Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my Loyal Readers

 

A rainbow forms along RI Sound.
For the most part we found a pot of gold at the end of 
the rainbow that brought outstanding fishing in 2022.

Grading the 2022 Season

 

It was a phenomenal year for big 
stripers from shore and kayak.

Overall, 2022 was one of the best saltwater fishing seasons ever here in RI.  Striper fishing overall was fantastic and the albie season was one the most memorable also.  Bluefish, however, was an up and down affair. 

My logs reveal that I landed just about 1,000 stripers this year with the majority of the fish being slots and over slots.  It was that good. 

Here is the way I saw it with a grade for each species of fish:

Striped bass- I will divide this category into three with schoolies, slots and over slots:

Schoolies- Here is a bit of a problem area. Young-of-the-year spawning has been poor in the last few years and we are seeing the results of that.   The early season action was fair at best and the late season action (November) was only ok if judged by past years.  I got my first migrating fish on April 15 along the south shore beaches.  That puts their arrival right on time. I never had what I would call a big day (over 10 fish) along the south shore in the spring, and I fished a lot. It was some fish here and there.  I did considerably better in the Bay from both shore and kayak. Still, numbers were way down compared to other years. At the other end of the calendar, November/early December delivered more schioolies than the spring but still numbers were off compared to past years. Grade for schoolies- B-

Slots and even over slots were around in huge 
numbers from June till late fall. Shore fishing
was fantastic at times.

Slots- This was the best year I have ever seen for these 28 to 35 inch fish.  They were around in massive numbers, especially from early summer till mid fall. There were days I was catching and releasing upwards of 20 and 30 slots, and it seemed like everyday delivered slot fish after slot fish.  At one point, I saw packed schools of so many slot fish in one oceanfront location that anglers were snagging them (legal but unethical!) This went on for weeks. In a one month period while fishing from my kayak in June/July I had over 200 stripers that were either slots or over slots. I've been fishing since the 1960's and have never seen a better year for these size fish. Grade for slots- A+

Over slots- These fish also were around in very good numbers. It has never been easy to catch a lot of stripers over 40 inches, but this was an exceptional year for those bigger fish here in RI.  My biggest of the year was a 47 incher from shore.  I had numerous fish in the 45 inch range from the kayak along with countless fish over 40 inches. Narragansett Bay was especially hot as we had big numbers of adult menhaden enter the Bay in May and they were around in big numbers right into summer.  Those large bunker attracted large stripers and large bluefish in astounding numbers. Grade for over slots- A

I landed good numbers of big blues from the
kayak and from shore in the early going.
From late May to July they were abundant
but there were very few around in the fall.

Bluefish- This was a tale of two seasons, early season from mid May to July and late season in the fall. Spring brought good numbers of bluefish especially in the warming waters of Gansett Bay. When I can stand in the water in my waders on May 20 and land 17 big blues (over 10 lbs. ) you know there are a lot around.  I was catching good numbers from shore and from my kayak. Many of the big blues in the Bay were chasing down the schools of menhaden and it was often a case of both large blues and big stripers under the same schools of bait. Biggest blues for me in the early going were around 15 lbs. The fall was a completely different story.  I saw almost no blues all fall and landed exactly 2 of them.  Even at times when there was a lot of bait, there were no blues after the abundant peanut bunker. Note that this pattern of abundant blues in the early season played out almost exactly the same in 2021. Grade for blues-C+

It was a very good year for albies, one of the
best of the last decade.  Some albie diehards
reported well over 100 fish landed from shore!

Albies- It was a very good year for albies, one of the best of the last decade.  I got my first ones of the year on September 13.  While the albie season started off late and slow, things picked up as September moved forward.  I did not target them as much as past years because I was chasing down the more abundant and consistent stripers. Also, rough weather also played havoc with these fish.  But, I know of diehard albie hunters who landed well over 100 albies from shore this year, a testament to their abundance. Grade for albies- A-

All Done?

 It's come to an end for me along the oceanfront.  I fished several times in the last week and found a fish here and there.  I also found good amounts of bait in places but no stripers after them. The numbers of fishermen trying has dwindled down to just about no-one. That all tells me that the stripers, for the most part, are gone.  In addition, the weather has been so stormy. These big blows of the last week seem to have moved the last remaining schools of fish away. In my mind, the consistent fishing is over though I still may go down if I hear something positive from a few friends who are still trying.  That's not to say you can't catch a fish along the oceanfront.  I'm guessing there are still some small scattered schools of fish that will be quickly moving along the RI south shore oceanfront in the next couple of weeks.  You will just have to be there at the right place and the right time to cash in on the action.  And, there is the wintering over fish that seem to inhabit many of our coastal ponds and rivers.  You will just have to find them and find fish that are willing to hit in the cold (not easy on these bitter cold days).

Despite a sub par November, this has been a banner year of striper fishing here in RI.  Really, one of the best of all time for good size stripers.  I'll be doing a year long wrap-up in the coming weeks in which I discuss the 2022 season in more detail.

Photo of the Day.....A Near Slot

 

I landed this near slot this evening just after dark. Fishing was
slow for the most part today with only 2 stripers and a few
hickory shad while doing a lot of looking and casting. 
My gut feeling is that fishing is winding down.

Thankful

 

As I write this blog post, my son Ben is down the oceanfront and into a big blitz of stripers on this Thanksgiving morning. Man, this has been a great striper year in RI.  Really one of the best of all time.  What is going on now is the grand finale to a year filled with fishing fireworks. We are lucky for what we have here in RI…..great fishing, loads of stripers, good access and loads of places to fish.

I will be spending Thanksgiving at my son Matt’s house with my sons and their wives along with the grandkids. As many of you know, I have four sons that I am very proud of.  You often see photos of them fishing on this blog. While they were a handful when they were young, they all grew up to be very good students, great athletes, dedicated workers, family oriented and wonderful people who are all well-liked by everyone who knows them. Since they all live within an hour of us, we see each other often, and we still fish a lot together, and I am really thankful for that.

Three of my sons, Matt, Chris and Ben are married to wonderful girls who are similar to them. I also now have four grandchildren.  Just in the last year we added two new grandchildren to the family. These kids, like their parents, are the BEST. The grandkids remind me so much of what my kids were like when they were young. All of them have a sense of adventure like their fathers and they have all a zest for life even at their young ages. They all have big personalities and smiles that are infectious.  All I have to do is smile at them and they are quick to return the joy. I hope I am still around when they get a bit older.  Can’t wait for the day that they join me in the surf fishing for stripers.

In the whole scheme of things, family is the most important part of life for me.  Fishing is simply a way to relax and enjoy the outdoors, a welcome diversion for me, and something I really enjoy. Retirement and good health allows me the opportunity to fish just about every single day.

As I get older I really cherish the times I can get out and fish because I know it won’t last forever.  But, I also love spending time with my own kids and the grandkids. I am lucky the way things turned out.  And, I am forever thankful for my wonderful and growing family.

My four bundles of joy, all future fishing buddies!

 

Good Times Keep Rolling

My son Jon landed this
near 40 inch striper from
the kayak today. Good
size fish are still in the mix.

 

My son Ben holds a hefty
schoolie that he cought 
recently at dark.

It's been a real cold and windy week, but the fishing continues to be hot along the oceanfront. There have been lots of peanut bunker schools migrating along the south shore, and that has attracted a lot of bird activity and a lot of scattered schools of feeding stripers. While the majority of the fish this week have been schoolies, there have been some good size fish in the mix.  On Sunday I fished with my son Ben.
  We found big numbers of fish along one of the south shore beaches. While we had dozens of hefty schoolies, we also had four slot fish and one over slot fish.  It was all on jigs....bucktails as well as Cocahoes.  Yesterday I scouted around and fished a number of spots.  I found schoolies in one location in the daytime, and after dark I had a solid slot (30 to 32 inches) along with another near slot.  Cocahoes caught all my fish.  Today, my son Jon got out in the kayak.  He had only one fish but it was a whopping 38 to 40 inches.

So, fishing is still very productive as we approach Thanksgiving. With a lot of people off from work on this holiday week, I'm sure many will be wetting a line. You should have no trouble finding fish along the oceanfront.

As Wild as it Gets

Gulls are hitting the water right in front of me.
They were after large peanut bunker.

 I walked out onto a deserted beach today.  Not a fisherman in sight and not a walker in sight.  But what I did see was a phenomenal sight of hundreds of gannets divebombing into schools of bait right in front of me. All the activity was about 200 yards off the beach so there was life there, and it would soon to turn into pure chaos.

Nothing at first and then suddenly I looked down the beach where I saw flocks of seagulls hitting the water and loons diving for bait.  It was all happening right in the wash, and I just knew there would be stripers there.  Sure enough, first cast with my NLBN lure, I was onto a decent schoolie.  I could now see stripers breaking in the wash after large (4 to 5 inch) peanut bunker that were flying out of the water.  The chaos moved down the beach, and I moved with it picking up stripers on just about every cast. Some were good size as I had several slot fish in the 28 to 30 inch range along with hefty schoolies in the 20 to 26 inch range.  For one glorious hour, it was a hit or a fish on just about every cast.

This slot fish took my NLBN lure.
This five inch paddle tail was red
hot today.

Make no mistake about it, the late fall migration of bait and stripers in here. It took awhile to get going, but it is here big time right now.  I have fished the last 5 days and have been getting about 25 fish a day.  While most have been schoolies, slot fish are in the mix daily.  

If you can stand the cold, you've got some of the hottest fishing of the fall right now along the oceanfront.