The Subtle Game

 

This slot limit keeper was landed
tonight on a jointed Bomber. While 
most of the fish around are schoolies,
there are keepers to be had after dark.

In the last few days, I haven't seen the big blitzes that were so prevalent along the RI oceanfront since September.  In fact, I haven't seen anything....no birds, no bait, no fish busting. But, I can tell you the fish are still here in BIG numbers. 

It's a subtle game these days. You have to get out and fish, plug a rocky shoreline, cast along the sandy beach and find the fish that are moving along the shoreline.  The guys who fish with binoculars are not scoring. The guys who are not casting are thinking it's coming to an end. The guys riding the beach in their 4x4 vehicles are not finding them unless they get out and fish. Truth is there are still a lot of fish around.

In the last two days I found real good numbers of fish in both the daytime and at night. While the majority of the fish are schoolies that seem to be smaller than a few weeks ago, there are still hefty 24 and 25 inch fish in the mix. And, there is that occasional slot limit keeper that seems to come after dark.  I got one of those tonight.  In the daytime, I continue to catch most of my fish on jigs, either bucktail or Cocahoes on jigheads. After dark, most of my fish are falling for swimmers.  I have landed fish on SP Minnows, jointed Red Fins and jointed Bombers.

The fish are still around but you have to put in the time and effort to catch them. It's just not as easy as it was last week as well as earlier in the fall.

Photo of the Day....Slot Limit Keeper

 

This slot limit keeper was landed tonight after
dark. Your chances of landing a keeper are
better after dark than in the daylight.  The fish
was released in good shape.

Schoolies, Keepers and Gannets

I have fished every day for the last seven days. Just some observations about the past week:

Here's a good size schoolie landed after dark this
week.  Schoolies have been abundant at night
with an occasional small keeper in the mix.

*Still a glut of fish around the oceanfront.  With this beautiful weather, it seems like there is no end in sight. It's been a very big week of fishing for me.

*So, so many schoolies around.  Astounding numbers of 12 to 27 inch fish.  It could just be the best "schoolie fall" I have ever seen. 

* How many schoolies do you have to go through before you get a keeper to hit.  From my numbers of the past week, I figure 1 fish in 200 is a keeper.  I've landed several keepers in the last week and they often come as a surprise.  One evening I was getting schoolie after schoolie and then suddenly I am onto a better fish of 28 inches. Most of those slot limit keepers are in the 28 to 30 inch range.

*Night fishing is still producing schoolies.  I have fished a lot at night in the last week with the time change hoping I could find better size fish.  I did land one small keeper after dark, but I continue to find a glut of schoolies in the darkness.

*I was treated to a real show this week as I saw a flock of gannets divebombing onto bait.  They are usually after big bait and we see loads of them when the ocean herring start their migration in mid November.  In the past I've seen them bombing onto ocean herring, but I've also seen them hitting large peanut bunker.  I suspect that was the bait on this day.

*With no cold weather in sight, this could be one of those rare years that  striper fishing holds up into December.

Big Storm has Moved on BUT Nothing has Changed!

 

Jigs continue to be the hot ticket
to catching fall schoolies. This one
was fished off the float.

The wind, the snow, the cold, and the big surf of the last couple of days have all departed.  In past years, a big storm like this would have moved all the fish out and we would have to wait days, maybe a week, for the fishing to improve.  Not this year. Yesterday  I saw masses of birds on bait, stripers breaking out far and fish whirling at my feet. The glut of fish just just seems to continue regardless of the weather.

I started out the day with low expectations, but I came away in awe of the numbers of fish I saw and caught.  I fished three different locations before and after dark along the oceanfront.  Every spot I fished was loaded. I landed big numbers of schoolies, many of them on the small side.  But, I did manage to snare one small slot limit keeper after dark. I also had a few hickory shad in the mix. All the fish I caught were on jigs.

We just finished one of the best Octobers I have ever seen along the oceanfront in RI.  I'm guessing November (at least the first half of the month) will be equally as good.

In the Slop

Yes, I did fish yesterday and today in the nasty and sloppy weather.  No change in the fishing.  Still loaded in many locations along the oceanfront.

Today was one of the wildest days I have seen this year weather-wise.  I got down to the oceanfront about 2:00 in the afternoon. There was a very light, hardly noticeable east wind.  No problem.  But, by the hour the wind increased, the temperature dropped, and by 5:00 PM the wind had to be blowing northeast at least 30 miles per hour with gusts over that. In addition, it was pelting rain and the wind was driving it so hard it was stinging my eyes.   This all charged up the water and with the charged up water, the fishing came to life. I saw no breaking but fish after fish were hitting my bucktail jig that was fished off the float in the charged up white water. Of course, there was not another fisherman in sight....just myself and my son Jon. I actually love fishing in nasty weather!

In the last two days, the fish seem to have gotten smaller.  Those larger schoolies and small keepers that were around throughout the month were not abundant.  Instead, these newer fish were in the 16 to 20 inch range for the most part with occasional 24 inch fish. I also saw lots of shad and some bluefish.

Sorry, but no photos.  Just too nasty and wet to bring out the phone or camera today.

Glut of Schoolies Continues

 

This is one of many schoolies landed
today. The Cocahoe was a hot lure.

I fished the last two days along the oceanfront tens of miles apart. The winds and surf conditions were vastly different. Yet, I experienced the same results.  It was loaded both days with schoolies as it has been the entire month of October. The October glut just continues.

The fish have switched their preferences from that pink Deceiver fly I was using last week to bucktails and Cocahoes this week.  Yesterday I was using and catching with the float and bucktail jig.  Today it was the 4-inch Cocahoe that was doing the most damage. Both lures are great for damage free catch-and-release.

Nearly all the fish this month have been schoolies in the 20 to 27 inch range.  Occasionally, you might catch or see a small slot limit keeper of 28 to 30 inches, but I have to tell you those fish are not abundant.  I saw hundreds of stripers landed today, and I did not see a single keeper.  That's just the way things have been going this season, and it's not about to change.

Lure of the Week

 

The hottest striper lure this week for me was not really a lure but a combination artificial.  It was the float and fly.  The hot fly was a homemade pink Deceiver while the float was a homemade wooden egg float. I had a three foot long section of 30 lb. test mono connecting the float to the fly. Stripers this week along the oceanfront were feeding on huge schools of small bay anchovies that were an inch or two long, so the fly was a good choice here. I would cast this rig out and reel slowly while giving the rod an occasional pull. It was outfishing any other lure I had!

Here's the formula for making the fly:

Hook: Mustad 34007 SS size 1/0

Thread: white

Tail: 4 pink saddle hackles

Body: Fine pink wool

Underwing: Sparse white bucktail

Overwing: Sparse white bucktail overlapped with blue bucktail

This slot limit keeper was landed on the float
and fly.  It was deadly all week for schoolies
and small keepers that were feeding on bay
anchovies.