i have been not getting all excited about stripers yet this year and i dont know why.i went down the desplay down the herring run and that helped a little bit.i think some of its got to do with that i fished like a manic least season but i still didnt get one keeper just tons of schoolies, its discouraging but i guess you cant catch whats not there .what are some of your ways to get the fishing juices flowing?

I've been hitting the local haunts for holdover action which is going strong and today I hit a local beach but got skunked It feels good just to get out
Link Sr

Go catch some dinks, that'll get ya going...There all over the place.

Sit in the cave and visualize cows hitting the plugs hanging from the rafters. Oh my god I'm loosing it.:usd: :as:

I may head out once or twice for some schoolie action but i wont really start to hit it till the cows show back up. The juices start to flow when i get that first teen fish in May.
About you being discouraged, I would be also if i was in your position. Are you fishing at nite? Where are you putting in your time? How often do you fish? I ask cause a season without a keeper doesnt happen by accident, unless youre just not fishing much, youve gotta look at what your doing wrong. Let us know and we'll help ya out.

Canal Rat,
I'm not a canal expert by any means but if you're fishing the canal you have a good shot at nailing some good fish. You probably just need to change tactics.

My first year fishing down there was two falls ago, I took my normal surf gear, threw some 5" storms, some castmasters, some small jigs and like you I hit twinkville pretty hard. I bet if I caught 200 fish, maybe 4 or 5 were keepers and those were only in the 28-32" range.

Unless your fishing slack or are into the bike patrol chasing the breaking fish, put the plugs away. You gotta get deep, eels, chunks, big jigs (3+ oz) of all kinds. get it down and keep it down:humpty: :humpty: :humpty:

i fished night and day.i use mostly jigs and coverd the bottom.i think my probelm is that i was not swiching spots enough.i have been fishing the canal since i was little and i have not seen this many schoolies in all my life its a good sign though.fishing in the canal in the last couple years has gone down hill there is nothing to hold the bass in the canal in spring because of the bad herring run and in the fall the bait was so small i had to use my fly rod to fool schoolies let alone keepers.lets hope the canal herring run was not wiped out and maybe in a couple years we will have massive schools of herring in the spring once again. IMO the lack of big bait in the canal has been the probelm no big pogys or squid like in the old days.we have been having big ass schools of mackerel thats been a life saver when we could not get herring in the spring or big pogys in the fall.i fsih about every day after school(im 17) till about10pm go to bed then hit the canal early before school.when i work nights i fish the next evening.my mind is fixed on getting my spring turkey so stripers will wait for now.

i agree with ditch jigger.. ive only fished it once under Mac's supervision, but from what i could surmise, the big fish were out almost in the middle, and holding right on the bottom. I was humming 5 ounce smiling bills to the moon and back agian with his breakaway 1209...... way farther than any casts i make here in RI. It was a slow night, but I hooked into a mid 20#s bass and droped her right at my feet. :bc: And in that ripping current, that bass felt like a 40 plus pounder..

I will be back there soon.. i got a score to settle :smokin:


Thanks agian for the lesson Mac :D

i have been not getting all excited about stripers yet this year and i dont know why.i went down the desplay down the herring run and that helped a little bit.i think some of its got to do with that i fished like a manic least season but i still didnt get one keeper just tons of schoolies, its discouraging but i guess you cant catch whats not there .what are some of your ways to get the fishing juices flowing?

Some years my drive is higher then others. Each year for me is what it is. Some years I'm relentless, some years I just fish hard. And I think that's normal. Family and work sometimes take people off their game a bit.

There's nothing in particular, for me at least, that kicks my drive to fish up a notch, short of slobs terrorizing the Rhode Island coastline...

Fish a big mackerel or pogy chunk, dead sticked with a semi-tight drag engaged, use a fishfinder, a heavy leader and big sharp hooks.

I brought my friend fishing... he said "that fish pulled like a man"...

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/showthread.php?t=4822

My favorite thread. Gets my juices flowing.....