Spreading Out into the Bay

Here's a good size
schoolie taken from
shore in the Bay this
evening.

The fish hit a small
popper, unusual
in this early going.

Migrating schoolies are really sreading out throughout the state. For the first time this spring I fished the upper Bay, and caught stripers there too. I had been hearing reports from friends who have been catching in the lower Bay and mid Bay locations so I decided to try the Bay myself.
The crazy thing about tonight is that I caught two stripers, one a near keeper and the other about 20 inches, on small poppers. Both fish were super active and just blasted my surface offering. Usually you don't start getting them on topwater lures until things really warm up, but these fish were taking on top, a sure sign that things are heating up.  I also saw a couple of fish break for bait, another unusual activity in this early going.
So, it's happening all over right now.  With warm temperatures expected all week, look for some bigger fish and maybe even a few bluefish to arrive soon.

Really Good

Jon Pickering hoists up a triple header that
was landed on shrimp fly teasers and a Cocahoe
on a jighead.  That has been the hot lure combo.

The water is cold (40's), the air is cold, the winds have been wrong, but the fishing is hot. I have hit the oceanfront hard in the last three days and I can tell you the fishing is about as good as it gets at this time of year. I've found the fish in multiple spots along the oceanfront, and when you find them, there are a lot of them to catch.  My totals for the last three days are well over 50 fish. Those results have really exceeded my expectations.
The hot ticket to catching them has been a Cocahoe minnow fished on a jighead and fished below one or two shrimp teasers.  I've seen others scoring well with Clouser flies used as teasers.  I've had numerous double headers as well as some triple headers on this rig.  To get three schoolies to hit at the same time, there has to really be a big bunch of them.
I am also surprised at the size of the schoolies.  Last year there were lots of really tiny ones in the 10-14 inch range. However, this year's fish average about 20 inches with some being near keepers. There are really good size early season fish.

Off to a FLYING Start

I made my first trip to the oceanfront today, and the fishing was HOT.  Yes, the migrating schoolies have hit the RI oceanfront in a big way as I fished multiple spots and caught fish in every spot.

Cocahoes mounted on
half ounce jigheads were
hot numbers today.

The shrimp fly teaser was also
working as it caught about
a third of the fish.

It took me exactly 15 seconds to nail my first fish. On my very first cast, I landed my first striper of the new year. From then on, it was numerous singles and many numerous doubles as both the shrimp teaser and the Cocahoe were catching. All the fish today were schoolies with most of them good size running 20-25 inches on average.

These fish have been around for a few days now, but surprisingly, few fishermen were fishing today. I suspect that many fishermen are hanging on the sidelines just waiting to hear of good numbers of fish. They are here, and it should only get better in the coming weeks. By this time next week, I am guessing there will be keeper stripers in the mix. 

A new year has begun, and it's about time!

Nothing to Report

I am hearing what everyone else is hearing.  There are some holdover fish being taken in the backwaters, but no new fish moving along the oceanfront.  I mentioned many times that this would be an unusual year because of the brutal winter and the very cold spring that is in progress.  It will be a very late start.  As I sit here typing this, it  is a cold 38 degrees outside and the water temperatures along the oceanfront are in the mid forties.  In a nutshell, that is why we have no fish yet. Too cold.
Last year proved to be similar.  While a few fish were being taken in the last week or April, the real good fishing did not begin until the first week of May, very late by past standards.  We are looking at the same scenario for this year. With temperatures in the next week predicted to be only in the 50's, don't expect to see much. It will happen eventually, but you might just have to wait till May to see good numbers of stripers.

What's in the April Surfbag?

I know we are getting close to the start of a new striper season when I start packing my surfbag.  Some time within the next two weeks you will hear about migrating stripers being caught along the south shore or even in Narragansett Bay. While everything is late this year due to the brutal winter we had, I am guessing stripers will be arriving between April 20-25, maybe even a bit later if the weather is cool and earlier if we get a big warm-up.
So, what's in the surfbag for April fishing.  My bag reflects a heavy emphasis on jigs.  Early fish are all schoolies and they tend to grub along the bottom.  Jigs are the hottest lures in April, though I do carry a few plugs with me.  I might get a schoolie to come up and hit a popper in the early going in a warm water spot in the Bay. When I say jigs I mean bucktail jigs or plastic bodies (Cocahoes and Zoom flukes threaded onto jigheads.
Here's what's in my bag for April fishing:
1. Small plugs- a few poppers  in the 3-4 inch range and some small swimmers.
2. Plastic box loaded with jigheads (1/4-1 oz.) and an assortment of  bucktail jigs in the same sizes.
3. Bags of plastic- 3 and 4 inch white grub tails, bags of Zoom flukes in light color for Gansett Bay, bags of 3 and 4 inch Cochahoe minnows for oceanfront.
4. Leader wallet to hold leaders and teaser rigs (shrimp flies used as teasers)
5. Wooden egg floats to use with jig and float rigs.
6. Tools- Scissors to cut braid, pliers.
7. Extra swivels and snaps in a small container.

Newsflash....RI DEM Rules "One 28 inch striper a day for 2015 for recreational fishermen"

The roller coaster regarding striper regulations for 2015 has just taken another turn.  The RI Marine Fisheries Council, an advisory board to the DEM, submitted a reduction plan last month that called for one fish a day (28 in.) for recreational fishermen and 2 fish (32 in.) a day for "for hire" charter boats. Today, the DEM director, who had the final say, ruled one 28 fish a day for all recreational fishermen for 2015. From what I am hearing, two things swayed the final verdict.  The recreational fishing community, which wanted a fish a day, 28 inch limit, mounted a huge letter writing campaign and e-mail writing campaign directed toward Janet Coit, DEM Director, and newly elected Gov. Raimondo.  Secondly, all the states around us already opted for the one fish a day at 28 inches. So, starting this spring it will be one striper a day (28 in. ) for everyone (except commercial fishermen whose catches will be reduced by 25 %).
Here is a further link from the Providence Journal.

Will it Ever Get Started?

A lot of saltwater fishermen are itching to get out fishing after this brutal winter. While migrating fish have hit the oceanfront in late March in past warm years, don't expect that to happen this year.  There is still ice and ice flows along much of the coastal ponds and rivers from Narragansett Bay to the oceanfront. And, we can measure the snow in many feet that still has to melt inland which will send cold water gushing into the rivers and bays. Right now, NOAA is reporting a uniform water temperature of 35 degrees and that goes from Providence to Newport.
It will be a late start. If you took the average start along the oceanfront from the last 25 or 30 years, you would find that fishing usually begins about the second or third week in April.  But, everything is behind this year and the cold is not retreating. So, I'm guessing we won't see those first ones until the third or even fourth weeks of April.  Yes, it will get started eventually, but you'll just have to wait a while.