Although the air temperature hit the 50s again in New York City today, the gusty wind and lingering showers will likely keep most from venturing out. The 2012 cod season has gotten off to a decent start and is showing some signs of improvement, both out east and along the south shore. Unfortunately, weather conditions won’t be great for the start of the weekend, although it’s hard to say if it will be a total wash. Things should be improving by Saturday, and by Sunday conditions should be pretty good for this time of year. Upstate, the hardwater season is still struggling to get on its feet. Hopefully, and I know I’ve been saying this since mid-December, the approaching cold front should lock things up for good. We’ll see. Either way, most of New York remains in a state of “angling limbo” for the time being.
East End
The Viking Fleet sailed on their first four local cod trips of year this past week, and although the dogfish are still a problem at times, each trip has put away decent numbers of market cod as well as a few large fish to 30 pounds on each trip. Water temperatures are still unseasonable warm southeast of Block Island, causing the dogfish to stick around a little later and in bigger numbers that usual. Hopefully the cold snap this weekend will convince them to start heading south. Until they do, jigs are really the only way to go. The cod are there and willing to chew on the cut-clam, the only problem is that the dogs are beating them to it. Although the occasional pup will still hit a cod jig, the ratio will be greatly reduced and you won’t have to replace torn-up rigs. If the dogs are particularly bad on the day you go out, consider not even using a teaser above your jig. A dropper loop gives each pup the opportunity to chew into your leader, but keeping them down on the jig’s treble hook will keep from retying between every drift. On last Saturday’s trip, along with a decent mix of cod to just under 30 pounds, the Fleet also landed “a bunch of big mackerel” reported Captain Carl. This is a good sign for things to come, mackerel can be a significant food source for the larger cod that are beginning to show up in the area. This should be an ongoing trend for almost the next two months. As more herring and mackerel make their way through the area, it will draw more and larger cod onto the relatively-shallow grounds southeast of Block Island feeding heavily as they move into their pre-spawn phase. The Fleet had to cancel the local-cod trip for today due to the inclement weather, but they’ve yet to make an official call for Friday and Saturday. You can check the Viking website or call the office to get the latest information on upcoming trips. The weather will improve significantly as we move through the long weekend, and conditions should be favorable for this time of year on Sunday and especially Monday.
South Shore
The south-shore headboats are still producing respectable numbers of small keeper cod and good numbers of the biggest ling I’ve ever seen. If you’re determined to get out on your first winter bottom fishing trip of 2012 over the weekend, Sunday and Monday will be your best bet no matter where you’re sailing from. Although many East End boats will likely not sail on Saturday, with 8- to 13-foot seas in the forecast southeast of Block Island, NOAA is calling for 7-footers subsiding to 5 feet in the New York Bight — so there’s a chance some of the bigger headboats to the west with hearty regular crowds might get out. Conditions will improve further by Monday, making it possible for even the smaller boats in the wintertime fleet to make it out, as seas are only forecasted to be around 3 feet. Although the headboats out of the western south shore have had more success with clams lately than the boats out of the east, I’d definitely still consider packing along a few small cod jigs in case you get dogged out on a few drops. This is a situation where I’d consider bringing along two setups, one for jigs and one for bait, making it easy to switch back-and-forth on each drop. Also, swinging a jig on a boat that is mostly fishing bait is my favorite way to land that lucrative pool-winning cod.
Metro New York
Herring remain one of the few angling options for those around the city, even though sea surface temperatures are still hanging in the low 50s in some areas. Action with the herring has been pretty consistent and widespread from the fishing piers around the city. Local cod and ling are also a viable option from the headboats sailing out of Brooklyn like the Marilyn Jean IV. I talked to Captain Tony this afternoon who told me, “fishing has been excellent recently.” Anglers have been leaving the dock with bags of nice filets in their coolers. The ling bite has been great this season, in both size and quantity, and there’s been enough market-size cod in the area for most fares to get a few on each trip. The best news, the bight has been close to shore so the Marilyn Jean IV is able fish on with “less than ideal” conditions. Captain Tony was fairly certain they would be able to sail this weekend, so consider heading down to Brooklyn if you’re going to be around the City this weekend.
Upstate
Winter is slowly making its way down from the North — albeit in continued fits-and-starts — it’s raining on the New York/Canadian border right now. However, the approaching cold front will put nighttime temperatures into the single digits and cap daytime highs in the mid-20s. I talked to Rene from C & S Bait & Tackle in Saranac, up near the Canadian boarder, to see if the hardwater up there had survived another week of daytime temperatures stubbornly reaching above freezing. It’s a decidedly mixed bag. Rene told me that some of the local crew has been getting out for panfish on some of the smaller, sheltered ponds – but the larger bodies of water are still unsafe. No matter where you’re trying to get out, and even if the ice is over half a foot thick, make sure you’re familiar with any underwater springs or currents in the area. The ice over the moving water, even on small ponds, will be significantly thinner than the rest of the ice. Rene also mentioned the oncoming cold weather, and said it should only be about another week and a half before all the local lakes and ponds are ready to fish. Just be careful, up to a foot of snow may fall in the next two days, insulating the ice from the frigid nighttime temperatures this weekend.
Up in the Lake Ontario Region, I put in a call to Denis from Narby’s Superette and Tackle in Kent and asked him if any of the yahoos were still chasing steelhead in the creeks near the shop. “There’s still a few guys out there,” he assured me, adding “It’s been a little slow, but the rain should pick thinks up a little.” The usual assortment of egg sacs, real and artificial, continue to be the most widely-used offering. Though Denis did mention, “with this rain they’ve started to use worms, and even pieces of nightcrawler.” There’s still no ice to speak of in the area, even on the smallest ponds, and Denis said the local hardwater crew was, “chomping at the bit.” I definitely am, too. Just remember, there’s been a number tragedies on the ice already this season, so use extreme caution when testing the ice once it hardens in your area (if it ever does this season).
Best Bets
Gusting winds will likely keep most headboats at the dock on Friday, and possibly even Saturday. However, keep your eye on the weather because some of the larger boats in the fleet, like the 140-foot Viking Starship, may sail if the forecast improves slightly. Conditions look about as good as you can expect this time of year for Sunday, and even better on Monday. Ice fishing is only an option for those way up north in the Saranac region, and only on the smaller ponds in the area. More places should be ready to go after the deep-freeze this weekend, but I’d consider waiting a few days before heading out anywhere. Today’s rain may have compromised the ice in some of the areas that were fishable earlier this week. It never hurts to wait a few extra days at the beginning of the ice-fishing season.