There are two times during the year that big striped bass make themselves available to anglers inside Narragansett Bay. The first one is the spring run, by far the most productive in terms of numbers and sizes of fish. The second is the fall run which is much more difficult to figure out these days as well as much less intensive than it used to be.

Problem:  The first problem is fall run fish are on average, much harder to figure out and pin-point where they will be. They aren't nearly as predictable as during the spring run and move from spot to spot much faster. Second, the amount of available bait during the fall is quite probably four to five times greater than it is during the springtime. There are countless numbers of peanut bunker, silver sides, rain bait, anchovies, and now adult bunker for the fish to feed on. And third, our fall runs are just not what they used to be by a long shot. In fact, this "change in behavior has been going on for quite some time now. The days of long, extended runs along the south shore with almost predictable time frames and big schools of good size fish are long gone. Why? I don't really think that anyone knows for sure. Changes in migration patterns, more available bait to feed on, the fish are more spread out, changing weather patterns, warmer water for a longer period of time, as well as many other factors could be affecting this change in movements.

What do you do?  Well first, you fish the best times and tides and moon phases that you can possibly put as much time into as possible. These conditions will offer you the best chance and greatest opportunity for success. Especially prior to or just after any storm fronts that happen which usually trigger strong feeding activity.Fish early and late morning tides that will cause fish to move in close to shore to feed as well as into the shallows. Target of the strongest tidal flow, especially when it can be combined with good fish holding structure.

In the fall, the fish can be found almost anywhere and at almost anytime. It seems that they don't follow a close pattern like they do in the spring time. They tend to move and roam for freely. This could be due to the vast amounts of bait that is now available to them at this time of year. Why go looking for a meal when the chances are its going to swim right in front of your face.

Fall run fish found inside the bay are usually found holding on deeper water structure and not so much in the shallows like they are found in the spring time. Not always, but usually. It also requires a lot of looking and searching out different areas where the fish might be. Rock piles, humps, ridges, river mouths, rips, channels, and more. For the most part I catch my fish in totally different areas than I do during the spring time with very few exceptions. I check the regular spots pretty consistently and find that usually there aren't that many fish holding in them during the fall.

Lots of anglers are afraid of being out in the rain or getting wet but that can be the best time of all in the fall. Low light conditions which accompany cloudy, rainy days, can extend the bite longer into the daytime as well as putting the fish in a more aggressive mood. These types of conditions can be miserable to fishing in and be out in but it does pay off and learning to do a little suffering can lead to some really good fishing opportunities that you otherwise would have missed out on.

Timing: A will all things regarding fishing, timing is, was, and always will be a critical factor to your success. The problem is trying to figure out the correct time and place to fish. Fishing the fall run today is akin to the rolling of dice. More times than not you wind up shooting craps. Factors involving how the fish will respond have been changing from year to year lately and it seems like there is no end in site to this changing behavior. At least not as far as the fish are concerned.

Perfect Example: I recently checked my log books to see if any type of fall pattern has been emerging. Over the last six years the best fishing has occurred from the last week of August until the 12th or 15th of September. Almost like clock work. This is when we've taken the most and the biggest fish. The records show that after that time frame, the fish that are available for the most part of much smaller and there are more of them. Yes, it true that we will likely see a push of fish in mid to late November, especially around Block Island and the south shore, but those runs aren't what they used to be either and in many cases its a case of you better be there when it happens or you miss out completely.

This is when time spent on the water is critical to say the least. The more time you can put in and the more hours on the water you can be there the higher the probability is you will be successful. You will either find them or at least figure out what is happening and will see pattern develop on how movements are occurring and how the fish are reacting to changing conditions of the fall weather patterns.

What Do You Use?  There is probably no other time like during the fall season that it will be as important to change, experiment, and adapt to the changing conditions if you are going to be successful. This I have seen first hand now for five or six falls in a row. If adult bunker are available, then by all means use them if you can find them. The certainly will up the odds in your favor like no other bait will. You can also use live eels, but be aware, with so many bluefish inside the bay at that time of year you are going to wind up with a lot of cigars from blues chopping the tails off. It can and does get expensive but that's part of fishing these days.

For lures I like the Tattoo Swimmers in the two ounce sizes that you can swim on the surface slowly. The Tattoo Swimmer is the only swimmer that I've ever found to come close to the original Danny Swimmer in its action on the surface of the water. It is simply amazing how effective this lure is. I also like using 7-inch Red Fins with a single buck tail hook on the back, Gibbs swimmers, Atom Juniors, the larger sizes of Zara Spooks like the Super and Magnum size that is now available and six inch shad bodies.

Plastics will also work as long as there isn't't too many bluefish around. I don't' like feeding good soft plastics to bluefish if I can avoid it. During the fall I wouldn't go fishing with a bunch of Slug-Go's and Fin-S Fish on board. They are likely two of the best soft plastics that you can use almost anytime and anywhere. I also like the new Hogy Lures as well as the Ron-Z lure with its unique jig head for getting deeper when necessary. I like the green, pink and off white Ron-Z colors. The other would simply be white, black, and Arkansas shiner. Also don't forget to bring along some small sized plugs with you as well. Sometimes the fish can be very picky and key in on the smaller sized baits and will only hit lures of similar size and shape. If all you have are big six to nine inch lures you might wind up catching nothing.

Poppers are also very effective during the fall especially early and late in the day, and sometimes even at night. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't catch a fish on a popper at night because you can. I've done it thousands of times and know others who've done it all well, its one of those old wives-tales that was handed down for generations and is totally wrong in its assumption that fish won't hit a popper after dark. Sometimes poppers work better than swimmers at night. Smack-Its, Chug-Bugs (the big ones) Creek Chubs, Yo-Zuri Magnums and Surface Cruisers and Tsunami poppers all work great and will catch fish. Nothing in fishing beats a big striped bass nailing a surface popper on top of the water during the fall. I can hear that sound now, whoosh!! My God I think I gotta go out and see if I can find some fish now after writing this, I got myself so excited.

Capt Jim Whtie