Decked out and ready for a day of fishing  in the sun. I'm very cautious when out fishing in the sun. I take a lot of precautions since I am really prone to skin cancer.  In the last ten years I have had two basal cell carcinomas removed along with one squamous cell carcinoma. One of these was quite problematic and I had to have extensive recons...

Here's a slot fish coming ashore with my Albie Snax in its mouth. The striper fishing has taken a dramatic turn for the better for me in June. The sandeel arrival has brought big numbers of stripers to the oceanfront.  The whole month has been productive but the climax was a couple of days ago when I hit one of the biggest blitzes I have ever se...

Here's a striper that grabbed my Red Gill Teaser a dead ringer when stripers are feeding on sandeels. The sandeel invasion is here.  In the last week big schools of them have arrived along the oceanfront with big numbers of stripers on them. In the last couple of evenings I found big numbers of hefty schoolies and small slots feeding on them. Ma...

I've been out in the kayak about a quarter of the days this spring.  I'm fishing the Bay from the yak on  calm days. I've really taken a two way approach to striper fishing this spring.  In rough and windy weather I have been fishing from the shore both at the oceanfront and in the Bay.  When it has been calm I've opted for the kayak staying in...

I landed a monster striper from the kayak today maybe my biggest in years.  It came as a complete surprise.  I was fishing a shallow area close to shore using a light outfit hoping to get a schoolie or a slot.  The rod was a St. Croix Avid inshore rod that measured 7 ft. 3 inches that had Daiwa BG 4000 reel with 30 lb. test braid.  I was fishing...

The fishing has seen an uptick in the  last week.  Kayakers and boater have had the advantage. I landed this one a few days ago from the yak. The recent very high and low tides delivered improved action for stripers here in RI. The improvement came in both the Bay and along the oceanfront. There have been better numbers of stripers some big ones...

I've seen a big uptick in fishing from my kayak during this Memorial Day Weekend. This decent size striper hit a weightless Finesse Fish twitched on top. Weightless plastics fished on top have been hot.

Here's a serious fish landed last evening from the Yak using a my finesse approach. I was back in the kayak last evening and I decided to make some changes to my fishing approach. I made some changes that hopefully would add more effectiveness to my finesse game.  I have been dealing with fussy fish lately that woud follow and whirl but not real...

I landed this decent one a couple of nights ago in a backwater location.  Overall there are a lot less stripers around this year but there are some quality fish. As we head into Memorial Day weekend the key word to describe the striper fishing here in RI is MEDIOCRE. Spring fishing should be peaking right now but it isn't. It's easy to blame the...

Back in the kayak and catching!  I took the kayak out in 'Gansett Bay several times in the last week. I was mostly fishing skinny backwaters and taking a finesse approach when doing it. While I did better than I have been doing from shore it was still mediocre fishing compared to past years.  I put 7 fish in the yak but none were slots or overs. A...

The Albie Snax mounted on a BKK Titan Rider hook was a hot lure last evening. My son Jon and I went out last evening in an off the beaten path location in Narragansett Bay.  This was a quiet skinny water cove where we have had success in the past with decent sized stripers. This is one of those spots where big plugs have little to no chance of s...

Jon Pickering holds a slot fish that was taken from shore.  These larger fish have been hanging around places that have schools of menhaden. The fish was released in good shape.  By now the striper fishing should be humming here in RI.  It's not.  In a few words to sum it up we are in the midst of a mediocre spring that has been very inconsisten...

I landed this hefty overslot last  evening in the Bay. Here's the scoop on the latest striper fishing.  It's been good but not great. The fish are now spread out along the oceanfront and throughout the Bay.  There are good numbers of all sizes.  Schoolies seem to dominate along the oceanfront while the Bay has some hefty slots and even over slots....

Surprise surprise! I landed my first bluefish of the year this evening along the oceanfront.  The fish about 6 lbs. hit a NLBN paddle tail that was intended for a striper.  This is very early for a blue along the oceanfront.  With everyone complaining that the water is so cold it was even more unusual for this blue to be around.  We'll find out i...

Got my first keeper of the year.  Yup it's early but they are around! This one fell for a Slug-go and hit right at dark.  And surprise it was caught in the Bay!

I landed decent numbers of schoolies that had lice on them tonight. The migration has arrived.  I landed one lone fish a scout about a week ago along the oceanfront.  In my mind the season kicks off when I can land more than one fish in an outing.  Well tonight that happened as I landed good numbers of schoolies that had lice on them a sure sign t...

It's the first one from the oceanfront for me this year. Expect good numbers of them in the coming week. I landed my first striper of the year from the oceanfront today a fish I would call a scout.  In striper fishing lingo a scout is one of the early arrivals that makes it's way ahead of the main body of fish.  I suspect this was a scout becaus...

Not hearing much from the area's waters but the bait is beginning to show. The ospreys are arriving too. These are the beginning signs of...

They should be here within a couple of weeks!  A new season is almost here.  Within a couple of weeks migrating stripers will hit the oceanfront and that will commence the spring runs. Here is a timetable of what I think will happen based over 50 years of keeping fishing logs. Middle of April - First stripers of the season these fish that will hav...

Here's a big pickerel I jigged up through the ice a few weeks ago. It's been the best ice fishing year in over a decade! I'm sure many of you are sick of winter at this point and looking forward to spring.  But I just love winter and the snowier and colder the better.  I have really enjoyed this winter.  I did a lot of skiing.  It's not over yet...

Decked out and ready for a day of fishing  in the sun. I'm very cautious when out fishing in the sun. I take a lot of precautions since I am really prone to skin cancer.  In the last ten years I have had two basal cell carcinomas removed along with one squamous cell carcinoma. One of these was quite problematic and I had to have extensive recons...