Stripers, Hickory Shad and Now, BLUEFISH!

Our terrific spring fishing of 2015 has suddenly gotten ever better.  My son, Jon, has been fishing big time along the oceanfront in the past week.  He has landed big numbers of stripers up to near keeper size, lots of hickory shad and even landed the first bluefish of the year (that I have heard about) today. He is fishing multiple locations.  He is having all this success while using small swimmers (4-inch Rapala X-Rap) along with shrimp fly teasers. The small swimmers have far outfished jigs and plastics in the last week along the oceanfront.
I have focused my attention on the Bay in the last two weeks.  I am still getting good numbers of stripers up to keeper size. The fish are hitting in the daytime as well as after dark. Most of my fish are falling for small skinny plastic fished off a float.  I would predict that by the weekend we will see some bluefish in the Bay.

Exceptionally Good

There are lots of them and they are hitting a
variety of lures.  They are spread out all over
the state along the oceanfront and the Bay.

Man, the fishing is good.  I'd say it is about the best spring fishing for stripers that I have seen in years. And, the fish seem to be all over the place.  In the last two days, I have landed 33 stripers that ranged from 14 inches to 30 inches.  There were several keepers or near keepers in the mix.  While I was having success in the upper Bay, my son, Jon, was slamming the fish at the oceanfront.  He had over 30 stripers along with 8 hickory shad his last two outings.  While we were both catching fish from shore, my brother Steve was killing them from the boat in the Bay, grabbing over 30 fish yesterday up to keeper size.
And, the fish are active.  Lots of different lures seem to be working. Yesterday, I was standing in a spot just watching fish break here and there all around me.  I don't know what they were feeding on, but they were hitting my small Slug-Gos fished off a float.  I was also getting some on a Zoom fluke threaded onto a half ounce jighead.  My son Jon was catching most of his fish at the oceanfront on small swimmers and shrimp fly teasers.  My brother Steve was scoring on small poppers. So, a lot of variety seems to be working.  That's what happens when the fish are plentiful and active.
As long as this weather remains cool and water temperatures remain cool (below 70 degrees), the fishing should continue to be exceptionally good.  It's been a great first month so far.

Very Effective Trick

The float and 6 inch Slug-Go is
very effective on fussy fish.

This lure combo led to big numbers
of stripers tonight up to keeper size.

Here's a neat lure trick I used tonight to catch big numbers of stripers up to keeper size in the Bay. I was fishing a spot from shore in which the fish were there as some were breaking and others occasionally hitting the jig I started off with.  But, my offerings were just not real effective on these fussy fish.
So, I snapped on a killer artificial I use when the fish get this way.  I was using a homemade wooden egg float with a small, 6 inch Slug-Go.  The skinny plastic was tied to about 2 1/2 feet of 30 lb. test mono which was tied to the float. To fish this artificial combo, reel in slowly while twitching the rod tip.  Occasionally, stop the retrieve for a few seconds.  This lure combo is deadly when fishing rough water and a wind in your face. The float allows a long cast while fishing a small and lightweight artificial (the Slug-Go) which can't be cast on its own. That 6 inch Slug-Go is a good size to use for fussy fish which I had in front of me tonight.

Pic of the Day......."Getting Bigger"

Steve Pickering holds a real good size fish that was taken from the  boat in the Bay.

Biggest Night of the Year; First KEEPER

First keeper of the year hit a white Slug-Go.

I landed several fish on
a Red Gill teaser that was
fished ahead of the Slug-Go.

Wow, the fishing is hot, about as good as it gets at this time of year.  Tonight I had my best outing of 2015 from shore as I landed over 30 fish in a short amount of time while fishing the Bay.  Most of the fish were hefty schoolies in the 20-26 inch range.  I even landed my first keeper of the new year, a fish of about 30 inches.  The white Slug-Go that I talked about in my last post was the killer tonight.  I also got a number of fish on a white Red Gill teaser fished ahead of the Slug-Go.
The fish are all over the state right now.  While I was fishing the Bay from shore tonight, my son Jon texted me that he was getting good numbers of fish along the oceanfront.  My brother Steve went out in the boat this morning and he caught good numbers of fish. All three of us were fishing completely different locations.
So far I have to say that while we had a late start to the fishing, it has become about as good as it gets in the springtime here in RI. No question, banner fishing right now!

On the Skinny Plastic

Skinny plastic like this Slug-Go was hot tonight.

For the first time this spring, I caught good numbers of schoolies tonight fishing skinny plastic from shore.  It is a sure sign that the water is warming and the fish are getting more active.
Tonight I was using a 7 1/2 inch white Slug-Go. Typically, you cast this out and twitch the rod tip on the retrieve to give this lure its action.  Tonight the stripers were fussy in some very calm water.  At first they would whirl it and follow it, but few actually hit the lure.  That changed when I adjusted the retrieve. On the retrieve, I would just stop stop reeling on occasion, letting the skinny plastic just sit there suspended for a few seconds.  This is something that really works for fussy fish. It  did tonight as nearly every fish I landed was hooked when I stopped reeling. Try it the next time you are into fussy fish while fishing skinny plastic.

From the Boat in the Bay...

Yes, the schoolies are in the
Bay also.  Zoom flukes
(right photo) threaded
onto lightweight jigheads
proved hot.
Also, the Bay was loaded with
schools of large menhaden but
there were no keepers on them.

Yes, the stripers are in the Bay also. We went out today in my brother's boat and did find some schoolies.  There were not a ton of them, but we did get some and had a good number of hits from some fussy fish.  The hot ticket to catching them was to use Zoom flukes on lightweight jigheads.  Like the oceanfront, the schoolies are generally averaging 20-22 inches, good size for early season fish..

The big surprise today in the Bay was the astounding numbers of large menhaden we found.  At times we were sitting in acres of them. And, they seemed to be all over the place. We did snag some and tried livelining this big bait, but got nothing.  There was no evidence of larger stripers under this abundant bait, but I can tell you it is only a matter of time before the large stripers find this big bait. Things are really looking up.