Schoolies

Over the next couple weeks I plan on discussing some topics that have been on my mind. Most with be just thoughts others might be classified as rants. they are just things I have been thinking about. I have been fishing almost every day this month but I am in my winter mode. This means I am fishing the same place roughly the same time every night. There is only so many times you can write about the same thing. So instead of writing I caught seven this night or one ( I only got one last night) I thought I'd tackle some of these ideas in my head.

Tonight's topic is schoolies.

I think the great thing about striped bass is that they come in a variety of sizes. Even though we would all love to catch thirty pounders on every cast that is not a reality. Because Narragansett is an hour away I can't fish there every night so I fish Upper Narragansett Bay a lot. This spring was exceptional, and this late fall even better.

 There are keeper stripers that come into the bay. When the menhaden come up in the spring often big keepers follow them.This is primarily a boat fishery. Thats not to say keepers can't be caught from shore. They are fairly common. However for the most part the Upper Bay is a schoolie fishery. Most keepers will run between 28 and 33 inches, most on the low end. If you fished the Upper Bay every night from late April to June you would be very happy to land one forty inch fish.

So I choose to use gear for the size fish I expect to catch, not gear for the biggest fish I could catch. Why? It is more fun, if I'm into sub keeper size bass on a shallow sand bar why the hell would I use my surf rod. of course keepers will come along and it is awesome to hook one. Thats when experience plays a part and landing it is a combination of skill and luck.

I bring this up because so many people have schoolie fisheries. The West Wall is famous in the spring. The Thames River is the most famous winter time fishery on the East Coast and that is primarily schoolies also.

I would love to catch keepers on every cast but catching twenty three inch stripers on every cast is a hell of a lot more fun to me than catching ten inch trout ( and I do that also) or fifteen inch pickerel. I am glad that schoolie stripers are there because they fill the void waiting for the big one!