The single-digit temperatures last night secured the first fishable ice of the year for many small lakes and ponds upstate. The nighttime temperatures should stay consistently low enough to keep this much delayed hardwater season progressing in the right direction. Cod fishing for the headboats out of Montauk remains a little on the slow side, as water temperatures remain significantly warmer than at this point last year. Weather has keep the fleet at the dock since Monday, however, so hopefully some bigger numbers have started to move in. Even though things have yet to reach the seasonal peak, there are some nice fish being caught by the ground-fish sharpies. The headboats near the City are still fishing short- to mid-range wrecks and finding good numbers of ling and a few market cod on each trip. There’s herring scattered around the western part of the island, and they are pretty available from the south shore piers, so pick-up a some sibiki rigs if you’re getting desperate to tighten a line — April is still a long ways off.
East End
Captain Steven of the Viking Fleet reported a “tough day” on the cod grounds southeast of Block Island on Monday. With the season off to a bit of a slow start, Steve decided to head “offshore” a bit, “to hit some wrecks in hopes of finding some cod.” Unfortunately, it didn’t go completely as planned. Upon anchoring on the first piece, “we found tons of sea bass that we could not keep, double and triple headers all around.” That’s got to be pretty tough, throwing back double-headers of 5-pound sea bass on a cold day when the cod refuse to chew. After being “chased away from the wrecks,” by the overly aggressive and out-of-season sea bass, they went “back inshore and only found more sea bass, some porgies and a couple of cod at the end of the day,” also picking up a 12-pound monkfish to round out the catch. Even though the recent trips have been less-than-stellar due to the unseasonably warm water, the sharpies on the rail are putting enough meat in the cooler to feed even a large fish-eating family. A few suggestions if you’re planning on heading out this weekend. Make sure the sticks you’re bringing out are loaded with plenty of 30- to 50-pound-test braided line, I personally use Power-Pro. Friday’s trip might be a wash, with winds gusting to 30 knots and 4- to 7-foot seas forecasted southeast of Block. Saturday looks more promising, with only 2- to 4-foot seas in the forecast. Just remember to bring your foul-weather gear, because it’s likely to be alternating between rain, snow and sleet for most of the day.
South Shore
The headboats sailing out of the western south shore continue putting together decent bottom fishing trips with solid numbers of big ling and the occasional market cod. The action’s been pretty consistent from Hampton Bays all the way west to Captree. Some of the headboats a little farther to the east have even been seeing some decent-sized pollock along with the usual ling and market cod. The bite has been a little picky at times, so you’re going to need to be on your A-game if your plan is filling the cooler. The mackerel are being spotted periodically off the south-shore beaches, a good sign for the ground fishing over the coming weeks.
North Shore
The Sound remains pretty much devoid of aquatic life and fishermen. Although I’m sure there’s some herring pushing in-and-out of most of the north-shore harbors, I’ve also heard reports they’ve been anything but consistent. I can’t help but think about the old winter/spring blackfishing season that would have started just a few days ago. The silver lining that will hopefully pay big dividends to New York anglers is that thousands of breeding-size togs now get to live through at least one more spawning cycle.
Metro New York
There’s a mix of rain and snow in the forecast for New York City on Saturday, then mild temperatures will return, possibly topping off at 50 degrees on Sunday. It appears the unusually-warm winter weather pattern isn’t completely finished, at least for those living downstate. If you’re looking to get out of the house in the mild weather Sunday, it’s pretty much down to two angling options at this point. You might be able to track down a few herring around a few of the city piers, although the bite is usually more consistent at night, and the second option is getting aboard a local headboats for a day of ling and cod fishing. Saturday looks like the best pick weather-wise with only 1-foot seas to start the day, and possibly a few snow showers before noon. Sunday will start off with 4-foot waves, building to 6 feet. Some of the local boats might get out, but will likely be forced to fish a little tighter to shore than normal. The Marilyn Jean IV, sailing out of the Bronx, was blown out Tuesday and Wednesday but got off the dock on Monday. The crew reported a “cold morning” without a “breath of wind,” commenting that it “made for a very nice ride out to the grounds.” The southwest wind kicked-up slowly though out the day, and although the fishing wasn’t lock-and-load, just about everyone was able to put together a decent trip, including some decent-size cod for the area. The crew reported, “fishing was just a pick again, nothing special but everyone caught dinner” and the pool fish was a respectable 15-pound codfish.
Upstate
The ice-fishing season spread significantly further south this week, leaving many upstate lakes with the first fishable ice of the year. Up on the St. Lawrence River, I talked to Steve from Northern Harness Bait & Tackle who told me “the ice is looking good.” Air temperature at the shop this morning dipped to a frigid 8-degrees-below fahrenheit, and Steve said temperatures reached as low as 25-below zero earlier in the week. Most of the traditional ice fishing spots are now good-to-go, and the local hardwater crew hans’t wasted any time putting some really nice fish on the ice. Most of the local walleye spots have locked-up good enough for fishing, although a few locations in areas over swift moving water still need a more time. I asked Steve how the early walleye reports were shaping up. “They’re catching them good down by the dam,” he said. The hardwater sharpies that frequent Steve’s shop have already landed walleye to 13 pounds, with several others tipping-the-scales in the low double digits. Fathead and blue-nose minnows are producing a lot of the bigger fish. The best way to fish them on a tip-up is about 6-inches off the bottom with a small split-shot, a 4- to 5-foot fluorocarbon leader and number 6 or 8 hook. Panfishing has also really taken off on some of the smaller lakes and ponds in the area, Steve said Black Lake in particular has been producing a lot of quality fish over the past week.
Best Bets
For me, it’s definitely going to be a hardwater weekend. It’s the first weekend when fishable ice is within reasonable driving distance for a lot of New Yorkers. It’s impossible to say exactly where in the state the bad ice ends and the good ice begins, so no matter where you are make sure you keep your wits about you. Even up in the St. Lawrence region, where it hit 25 below this week, there still some thin places in the ice. That being said, there are some sheltered farm ponds mid-state that are holding 6 inches of quality ice. If you’re on Long Island and can’t get upstate with your tip-ups, I’d still consider a January ground-fishing trip. The last few trips haven’t been great for the boats out east, but almost a week has passed since then, and hopefully a new batch of keeper-cod will be out there waiting. Keep in mind, even on the slower trips, the experienced anglers are going home with plenty of filets and usually the pool-fish. We’ve still got a long way to go before spring, but at least now we can waste a few hours drilling holes in the ice.