On FIRE!

The month has switched to October, but the results are the same.  The fishing continues at a blistering pace as I witnessed an all day blitz of stripers and bluefish today along the oceanfront.  There were so many fish that at one point that I stood on a rock and just watched hundreds of bass and blues in front of me swimming in the water whirling and feeding  in a slick of bay anchovies.

I fished with my son, Jon, today.  Together we landed ridiculous numbers of fish, maybe 40 bass and an equal number of bluefish.  We actually lost count.  He was using a Yo-Zuri swimmer which far outfished my bucktail jig.  But I stubbornly stayed with the jig because I did not want to deal with the treble hooks.  I also landed several decent fish on a Cocahoe on a jighead.  We probably had at least 8 keeper bass from 28-32 inches.  The rest of the stripers went 24-28 inches, real decent size.  The blues went 5-6 lbs. on average, but Jon had one big one that went about 12 lbs.

Today was no isolated blitz.  From what my sons and others tell me, this has been going on for three straight days.  It's mostly equal numbers of stripers and blues, but there are also false albacore in the mix.  Just wild fishing!  Our great fall fishing just keeps going.

A Rough and Tough Day

 

Today was a very stormy day along the oceanfront, a day that was marginal for fishing.   By late in the day, a driving rain, high winds, and a big charged up surf were battering the shoreline, making fishing near impossible.  However, my son, Ben, and I toughed it out and worked the very turbulent white water along the rocky shores of  'Gansett.  We saw no big numbers of fish, no birds working and no concentrations of bait, but we did manage to catch some fish.  We landed a total of 8 schoolies and Ben also got a false albacore.  They were all caught on a float and Cocahoe, a good choice to use in tight to the shore in rough, white water. I had planned to fish after dark, but worsening conditions and lots of weed in the water proved to be just too much so I called it quits.

Crazy Good......Stripers, Blues, Albies

Crazy good.  That says it all.  There are blitzes going on daily along the Gansett/ South Shore oceanfront as the fabulous September fishing continues at a blistering pace.  Just drive around, find the birds diving for bait and there are tons of fish under all that.  I've been surf  fishing the last two days and I can tell you that the action has been non-stop.  It seems to be mostly stripers and bluefish, although there are a sprinkling of albies around.  The rain bait has reappeared big time in the last two days, and there are also pods of mullet and peanut bunker around fueling the blitzes. 

The stripers have been all sizes.  Between my kids and I, we have landed over 50 stripers in the last two days.  Most of these have been in the 20-30 inch range, but a few fish were even bigger. My son, Jon, had a 32 inch fish yesterday (photo top left) on a small swimmer.  Ben's friend, Justin, a beginner, landed a 30 lb. striper on his first cast today.  And, this was his first striper EVER.  Talk about luck! 

Everything was working today as the fish were in a frenzy in the strong southwest wind and rough water.  I saw stripers being caught on Cocahoes, bucktail jigs, swimmers, poppers, Jumpin' Minnows and needlefish plugs. However, the hot plug continues to be that Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow which has taken many of our keepers in the last two days. 

The fishing continues to be as hot as it gets in September. This has been an epic month for us in RI and will go down as one of the best Septembers EVER!

Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow.......A HOT Plug

The hottest plug in the last few days for stripers for us has been the Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow. This is the same plug that I wrote about back in June as being red hot at the Cape Cod Canal.  I've never seen anyone using it in RI waters.  But, my son, Ben, and I have been using it the last few nights and racking up big numbers of keeper bass and big blues with it when other plugs are not producing (see keeper I landed last night at right).  With lots of mullet around, light colored swimmers are a very good bet to be using in both the daytime and at night.  The color we are using is a blue mackerel color.  However, it is a very light color overall,  so because of that it sort of has the looks of a mullet.  You can bet it has the movement judging by its effectiveness.  A big attribute of this plug is that it is one of the best casting swimmers I have ever used.  When casting, it cuts through the wind like an arrow and will outcast any other swimmer in your bag, making it very effective where a long cast is needed (that's why it is so popular in the Canal).  Ben was able to cast this plug at least 10-20 yards further than I could cast a Bomber of similar size.  The Salt Pro Minnow also weighs a bit more than other similar six inch plastic swimmers, yet wiggles down only about three feet on the retrieve.  If you are looking for some locally, Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown does stock them.

Mullet Luring Big Fish

Just about every report you read in the last few days talks about mullet showing up along the RI oceanfront.  And, when that big bait shows up it attracts lots of big fish, both striped bass as well as large bluefish.

Last night I fished with my son Ben.  We were in a spot where there were mullet and lots of them.  The predators were in hot pursuit as we could hear and see big fish busting all around us. I will admit that when large fish are on mullet, they can be fussy.  Yet, usually a swimmer with a light colored belly will  lure a big fish or two to hit after dark.  I was using a black back Bomber with a silver belly.  Ben was using a Canal special, the Daiwa Pro A minnow in a mackerel color. Both lures were catching fish.  We ended up with 8 keeper bass up to 36 inches along with one big blue (see pics of Ben's fish). We also had a number of other smaller fish that were close to keeper size.  It's hot fishing right now if you can find the mullet.  So long as the mullet stick around, the big fish will continue to hit.

Stripers Move in on Rough Water

Conditions along the oceanfront have been very rough the last few days as the big storm from a few days ago departed and a strong northeast wind developed in its wake.  The rocky shores along Gansett were taking a pounding yesterday.  Yet, if you could find clean water, you could find fish.  And, all the the fish are stripers. There has also been an influx of mullet along the whole oceanfront and that is also fueling the striper feed.

Yesterday was a good day of fishing.  I ended up with 18 stripers of which four were keepers in the 28-34 inch range (see keeper at left).  I got a lot of fish on a float and jig rig.  The jig was a 3/8 oz. flathead jig with a triple ripple grub tail attached.  That worked real well casting into the wind and moving it along the white water.  The other lure that worked well was a Kastmaster.  I was using a 2 oz. Kastmaster which delivered a long cast, something I needed in the location I was fishing. The stripers were also pouncing on that (see photo at right).

Looks like the stripers have replaced the albies and blues, but no complaints from my end. Our terrific September fishing is back on track.

From Feast to Famine

Poof, like magic, everything has disappeared.  The acres and acres of bay anchovies, the miles of false albacore busting, the rampaging schools  of blues and the stripers along the rocks....all gone.  With the bait gone, the predators have departed also.  This all happened this weekend as both Sunday and Monday were complete busts along the Narragansett shoreline from the Town Beach all the way to the Walls outside of Galilee.  We went from some of the hottest fishing on record in September to nothing.
I suspect this up and down fishing will be a trend this fall.  You will have outstanding fishing when a lot of bait comes around.  Without the bait, there will be very little.  You see, we have very few resident fish around.  I am trying a lot of places after dark where in the past I could pick up a fish here and there.  It's not happening this year because the fish are constantly on the move following the bait schools.
Today's storm should really be the finishing blow to our great fishing of the past week.  With 30-50 knot winds predicted and seven to ten foot seas, the storm is sure to dirty up the water with sand and weed.  It will certainly take a few days to get back to normal.  Hopefully, by that time, the bait will have returned along with improved fishing.