Best Night of the YEAR!

I knew things were going to be hot tonight as my son and I walked toward the water.  There were silversides just washing up on shore and others jumping further out to escape the stripers that were after them. It took just one cast and before I could even crank the reel, I was onto a fish.  The night continued like this for two and a half  hours as we had a fish or a hit on just about every single cast.
The hot ticket tonight was, once again, an albino Zoom fluke mounted onto a half ounce jighead (see photo at left).  That Zoom fluke is a dead ringer for silversides, and it was the ticket to catching loads of fish tonight. When the action subsided after dark, we had landed well over 100 fish.  Though most of them were schoolies of all sizes, my son Jon did manage to land one keeper (see photo at right) at dark.
The last 4 days/nights of fishing have been lights out for me as this has been the best stretch of the year so far.With no real hot weather in sight, the action should continue.

Photos of the Day....Hot Fishing from the Boat!

Steve Pickering plugged up this 32 inch striper (measured) in shallow water. It was the
biggest of dozens landed today. The fishing was hot on this Memorial Day.

I finally landed my first blue of the year, It, too, was plugged up in very
shallow water in 'Gansett Bay.

Hot Night in the Bay

Here is one of the larger schoolies that
was caught right at dark.  Fishing was hot
tonight in the Bay from shore.

It was more than the weather that was hot today.  I had myself the hottest night of the spring tonight in the Bay from shore.
Just yesterday I had written about how the fishing had been marginal in the past couple of weeks.  Well, things changed in a big way tonight for me as everything seemed to come together.  A change in weather was on the way ( a good indicator of good fishing), there was a load of bait in front of me (with fish breaking for them), and the stripers were aggressively on the rampage. I landed well over 30 fish in a two hour stint.  The fishing was especially hot right at dark with a fish or a hit on just about every cast of my Zoom fluke on a half ounce jighead.
Just what I had been seeing in the past couple of weeks, most of these fish were schoolies in the 12-20 inch range with a few larger ones in the mix. I had one fish that was  a near keeper.
So, you never know when luck will come your way.  It's a matter of getting out and fishing and sometimes, big things happen. Like tonight!

Holiday Weekend Outlook....You'll Have to Work to Catch 'Em

Jon Pickering holds a nice fish that was landed in the last week
in the Bay. There are less fish around but the sizes are better,

We have quickly moved into a summer fishing pattern here in RI.  The huge masses of migrating fish that we saw two or three weeks ago have moved on. The fishing scene from shore has become a fish here and there that you have to really work for. From the  boat, the numbers are less, though sometimes you are running into schools on top where there is bait. The shallows are also producing scattered fish that are sometimes fussy on the take.
I have gotten out just about every evening/ night in the last week.  I have been mostly fishing in the Bay. The numbers of fish I am catching in the last week have really dropped off. While I had no blanks, I am now catching 1-6 fish an outing using plastics.  It seems to me like the sizes have gotten better, but there are less of them.  I had no keepers in the last week, but I know many who have caught them.  The keepers in the Bay are generally running small, 28-30 inches. 
Judging by past years, the Bay should be crawling with larger fish by now.  It's not. My brother and I have been in the boat a couple of times in the last week, and we found scattered small schools of menhaden with nothing under them. Are the bigger fish (over 36 inches) just late in arriving or are they not coming? When you hear of bigger fish to the north in the Canal, it makes one wonder if it will happen here ....
I have also noticed in the last week that the fish are now hitting more and more after dark. Yes, that is another characteristic of summer fishing.
Finally, I have not gotten a bluefish yet.  I had one on  and had a chopped Slug-go last night, but no blues to the shore.  There is a lack of bait in the Bay and I think that is contributing to the lack of blues at this point.
So, as we head into the holiday weekend, the outlook is that there are still fish around, but if you want to catch them, you will have to work hard to find and catch them.

Fork Tailed Plastics Scoring in Bay

Fin-S fish on a worm hook
with no weight

Zoom fluke on a half
ounce jighead.

I am now fishing exclusively in the Bay.  It is far closer for me, and I believe it is more productive than the oceanfront right now. I have scored big numbers of fish in the last five days from schoolie up to small keepers.  Just about all of those fish which were taken from boat and from shore were caught on fork tailed plastic lures.
I've written many times about how the fan tailed Cocahoe Minnow is the top producer for spring stripers along the oceanfront.  While it works on occasion in the Bay, a fork tailed plastic lure like a Fin-S fish or a Zoom Fluke is a far better choice. While most fishermen know about these lures, few know the many ways to fish them.  I have caught fish this past week using all three methods described below.
Here are the three ways I fish these fork tailed lures:
1. On a jighead- This is how most fishermen use them.  Simply thread the plastic body like a Zoom fluke onto a lightweight (say half ounce) jighead and you are ready to go.  I like to reel in slowly and jerk the rod tip to get the lure to bounce along.  Most of my hits come as the jig is falling back down. My favorite fork tailed lure in this situation is a Zoom fluke in an albino color.
2.  Off a float-Take the same fork tailed lure described above and run it off a wooden egg float via about two to three feet of mono.  This works well when a long cast is needed or when you are casting into the wind. Just reel it in slowly and let the wave action move the lure.
3. On a worm hook with NO weight- This is one of our top ways to catch finicky fish.  In this case we tend to use a larger fork tailed plastic lure like a 5 inch Fin-S fish. Hook it onto one of those curvy wide gap hooks. Cast it and reel slowly with occasional twitches of the rod tip to make the lure dart and swim. If fish are whirling or following, stop reeling. The fish will often take it when it goes motionless.

First Outing in Boat; First Keepers from the Boat; First Big Blue

First big blue of the year for
 us comes from the Bay.

We had several keeper bass
today plugging plastics
on top in shallow water.

It was a day of firsts for us today.  We took the boat out for the first time this year in the Bay where  we found lots of fish.  We found many, many schoolies, some keeper stripers and a lone big blue.
There seemed to be  loads of fish around today just sitting in shallow water in various locations.  I'm talking water less than 8 feet deep. There were areas where we found keeper bass in the shallows and other areas where loads of schoolies were hanging out. And, that big blue....we caught him in about 4 feet of water.
The fish in those shallow areas of the Bay were mighty fussy as they sometimes are at this time of year.  We had loads of whirls and probably landed one fish for every ten hits. The only thing working was twitching a large Finesse Fish on the surface (rigged with just a hook). Even then, we would have many hits, whirls and follows without actual takes.  The fish were numerous but just not aggressive.  We also saw no bait.
So, the Bay is heating up, and we are in a period of spring fishing here in RI in which the fishing is productive along the oceanfront as well as in the Bay. It's a toss-up as to which area is better right now.

Photo of the Day...."After Dark Action Starting!"

This is one of many fish landed tonight after dark. Tonight
is the first night I was able to land good numbers of them at and
after dark. Many of tonight's fish were also decent size.