What Works in One Spot May Not Work in Another

Last night I fished the ocean for a change.  I had been doing well in the lower Bay on the low end of the tide, but I lost the tide in that location. So, I fished the oceanfront in one of my high tide spots.  I started off with my pink Hogy, a lure that had been working well for me in low light and poor weather conditions at the oceanfront.  One the first cast, a schoolie came up and smacked it, but didn't take it.  I had several more hits but no takers.  So, time for a switch in lures.  I snapped on a Red Gill teaser rig with a small 6 inch white Hogy, a good choice for finicky fish.  This combo had been deadly earlier in the week in the lower Bay and I was sure this would catch these fussy schoolies.  Nothing doing.  They wouldn't even whirl at it.  So, I went back to my pink Hogy and continued to get hits and eventually got one fish.  It all points out that what works in one spot does not necessarily produce in another.  That's what makes fishing so interesting and complex.  Trial and error as well as experience often will point you in the direction of what produces.

A Very Good Outing

I made the move away from the upper Bay to the cooler waters southward yesterday evening.  It paid off with the best evening of fishing I have had in weeks.  The score for the night was 13 stripers from 18-26 inches and a lone blue.

If you get The Fisherman magazine, you'll see I have an article in this week's issue ( May31) titled Imitating Sand Eels.  Those tactics outlined in that article worked like a charm on last night's fish.  There was a lot of small bait around so I went with a teaser (Red Gill, see photo on right) rigged ahead of a 6 inch white Hogy.  That rig landed 3 double headers (see photo on left).  For the night, I got about half the fish on the teaser and half on the Hogy.  A teaser rig will be one of your prime offerings in the coming weeks when there will be a combination of small sandeels around as well as other small bait.  Right now is prime time to start adding a teaser to your leader.

2 Guys All Day in Boat.....1 Bass

My brother and I gave the upper and mid Bay one last shot today.  We spent all day in the boat fishing live menhaden in a number of good spots.  The results were one lone keeper bass of 33 inches (see photo).  Not good.
Once again, the upper Bay was saturated with menhaden.  There were acres and acres of them, and we could have snagged a barrel full  in no time.  However, except for a few pesky blues around those schools there were no stripers to be found. We had quite a few that we were livelining chopped by large blues.  The lone bass we were able to catch was in a mid Bay location in about 25 feet of water.  The bay water today was a warm 72-73 degrees everywhere we traveled.  That is way above normal for this time of year and could be one reason for the poor fishing. The other reason....simply, there are not that many large stripers around the Bay this year.

Bay Water Heats Up; Fishing Cools Off

A NOAA website lists the bay water temperature today at Conimicut, which is mid Bay, at 71 degrees.  In the last few days those reading have ranged from 71 to 74 degrees.  That sudden warm up has sent the stripers packing from the upper Bay waters.  I have not taken a striper in my last three outings in the upper Bay in various spots.  I got out last night and landed four bluefish and two fluke on bucktail jigs.  Yes, fluke from shore.  They usually are not around until late June, but water temps right now are what we see in late June and the Bay is fishing that way.
I suspect there is an exodus of stripers right now that are dropping down to the lower Bay and oceanfront.  This usually happens in mid to late June, but it is happening far earlier this year because of our mild weather and warm temperatures all spring.  Places like Jamestown and Newport as well as the oceanfront have deeper and cooler water (at least 5-7 degrees cooler) and more to the liking of striped bass at this time. So, as my brother said this weekend when referring to Bay striper fishing, "Put a fork in it because it is all done. "  I have to agree.  It's off to the oceanfront if you are looking for the best striper action.

Best Bets for Memorial Day Weekend

Oh, this is a tough weekend if you are a striper fisherman.  Just about everywhere you go along the Bay as well as the oceanfront there will be people and disruptions.  It is not ideal for fishing.  However, here's a few tips that might just get you some fish.

Bay-  If you fish from a boat, the Bay is loaded with menhaden and there are a few decent fish under them.  My son, Matt, took a 36 inch bass yesterday livelining menhaden.  There are also schools of fish popping up here and there after smaller bait.  Matt and my brother Steve landed a half dozen stripers up to 34 inches while plugging with Storm Shads under breaking fish.  If you are going out in a boat, the early morning bite has been the best.  If you fish the shore, try to fish at and after dark.  Things settle down after dark and the fish are now actively hitting at that time.  I got out last night and had two decent fish on (lost them) at dark and I saw several fish break.  Skinny plastic (Hogys or Slug Gos) have been hot.
Oceanfront-  If you are fishing from a boat, try the salt ponds.  Worm hatches are going on at this time and you should find numbers of breaking fish if the worms are hatching.  Small three inch Slug Gos have been hot. Fish them with light tackle or off a float.  Fly fishing is also good in the worn hatches.  From shore I would  target the breachways and the backwaters in early morning and at and after dark. Skinny plastic or small swimmers will be your best bet.  There are good numbers of small keepers (28-34 inches) around, decent fish to catch on light tackle in the backwaters.
Freshwater- If you want to avoid the drive to the ocean or Bay, why not try freshwater.  I got out this week a couple of times with my son, Jon, to fish for largemouth bass and we got good numbers of them up to 5 lbs.(see photo). They are really hitting plastic worms right now.  Jon loves that 5 inchYamamoto worm in a black color. You'd be surprised at how good freshwater is and how few people are doing it.

PINK Hogy Works Wonders Today

My son, Chris, needed help moving back home from Narragansett today.  So, I figured I would get down to the oceanfront early and fish a bit in the daytime and move his stuff later.  It was a good move.
I found decent numbers of keeper bass and landed three good fish from 30-37 inches thanks to my 9 inch, skinny pink Hogy.  At first I was using a white Slug Go.  I had a couple of whirls but no takers.  When I put the pink Hogy on, BANG, instant success with a thirty inch fish.  I got two more bigger fish to take it and had several more whirls and hits. In the past that pink Hogy has been a good producer in the daytime at this time of year, and it worked like a charm today.


I believe the fishing was good today because it was a lousy day weatherwise with northeast winds, a constant drizzle and fog.  The water was also rough.  These were all decent conditions to score in the daytime. I'm almost certain that a sunny day would have produced nothing.

Miles of Menhaden; No Big Fish

I went out in the boat yesterday in the upper Bay with my brother.  I have NEVER seen so many menhaden (pogies).  They were everywhere.  In some many locations, there were individual fish flipping on the surface; in other spots they were bunched up in schools.  This went on for MILES.  Yet, no big fish were after them.  We snagged a number of them and livelined them in some high percentage spots (past years), and the only thing we came away with was two chopped pogies from bluefish bites.
So, where are the big fish?  I'm talking big stripers over 36 inches and large bluefish over ten pounds.  They are nowhere to be found.  As far as big fish, the Bay has been a big disappointment thus far with very few big ones around.  With the loads of big bait around and the warming waters, we should have an abundance of large fish, but we don't. Heck, there are no even many boat fishermen around as the word has gotten out that the fishing for large fish is poor.
On the other hand, we do have good numbers of small keeper bass around.  Most of these fish, 28-32 inches, are way in the backwaters of the Bay in places like rivers and estuaries.  In those places they are feeding on small bait such as shrimp and small baitfish.  These smaller keepers are not capable of taking large menhaden, and that's why we are not seeing them under the schools of big bait.
So, unless things perk up very quickly, and I don't think that will happen, it's looking like a poor spring in the Bay for big stripers and large bluefish.