Wind + Clouds+Bait = Feeding Stripers within reach!!!

I was able to get down to a favorite spot of mine in the bay this weekend.  The conditions were promising with a steady wind, cloudy conditions and visible signs of larger bait being present.  I started out fishing a secondary spot at the location as my primary spot was being fished by another guy.  I watched him chug poppers through the white water being stirred up by the heavy surf for about a half hour.  Finally, he gave up and left.

As soon as he moved on, I moved in.  The water looked great.  The tide was just right.  On my second cast I landed a nice, hard-fighting schoolie-sized bass of about 26"-27".  The success continued for the next 30 minutes or so and made for a very memorable afternoon of fishing in what is usually a very slow month for taking striped bass from shore.   All in all I landed 6 nice sized shoolies the smallest being about 14"-15".


So, what was I using?  A home-made casting egg with a short leader and a home-tied 3/4 oz. white bucktail with a pork rind attached!  This setup is killer in these type of situations as I found out for the first time today!  Thank you Dave Pickering for all of your posts about using this very effective method for presenting a small offering in windy weather and rocky locations. 

It was a very memorable afternoon that I was blessed to share with my lovely and beautiful wife Jennifer who took these wonderful pictures.
See you in the surf - jc

Bluefish!!!

The past three evenings have been very exciting at one of my favorite south shore locations.  There are tons of small bait and plenty of action using top-water and subsurface artificials.  I had the pleasure of catching some 2-4 lb. blues on some of my own artificial poppers that I made out of some downed tree limbs from the yard over the winter.  Pretty cool. Jen (my beautiful wife) was able to land a couple of nice blues last evening as well.  I was very proud.

The picture here was taken by Dave Pickering who was also on the jetty yesterday.   You can see more at his excellent blog:  http://ristripedbass.blogspot.com/  
Ferocious blitzes like this occurred off and on for the entire time Jen and I were there.

Two days ago Jen and I had to run for cover during a massive blitz that stretched from the shore to the first bend of the jetty in order to escape lighting and a monsoon type rain.  As long as the bait is there, I'm sure the fish will remain as well.  See you in the surf! - jc

Great End to the Season

Mid-November was an exciting time here in South County, RI.  There was a ton of bait along the shore and the fish showed up in droves to feast.  It was great to see so many fishermen out enjoying the beautiful weather and the ferocious bite of monster Bluefish and schoolie Bass.  As long as that bait continues to hug the shore and the weather holds, RI fishermen should be in for a treat all along the south shore beaches and breachways in the coming days.  I'll see you in the surf - JC.