SWE Fishing Report 5.2.08

[Pete_G]

With each week that passes the schoolies are getting just a bit bigger. People out fishing and catching the bigger ones have generally been fishing topwaters such as the Jumpin Minnow or my favorite for catching bigger schoolies and scaring off the smaller fish, the Gibbs 1 ounce Pencil Popper in yellow. Bigger soft plastics have caught well too. We've landed stripers up to 32 inches on the trusty Gibbs 1 ounce yellow Pencil, so it's safe to say something a bit bigger then that is probably swimming around off the traditional "first fish" spots of Newport. Look for the fish to continue to spread along the rest of the open ocean shoreline in the coming week or
two.

Uncle Geoff fishing the troughs of the waves



While the 7 to 12 pound fresh fish are good fun on light tackle it's impossible not to get excited about what could possibly be ahead. In addition to Narragansett Bay being already primed with a bumper crop of adult bunker and herring we've also heard reports of schools of bunker and hickory shad roaming along South County Rhode Island shorelines. While very few things are a guarantee in fishing most people feel a big spring (and probably summer) is imminent with so much food for predators in our waters. In addition to the bunker, herring, hickories, and silversides you've got the usual spring squid run and another striped bass favorite mantis shrimp in the water as well. Have your snag hooks, big swim shads from Tsunami and Storm, and giant Pencil Poppers ready...



Squid fishing is still intermittent at the Newport locations. A quick run of squid gets intercepted, word gets out, and people come down only to be disappointed. They are there but as it was last week it's not in full swing yet.



Short Game

With fuel prices on the rise it's easy to feel limited in your fishing range and the number of times you can go this year if you fish from a boat. For many of us though we're prone to blasting right by good fishing on the way to what we feel are the best waters. There's often a "grass is greener" mentality when fishing from a boat and that viewpoint only seems to grow as the boat gets bigger (and usually even more hungry for fuel). On my way out I often cruise right by Castle Hill, Beavertail, the Newport bridge, Rose Island and other great fishing spots even though there's more then a slight chance I'm passing by (burning gas at a rate of 1.8mpg...) great fishing. It's something a lot of us are guilty of. I know of several people who pull big bass every year out of those spots I listed and I do fish them, just not with the focus of those who fish them all year long so not surpisingly I don't have to same success they do fishing that close to home.

The Gas Hungry Battlewagon, shiny but lonely in Newport Harbor



I started fishing by boat in saltwater in a 12 foot jon boat with a 50 pound thrust electric trolling motor and a $100 fish finder when I was much younger. Looking back it wasn't the safest thing to do as even a mild chop in the upper reaches of the Bay where I fished could sneak over the bow. It sure didn't have much range, but the numbers and quality of fish really didn't suffer for it. Instead it forced us to work smarter and more carefully over a smaller section of water we almost always did very well because of the boat's limitations. The slow pace we moved, the size of the boat, and the power source all forced us to slow down and focus on the waters we were able to work.



Now with all that said I really enjoy a good run out to the Islands or further, and also there is sometimes FAR better fishing at places not so close to home. But at the same time look at Bill Nolan's Narragansett Bay 50's and 60 last year. Short runs, relatively small boat, but big fish. Slow down, take a look around, and see what you might be running by on your way to your favorite fishing spots.

[bart]

great report and beautiful pics!

[MDM]

Wow guys fantastic report. Best around.

[surfflyfish4stripers]

love the pics. good spots.

[bassballer]

as usuall great report Pete.

[Frightnight]

I caught mt first 2 stripers of the season yesterday.If you want to call it that,
One was the smallest bass I ever saw, about the isze bait I usually throw, the other was small too, my two friends caught one each also, that were just under keeper size.