Photo of the Day- "FIRST KEEPER"

 

Got my first keeper of the year.  Yup, it's early but
they are around! This one fell for a Slug-go and hit
right at dark.  And, surprise, it was caught in the Bay!

It's a START!

I landed decent numbers of schoolies
that had lice on them tonight. The
migration has arrived.

 I landed one lone fish, a scout, about a week ago along the oceanfront.  In my mind, the season kicks off when I can land more than one fish in an outing.  Well, tonight that happened as I landed good numbers of schoolies that had lice on them, a sure sign that the migrating fish have arrived. My season has really begun.

In the spot I was fishing, I saw about 18 fish landed tonight by half a dozen fishermen.  These were all schoolies in the 14 to 22 inch range.  Most of the fish were caught on some type of paddle tail jig.  I got my fish on a white, NLBN, three inch paddle tail on a half ounce jighead. These have been my best producers in the last year when the fish are taking jigs.

So, the fish are here.  Look for these coming attractions in the next week or so.  Keepers should be here within week or so.  The fish should be moving into the Bay and the salt ponds along the oceanfront within the next few days.  And, it wouldn't surprise me if we see a bluefish caught before May 1.

It's happening!

First One Landed!

 

It's the first one from the oceanfront
for me this year. Expect good
numbers of them in the coming week.

I landed my first striper of the year from the oceanfront today, a fish I would call a "scout".  In striper fishing lingo, a scout is one of the early arrivals that makes it's way ahead of the main body of fish.  I suspect this was a scout because it was the only one that I landed.  I'm guessing within a few days, we will begin to see greater numbers of them as schools of migrating stripers arrive.

The fish was about 20 to 21 inches.  It was caught on a white, 3 inch NLBN paddle tail.  I fished several locations along the oceanfront, but this was the only hit I had from late afternoon into the evening.

On the blog I had predicted the first fish would be caught on April 15 and that's just what happened. Last year I got my first one on the 15th also. Yes, they do follow a predictable pattern. 

Here's another prediction- I'll have my first keeper within the next 10 days! 

Coming Attractions

They should be here within a couple of weeks!

 A new season is almost here.  Within a couple of weeks migrating stripers will hit the oceanfront and that will commence the spring runs.

Here is a timetable of what I think will happen based over 50 years of keeping fishing logs.

Middle of April- First stripers of the season, these fish that will have sea lice on them and will be caught along the oceanfront.  I tend to go by April 15th, give or take a few days.  Oftentimes, a warm southwest blow will be the mover that will push schools of fish onto the shore. Jigs, bucktails, paddletails and flukes on jigheads will be your top producers.

Late April/Early May- Stripers will start to be caught in Narragansett Bay by boaters and shore fishermen. Shallow locations where the water warms up quickly will be your best bets.  Jigs still work but the fish will quickly start to hit topwater plugs as the waters warm.  You might even see some big fish as the first pogy (menhaden) schools enter the Bay. These should attract some over slot fish.

Early May- Bluefish will arrive in the beginning of May especially if we hit a warm spell.  The last few years have delivered some big blues in the early going. It could happen along the oceanfront or in the Bay, but my bet is that I'll get the first blue over 10 lbs. from the Bay.  They, too, will be on the tails of migrating menhaden.

Really Enjoying this Winter!

 

Here's a big pickerel I jigged up
through the ice a few weeks ago.
It's been the best ice fishing year in
over a decade!

I'm sure many of you are sick of winter at this point and looking forward to spring.  But, I just love winter and the snowier and colder the better. 

I have really enjoyed this winter.  I did a lot of skiing.  It's not over yet and I plan to go till April.  I've logged in over 50 days on the slopes thusfar and I'm hoping to go at least another 15 days.  I've been able to do this with friends, my sons and my two oldest grandkids. I also got to go ice fishing many times this winter, maybe more than the last five winters combined. The last time I went (last week) I was cutting through 12 inches of ice with my brand new electric auger. The ice fishing has been super productive for multiple species of fish. I've only been jigging, but that has been real good. I've also been able to do this with all my sons and even some of the grandkids.

So, while I am also looking forward to spring around the corner and getting back to salt and freshwater open water fishing, I will savor those last few weeks of winter. It has been a winter to remember!

I'm at the top of Wachusett mountain skiing
with my grandson Troy and my granddaughter Hailey.
It's been a great winter for skiing!

Next Big show- Springfield Sportsmen's Show

 The next big show where I will be doing carp and striper fishing seminars is the Springfield Sportsmen's Show. This big outdoor show will be held at the Big E in Springfield from Friday, Feb., 21 to Sunday, Feb. 23. This show has everything for the outdoor enthusiast.  It has freshwater fishing, saltwater fishing, hunting, outfitters, tackle shops., boats and kayaks and more. It is held in a massive venue and draws big numbers of people.

I will be doing my two new seminars for this year titled Seasonal Strategies for Carp and Seasonal Strategies for Stripers.  Most likely I will be doing these on Saturday, Feb. 22.  As of right now, the exact schedule has not been posted yet.  The website should have the schedule up this week.

Hope to see many of my followers at the show.

Update: My striper fishing seminar will take place on Saturday at 1:00 in Seminar room A.

Red Hot Ice Fishing Continues

Ben Pickering holds a good size 
largemouth that was landed on a small
Kastmaster with an artificial maggot
attached.

We are on a roll with the ice fishing as my sons and I have been
jigging multiple ponds in both MA and RI and catching. And, the results have been the same with big numbers of crappie, yellow perch, bass and pickerel. We've also had some real braggin' size fish. All these fish are falling for small gold Kastmasters spiced with a real meal worm or an artificial plastic maggot. The plastic maggots seem to be just as effective as the real meal worms.

With the cold weather forecast to continue we just might have the ice till the end of the month.  This weekend we hit multiple places that had anywhere from 8 to 10 inches of ice. So far, I have done more ice fishing in 2025 than the last 5 years combined!

I landed this good size pickerel while jigging this weekend.
The ice fishing has been red hot.