West Wall has been blowing hard SW all day !!!

[JohnR]

If I don't fall asleep driving, I might give it a whirl (baby hasn't slept for 2 days now, nor have mom & dad slept)....

[bigsilk]

I have 10 month twins- i can relate- sw winds are a start but any fish

[JohnR]

Oh yeh!!! I was there Tuesday afternoon for an our and a half, had 22 schoolies into the low twenty inch range - it was beautiful - looked like they may have been brighties too but no sea lice (which doesn't always happen)... The Wall was pretty much shoulder-to-shoulder but just about everyone was getting fish. A few weeks later than last year but it has finally started...

Twins at ten months - ouch, I mean - congrats!! How has your sleep been? My son, 5 months now, slept well last night for the first time in a few days. We also slept - it was a good thing...

[Jenn]

Better be all nice and rested for the weekend!

[Striperbum]

John - I finally made it down there Tues afternoon myself and stayed till about 6 pm. It wa great to hook up with fish so early in the year and was definitely worth the 2 hr drive!
Can you enlighten me (details please) about the teaser setups I saw in use there ? Those guys were getting a lot of doubles and it really peaked my interest.
I was using 1/2 & 3/4 oz white bucktails w/3" curlytails and compared to the "regulars" had only half the hook- ups they did.
I plan on getting back down there again next week to give it another shot as the fish will not show up here for another week or so.
Fish on!
Rich

[Bob Senior]

Striperbum:

I find that a teaser increases the chances of getting a hit either on it or the jig. Doubles are actually a pain in the neck and are sort of the price you pay for using a teaser. I'm starting to think that a hookless teaser might be a better idea.

I was one of those "locals" you referred to last Tuesday. I was using a very light Fenwick with a little Prion reel. Getting two flopping striper babies up the rocks to turn them loose was a problem, so I switched to my larger Fenwick. At around 4:30 I took the teaser off because the doubles were coming hot and heavy.

My experience has been that a teaser gives me more singles. Two units must make them more excited or something than one does, so they attack one or the other. Once hooked, a friend will sometimes go after the remaining lure and, voila, you end up with a double and also the problems associated with getting rid of them without falling off the rocks. The conservationist in me is guilty about getting doubles (and therefore about using a teaser) because it means they'll both be out of the water longer and more subject to injury. Also, one is inevitably bouncing around the rocks while you're wrestling with the other one.

As for jig color, I've had the best luck so far this year at the WW with white, with a cream colored grub attached to it. Last year green/yellow was better than white; the year before that it also was white that I found best. The green seems to emulate sand eels; the white, herring (or whatever you want to call them). There were guys using every possible color on Tuesday, though, and they all seemed to work. But white seemed most popular and most productive. Do you agree, John?

It'll get better as it warms up--the tourists at the beach serve as chum!!! ;-)

[Bob Senior]

Striperbum:

BTW, my son and I have found that the small bucktails work best until later in May. By "small" I mean 3/8 and 1/4 oz. The 1/2+ oz. sizes start working better later on.

Wait'll you get two big blues on a teaser rig with a small rod. That'll make your breath come in short spurts!!

[Chunker of Death]

So that means their heading NORTH, right guys?! Oh tell me they are!! I needs to know. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that it's heating up down yonder. I'm somme kinda tempted to head south this weekend.

[denis]

striperbum

don,t take a 2hour ride if the wind is out of e or ene fished there today 8-10 guyes no fish east is least for sure

[JohnR]

Striperbum, he's absolutely right. The hardest part is trying to determine what the winds are doing right there as they are often different just a few miles away. And unless the winds are sw or w, the chances drop dramatically of having fish there but when the conditions are great, it's a fun ride...

Which person were you at the Wall? I got down there a little after 5pm. I was wearing the yellow splash pants fishing 2/3 out to the first bend. Bob Senior pretty much said everything there is to know. The only thing I do with the teasers and the jigs is to crush the barbs down. If you do hook up with a double, it's quicker to get them off the hook. As for color, white & white. followed with white and chartreuse.

COD - They are heading north and should be there by June - if you can't wait that long, shoot me an e-mail....

Denis, welcome aboard - you wouldn't be the fellow that lives not too far from me? We've talked at the Wall??

[denis]

john r

I was close to the elbow,because of the tide,did you notice that there were more fly rods than spinning,real tough wind for a righty.

don,t know where you live,i'm in north smithfield

tight lines

[JohnR]

Hey Denis, welcome aboard... I guess you're a different Denis as I'm in Warwick... I only saw one or two long wands there. Maybe more were flyfishing earlier in the day but, yeh - that wind was tough for it... I was using my little Abu conventional with a slightly heavier jig head 1/2 - 3/4 oz... The problem I had was that I was surrounded by south paws and had just a tiny arc available to cast. Actually the guy next to me and I were timing the same spot pretty good so we wouldn't cross up lines (once in 2 hours fishing the same 10 foot area). Half my fish came out of that one little area...


News Flash: The winds have just switched to the South West. They started NNE early this morning and have gradually pulled to the SW

[img=http://www.striped-bass.com/Images/wbug42701.jpg]

... disclaimer: at least that's what my weatherbug site closest to the Wall tells me... :P

[Striperbum]

Bob, Denis & John - Thanks all for the great info.
I guess the first priority then is checking the current weather reports before leaving. I will switch to a lighter jig and try the white teaser too.

John - I was on your left a few guys out towards the elbow. I was wearing a green raincoat, beige hat and had a yellow backpack over my shoulder when I left. My left leg got soaked on a few of those incoming swells around 5:30 and with that brisk wind ~ I decided it was time to leave. (I plan on wearing my rainpants out there next time)

Hopefully I can get back down there next Tues.

Last question to all - Does the tide effect the fishing @ the wall this time of year - or is it more time of day?

Fish on!
Rich

[JohnR]

Striperbum,

I musta missed you, I was having too much fun with the little bass. Say hello next time. Yellow raingear, could loose a few pounds, fishing a silver conventional 6500C3... Don't know if I'll be there Tuesday even if the weather is favorable but I would like to get down there once more before my neighborhood opens up ;D

It's more of the time of day. Afternoon to evening is by far better than the AM. When you have low water, you spend more time by the elbow, with high water you can move closer to shore. I've also seen days when the people near shore have been hammering them at low water too...

The absolute, can't stress it enough, exponentialy greatest determing factor is wind with water slightly less important. The closer and harder the wind to the Southwest and the bigger the water (reasonably) the better the fishing. If you have it for at least 2 days, even better. Fortunately, the frequent sea breeze (if a 25 kt wind can be called a breeze ) in that aera seems to be sw so if you do have a NW wind inshore or up in Providence, you may have a sw there. As far as the water goes, the more of a crashing sea (to an extent) the better. That day had perfect water for that spot and everyone had their rods bent...

If it's east, turn on the Outdoor Life Network, clean your gear, or find a pond....

[Bob Senior]

WW blowing hard NE all day, today! But casting was a lot easier. My son got one and a couple of guys next to use brought in a couple. It got cold as the sun went down.