Grading the 2025 Season

 Overall, 2025 was a year of decline in many ways.  The striper fishing, especially from shore, continues on a downward and disappointing trend here in RI. Fishing for bluefish of all sizes was poor overall.  The one bright spot was a good run of pelagics in the fall which got a lot of people very excited.

It was a very good year for slot fish, though
over slot fish were in short supply from shore.

Stripers- During the first half of the year, I was headed for a super poor year here in RI.  It was a bad spring with few schoolies and a bad summer with a general lack of fish.  But, all of a sudden out of nowhere, the fall delivered outstanding striper fishing, particularly in the daytime.  Fall nights, though, were poor overall. I'm guessing the influx of huge schools of tiny bait, bay anchovies, lit up the striper fishing.  That bait would stick around for two straight months.  This small bait is a daytime phenomenon and it just lit up the daytime striper fishing for mostly slot and overslot fish. 

In all, I landed 630 stripers in 2025, a real drop-off from just 5 or more years ago when I was consistently landing over 1,000 a year. I wish I could tell you it will get better next year, but I really think we are on a downward slide.

Schoolies- It was not good for smaller fish, particularly stripers under 24 inches. I scored my first migrating fish on April 15 along the south shore, right on schedule.  But, that day I would land only one schoolie and that set the tone for a lack of fish in the spring along the oceanfront. I fished many days in some hotspots of past years and the most I could catch on my best day was a measly 10 schoolies. This poor schoolie fishing would continue into the summer and early fall along both the oceanfront and the Bay.  It was not until late fall in November that we would see good numbers of schoolies. That was the last hurrah to a poor schoolie year. Grade for Schoolies- D

Slots- They were more plentiful as they now make up the bulk of the striper population.  I landed my first slot in the Bay on April 24, very early by past standards.  Slots were around early in the Bay due to large numbers of adult bunker that also arrived early (but also left early). The Bay was good (not great) for me for slots from late spring through early summer. I was getting them from both shore and kayak.  While I had few nights with big numbers of slots, I was usually able to get a slot or two on just about any evening of fishing. I was into a brief flurry of decent fishing in early June when tons of sandeels invaded the oceanfront and brought a lot a stripers with them.  These were all fish from just under slots to just over. I had several nights where I landed 10 to 15 fish on plastics and red gill teasers. Fishing in rough, white water conditions was best. These big numbers of slot fish reappeared in the fall (Sept. and Oct.) but now they were on Bay anchovies and very fussy. I had to take a finesse approach and landed lots of fish on Albie Snax, float and flies and small paddle tails. I had many days with over 20 fish from shore and just about all would be slots. I would just ride around and look and generally I could find a blitz somewhere just about every day. Grade for Slots- A

My biggest fish of the year came in June and was
landed from my kayak.

Over Slots- This is a year that we began to see a decline in the real large fish. Most of the over slots I was catching were in the high 30 inch range.  I landed just a few 40 inch fish from shore and kayak, way off compared to past years. My biggest fish came from the kayak and I estimate the fish was in the 45-50 inch range.  Yes, a real monster, but that was my only fish over 45 inches for the year.  Note that many of my friends who slugged it out long hours after dark also had disappointing numbers of big fish after dark.  They were just not around in any numbers from shore, although some boaters I know did very well in the deeper water. Grade for Over Slots- C

Bluefish- It was another poor year for blues here in RI, especially from shore.  I landed my first on on May 1 and from then on it was few and far between although I had a few big ones in the teens from Narragansett Bay. Like the larger stripers, these were after adult bunker.  I also hit some small ones in late summer and early fall in the Bay as they found some peanut bunker to feast on in the upper Bay.  Like the past few years, the fall was a major disappointment for bluefish.  Tons of small bait around but very few bluefish. Grade for Bluefish- C-

Pelagics, albies and bonito,
were around in good numbers
and attracted loads of fishermen.

Pelagics- The albies came back after a no-show in 2024.  In addition, the bonito were also back in good numbers. On some days, the albies touched off a frenzy in certain spots with loads of fishermen shoulder to shoulder, and ethics non existent.  Crossed lines, boaters and kayakers squeezing shore fishermen, shore fishermen trying to hit boaters with lures, shore fishermen claiming spots and arguments all over the place.  Welcome to pelagic fishing, 2025, here in RI. Most of the time I stayed away from the mayhem and chased stripers in some of my quiet locations. I did manage to catch some albies and bones. I got my first bonito of the year on Sept. 8 on a silver Clarkspoon, a very hot lure this year. My first albie came on Sept. 9.  I got more pelagics as the year progressed catching some on Albie Snax and the float and fly while trying for stripers.  Often they were feeding together. Grade for Pelagics- A-

Happy Thanksgiving to All My Loyal Readers

As I get older, I am ever so thankful that I can still get out
and fish every day.
Enjoy this special day with family and friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

One and Done

 I got out yesterday figuring this would be my last outing along the oceanfront if the fishing was poor. I tried multiple late season spots that had produced in past years. I made a lot of casts and came away with exactly one small schoolie and one hickory shad.  I saw no bait, no birds working and no other fishermen until a few showed up at dark in a popular "meeting and bs spot". It felt like it was over.

From what some of the townies are telling me, there is still a trickle of fish moving through. Normally at this time, it should be a lot better with a last hurrah and lots of action.  Not this year.  I think we are really seeing the shortage of fish which we have seen most of the year. Normally, there aren't many stripers towards the end anyway but with a lot less fish around, there really aren't many. Hate to say it, but it's a preview of what's to come next year.

So, unless I hear anything great, my season is over. I may dabble in holdover fish but they have not been in their winter locations either at this point, another bad sign. I'm still freshwater carp fishing, but they have also slowed to a trickle in this cold weather.

But, alas ski season is just about here, and I'm ready to go.  I also have high hopes for ice fishing this year as last year was just super for me on the hardwater. So, always something to do year round here in New England if you like the outdoors.

Winding Down

 

I landed this schoolie yesterday while fishing
in some rough, white water.  It hit a NLBN
paddle tail fished off a float.

It looks like the cold weather is here to stay.  And, with it, the striper fishing has really cooled off along the oceanfront.  Yes, there are still some around, but I get the sense that things are winding down with a lot less fish around as the days tick away.

I fished the last two days and made a lot of casts.  In those two days, I saw very few fishermen around in some popular spots. There were no fish showing but some around. Yesterday I did find some schoolies while just plugging while walking along a beach.  They were hitting NLBN paddle tails fished off a wooden egg float.  I had some great white water in front of me, and most of the fish were lurking in the white. Today was a different story.  It was dead flat calm which brought dead fishing.  I saw good amounts of bait (peanut bunker) and occasional birds and gannets diving at them, but no stripers.  It's always a bad sign when there's lots of bait and no stripers. By sunset, I was the only one fishing a wide expanse of beach.  No fish, no fishermen. I even fished a good spot later after dark.  Once again, bait there, but no stripers.

So, we are moving slowly toward the end of another season.  I'm sure you can catch some here and there along the south shore beachfront in the next couple of weeks, but be prepared for some skunkings also. It is winding down.

Big Blows = Big Opportunities

 I just love fishing in rough water, and there's been plenty of it in the last month with all the big blows that have been occurring. Those big winds, especially those right in your teeth, generate a lot of white water and a moving surf.  It stirs up the bait and gets the stripers active.

Today was a perfect example. I fished this afternoon in a big southerly blow.  I'm guessing the wind was gusting up to about 40 miles an hour. It was coming right at me in the spot I was fishing. And, while I could punch out my wooden egg float and NLBN paddle tail only about 15 yards, it was no problem.  The fish were right there in the white water in close. In fact, I landed a couple of fish just as I was pulling the float out of the water!

Today's fish were an improvement over the small schoolies I had been catching during the week. I landed a couple of thirty inch slots along with good numbers of hefty schoolies. I can almost guarantee that if the water were calm I would have caught nothing.  

I'll take those big blows anytime over calm.

Today's big blow produced some hefty schoolies
and a couple of slots in the white water,

Migration in Full Swing

 

This is one of many hefty schoolies
that I landed in the last couple of 
days. This one hit my NLBN
paddle tail, a hot lure this fall.

The stripers and bait are on the move along the oceanfront.  The last few days have featured big blitzes of schoolies in multiple locations. Most of these fish have been huge schools of schoolies in the 18 to 22 inch range, sizes of fish that have been in short supply all year.  But, they are here now as they had to come down from waters north of us. There have also been some slots in the mix as I got one today and saw some yesterday, and I even heard of some over slots landed after dark in the last couple of days.

While the last few days of fishing have been very good, yesterday was LIGHTS OUT.  I was into fish from morning until after dark in one location as massive schools of stripers were chasing down huge schools of peanut bunker, another baitfish that has not been around the oceanfront for most of the fall. All this action has grabbed the attention of an army of shore fishermen. In one particular spot I was fishing yesterday, I must have seen at least 250 stripers landed in a couple of hours by roughly 20 fishermen. With the stripers feeding on peanut bunker, they were charged up and not fussy. All types of plugs and jigs seemed to be working.  I got just about all my fish, close to 40 of them, on 3-inch NLBN paddle tail.

So, the peak of the fall run is here. I'm sure this hot fishing will continue in the days and maybe the weeks ahead.  The migration is underway!

Big Time Action in the Big Blows

 

It was hot fishing in the big blows of the last two
days. Sizes up to slots.

Wow, the wind has really been howling in the last two days. Yesterday I could barely stand with the wind in my face gusting over 50 miles per hour. Today it was a bit less but still howling. And, yes, I was fishing both days and catching up a storm.

I caught stripers both days but today was REALLY crazy.  I was into an all afternoon blitz of stripers on small bait (once again).  The fish were somewhat fussy so I went with my finesse stuff. I was catching with my wooden egg float and a 3 inch NLBN paddle tail coming off the float.  The fish today were mostly hefty schoolies with some slots in the mix. I landed a couple of dozen fish in the last two days, really good numbers. 

In my last post I predicted that October's great fishing would roll right into November and judging from today, it has. I think this hot fishing will just continue as the masses of small bait have not moved in a month and the stripers are heavily into their fall feeding.