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05-13-2008, 03:11 PM
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 SWE Fishing Report 5.13.08 Right on cue Narragansett Bay is filling up with fish, both quantity and quality. For better or worse it’s not just stripers but also bluefish, and far more then usual for this time of year. Big schools of bass between 10 and 20 pounds have arrived and have been fairly willing to eat. We haven’t landed any above 20 pounds just yet out there but we’ve seen them following up other fish as we pull them up from the bottom. While surf anglers have been getting in on the easy fishing as is often the case the boat crowd often gets the best of this initial surge of fish into the Bay.  Fishing the Bay There’s a lot of ways to catch fish in the Bay in May and early June. You could probably try any approach you want and catch. Many anglers will follow the birds if the fish are on the surface. This is a reliable way to catch and will at times produce quality but be prepared to have close encounters with other boats though. Larger fish can be found if you get away from the crowd and scout around on your own and you won’t have to deal with the fleet racing around like they were chasing albies. We like to get away and work structure or other areas where the fish are likely to be if at all possible. It’s just a more relaxed and effective way to fish. Don’t ignore birds entirely though. Keep an eye out for single birds or a small pack of birds, and bigger gulls in particular. They can sometimes clue you in on bigger fish killing adult bunker or herring. These bids are always worth watching. Terns are much less reliable and are generally looking for smaller baitfish unlike a gull which is often looking for one big meal.  Something that should be noted is that the fish are at times very picky. Whether it’s tide, the sun, or something else is tough to say but you can go from having constant returns on your fish finder and catching on every drift to struggling just to spot a fish on your electronics. You can easily struggle for an hour or far more if the fish don’t want to be found. It’s as though they disappeared into a portal.  Best bets year in and year out are of course live-lining bunker, chunking bunker, 9” Tsunami and Storm Shads, and big topwaters worked along the shoreline. We really like to cut the back hook off the swim shads. Not only are they known for failing but they reliably hook fish deep making it tough to get your swim shad back. It also makes these baits very prone to killing fish that you might have wanted to release. While the fishing sometimes stays good all day long it never hurts to get out early. We like to be out by false dawn at the very latest.  One fish, two fish, lots of bluefish… There’s always bluefish on the prowl ruining soft plastics for anglers trying to catch stripers, but this year there seems to be more then normal. Don’t be surprised to come across entire schools of blitzing bluefish. It looks like September out there from time to time. Can’t say I’m a fan of bluefish at any time but especially now when big soft plastics are a great way to catch bigger stripers the ravenous blues have been very aggravating.  Next few weeks. The Narragansett shoreline crew tends to really start hitting the fish in the next few weeks through mid to late May and beyond. Despite being right near by, Newport doesn’t seem to enjoy the same great fishing. We’ll catch, and with some effort some larger fish but it rarely holds a candle to what goes on over there. Once June hits though Newport seems to catch up in productivity from shore. The Bay will only get better with more fish and bigger fish arriving almost every day. Expect to hear reports of bigger fish very soon.   |
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05-15-2008, 02:21 AM
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| I too finally got my first keeper of the year. I tried to attach a pic, is it there? Caught it on bunker, and got into another one on a shad, but lost it, it felt decent. Unfortunately, hooked into something that was biggest fish for me, but,,, had my son on the boat, and wanted him to catch so let him have it, and he lost it. Would have loved to even see it.
__________________ Rookie Bass man |
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05-16-2008, 06:14 PM
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 way to go chip,just about the same time as last year |
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