First bluefish

Don't worry, although my hand was in the
gill plate, I was very mindful to not touch
the gills and do any damage. I respect
big bluefish and am careful of there well being.
Remembering my Boca Grip would have made life
a lot easier.

For the last week or so, I've wanted to try the place that I caught huge blues last year from my kayak. I had been checking the weather the last few days.When I looked at the weather for today, it said the wind would be out of the east at 11 mph. This usually would mean the area would be too rough to kayak. However, we had the 12 o'clock news on at work. They showed a couple of web cams of the bay. It was flat calm.  At the same time I was watching the news I got a text from my friend Dave. He was out in a boat with his brothers and he told me the same thing, calm water.

So after work I grabbed my kayak and gear and headed out. By the time I got to launch, it was 5 pm. The wave action had picked up but it was still plenty safe.

Long story short, it took me over an hour to find fish. I had to move to multiple locations with longish paddles in-between fishing spots.  Once I found fish, I found a lot of them. There were schoolie bass closer to shore and large blues further out.

I ended up catching eight bass and three big bluefish around ten pounds each. All the fish were caught on a Rebel Jumpin Minnow.  The fish were very fussy. I'd cast towards them and I'd get a hit or a swirl on almost every cast (again, this is after I found them. I only had 2 hits in the first 60 minutes or so). Finally I would hook up and a fish would drag me around. 

 You may notice I caught many more bass than blues. This was intentional. When I found fish, I found the blues first. I love catching big blues but the first couple soaked me from splashing.It wasn't that warm out to begin with.  Also I didn't remember my Boca Grip, so landing the blues was a challenge. Once I found the bass closer to the shoreline, I stayed with them hoping for a keeper.

All in all, a great night. I'm glad the big blues are back. If you like saltwater fishing in Rhode Island, I'd say the time to be out there is now!