John,
That's fishing!
My first BI trip I had a keeper the first morning and took fish every time I went out. Bait (local squid) was the ticket most of the time. On my last year's BI trip I didn't get my first fish until day 3 and nothing keeper size until day 4. And artificials (mostly flies) did much better than bait.
It seems BI is a hit or miss place. If you hit it right it's heaven. If not, that's why it's called fishing. But I still love the place and feel my best chance at a trophy fish from the shore is there in the fall.
I'll be back again this year too!