Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post

Pete_G · 06-22-2010, 12:16 PM

In the Bay was pretty weak, and I don't think it's just because the past few bunker powered years were really good and have us spoiled.

As the fishing got good in front of Newport by late May, I moved to greener pastures (and it's a shorter commute). I also rarely venture North of Conimicut as it's a long run from Newport, so consider it a May only, mid to lower Bay report. I do frequent Mt. Hope though.

Don't get me wrong - you could/can catch fish in the Bay. It just wasn't like it was in most years past. Not close to as many big, easy to find schools of fish which often are all over the Bay, or bigger fish holding on structure away from the schools.

Observations:

I know people say the herring are back, but I sure don't see them. There may be fish in the herring runs but not that long ago you ALWAYS saw gulls tracking herring and snatching them off the surface as the bass chased them, even far away from herring runs. Haven't seen that regularly since the herring ban began. Maybe the bass are preoccupied by the bunker, but I think the smaller fish would prefer a herring if they could easily find them. I'm firmly in the camp that herring are NOT back in Narragansett Bay in healthy numbers, even if there are more and the runs are occupied to some degree.

Sonar. Some might dismiss this observation, but I think it's a big one. Fish are either there, or they're not when it comes to sonar, and the big schools of 5 to 15 or so pound fish just don't seem to be there. Most years you can't miss them. You stop in any number of likely spots, drive around a bit, find fish top to bottom, and proceed to catch a lot of fish with your lure/bait of choice. It's just that simple a lot of times (most years) to find school fish in that size range, especially in May. Once a lot of the spots and techniques I used in recent years started to not produce the normal results this year, I went to some older spots I fished when things were more herring driven (and plenty of new spots as well) trying to find them, with mixed success. I just don't think there are as many fish here.

Long term perspective: It's easy to forget 5 years isn't a long time. And, 10 or 15 years isn't THAT long either as it relates to cycles of bait and fish. We've seen a lot of bait changes in just the past 5 years or so. Increased sandeels in the past few years is the big feature I see, less squid, loss of the herring, the return of the adult bunker, the loss of peanuts, less mantis shrimp, and I don't see big schools of silversides regularly spawning in the eel grass either. Might be we're just in some sort of down swing. Tough to say.

If I were just to make a wild guess, that has nothing to do with the overall striper population, I'd think they've just found better feeding opportunities and are spending spring elsewhere.

06-22-2010, 12:16 PM	#10
Pete_G Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: May 2003 Location: Newport, RI Posts: 2,316	In the Bay was pretty weak, and I don't think it's just because the past few bunker powered years were really good and have us spoiled. As the fishing got good in front of Newport by late May, I moved to greener pastures (and it's a shorter commute). I also rarely venture North of Conimicut as it's a long run from Newport, so consider it a May only, mid to lower Bay report. I do frequent Mt. Hope though. Don't get me wrong - you could/can catch fish in the Bay. It just wasn't like it was in most years past. Not close to as many big, easy to find schools of fish which often are all over the Bay, or bigger fish holding on structure away from the schools. Observations: I know people say the herring are back, but I sure don't see them. There may be fish in the herring runs but not that long ago you ALWAYS saw gulls tracking herring and snatching them off the surface as the bass chased them, even far away from herring runs. Haven't seen that regularly since the herring ban began. Maybe the bass are preoccupied by the bunker, but I think the smaller fish would prefer a herring if they could easily find them. I'm firmly in the camp that herring are NOT back in Narragansett Bay in healthy numbers, even if there are more and the runs are occupied to some degree. Sonar. Some might dismiss this observation, but I think it's a big one. Fish are either there, or they're not when it comes to sonar, and the big schools of 5 to 15 or so pound fish just don't seem to be there. Most years you can't miss them. You stop in any number of likely spots, drive around a bit, find fish top to bottom, and proceed to catch a lot of fish with your lure/bait of choice. It's just that simple a lot of times (most years) to find school fish in that size range, especially in May. Once a lot of the spots and techniques I used in recent years started to not produce the normal results this year, I went to some older spots I fished when things were more herring driven (and plenty of new spots as well) trying to find them, with mixed success. I just don't think there are as many fish here. Long term perspective: It's easy to forget 5 years isn't a long time. And, 10 or 15 years isn't THAT long either as it relates to cycles of bait and fish. We've seen a lot of bait changes in just the past 5 years or so. Increased sandeels in the past few years is the big feature I see, less squid, loss of the herring, the return of the adult bunker, the loss of peanuts, less mantis shrimp, and I don't see big schools of silversides regularly spawning in the eel grass either. Might be we're just in some sort of down swing. Tough to say. If I were just to make a wild guess, that has nothing to do with the overall striper population, I'd think they've just found better feeding opportunities and are spending spring elsewhere.