"There are some awesome fish in the Bay now, just about everywhere," said Bill "Eelman" Nolan.

"Had many fish yesterday from 20 to 27 pounds on live bunker," he said in an e-mail Friday. "It was amazing fishing for May 15."

There's no doubt that that the migration of striped bass is changing. On Block Island last year, the first keeper of the season was recorded on May 10, much earlier than anticipated.

Thursday morning, on the dropping tide, a big school of bass was feeding on menhaden between Bold Point and India Point in Providence.

Ed Hughes fished the spot on the evening's ebb tide, but the bass and the bait had left.

On Ninigret Pond that evening, large numbers of cinder worms were emerging, and there were a lot of bass beneath them.

The fishing was challenging, however, said Ed Lombardo, who fished with Ryan Sansoucy, the skipper of Hush Fly Fishing. "The fish were very selective, so it required a lot of fly changing and long casts," Lombardo said.