Gulls are hitting the water right in front of me.
They were after large peanut bunker.
I walked out onto a deserted beach today. Not a fisherman in sight and not a walker in sight. But what I did see was a phenomenal sight of hundreds of gannets divebombing into schools of bait right in front of me. All the activity was about 200 yards off the beach so there was life there, and it would soon to turn into pure chaos.
Nothing at first and then suddenly I looked down the beach where I saw flocks of seagulls hitting the water and loons diving for bait. It was all happening right in the wash, and I just knew there would be stripers there. Sure enough, first cast with my NLBN lure, I was onto a decent schoolie. I could now see stripers breaking in the wash after large (4 to 5 inch) peanut bunker that were flying out of the water. The chaos moved down the beach, and I moved with it picking up stripers on just about every cast. Some were good size as I had several slot fish in the 28 to 30 inch range along with hefty schoolies in the 20 to 26 inch range. For one glorious hour, it was a hit or a fish on just about every cast.
This slot fish took my NLBN lure.
This five inch paddle tail was red
hot today.
Make no mistake about it, the late fall migration of bait and stripers in here. It took awhile to get going, but it is here big time right now. I have fished the last 5 days and have been getting about 25 fish a day. While most have been schoolies, slot fish are in the mix daily.
If you can stand the cold, you’ve got some of the hottest fishing of the fall right now along the oceanfront.