new fishing e-bike, A Ride1Up
Portola bike

I treated myself to a new fishing bike, an e-bike. I bought a Ride1Up Portola foldable bike.  This bike is a large step through and I found it so easy to get on and off. I rigged the bike up with a milk crate and rod holders. See the website: Ride1Up

This bike is constantly in the top 3 as far as ratings. I got mine on a Memorial Day sale for $795, a phenomenal deal for e-bikes.  Normally, this sells for over a thousand dollars. The bike comes with a 10.4 ah battery and can go 20 to 40 miles on a charge. They also sell an optional larger battery.  It comes as a Class 2 bike out of the box meaning it mostly runs by pedal assist.  You start pedaling, and the motor helps to really get it going. For fishing this is a gamechanger as I can cover a lot of territory with little effort. The battery comes off when folding it up.  Without the battery, the bike weighs 51 lbs. I just fold it up, lift it and store it in the back of my truck when coming and going.

My milk crate with rod holders simply slide onto
the rear rack by using a Connect + bracket.
It can be easily removed with the push of a lever.

One feature that I really love is the Connect + system for the back rack.  You can slide in accessories if they have the Connect+ bracket.  I bought the bracket from the Ride1Up website and mounted it to my milk crate.  Now, I can easily slide it on and off.  This makes it so much easier to fold up the bike.

I took the bike on its maiden cruise yesterday along the most famous place where biking fishermen gather.  It worked like a charm pedaling into the wind and up hills. I can see myself using it in other private locations where you can't park a vehicle.

And, by the way, the bike DID get me into some fish! So, all's good for the first outing

Photo of the Day- "Catching with The Grandkids"

 

I went out last evening in my son Matt's boat.  We fished 
along the south shore of Boston, and just like here in RI,
there were good numbers of slots around! This one was
released in good shape.

This Baitfish Changing the Game

 

Sandeels have arrived and the stripers are on them.

As I arrived at the water last evening, I looked out to see lots of turns hitting the water about two to three casts off the shore where I was standing. At the same time I glanced down in a tidal pool next to me to find several dead sandeels. Yes, they have arrived, the birds have found them, and they will bring some hot fishing for stripers in the next month wherever they come ashore.

My evening started off slowly yesterday.  But, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the fishing suddenly improved.  Bait and predators moved closer to shore with the setting sun. I was fishing an Alie Snax, a good imitator of these slender baitfish. Before darkness set in, I was able to land a couple of schoolies and a couple of slot fish in the 28 to 31 inch range.  I also lost a much bigger fish.

Albie Snax are great to use when
stripers are feeding on sandeels.
Slim profiled artificials will be your
best bet.

No question, stripers tend to be fussy when feeding on this small, slender baitfish. Sandeels are hard to imitate, but I have a set of lures specifically packed into my bag to use when this happens.  The Albie Snax is a good choice as is the 7 1/2 inch Slug-Go.  Think thin profile and movement, and both have it. I might also use a Red Gill teaser when the fish are very fussy. The drawback to the teaser is that you could hook two big fish at the same time.  In that case, you will likely lose one or both fish. Some fishermen also opt for slender plastic flukes like a Lunker City Finesse Fish on a small jighead. Even small topwater plugs like a Rebel Jumpin' Minnow could get you a striper or two when sandeels are around. Fly fishermen do well with Deceiver flies. Large plugs tend to be ineffective when this small, slender bait is around.

The sandeel invasion tends to be a June thing here in RI.  It is just starting and should continue in the weeks ahead.  I see it as the prevalent bait right now.