We’re starting the third-week of April, and there’s a lot going on. Bass season opened with a lot of early success, especially for those fishing in the western sound. Nice stripers continue coming out of the Hudson River, and the flounder season continues improving, as water temperatures creep into the high 40s and low 50s. Things are still a little slow out east, at least on the bass and flounder front, but the Block Island cod bite continues to be productive on days when the weather’s been productive. That’s been the main issue this week, an uncooperative weather pattern.
When I heard John from Hudson Park Bait & Tackle pick up the phone, I immediately asked about any new reports coming into the shop. “Wind,” he said, and that’s largely been the big story this week. “There are some flounder around,” John commented, “more than last year.” The water temperatures around the shop are still on the cool side, hovering right around 45 degrees, “46 on a good day” John concluded. A consistent 20-knot blow has kept most of his regulars at the dock, or at least inside the harbor this week. However, as sharpies tend to do, some of John’s regular crew did get out this week and found some early-season keeper bass, up to 30 inches, with good schoolie action in between. John himself has been marking big numbers of bunker down deep in the Sound, herring are also still in the area in good number.
Within a few days, some of the bunker should begin their move into the backwaters of the north shore. This is one of my favorite events of the season, as large numbers of adult bunker are chased through shallow estuaries by large spring-run striped bass. There are many ways to target these fish as they gorge on the calorie-dense bunker. One of the most effective ways is with a bunker-snag, casting a weighted treble-hook through a pod of bunker and snagging one and pulling it out of the pod. Usually, when the bass are in good number and actively feeding, simply pulling the baitfish out of the school on the snap is enough to induce a strike. However, if they are not feeding aggressively, rig the snagged bunker through the nose with a 6/0 live bait hook and a 30-pound-test fluorocarbon leader.
I made a call to Captain Chris of the Island Current Fleet this morning to check-in and see how the first few night-bass trips of the season went. “We’re starting to see some nice keeper bass now every night,” Captain Chris was happy to report. They’re getting the fish on chunks of fresh bunker, and it looks like the fishing will continue to improve over the next few weeks. The bass are just beginning to move in our way in significant numbers. The Current’s flounder trips have also been improving steadily. They are targeting the shallow-water areas, around 12 feet, in the East Chester and Little Neck areas. They will continue flounder fishing until next week when the Current will begin doing blackfish/flounder combo trips. I’m interested to hear from Captain Chris in the next few weeks about how the blackfish bite starts off. The season’s been open for a while, but few people are out there targeting togs. This should change as the water warms up a little, and the blackfish move in toward shallower water.
Best Bet
The number-one option for most this weekend is striped bass. The bass are spreading out quickly in two directions, giving more-and-more New Yorkers a decent shot at quality bass every day. More large bass are making their way up the Hudson River, and others are making their way along the north and south shores of Long Island. Bass can be found in decent number in-and-around the City, as well as Jamaica Bay and the Western Sound. The bunker and herring are popping up throughout the entire area, and are increasingly being harassed by schools of quality stripers.
Another decent option this weekend is flounder fishing. Jamaica Bay has been decent-to-good on the flounder bite this week, and it should even get a little better in the coming days. Shallow water and heavy chum is still the key for targeting blackbacks. Focus your efforts in 10- to 15-foot depths, and use a bank mussel/sand worm bait combo. If you put in your time, you should have a pretty decent shot at a keeper flounder, or two. The flounder bite should also start heating up out east in places like Moriches and Shinnecock in the coming weeks. The weather isn’t going to be perfect, but the fish are already here – get after ’em.