Last week’s report continues to hold true for the moment, and we’re still waiting on the bigger fish to arrive in the Upper Bay and the schoolie fishing ocean side continues to be as good as it gets. Reports currently are that it’s still kind of muddy in the Upper Bay from the recent rains, with mostly small fish. Typically the big fish arrive as if they came through a portal though, so it could be any day now. Usually when they arrive they appear in big numbers, so there can be very little activity one day and a free for all of herring and bunker death the next day. More then a few anglers are out there waiting for that first blitz, but generally they’re going to keep it quiet when it begins. It’s fairly safe to say by next weekend that we can expect good fish on big bait in the Bay. The feel of the weather and by the calendar, it’s time.
Newport has seen some “big” schoolies, including several “keeper” size. The fish have been willing to take topwaters when the surf is up, and the topwaters have accounted for the biggest fish to date. A chartreuse needlefish and a yellow 1oz. Gibbs pencil have accounted for the larger fish. Swim shads and cocahoes are still responsible for the most quantity but can’t seem to keep up in terms of quality. They have spread out from the “first fish” spots, so if you want to get away from the crowd you should be able find your own fish. South County RI and points to East are all experiencing very similar fishing. Squid are here in force, and the circus is in town. It’s like a small village in the known spots. It’s elbow to elbow out there with hundreds of people. There are other spots out there though, a little scouting around town can get you away from the crowd.
Bluefish from 8 to 14 pounds have made their usual raid on Montauk, so it won’t be long until we have some around here. Usually it's just a week or two later and they'll be here as well as points to the East. We had a chopped off tail on a swim shad this week, so we’re HOPING it was just a striper that ripped the tail off, but you never know. Warm temperatures and sunny days should continue pushing us quickly into better fishing. Victory favors the bold (translation, you can’t catch fish sitting on the couch) so get out there and give it a shot. There are keepers in the water, unfortunately none of which were caught on camera this week...
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