04.24.16 Started out front, finished in the river

     Started our early but didn't last long with the crankin' NE chilly wind which froze my ear holes and brain. Water looked great but left to jump on my buddies Paul's boat to check things out on the inside. Lots of racer and gator blues mostly taking subsurface offerings but every now and then blew up to stuff on top. I had a few unbutton, bite off, and landed one on the fly. Below is Jason holding a typical specimen that was out and about today.

                        

     I decided to take a look again at duck and had a good bass swirl behind a Banger. Interestingly the last two days I haven't seen the birds or the bunker like I did a few days ago. Either it's down low or has moved along. They were in thick si it'll be interesting to see over the next few days.

04.22.16 Great day walking the bay.....

     Beautiful day. Great tide. Great wind (almost none). Great fish. It was nice to actually get into some fish and have me immediate area basically to myself and another fly rodder early on. When I arrived the plug guys were crushing them and after about 150 casts I got my first follows and misses and then connected. Had a few come unbuttoned but in the end landed three, which is really fun on the fly rod and from the flat. It's takes a spin fisher awhile to get them in, well it takes flyrodders even longer. The go to was a Bob's Banger with about 6 inches of a wire leader in front of it. Of course it wasn't easy because they weren't at your feet so the stripping baskets were basically submerged the whole morning. Best part of the day was sight casting to fins as they moved up and over the flat I was on, so much better than blind casting. Lots of guys must love the big blues because it was hard not to trip over them when walking off the beach. 

 

04.18.16 Things are about to get good for the fly rodders

     Gettin's gonna be good real soon on the fly rod. The warm air and water temperatures will set the table this week for some good action. When? Where? On what? That's for each individual angler to find out....for themselves. That more than half the fun. You just gotta get out there and put your time in. Now that's not to say a little help from a friend or two doesn't help.
     Water temps in the shallows of the bay are over 50, and even higher with the midday sun. You know what they say about the benchmark of 50 right? Topwater offerings start getting attention. Today I fished some creek mouths on the outgoing. First walking the sedges and then walking the flats. Absolutely gorgeous out there even though my first stop didn't produce.

          I stopped at a place where catching a sand bar can you put you out nice and far and into deeper water. I was greeted by the waft of burning wood which came from the remnants of a beach fire that either kids or anglers had fired up during the night. I had to position myself away from the debris and foam line that was created as the creek emptied out during the ebb tide. I didn't see any bait, except for a peanut washed up on the beach. I was hoping mummichogs, peanuts, or silversides would be at my feet but I think for now the fish are on the shrimp or the bigger bunker. Look for the bluefish to arrive any day, hopefully they'll hold off a bit and let the bass come and graze before they make their spawning runs up the Hudson.

                    

04.17.17 Right idea wrong tide

       After checking things out front I decided to sit on high slack in the river. Yes, incoming tides bring cooler water than the outgoing but you gotta go when you can go. Watched as few boats stopped and snagged and swam before heading out to the bay for more productive waters. Couldn't use the stripping basket with the rail in the way but the big water held the line just fine. Should be nice coming up on the ebb as air temps are starting to get in the 70's midday.

     The bigger bunker is in the back of the rivers but guys that were live-lining and chunking were coming up blank. Wonder if the bass will settle in on them before the toothy ones get a whiff.

04.16.16 Scenes from this morning

     It's getting there.....just not yet. Waters in the low 40's out front and the fish and bait isn't there. The temps are better out back, and the fish are there too. Started on the rocks before moving to some open beach. Nearly got washed down the beach scarp, you know when you catch yourself going sideways before you get dragged in. Not a tap, no birds working, hopefully sooner than later.