Spring Run Starting and ( A Few Pogies)

Went out this weekend and found a few fish and it was definately an early morning bite. They were a bit fussy but a white or white with yellow back 4" wildeye shad seemed to do the trick. The fish were spread out from Jamestown to Barrington beach and finding them was not the easiest thing. The were barely showing on the surface with minimal bird activity. School size was small and they were very boat shy which is pretty common this time of year. Size ranged from 20-32 in with most stripers in the 27-30 in range. The trick was to really move around and search for bird activity and swirls, tough to do if it's rough so early morning was the best time. Had to sneak up on what fish I could find and drift from upwind into them with the motor off.

I'm not sure if the fishing will get better or not. Last year it never really got going as good as previous years so who knows about this year. The next week will probably be a really good indicator of the fishing to come. Bait is really spread out and minimal right now. Tides this week are really big so that should get things going. Only time will tell.

NOTE -MANHADEN (POGIES):

Was heading back to the ramp Sunday and came across a good size group of manhaden, these are the first I've seen this year. Managed to snag 9 of them before they sounded. If they come in in full force the big fish usually follow. We'll have to wait and see but it was a really good sign.

Check out the video below:

Jelly fish Invasion

Went out yesterday, Sunday to scout around and see if anything was happening. I saw hundreds of thousands of jelly fish from Jamestown to Prudence. Talked to my brother( Dave Pickering)about it and he told me he saw them from shore in the providence river. I've never seen this many this early, they were pinkish yellow with long tenticles and ranged from baseball size to basketball size. I was curious if this could affect the spring striper run so I emailed save the bay and asked about this species and there feeding habits. I'll keep you posted to their response. Oh and by the way didn't catch or see any early season schoolies yet.

Update 5/3/11 :

Got an email from save the bays John Torgan. He identified the jelly fish as Lions Mane and indicated that there is an unusually heavy bloom of them this year. He doesnt see an issue between Striped bass and the jelly fish because the jelly's feed on tiny zooplankton which is not on the stripers menu. Good news! I still think the early season run is going to start very soon.

Meteoroligical Data Points to a big Boating week for Stripers

Just got off the NOAA site (see links on left). With all this warm weather the water temp has reached and even pass the magical 52 degree mark. Next weeks weather is calling for cloudy days. The tides from Sunday through Friday are relative big and there morning tides. All this spells big numbers of Stripers showing at most of the mid bay hot spots. If you can get out for an early morning run it may be well worth the effort. Over the last 4 years I've absolutely killed early season striper under these conditions at this time of year (see previous posts). 2 years ago I caught over 80 striper in the 24-32 inch range in 1 day. Mind you it was a 12 hour day but I couldn't stop fishing it was that good. I dont know how good this year will be but I can tell you I'm pretty sure it will start this week. The lure of choice is usually a cocahoe (white) with a 3/8 oz jig head. I've tried just about everything over the last few years and thats the one the works the best. Light tackle is also alot of fun on these fish. So get the boat ready spool up your reals dust off the rods and get out there. You'll find the fish from jamestown to barington beach east or west passage, it may take a while to find them but when you do it can be a blast.

Some schoolies in upper bay

Got the boat ready last week. Went out with my brother dave for a shake down run everything worked fine and we even caught a few schoolies. The fish were hold up in specific areas we had to move around and once we got a hit/fish we stayed in that spot (search and destroy). The lure of choice was a zoom fluke in albino with a 3/8 oz jig head. All the fish we caught were in the upper bay rivers in relatively shallow water 5-8 ft depth. This time of the year that water heats up first and that in turn activates the fish. fish were small 16-20 in but on light tackle it was fun.

Spring Striper Run is On

Went out a few times over the Last week and the stripers are active. I caught fish from mid bay to upper bay. There's a mix of bait they are feeding on but it's mostly small bay anchovies. When they're on the small stuff they can be fussy. The only thing I found effective was a 3" cocahoe in either white or white with a blue back with a 3/8 oz jig head retrieved slowly. You have to practically hit them on the head but be patient they will take it. Search for birds working the bait and the bass will be under them. They are also pretty boat shy so sneek up on them from up wind with the motor off, if your lucky the bait will use the boat for cover. Check out the video compilation below.

The Spring Striper Run has Started

April 17-April 22

Earlier in the week (April 17) I went down to the coast to do some casting in hopes of bagging a few fish. Caught 4 one evening and another 10 a few days later. Seems there’s quite a few schoolies showing up along the coast, they’re generally small but a lot of fun. A 10lb test class outfit along with 3/8 oz jig head and a white/glow cocahoe seem to be what they want.

April 23 Striper madness II (“Kind of”)

Tried to take the boat out earlier in the week but I had technical difficulties with the new Mercury from Bass Pro. So I called Robert Pospisil (Service manager Bass Pro Shops foxborough RSPospisil@basspro.com , 508-216-2671) and they got me in right away and rectified the problem. Those guys are awesome!!! After picking up the boat I figured I’d go out for a shake down run just to make sure everything was in working order. I didn’t really expect to catch much since the water hasn’t been consistently over 50 degrees, but I needed to break in the new motor anyway. So I called my brother David and we took some rods for the heck of it. Stayed in the upper bay casted around and puttered around for an hour or so then BAM!!! Stripers every cast we even had a few doubles. After about 2 hours of nonstop catching (not fishing) we had about 35-40 schoolies a piece that’s about 80 fish total. Most of the fish were small (17-20 inches) but for this early in the year it was really unexpected and a lot of fun. By the way we were the only boat out there. Most of the fish were also very fresh looking I doubt they were hold overs. They initially hit cocahoes and zoom flukes but they turned fussy and would only take the zoom fluke. We used a 10 lb class outfit with a 3 inch cocahoe or zoom fluke in white/albino and a 3/8 oz jig head. Click on the video below:

The real striper madness II (Prediction) See early May post Last year

Ok here it goes I just checked the NOAA data and the mid bay water temp is flirting with 50 degrees. There’s also a big tide this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It’s possible the big mid bay blitz could start one of these days. If it doesn’t I pretty sure it will start within the next few weeks. Everything along the coast and in the upper bay has been early by 7-10 days this year, probably due to the warmer than usual weather. If this trend keeps up the mid bay should explode soon. I know I’m going to be looking for it to happen soon and when it does I’ll be there. Those early season mid bay fish are respectable usually 25-35 inches and there only around for about 2 weeks so get ready.

Time to get Ready for the Early Spring Striper Run

Every year sometime in the first week of May the spring run hits hard. It’s not unusual to catch 30 stripers or more in a day(Check out last Mays post Striper Madness). The fish usually range from 25-35 inches. I really have a blast using my 12lb test outfit on these fish. So dust off the rods, clean and lube the reels, respool the line. You’ll also want to get the boat ready. I usually check everything out to make sure I’m ready to roll then I take the boat out for a shake down run in mid to late April. I know to some this may be a bit early but the early spring run only lasts for about 2 weeks so you want to be ready to fish hard.

Equipment:

I usually take two 12lb test class rods and a 40lb test powerpro spooled beef stuck. If one of the 12 lb class rods has a problem I can switch fast to a rod that’s already rigged. There’s nothing more aggravating than sitting in the middle of a huge school of frenzied Striped bass with a loop in your line. Last year the bail broke on one of my rods while I was in the middle of a fishing frenzy. If I didn’t have that second rod my day would have been done. The reason for 12lb test class outfit is its fun and the fish are usually on really small bait so you have to use small lures and a 20lb class rod and up just cant cast that stuff.

As for the beef stick, sometimes you need to bounce a jig off the bottom and powerpro has incredible feel when you have a lot of line out. The jigs are also pretty big 2-4oz to get down deep so a strong rod is in order.

Lures:

The last couple of year’s cocahoes with a 3/8 oz jig head tied directly to a 15 lb test fluorocarbon shocker have been deadly. But in other years 3-4” wild eye shad in blue have been very effective. Stripers can be very fussy so I usually bring tons of plastics with many different jig head combinations.

Conditions:

Ok here it is- water temp above 50 degrees, big moon tide, cloudy foggy semi stormy weather. If you get all these lined up the first week of May get ready it’s going to be crazy. Even sunny weather will produce if the temp and tide are there. Early morning appears to bet the best with the exception of cloudy rainy weather. Check out the NOAA data on the left column I usually print out the tide oscillation chart for early May then just watch the weather and temp.

So get ready the spring striper run is just around the corner. Come back to the site and check up on updates. I’ll be back with more info the last week in April unless something happens sooner.

Winter Cod Fishing is hot

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine and I decided to go have a bite to eat. We stoped at a friends restaurant Pizzarelli’s in Woonsocket. We know Luca, the owner and he knows how much we like to fish so he came out from the kitchen and asked us if we wanted to go cod fishing the next day. Well we’re not really big cod fishermen so we thought he was pulling our leg. Cod fishing in the middle of the winter what’s up with that? He went on to tell us a friend of his from New York has a charter boat operating out of snug harbor and they were making a killing on Cod. I was a bit perplexed since I had never fished for cod in the middle of winter so I politely thanked him for the offer and declined.

The next day Luca calls me and tells me he caught a ton of cod, some as big as 25Lbs. So I told Luca to have the charter captain email me here’s what he sent:

The ISLAND CURRENT III has been winter CODFISHING daily at 4 AM from its winter berth located in Snug Harbor, RI. The cod fishing has been super with limit catches frequently being reached. Our largest codfish to date is 33 pounds caught by Paul Chung from Flushing, NY. We supply everything onboard at NO additional charge. A special $10 off coupon can be used when purchasing from ZERVE at 212.209.3370 or online at http://www.islandcurrent.com/. Always use the ticket code RI COD in order to receive your discounts.

Captain Chris tells me that they will be cod fishing from snug harbor until the end of March. So if you’ve got the itch to go and catch some fish check out their web site or send him an email at captchris@islandcurrent.com. Go to the site and check out catch of the week. They also have a fishing report section and, they limited out the boat on January 31. Looks like I’m going to be trying some winter cod fishing soon. Geez you learn something new everyday.

How to fish videos

My Brother(David Pickering www.ristrpedbass.bolgspot.com) and I are thinking of producing a series of how to fish videos. We were wondering if anyone would be interested. We have a pretty good catalog of videos and we'd cover a variety of boat and shore fishing techniques for striped bass, blues, fluke, black sea bass, bonito, false albacore etc.... We would like to get a scene of how many people would be interested in purchasing how to fish videos and what topics you'd like to see. We're looking at costs and we think we could probably do them for under $8.00 per DVD. But we need to get an idea if it's worth the attempt. So if think you'd be interested in purchasing a how to fish video in the future send us an email at: nbfishing@cox.net .

Take a look at this small sample and let us know you'd be interested.

Highlights from last Year's Fishing

I've put together a series of slides on you tube from last year's fishing trips. There's some early season schoolies as well as some big stripers caught while live lining. Just press play and enjoy the show. Hope you like it.

If You’re Going to Repower Bass Pro is the way to Go

The fall fishing motor blues:

Starting at the end of summer and into fall my motor was giving me problems. The fall fishing was a total waste for me. The fish were in, I know because I had to fish from shore and watch huge schools of fish and birds feeding on bait along the Rhode Island coast. It was so frustrating, what torture. There I am fishing from shore watching the carnage out in front of me and only getting a fleeting chance at fish that move in close from time to time. Boy was my blood boiling. So I made the choice to repower. My motor is 10 yrs old and I assumed that repairs would get to be routine at that age and I didn’t want to go through the same frustration in the spring.

The Hunt for the right motor:

O.K. so I made the decision to repower now it was time to hunt for a motor at a reasonable price. I have this thing about getting the right deal. Whenever I buy a large ticket item like a car or washer I research, research, research to find the best product at the right price. It is usually a lot of work but it being winter and me not using the boat I figured I had the time. So I began calling around and researching prices on the Internet I must have phoned or emailed at least 10 different local marinas/ Stores. I even considered Ed’s marine superstore in Virginia, or ordering a motor from Boats.net in Florida and having it shipped and installed up here. It was while I was searching on the internet that I came across Bass Pro Shops (Tracker Boats) repower specials.

The search ends at Bass Pro Shops:

I had no idea Bass Pro did repowering. I thought they only sold boat packages. If you go to the Bass Proshops site (Tracker Boats) they boast that they are the number one Mercury dealer in the world. That's a pretty big claim and if you’ve lived as long as I have you get pretty skeptical of big claims, but I decided to give them a try. I went down to the store in Foxborough and spoke with Blake Phillips. He was very courteous, professional, and knowledgeable. There was no sales pitch, meeting in different rooms, or high pressure tactics like you’d get at a car dealer, just 2 guys talking about repowering a boat. After some back and forth I realized that they had the best price on a midrange 90 hp by far. No one else could come close. So I decided to order it, but in the back of my mind was that little skeptical voice saying how are they going to make up for the engine price, hammer me with an outrageous installation fee?

The Bottom Line:

Well I got a call recently the motor was in. So I headed down to settle the price of the new motor, removal of my old motor, installation of the new motor, prop, tach, trim guage, everything hooked up ready to run with my old motor crated. All I have to say is WOW! Not only was the price of the motor less than other dealers, the price of the installation and removal was ½ what other dealers wanted to charge. The whole price was from $2000-$2500 less than other dealers wanted. I’m truly impressed with their sales and service departments and I’m not that easy to please. It appears their claims were true. So if you’re thinking of repowering give them a call or send them an email. Tell them Steve Pickering sent you.

Who to contact:

Blake Phillips- Sales
Phone: 508-216-2663
Email: brphillips@basspro.com

Jason Hatlee- Service
Phone: 508-216-2671
Email: jrhatlee@basspro.com

Dont give up there still alot of stripers out there

The fall run is all but over, spring fishing doesn't pick up till early May. What do you do?? Get gear ready for next year, break down the reals and rods and sit around waiting and dreaming about spring. No way, there's still alot of stripers out there. Most experts believe all or at least most of the stripers head south on their annual migration, but that's not necessarily true. There are alot of small to medium fish that hang around all winter. These fish head up deep into rivers and estuarys and hold over just about all winter. In the last few years I've caught a large number of these fish through most of the winter, anywhere from 100-300 fish each winter. That's not a typo these fish usually get pretty stacked up in the rivers and estuaries and that makes them easy pickens. It's not unusual to get 30 or more in a night. It's an after dark or cloudy day thing and it can be alot of fun. This time of the year it gets dark pretty early. I dont go crazy fishing in bitter cold or myserable rain and snow storms. I just put a pole in my car and after supper or on my way back from work I stop off and take a few casts. If the fish are around you'll know it pretty fast.

Gear:
A 10-12 lb test outfit with 3" zoom fluke in white or white ice seem to do the trick just fine. I also use a 1/4-3/8 oz jig head. Cast it out and retrieve it medium slow with a slight twitch. Stripers can be very mellow in cold water so the hit can be really soft.

So dont put your stuff away and hybernate till spring the really good winter fishing is just about to start. Get a spare jacket, pole, and a bag of lures put them in the car and take a few casts you may end up fishing for hours. On a note of caution this kind of fishing can be addicting so if your wife suspects your having an affair coming home so late night after night I'm not responsibile.

Stripers and Blues Oh My!!!!

The fall run is in full swing. There are schools of fish from Narragansett to Watch hill. Just look for the birds. The Stripers range from 25-30 inches with an occasional fish in the 30-40 inch range. The blues range from 6-12 lbs. The only problem is they are very fussy. The bait they’re feeding on is small and skinny (rain bait). If you’re going to be successful try to match the bait. Try small buck tail jigs with a curly tail, small skinny poppers, Burkley gulp 3” sand eel with a 3/8-1/2 inch jig head, Zoom fluke (Dark brown/green) with a 3/8-1/2 inch jig head. Casting these small lures can be tough so medium weight outfits are necessary (line in the 12-15lb test range). The last step is to choose a leader. You could try a small thin wire leader but stripers tend to stay away from wire or you could go with 60-90lb test mono or fluorocarbon but big blues can chew that stuff up pretty good, check it often. Going through leaders and catching upwards of 20 fish can be a lot fun so who cares.

Things to consider:
In the past the fall run bait consisted mainly of peanut bunker and mullet and that kept the fish around a long time. However this current bait tends to disperse relatively quickly so it’s unlikely this is going to last more than a few weeks. Big blues can do a number on plastic so I tend to stick with buck tail jigs they may not catch as many fish as plastics but the jig will last longer. If you want to make long casts try using a droper with a jig (see terminal tackle march 31 2009). Check the marine forecast before you go out things can be rough this time of year.

Summer is Mixed Bag Season

Well summer is here and the fishing has changed. The water in the upper bay has warmed up. The pogies are scarce and the coastal fishing is picking up. However at this time of the year targeting stripers can be tough. So it’s time to adapt. Fluke fishing is phenomenal, black sea bass are hitting like crazy and the occasional striper school or bluefish school pops up here and there.

Here’s my game plan at this time of year.

I usually head out of Galilee early. I take along a full tackle bag and some squid (sea bass and fluke) and some frozen pogies or live eels(Large stripers). With that variety of bait and gear I can adjust to what ever the day brings.

The first thing I do is look for bird action. In the last 2 weeks there have been birds working from Narragansett to Charleston. The issue is finding them. Once you’ve found the birds and fish breaking the next step is to catch them. Sounds easy but they have been very fussy lately. It seems a large number of sand eels have moved in along the coast and when fish are on sand eels good luck. I’ve found success with cocahoes, small teasers, and small dark colored zoom flukes. The other problem is that there is usually a mixed bag of blues and bass and when the blues get a hold of a piece of rubber you can kiss it good bye. So bring along a lot of tackle.

After the medium bass and blues settle down 10-11 am. I go after fluke outside the center or west wall opening. I’m not really a bottom fisherman but the fluke fishing is non-stop lately. If you drop a fluke rig in with a piece of squid on the end and count to 10 you should have one. That kind of bottom fishing I can tolerate. Unfortunate most of the fluke are under sized but their still fun to catch.

Black sea bass is next on the agenda if the water is calm enough I head out near the hooter buoy and drop my fluke rig in about 60 ft of water. The sea bass are stacked up out there like crazy. Again most of them are to small to keep, but they’re still fun and if you get a keeper they are the best eating fish in these waters, very mild and tender.

Finally if the seas are really calm and I’m in the mood for big bass Block Island, Nebraska Shoal or the center wall at Galilee are my choices. This is where the eels and frozen pogies come in. Pitching eels or drifting chunks near structure can lead to big fish but you generally have to work hard for a few fish.

Stripers with Pogies May 25- June 5.

Last 2 weeks have been hectic so I haven’t been able to post, but I’m back. This year the pogie fishing has been hot and cold, not very consistent yet. A couple of times out I caught less than 2 fish one time I caught 10. See what I mean inconsistent. It appears there are quite a few small stripers around (30-34 inch class). Don’t get me wrong that’s a nice fish by any standard but that size fish has a hard time swallowing a pogie. I’ve had a lot of hits, stripers harassing pogies at the surface and pogies stolen right off the hook. These are all signs of relatively small fish. The ones I’ve managed to catch have been around the 34-36 inch range with a couple in the low 40’s. The pogies were more spotty in late May than in previous years but they seem to be more consistent in the first week of June. Hopefully the bigger fish will come in big, but it’s anybodies guess if that will happen. Last year mid June was on fire so there’s still hope. I’ve also been marking large numbers of big fish on my fish finder but they’ve been very fussy, a sign of too much bait not enough stripers.


Tactics:

Find the pogies as soon as you can. Snag a bunch. Live line them on 2 or 3 drifts of 100-200 yards. If you don’t get a hit move 100 yard to the left or right of the first drift, still nothing move to another spot and try again. The stripers are not always under the pogies. Recently I’ve taken to driving around an area slowly looking foe fish on the fish finder. If I find a cluster of big fish I give the area a few drifts. If it produces I stick around until the fish have left then move on. I also like to drift 2 rods one with a cigar weight one with no weight. I don’t weigh the pogies down to much just enough to make them tired and slow down (about ½ to 1 oz). Whichever rod gets a hit first that’s what I switch to. I also use a mono leader, my brother had on a wire leader on and I caught 4 fish to his 1. The only problem with the mono is there are some blues around so stock up on hooks.






Below is a video compilation of some of the last few weeks. I was out on Memorial Day with my friend Paul (an experienced angler) and some time later with my brother and his son Matthew. Mat and I managed to hook up 2 good fish at the same time. That was a good day I was on the water for about 8 hours and managed to land about 10 fish from 36-44 inches.

Pogies Pogies Pogies

Went out yesterday 5/16/09. Guess what the upper bay is beginning to fill up with menhaden. I snagged a few pogies drifted them and they were harassed by smaller stripers unable to swallow them. I didn’t see any fish in the 30-40 lb class. But that’s just a matter of time. Within the next week or 2 the big boys will follow. Once that happens all you’ll have to do is find a group of pogies snag a few and live line then. I like to just drift and let them swim around. Things are primed and ready once the big fish are here all hell is going to break loose.

Click play on the video below:

Striper Madness is here

They’re here went out saturday caught a ridiculous number of stripers (around 80). I caught about 50 on my own picked my 2 brothers Mike and Dave a caught another 30 they also caught about 30 a piece.There were so many fish I fished from early morning till early evening. Most of the fish were in the 24-27 inch range. About 10 percent were keepers, with a few around 35 inches. The fish are keying on tiny silversides. The problem is that when they are on that small bait they can be really fussy. I threw everything at them plastics, metal, swimmers, poppers, needlefish you name it I tried it. Only 1 thing seemed to work a white cocahoe with a 3/8 oz white jig head retrieved slowly. You’ll have to use a light 12lb class outfit to throw something that light. It was interesting some of the schools were aggressive while others wouldn’t even hit the cocahoe. Even the cocahoe wasn’t stunning just effective. Most casts yielded fish, but they hit very mellow just sucking in the cocahoe. If you didn’t set the hook as soon as you felt tension they were gone and usually didn’t hit again. Even though they were fussy I caught a ton mainly due to the fact there were so many. Multiple schools as many as seven at a time meant there was a lot of opportunity to hook up. The weather was uncomfortable and perfect. It was uncomfortable for me perfect for stripers, rainy, drizzly, foggy, overcast the best possible weather for striped bass.

How to find them:

Look for birds working bait. It was most productive when sea gulls were combined with cormorants. The combination of the 2 spelled fish. Once you arrive at the birds look for small swirls on the surface. Stripers generally don’t splash violently like blues so keep your eyes peeled. You can’t judge a striper by the size of the swirl so don’t assume a small swirl means small fish. Cast directly into the largest group of swirls.

How to approach them:

The best bet for approaching them is from up wind. Get up wing shut the motor and drift into them stripers are very boat shy and any motor noise will spook them. This will usually cause the birds to spook and fly off but don’t give up other boats will leave after the birds. Just stay put and be patient keep casting a looking for swirls. They will usually come back up and you’ll be all alone right in the middle of fish while the other boats are running around. It also possible to come upon a school the birds haven’t found yet, but it takes a keen eye. If the water is very calm it’s a lot easier. If your on a school with no birds stay there you’ll probably be the only boat.

Note:
In the past few years this early season madness has only lasted about a week or so. So get out and get going the fishing is fabulous.

Click Play on the video below to see what the morning was like.

Click play on the video below to see what the afternoon was like.

Schoolies arrive at RI shore

Finally the schoolies are in. Schoolies have been caught in significant numbers along the shore. Most of the action started early this week. Most fish are in the 14-20 inch range with an occasional keeper. They are hitting white cocahoe minnows usually with a 3/8 oz white jig head. Light tackle in the 12lb class range is also the preferred equipment. Most of the action is occuring from late afternoon (5:00) till sunset. The west wall seems to be the most consistent spot.

This weekend looks good for the bay. Nice overcast showery weather is predicted. I'm going to take advantage of the weather and give things a try. In the bay wildeye shad are usually very effective.

Meteroligical Data Points to a Big Early Season Weekend

Just finished checking the meteorological data for April 19 to May 19 and all the info points to a big striper weekend this weekend (April 24 to April 27). Really big tides combined with warming water lead me to believe this weekend is going to be awesome for early season fish. Big tides mean a lot of water flowing. Warmer water means more active fish; the magic number is above 50 degrees. Right now the numbers are flirting with the 50-degree mark. I’ve also heard from various sources that baitfish are stacked up in many of the bays estuaries. Here is a step-by-step process that anyone can use to find fish.

Step 1-Tidal oscillations
Go to NOAA and check tidal frequency oscillations for the bay. I usually use a central station like Quonset.
Use this link: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?bdate=20090419&edate=20090520&unit=1&shift=g&mins=60&datum=6&stn=8454049+Quonset+Point%2C+RI&type=Tide+Predictions&format=View+Plot

Once you get there use the pull down at the bottom to get the range you want. I usually use a month. Click view plot. Then go to the right side of the page and click view larger plot. Print it out and you’ll have a clear view of the high and lows for the next month the bigger the difference the better. There is a big oscillation from this Thursday to about Tuesday.

Step2-Water vs. air temp
Go to NOAA and check the water temp vs. air temp data to view any trends. Right now things are heating up.
Use this link:http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?bdate=20090401&edate=20090420&metinterval=&unit=1&shift=g&stn=8454049+Quonset+Point%2C+RI&type=Meteorological+Observations&format=View+Plot


Once you get there use the pull down at the bottom to get the range you want. I usually go one month back to get a feel for the trend. Click view plot. Then go to the right side of the page and click view larger plot. Print it out and you’ll see the warming trends. As air heats up water follows so there’s about a 1-3 day lag time. The recent warm weather spiked the water temp about 4 degrees. Since April 1 the water temp has increased about 10 degrees. It is nearing 50 degrees. 50 to 62 degrees F is the magic range for stripers.

Step3-Tide times (tide chart)
Go to Maine Harbors get the tide chart for the area you’ll be fishing.
Use this link:
http://www.maineharbors.com/ri/tideri.htm

Once you get there just click on the month and area your going to be fishing the tide chart will appear just print it out. I use Maine Harbors because it’s a simple easy way to get an easy to read tide chart. Now you know the exact times when the tides will be rising and falling. This important because you can combine it with the marine forecast and see if the tide and wind will be going in a similar direction over the period of big tides (this weekend). The 2 together equal a major flow of water.

Step4- Marine Forecast
Go to NOAA a couple of days before the big tides and check the wind speed, direction and weather.
Use this link:
http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/an/anz236.txt

This link will give you a day-by-day list of the predicted weather. Remember cloudy, overcast, foggy weather is best but at this time of year stripers will be active in sunlight especially early morning sunlight. Now you have everything you need.

Step5-Putting it all together
(See using meteorological data to find fish on Narragansett Bay 2/21/09)
2 to 3 days before the predicted big tides check the marine forecast and pick a day when the wind and tide will be going in a similar direction. Check the water temp to make sure it’s at or above 50 degrees; check the tide chart to see the exact time when the tides and wind will be moving together. Use a Nautical chart, check out the bay and look to fish the wind ward side of things, look for areas that transition from high to low water drastically, look for areas that constrict water flow, that’s where the stripers will be. When you get there take a few casts use the zoom fluke or wild eye shad (see terminal tackle and successful lures 3/31/09). Look for birds, look for small wakes on the surface of the water, stop listen for popping sounds if you find any of these signs your in fish (see using natures signals to find fish 3/5/09). Remember striper are very boat shy head into the wind get 25-75 yards away from the action and shut the motor off and drift into them. If there’s a significant amount of bait around they’ll use the boat as cover and you’ll have fish right at your feet.

Get ready get setup it looks like this weekend could be the beginning of the season and the season usually starts out with a bang. The fish usually aren’t huge (20in-34in) but there can be a lot of them. A 12lb class outfit is a lot of fun on these fish (see The Right Fishing Gear 2/09)

Nows The time to Get Ready

It’s about that time, just came up from the basement. I respooled all the reels; Stocked up on gear, organized the fishing bag and finished getting the boat ready yesterday. The Last 2 weeks of April is when the first of the season’s stripers usually arrive. I really enjoy the early season run. Not many guys are ready and you can catch fish in daylight, weathers cool but the lack of boats around means you have the bay to yourself. Last year my friend Paul and I went out one day in late April and we caught about 80 stripers (24-32 inches) in about 3 hours. There wasn’t another boat in sight. We used light tackle, 12lb test line and it was crazy. The storm shad would hit the water and within 2 cranks of the reel you were on. If you lost the fish you had on you’d have another one on in 2 more cranks.


The first fish to arrive like to feed on small bait on or near the surface, they’re not huge but there numbers can be very large. From April 24-28 there’s a real good set of tides. I’m definitely going to make it a point to go out on one of those days. The key with the early fish is to search for the birds and any small boils on the surface. There tough to spot but if you find them you can have real good time. Then once the schoolies arrive the big boys show up shortly after. So get you gear ready it’s all about to start and you don’t want to be left behind.