I fished the oceanfront last week because I had the right conditions. It was rainy and overcast with a light northeast wind and a fairly rough surf. It was the type of conditions that have been favorable in the past for me.
I got down in late afternoon and scouted the Narragansett shoreline first. The surf was rough but the northeast winds had sent a lot of weed onto the shorelines along the Avenues, making fishing difficult. I headed to Point Judith, where the water looked good but the place was crawling with surfers. It was onto the East Wall, where the waves were breaking over the wall and the water was filthy with weed. So, I gave up on this side and headed to the West Wall.
There I found lots of bait and landed a variety of fish. I started off with a bucktail jig and landed five fluke up to 16 inches. I had quite a few other hits and fish on. Bluefish were also breaking sporadically here and there in small pods, though their surface antics would only last about ten seconds. If you didn’t get the plug into the commotion in that period of time, you got no hits. I ended up with two small blues on poppers, though I had quite a few more hits. Right at dark, a few stripers were breaking close to the wall after bait. I landed three bass on Cocahoes and one on a popper. These were all schoolies that ranged from 16-22 inches.
So, lots of action and a good day for small fish in some lousy weather.
Photos of Lousy Weather Can Mean Good Fishing at the Shore
