So far 2023 has been a year of early-arriving fish species. A very mild New England winter seemed to foreshadow a faster spring transition, with water temps several degrees above average as March gave way to April. It is true that April saw a return to more seasonably appropriate temperatures on average, but we still had a few scorchers that crossed the 80-degree line, which is not typical for April in our region.
Striped bass streamed in early and fast with the run seeming to go from zero to 60 in a matter of days. In my twentysomething years of closely following this fishery, I have not seen another year like it, where the ‘schoolie window’, particularly in Rhode Island, was mere days long and quickly replaced by slot-sized fish around the middle of the month. My second fish on the season was a sporty 15-pounder; I don’t remember that ever happening before (unless you count holdover fishing).
Other striper guys I spoke to told of similar results, my friend and regular Fisherman Magazine contributor Jerry Audet, told me he made his first ‘real’ trip of the season on April 20 and was immediately into slot and larger fish. The thing that really surprised me was the early influx of much larger fish, I don’t recall ever hearing about a 40-pound striper coming from Narragansett Bay in April, but it happened this year. And with stripers just shy of 30 pounds reported from the Canal just a few days into May, it’s certainly been an unprecedented striper run.
But it’s not just stripers; the tog bite was red hot during the second half of April in Connecticut and stayed open just long enough for a couple monsters approaching 20 pounds to be landed before the season closed on April 30. The blackfish bite only became more intense in Rhode Island as we flipped the calendar page to May and the fish flooded the shallows with good numbers of 7- to 9-pound fish reported. Scup also came on quick, with news of some jumbos coming from Buzzards Bay on May 6 and some nice ones taken in Long Island Sound around that same time. Even the fluke fired their boosters early with positive reports coming from the New York side of Long Island Sound for the first weekend of the open season.
When things happen quickly and explosively, as they have so far in 2023, it’s easy to go into the season feeling like you’re behind the 8-ball and completely unprepared. In these moments, we prioritize our at-home readiness; assessing reels, last year’s line, the hooks on your jigs and plugs, your waders, your boat, running the winter ghosts out of your motor, finding the anchor and the trailer hitch…among 100 other tasks.
Early in the season is the most common time for otherwise law-abiding anglers to get pinched for what can basically be summed up as stupid oversights. This column comes a touch late to save the early birds, but even still, it could save them too if they haven’t yet crossed paths with Johnny Law. Before you make another cast, before you make plans with your buddy or back the truck up to hitch the boat, make sure all of your licenses and permits are in check. Remember that we have saltwater licenses throughout New England that are mostly reciprocal around the region and all of them cost $10 or less. At the same time, if you have a boat, make sure your boat registration is up to date and your trailer too. And if you have aspirations to head offshore for tuna later this year, make sure you have your HMS permit squared away as well.
These things may not seem as important as making sure your motor is purring like a kitten or that every knot in your pile of pre-tied leaders is perfect, but that can all change in a heartbeat when the warden stops by for a routine check. Do it now and you won’t have to worry later.
