Saturday, November 1, 2014

Focus Shifts to South Shore Beachfront

It's November and it's time to move.  My fishing focus will now shift from points north of Galilee to places to the south.  I believe your best bet to catch stripers and bluefish will be the RI south shore beachfront that runs from East Matunuck to the beaches in Westerly. This area offers easy access off Rt. 1 to beachfront parking lots along the water. From those lots, it's a matter of walking to some very good fishing.
The south shore is a mix of straight run beaches, rocky points and beachway flows.  While many fishermen will focus on the breachways for larger fish, the fact is that fish can be caught anywhere along this south shore stretch.  It is simply a matter of finding the bait which tends to migrate southward right along this shorefront.  In the past, I've seen schools of large menhaden and ocean herring right off deserted beaches where no one is fishing. Every time I have found this big bait, I've found big fish.
I've already been fishing the south shore and I can tell you that this is where the most bait is located, and this area has better numbers of stripers compared to the areas to the north. I have a reliable report that there have been gannets divebombing along the beaches in the last few days.  Could this mean a run of ocean herring is starting?
There are about three good weeks of fishing left.  After that, it's a crap shoot.  The south shore will be your best bet from shore in the coming weeks if you are looking for late season action.