FINALLY!!! The Striped Bass decided to come back our way from their extended vacation up in Massachusetts & Maine. The last week of October they started showing up in spurts, but from right around the first of November they were Blitzing! Shoals of very small juvenile weakfish migrating through have been on the menu, along with some Herring thrown in the mix. The Gannetts are diving madly from Shagwong out to the Point. In fact, most of the action happening is by Jones’ and the Pollock Rip. Diamond jigs, surface poppers, Smiling Bill jigs with a pork rind or grub tail, just about anything you throw at them that remotely resembles what they’re eating will get the job done. It’s a shame a lot of the people have left to head south or back west to find the Striped Bass there.
What was strange this season is the route the Striped Bass took. They were spotted heading west in early October at Great South Bay, bypassing us completely. There were also fish that swung further offshore than normal. Water temperature does govern their migration habits, but could the immense numbers of sharks that have been around also cause them to take a different route? Not only sharks, the Seals have been having a field day ripping fish off the hooks as you reel them in. Sometimes you are just left with a head!!
Also on the red-hot biting list are the Blackfish and Black Sea Bass, when the weather decides to give us a break. This season has had some tough weather, but it’s been a great season for the Blackfish. Granted you need to position yourself on a rockpile that’s in the lee of the wind when it’s blowing, and the timing has to be right for the tide, but if you are on a rockpile that hasn’t been hammered already, you are going to be in business.
Blackfish have this mystique about them that they’re hard to hook, they only bite when they’re ready, you have to have special crabs, etc., etc. Bologna!!!!! Being patient is the key, if you don’t get any bites for an extended amount of time, then you may have to move. Usually you just need to wait on the tide and just give it some time!!
Black Sea Bass are on the move right now out to the deeper water and they are hungry! They’re feeding heavily to bulk up for the winter. Just poke out a bit further to the deep rockpiles south of Block Island, and when you mark them on your bottom machine, it’ll be game on!! Diamond jigs with a jelly worm about 2 feet up on a dropper loop will keep you good and busy and your hands clean!!! LOL!
I just want to wish everyone a very happy upcoming Holiday!!! Also, a big THANK-YOU to all of you anglers that came fishing this season!!!
~ Tight Lines, Capt. Skip
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