Providence River Striper Fishing Hanging Tight

The annual striper migration into the upper reaches of the bay is in full swing!  Water temperatures in the upper portions of the bay are in the low sixties and the bait and bass are holding deep in the Providence river shipping channel, but striped bass are on the move and starting to filter into the Seekonk River chasing bait. 

Many of the regulars are doing just fine with one angler telling me he probably caught 300 fish last week. I have been holding my own releasing at least a couple of keepers each outing.

This river fishery winds down as soon as upper bay waters reach around 70 - so get out and have some fun! Although the river system will hold schoolie stripers through the summer, "keepers" prefer cooler waters and will move on. 

This clip was taken on Upper Narragansett Bay in the Providence River close to the city of Providence. 

In the Spring, Pogys (Menhaden) will migrate into the Providence  river and hold in the shipping channel with Stripers feeding under the bait pushing them to the surface (This is how you locate bait for livelining pogys). 


Striped Bass will sometimes use structure to surprise their prey, which was the case in this video where they were hanging  around the ship and submerged pilings.

More on the Rhode Island State Fish the Striped Bass

The striper is different from any other fish 

The striped bass has a large mouth, with jaws extending backward to below the eye. It has two prominent spines on the gill covers. The first (most anterior) of its two well-developed and separated dorsal fins possesses a series of sharp, stiffened spines. The anal fin, with its three sharp spines, is about as long as the posterior dorsal fin. The striper's upper body is blueish to dark olive, and its sides and belly are silvery. Seven or eight narrow stripes extending lengthwise from the back of the head to the base of the tail form the most easily recognized characteristic of this species.

Females reach significantly greater sizes than do males; most stripers over 30 pounds are female. Thus, the term "bulls," originally coined to describe extremely large individuals, has been more accurately changed to "cows" in recent times.

Reproduction

The number of eggs produced by a female striped bass is directly related to the size of its body; a 12-pound female may produce about 850,000 eggs, and a 55-pound female about 4,200,000 eggs. Although males reach sexual maturity at two or three years of age, no females mature before the age of four, and some not until the age of six. The size of the females at sexual maturity has been used as a criterion for establishing minimum legal size limit regulations in recent years.

Habits

Striped bass are rarely found more than several miles from the shoreline. Anglers usually catch stripers in river mouths, in small, shallow bays and estuaries, and along rocky shorelines and sandy beaches. The striped bass is a schooling species, moving about in small groups during the first two years of life, and thereafter feeding and migrating in large schools. Only females exceeding 30 pounds show any tendency to be solitary.

Schools of striped bass less than three years of age (sometimes called "schoolies" by anglers) occasionally travel from upstream into rivers such as the Hudson, Connecticut, Narragansett and Merrimac. Although adult striped bass move into rivers to reproduce, fish less than three years old probably make such journeys to take advantage of a river's abundant food resources.
Striped Bass migration routes from the principal spawning grounds of the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River, and Hudson River

Striped bass normally do not migrate during the first two years of life. However, adult stripers generally migrate northward in the spring and summer months and return south in the fall. Individuals that hatch in the Hudson River generally do not migrate beyond Cape Cod to the North and Cape May to the south. Fish hatched in the Chesapeake Bay exhibit more extensive Migrations, some being captured as far north as the Bay of Fundy in coastal Canada.

Stripers reproduced in rivers and the brackish areas of estuaries. Spawning occurs from the spring to early summer, with the greatest activity occurring when the water warms to about 65 degrees F. The eggs drift in currents until they hatch 1 ½ to 3 days after being fertilized. Because newly hatched larvae are nearly helpless; striped bass suffer their highest rate of natural mortality during the several weeks after hatching.

The major spawning activity for the entire East Coast fishery occurs in the Hudson River, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Roanoke River-Albermarle Sound watershed. Striped bass are most abundant in the New England and Mid-Atlantic states following year when reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay has been particularly successful, suggesting that much of the East Coast is strongly dependent upon the success of spawning in that one watershed.

Management

Striped bass populations have a history of periods of abundance interspersed with periods of scarcity. A major coast-wide reduction in abundance occurred at the end of the 19th century. No catches of stripers were reported north of Boston for 30 years after 1897. Populations had recovered somewhat by 1921, and an unusually successful year of reproduction in 1934 was followed by 6 years of markedly increased abundance. Great numbers of juvenile fish were recorded in Massachusetts waters in the mid-1940s, and high numbers of increasingly larger individuals followed for a period of years. 

Such information suggests that striped bass populations are dominated for extended periods by fish hatched during occasional years of unusually successful reproduction. Also, a year of successful reproduction is often followed by a series of years when spawning fails or is so limited in success that relatively few new fish enter the population.

During the 1970s, the last peak year of reproductive success in the Chesapeake Bay was 1970 (note figure). Levels of reproduction were consistently low in the 1980s except in 1982 when modest numbers of juveniles were produced . Thus, most of the bass harvested in the during the 1970s and 1980s had come from the spawning effort of 1970. The recent extremely prolonged period of reproductive failure had caused a steady decline in striped bass abundance.

The decline was reflected in decreasing success by recreational anglers and commercial harvester. For example, the estimated catch by recreational anglers from the Gulf of Maine to the mid-Atlantic region fell from 6,600,000 pounds in 1979 to 1,700,000 pounds in 1985, while the landings of striped bass by commercial harvest plummeted from 14 million pounds in 1973 to 3.7 million pounds in 1984.

Maryland Index of YOY Abundance Maryland Juvenile Index, 1957-2011

Maryland Juvenile Index, 1957-2011
The decline in abundance of stripers coming from the Chesapeake Bay was felt to be caused by a combination of factors, including the presence of a variety of pollutants in spawning grounds, fishing pressure, and feeding and nutritional problems of larvae. A rapidly changing management plan was developed in response to the severely depleted status of the striped bass. 

Prior to the mid-1970s, management of striped bass was carried out more or less independently by each coastal state. In 1979, Congress amended the Anadromous Fish Act to create the Emergency Striped Bass Study Program. In 1981, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) adopted a coast wide management plan, to be acted upon by each coastal state. This plan recommended minimum size limits for fish caught in nursery rivers and in coastal areas, and restricted fishing on spawning grounds during the spawning season.

In response to constantly dwindling numbers of stripers on the East Coast, this plan was amended (Amendment 3) in 1985 to protect females hatched in 1982 until they have spawned at least once. In 1985, several states imposed mortaria or began a progressive increase in minimum size limits scheduled to reach 38 inches in total length by 1990. Amendment 3 of the ASMFC's plan also stipulated that regulations protecting the 1982 year class would remain in place until the 3-year average of the Maryland's juvenile index (a measure of year class strength) exceeded the long-term average of 8.0.

Atlantic Coast Striped Bass Abundance

The Maryland juvenile index value exceeded 8.0 in 1989 and initiated a new management regime. In late 1989, Amendment 4 to the ASMFC's plan was adopted. The basic premise of this amendment was that striped bass must be managed first to restore the spawning stock biomass and secondarily to support fishery yield. Under Amendment 4, the states were allowed to relax regulations and prosecute tightly controlled fisheries starting in 1990. Daily bag limits of one or two fish were imposed on the recreational fishery of all states and the commercial fishery was greatly reduced compared to historical levels. In addition, each state was required to monitor recreational catches and participate in fishery-independent monitoring or tagging studies used to estimate mortality.

• The 2011 ASMFC stock assessment indicated that the coast-wide striped bass population is declining, although it is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.  
• The cause of the decline is poor to below-average production of new young in Chesapeake Bay during 2004-2010.  In turn, the catches of striped bass by Massachusetts recreational anglers have responded to the coast-wide decline.  
• The number of fish released (comprised of mostly undersized fish) plummeted after 2006 in response to low “schoolie” abundance.  
• The number of striped bass harvested began to decline after 2008 as the last of the large year-classes grew through the coastal fisheries.  Further declines in harvest are anticipated until the large 2011 year-class grows and becomes vulnerable to fishing.

Striped Bass Recipe

Large bass can be steaked, the baked, broiled or grilled. If steaks are cut particularly thick, they can be stuffed with slices of bacon, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, parsley, apples, and even cranberries, and spiced to taste. Place the lightly floured fish in a foiled baking dish, add one cup or mild red wine and bake at 400 degrees until the flesh flakes.

Narragansett Bay Springtime Striper Fishing Is As Good As It Gets

I start looking forward to the springtime Striper fishing in Rhode Island in the winter and as the spring gets closer I really get intense. It's the perfect fisherman's scenario, find the bait...find the fish.

When the keeper Stripers arrive in New England and are pushing the Menhaden up the rivers - inshore towards Pawtucket, the fishing can be nothing short of phenomenal.

The spring fishing only lasts for a couple of months until the rivers warm, but can be as good as it gets.

The center piece of Rhode Island known as Narragansett Bay is great for sailing, boating, fishing, kayaking, cruising, swimming and seal watching, these water activities are just a fraction of the great recreational opportunities enjoyed by millions of residents and visitors each year.

Historic villages nestled along the scenic coast offer waterfront dining, shopping, adventure sport outfitters and more.

Narragansett Bay's protected harbors and inlets along with its deep shipping channels provide a perfect refuge to enjoy the sport of fishing.

Fishing on Gansett Bay starts in the spring when striped bass shoot up the Seekonk River and Providence River to hunt for herring and bunker where we will be waiting for them. As the heat of summer warms the cool bay waters fishing switches to its most northern end at the mouth of the bay near Jamestown and Newport and almost every place in between.

Other hot spots will include the Eastern passage of Narragansett Bay which includes the Mount Hope Bay and the Sakonnet River. 

The bay is filled with inlets, coves, ledges, piers, docks, bridges so move around and try different areas .

Although much of the fishing I do is with live bait,  topwater light tackle fishing in Narragansett Bay during May and June can be epic! When the conditions are right 30 or 40 fish on light tackle per day are commonplace. Spring fishing on Narragansett Bay is hard to beat.

This video is just a taste of the great inshore fishing we have here in Rhode Island

Regulations for Rhode Island Recreational Striped Bass Fishery for 2015

I'm sure DEM Director Janet Coit means well when she says she is in favor of keeping the Striped Bass industry strong and viable. 

But in reality is DEM really looking out for the good of the fishery by allowing Menhaden fishing in the confines of Narragansett bay?  

I would have to say...NO! Stripers are entering the Bay because of the migrating Pogy population. 

The Striped Bass numbers are down because of the lack of bait. I'm sure most people who fish, have heard the saying.....NO Bait...NO Fish. 

The Department of Environmental Management today filed new regulations governing the Rhode Island recreational striped bass fishery for 2015.

They establish a bag limit of one striped bass per person per day, at a 28-inch minimum size....

DEM Director Janet Coit based today's decision on the need to protect the health and future of the striped bass population. "Faced with the stark reality of a declining population, I am compelled to take strong action, consistent with our neighboring states, to reverse the decline and restore the striped bass fishery to a more robust and sustainable status," said Coit.

Atlantic striped bass are a premier gamefish, as well as an important commercial species - in Rhode Island and up and down the coast. The crash of the stock in the 1970s, subsequent rebound, and current decline form the backdrop for today's action.

The most recent benchmark stock assessment, conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), found that, since 2006, the spawning stock biomass (SSB) of striped bass along the Atlantic coast has been steadily declining. 

As of 2012, SSB had fallen below the management target and was approaching the overfished threshold. In response, the ASMFC took action, requiring all coastal states to implement management programs that reduce fishing mortality to the management target within one year.

For the recreational fishery, the ASMFC adopted a new coastwide regulatory standard of one fish per person per day, and a 28-inch minimum size. 

This was a reduction from the previous coastwide regulatory standard of two fish per person per day, and a 28-inch minimum size.... 

On a coastwide basis, the new standard is projected to achieve a 31 percent harvest reduction from 2013 levels. The ASMFC's management program allows for state-by-state conservation equivalency (C/E). As such, states may propose individual state programs that are conservationally equivalent to the coastwide regulatory standard.

DEM and other members of Rhode Island's ASMFC delegation strongly supported the development of a C/E proposal, as a management option, to address the interests of Rhode Island's for-hire industry.

Rhode Island's C/E proposal set forth a separate regulatory standard of two fish per person per day, with a 32-inch minimum size, applicable to all individuals fishing aboard RI-licensed charter and party boats. 

Coupled with the one-fish-per-day-at-28-inch standard applied to all other recreational fishermen, this proposal was projected to achieve a 29 percent harvest reduction for Rhode Island.

From mid-January of this year through early March, DEM conducted an intensive public review process, focused on an evaluation of the two management options: adoption of the C/E proposal versus adoption of the coastwide standard for all recreational fishermen. Hundreds of public comments were offered, many in support of the C/E proposal, many others in support of the coastwide standard. On March 2, the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council voted 5-3 to recommend adoption of the C/E proposal.

In reaching her final decision, Director Coit reviewed the entire public record, with a particular focus on five key factors: resource conservation, risk, enforceability, compliance, and equity. While the record included compelling justifications both for and against the two options, Director Coit found that the arguments in favor of taking a more risk-averse approach applicable to all Rhode Island recreational fishermen outweighed the case for including the two-fish option applicable to Rhode Island's for-hire industry.

"In acting to protect the health of the resource, I seek to protect the long-term interests of all fishermen, including those in the for-hire industry, who rely upon striped bass for recreation, food, and employment," said Coit.

Director Coit said that in many ways, this has been the most challenging marine fisheries issue that she has faced as Director. "The Department heard from hundreds of men and women who love to fish in Rhode Island.

The passion and enthusiasm for stripers and fishing is overwhelming. Rhode Island's recreational fishing is world class, and we want to keep promoting our outstanding marine resources, our party and charter businesses, and the many jobs associated with this fishery," said Coit.

Looking ahead, Director Coit said she intends to work closely with the for-hire industry to pursue separate for-hire quotas for the various fisheries that are important to their operations, with a view to enabling the industry to remain strong and viable.

The Striped Bass: A Top Game Fish for Fresh or Salt Water

The incredibly adaptable game fish, naturally found along the East Coast of the US, has been introduced to many of the large reservoir impoundments across the United States, and also to the Pacific Coast of North America. Striped bass are a top level sport fish, which has been introduced to many waterways outside their natural range.

The striped bass spawning ritual of traveling up rivers led them to become landlocked during lake dam constructions. Santee Cooper River in South Carolina was one of the first areas where they became landlocked during the construction of the dams. They are a migratory fish that move between fresh and salt water.

East Coast striped bass are typically found from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia. On the West Coast, stripers are found throughout the San Francisco Bay and surrounding coastline. They are also found in the California Aqueduct canal system, and many California lakes. Stripers are considered a cold water fish and prefer water temperatures in the 55 and 65 degree range. Therefore, if the water temperature goes above or below this range, bass can be tougher to locate, as they will migrate to warmer or cooler waters. In warmer areas of the US they are more likely to be found in fresh water lakes and rivers where the water is colder.

These guys are like any other creature and will seek-out comfortable surroundings. On hot days in the summer, the bass will look for shipping channels and deep holes to avoid the heat and find more suitable temperature and oxygen levels. Whereas, on a cooler day, you might find them close to the surface, just a foot or two below.

Striped bass prefer the cooler water with one of the landlocked striped bass populations in Canada located in the Grand Lake, Nova Scotia. They migrate out in early April into the Shubencadie River to spawn. These bass also spawn in the Stewiacke River (a tributary of the Shubencadie ).

Striped Bass Fishing is an Addictive Experience. 

Keepers commonly weigh in from 10 to 30 pounds. But they can grow much larger. Large stripers are commonly weigh-in at the 40 to 60 lb. range during tournaments. Stripers frequently feed in schools so when you get into them, you can usually count on a few fish! They can be very unpredictable found at different locations and different depths depending on the weather, time of year and even the time of day. Stripers love water movement due to changing tides or wind direction. Movement of the water stirs up sediment, which moves and attracts bait fish (who feed on the sediment). In turn, the feeding bait fish attract the stripers.

Types of tackle used 

Depending if you are fishing the surf, from a boat or for schoolies in the river, there are several tackle combinations to target these fish. Almost any rod and reel heavier than a light spinning outfit is suitable for striped bass fishing. The tendency is to use heavy fresh water or light salt water gear with a medium to heavy rod, and 10 to 12 pound monofilament line.  However, a medium to heavy spinning rod with 12 to 25 pound test line is considered ideal by many anglers for plugging, jigging, or bottom fishing. Some anglers, who work the beaches with plugs and live eels, prefer the long 9 to 12 foot surf rods and a conventional or spinning reel spooled with 20 to 40 pound line. The lighter the tackle, the greater the sport; also the smaller diameter lines are easier to cast. However, when fishing for the large cows, fairly heavy tackle is desirable.

Fly Fishing for Stripers is Gaining Tremendous Popularity

The ancient art of fly fishing, most renowned as a method for catching trout and salmon is gaining in popularity. Anglers are targeting a wide variety of species including pike, bass, panfish, and carp, as well as marine species, such as redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and our mighty striped bass. Lefty Kreh is most known for being one of the pioneers of saltwater fly fishing. Lefty started the craziness of fishing for huge Tarpon in the Florida Keys back in the day. Lefty Kreh invented the "Lefty's Deceiver" fly in the late 1950s as a streamer that would be easy to cast in wind and would not foul.

Here is a short video about matching the hatch when fly fishing for Stripers by Jose Wejebe .
Star of the fishing show "The Spanish Fly" Jose was a fishing legend who died tragically in a plane crash a few years ago. 

Live Bait Fishing

Common types of bait include menhaden, herring, bloodworms, and eels. These live baits are not used for catch and release fishing. Striped bass aggressively swallow their prey and any hooks attached. Although they may initially swim away, bass can later die from internal bleeding. To avoid creating fish mortality, you may want to use circle hooks. Circle hooks are shaped at an off-set angle so the fish hooks themselves in the corner of the mouth, and therfore are not swallowed. Swimming plugs like Rapalas, Rebels, and Rattletraps are popular lures that are great for catch and release fishing .

Striped bass tend to feed most actively at dusk and dawn, where they can hunt smaller fish under the cover of darkness. Therefore, your success rate will increase if you fish at these times. When bass feed they will push bait to the surface. At times marine birds such as terns and sea gulls will flock to the feeding school hoping to pick up an easy meal. Keep your eyes peeled for birds working the surface while on the water.

Narragansett Bay Striped Bass Fishing: Catch and Release

When fishing for springtime Providence river stripers you may want to narrow your search by finding bait (pogies). Remember, the bait is always on the move, with bass in close proximity. Certain locations may have tons of bait one day and be devoid of life the next.

It's a good idea to keep in mind that although the main Providence shipping channel is very deep, and at times can hold fish, make certain to check out old dock pilings, rockpiles, humps, ridges, river mouths, rips and channels, and don’t hang around if you’re not marking fish on your sounder or hooking up. 

Try another spot. Hot spots can change on a daily or even hourly basis during the spring, so move around.

Striped bass are considered by many to be a true game fish; but are actually very good eating. Once my freezer is well stocked with keepers, I will start catch and release fishing. Here is a few 32-34" fish I caught slow trolling live pogies in the Providence river.

Man, it just makes you feel so good inside, when you release a couple of these bad boys.

I love these fish and would like to see more of them around. (Maybe if R.I. left more pogies in the bay their numbers would multiply).

I know I'm bitching now, BUT...

I have heard reports of the commercial pogie boats, around prudence island, taking pogies before they even get up into the Providence and Seekonk rivers.

I want to know when is Rhode Island going to learn. If they left more pogies in the bay to do their thing, they would not only have have a "world class striper fishery" on their hands, but a cleaner bay!

And any fishery which draws people from around the country, or the world for that matter, pumps a tremendous amount of money into the local economy. Just look at the Florida Keys and Cape Cod, to name a few!

Nuf said... thanks for reading and watching my stuff!!!!! Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you guys - especially the guys who fish the river!

Paul Beaudette - THE CRAZY POGIE

Striped Bass Fishing in the Seekonk River

Published on May 28, 2014
In the beginning of the spring striped bass migration into Narragansett Bay the large keeper stripers (over 28" in length) seem to head for the most inner reaches of the Seekonk River all the way up to Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Even though the school of pogies (forage fish) is in the main shipping channel of the Providence River, the big boys opt to pass right by and high-tail for the upper reaches of the river where there seems to be very little bait to feed on. Go figure!

If this year is anything like years past as the season progresses and the river waters warm beyond the stripers comfort zone, the bass will leave the river system and settle in the deep, cool waters of the Providence shipping channel for the month of June.

This is when the Providence river action really picks up and you can grab a few bass while snagging pogies at the main school. From the shipping channel  many of them leave the Bay in the hotter months of July and August.

The "keepers" prefer the cooler ocean waters in the summer months feeding along the R.I and Massachusetts shore line at night and heading to the deeper waters during the day.

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I've Got Those Gansett Bay Slammer Blues

No, I don't have the BLUES! I got those Narragansett Bay Slammer Blues.....

I got the FEVER....I'm stoked because its heading into the fall fishing season and those big 10 to 15 pound "Slammer Blues" will be entering and chasing bait in the Bay.

They usually intercept and feed on the annual migration of peanut bunker (Baby Menhaden) and Baby Herring, at the mouth of the Providence River and Barrington Beach. And....I Love-it.

Starting in June small Blues show up in the waters of Rhode Island Sound and Narragansett Bay.These predators can be caught as far north as the upper reaches of the Providence and Seekonk Rivers. Their average size is two to eight pounds with a good number of ten-pounders mixed.

When striper fishing the rivers in springtime and you have a fish on....You know right away it's a blue,  just by the type of strong and aggressive fight these awesome fish put up.

Most anglers don't keep bluefish for the dinner table, but we love to catch them for their powerful fighting ability.These fish can provide excellent excitement because of their incredible jumping ability.

Adult bluefish are strong and aggressive, and live in schools. They are fast swimmers which prey on schools of forage fish, and continue attacking them in feeding frenzies even after they appear to have eaten their fill.

These guys are NASTY CRITTERS! 

Bluefish sometimes chase bait through the surf, attacking schools in very shallow water, churning the water like a washing machine. This behavior is sometimes referred to as a "bluefish blitz".They are cannibalistic and sometimes feed on their own young.

In nature there is always balance. In turn, bluefish are preyed upon by larger predators at all stages of their life cycle. As juveniles, they fall victim to a wide variety of oceanic predators, including striped bass, larger bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), weakfish, tuna, sharks, rays, and dolphins. As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species.

Blues reproduce during spring and summer, and can live for up to 9 years. Bluefish fry are zooplankton, and are largely at the mercy of currents. Bluefish commonly range in size from seven-inch "snappers" to much larger, sometimes weighing as much as 40 pounds, though fish heavier than 20 pounds are exceptional and considered a trophy.

As with most marine fish, bluefish spawning habits are not well known. In the western side of the North Atlantic, at least two populations occur, separated by Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.

The Gulf Stream can carry fry spawned to the south of Cape Hatteras to the north, and eddies can spin off, carrying them into populations found off the coast of the mid-Atlantic, and the New England states.

It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and sub-tropical waters.

Ok lets go fishing

A good indication that a school of Blues is feeding below are fish boiling water at the surface and diving birds (gulls). If blues are chasing bait it's a good time to work with surface lures.

When the feeding blitz is on, break out your poppers and cast to the edge of the boiling water and "pop" it back toward you at a moderate speed.

Bluefish are voracious feeders with wounded fish breaking out from the tightly packed school of baitfish, everywhere. By using poppers you are trying to imitate one of these wounded or frantic baitfish and trying to attract the attention of an opportunistic Bluefish. 

Other lures which are widely used for blues are "Castmasters" or any shiny metal lures and jigs that swim a little deeper can also work great in these situations.

Just about any lure works when they are competitively feeding.

Always remember to use a pair of long needle nose pliers to remove hooks from their mouths because these fish have powerful jaws and very sharp teeth capable of slicing off monofilament and cutting fingers.

Bluefish have razor sharp teeth so steel leaders are mandatory! It's wise to use at least twelve inches of steel leader in front of your plug, livelined or chunk baits.

Using Chunked Bait on the bottom (fresh is best, frozen works but not as good) is also another way to catch Blues, especially when the presence of bait and fish are not obvious. Because of the smell of bait on the bottom it can attract Bluefish from quite a distance.

Try a "fish finder" rig (sliding sinker on main line - when fish takes bait, can't feel weight of sinker). Hooks in size 5/0 to 7/0 work well when bait fishing for Bluefish and  Stripers.

Ok now get out there and get the BLUES! Gansett Bay Slammer Blues that is.....

The 2013 Providence River Spring Striper Run Best Ever

Large schools of striped bass move into Narragansett bay chasing bait during the spring.

The upper portions of the bay, consisting of the Providence and Seekonk rivers, are the major springtime producers for striped bass in Rhode Island.

Striped bass are migratory, and will move up and down the bay chasing pogies and herring.

Stripers and blues can be caught  in the upper bay as far up as the Seekonk River s Division Street Bridge in Pawtucket. 

The Providence River has a year-long run of schoolies, with a few big boys mixed in,  which results from a warm-water power plant discharge.

The inshore "Gansett Bay" bite begins when the water temp reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the spring and tapers off as the hot summer approaches.

Keepers caught in the rivers commonly weigh in from 10 to 30 pounds. But they can grow much larger. There has been reports of a few fifties taken at night in the Providence river channel.

Striped bass are typically found from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia. 

The Chesapeake Bay is the major producer area for striped bass, with the Hudson river being a secondary producer. Spawning migration begins in March when the migratory component of the stock returns to their natal rivers to spawn.

It is believed that females migrate after age five. These fish are believed to remain in the ocean during the spawning run. Males as young as two years old have been encountered in the spawning areas of the Chesapeake bay.

In southern states such as Florida, striped bass are raised in hatcheries, stocked in freshwater lakes and considered freshwater sportfish.

The migratory range of the northern (Hudson stock) extends from the Carolinas to New York's Hudson River in the winter time and from New Jersey through Maine in summertime with the greatest concentration between Long Island, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

The migration of the northern stock to the south often begins in September from areas in Maine.

Although much of the spring fishing in the river is with live or fresh Menhaden, striped bass can be caught using a number of baits including: clams, eels, anchovies, bloodworms, nightcrawlers, chicken livers, herring, shad, and sandworms - it is estimated that 90% of their diet is fish.

Striped bass can be very choosy about the baits and presentations they take, They are considered among fishermen as being an opportunistic or "lazy" feeder. At times, the only presentation they will consider is a weighted-pogy dropped right in front them.


The Providence river mostly consists of a shipping channel with plenty of old dock pilings, sand bars, washes, holes, points, cuts, sloughs, pockets, rips, and drop offs along the edges. Stripers love three things: moving water, structure, and food. All three can be found within yards of the shoreline.

And since stripers and their food sources have tendencies to hold to certain types of structure at certain tides, it becomes important for the fisherman to learn how to work the tides and read structure.

Timing is important amongst fishermen. High tide, low tide, dawn, dusk, lunar phases, water clarity and temperature, barometric pressure, storm fronts, these are all subjects that the striper fishermen will familiarize himself with, regardless if fishing from the surf, jetty, boat, or bridge.

As I write this the 2013 Providence river striper run is winding down. It's been a good year, and I'm sad to see it go. It's been the best spring fishing ever, with many multiple keeper days. Ya...know, I can't complain, I've met some new friends and made great memories, and look forward to the seasons to come.

Lets Save Menhaden: Our Bays and Estuaries Depend On It

Gulf Menhaden

In the 1950s when populations were healthy, pogies (menhaden) were capable of meeting the prey demand of striped bass, bluefish and supporting other fisheries.

The 1950's catch records show 8yr. old fish were fairly common 10yr. old fish were also in the spawning stock.

Year 5+ fish are the most important of the spawning stock. Five year fish or older produce up to 10 times more eggs than first-spawn Yr. 2 females.

Atlantic Menhaden usually do not become sexually mature until the end of their second year, after which they reproduce until death. A young, sexually mature female can produce roughly 38,000 eggs, while a fully mature female can produce upwards of 362,000.

The eggs hatch in the open ocean and the larvae drift to sheltered estuaries via ocean currents. The young spend a year developing in these estuaries before returning to the open ocean. At this early stage, they are commonly known as "peanut bunker". 

Eggs are buoyant and hatch within 2 to 3 days depending on the temperature. The larvae will spend 1 to 3 months in waters over the continental shelf. Larval fish will enter the Bay in late winter and early summer. The larval fish will move into lower salinity waters in estuarine tributaries while juvenile and immature fish remain in the Bay until the fall.

From 1988 to 1993 the oldest fish in the spawning population, were decimated on their summer feeding grounds, in the gulf of Maine, leading to a collapse in their northern regions.

The Soviet Union and a Maine company contracted to supply menhaden to Russian factory ships to be processed. Geee....I  wonder who that was!!!! 

The collapse reflected in menhaden bait landings, which were down 98% in the New England region during the early 1990s.

The NMFS created an index, in the 80's to estimate egg production, that indicated older menhaden from the New England region had the potential to contribute 39 percent of the overall menhaden egg production for the fishery.

The massive factory ship operations in the Gulf of Maine severely reduced egg production.The commercial fishery largely depends on age 2 menhaden.

In 2005 approximately 72 percent of the commercial landings by number were sub-adult menhaden (ages 0-2).

The removal of menhaden, mostly age 2 fish, raises concern that the menhaden are being caught before they even reach spawning age.

Menhaden Clean our Waters 

Also known as mossbunker, bunker, and pogy, menhaden are omnivorous filter feeders, feeding by straining food particles from water. 

They travel in large, slow-moving, and tightly packed schools with open mouths. Filter feeders typically take into their open mouths "materials in the same proportions as they occur in ambient waters". Menhaden primarily eat phytoplankton (microscopic plants); although, since they are omnivorous, they take in a small portion of zooplankton (microscopic animals).

Even though most other related fish (in the family Clupeidae) eat zooplankton, "Menhaden primarily consume phytoplankton, that is, algae and other drifting bits of decaying vegetable matter.

The ecological significance of this difference can hardly be overstated."

In 2005, commercial landings fell to 146,860 mt, the lowest level since the NMFS began keeping records in 1940.

In 1991 the NMFS published a marine fisheries review titled: "Assessment and Management of Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden Stocks." The summary cautioned: "

The expansion of fishing on the spawning stock in New England waters concurrently with increasing fishing pressure on pre-spawning menhaden off Virginia and North Carolina in the fall prompts concern for maintenance of the Atlantic menhaden resource".

With the increase of striped bass, caution is needed because the data can significantly overestimate spawning stock if the natural mortality rates (predation) are not taken into account.

The NMFS  continues to estimate menhaden spawning stock levels that are supposed to guarantee good recruitment, even though the data indicates a healthy spawning stock doesn't exist and menhaden recruitment has continued to remain low for more than a decade.

The menhaden population is in big trouble, with the high percentage of spawning stock being harvested and the low levels of recruitment. It's not good to fool with "mother nature."

If this subject interests you, please comment, especially the Providence River fishermen that fish the rivers.

Together we stand , divided we fall!!!! Thanks for reading.