With less than two weeks until March, it seems this winter will end more-or-less like it began. Long-range forecasts have temperatures getting back in the mid-50s on Long Island next week, making it difficult to believe we’ll see any significant change in the weather pattern before spring can take hold. The bottom fishing for ling and cod along Long Island’s south shore continues to be productive, and many hardwater anglers upstate are still enjoying a productive season without the sub-zero temperatures. For those unfortunate few who live between these to regions, now’s the time to get creative — or mobile.
East End
Cod fishing continued its slow, but steady improvement this week after being interrupted by a few days of high seas. “We ended up having a decent day on the cod boat today,” was the report from Wednesday’s trip on the Viking Fleet. The crew commenting that the day “started off with a pick in the dark that stayed steady and lasted for a few hours into daylight.” The biggest problem on most trips has been the ongoing presence dogfish in the area, probably the biggest drawbacks to the unusually warm winter. Since I’ve been waiting them to move-off for about a month now, their persistence into mid-February got me digging through last year’s satellite images of sea-surface temperature in the area. Looking at the charts year-to-year, it really shows the huge impact a mild winter has had on the Northern Atlantic. A year ago today, sea-surface temperatures southeast of Block Island were hovering in the neighborhood of 38 degrees, possibly even a little colder. The latest image from Rutgers University posted on the Web this morning shows sea-surface temperatures southeast of Block Island in the neighborhood of 48 degrees, with water in the low 50s not far off to the south. This 10-degree difference has played a huge role in the huge anomalies we’ve seen in Block Island’s fisheries starting last fall. Headaches to anglers and captains aside, there may be at least one unintended consequence from this winter’s abundance of dogfish that ends up being a good thing for the Block Island cod fishery in the long run. With their ability to quickly “slow down” the cod fishing experience, dogfish have almost singlehandedly reduced the average catch of headboat anglers. So if there’s one bright side to the dogfish plague, it’s that perhaps thousands of codfish ended up spawning this season. But let’s just hope the dogfish do finally make their way out of the area in the last few weeks of winter.
South Shore
Ling and cod fishing continues to be productive for the headboats all along the south shore, from Hampton Bays all the way to Brooklyn. The headboats to the west are a good option if all you’re interested in is remembering what a tight line felt like and ending the day with a piece of fried fish. Your desire for the ending the day with a few market-size codfish should dictate how far east you’re going to travel. You’re almost guaranteed a few keeper cod if you head all the way out the east end, but they’ve also been doing pretty well cod on the mid-range pieces outside of Shinnecock. Your ling-to-cod ratio will increase as you head further west, but even the boats sailing out of Sheepshead Bay are usually icing a few cod by the end of each trip.
North Shore
I talked to Richard from Camp-Site Sports Shop in Huntington Station this morning, who told me though he hadn’t heard any real reports from the area over recent weeks, but did speak with a customer this morning who was heading out to do some freshwater fishing. We are getting close to my favorite time of year on Long Island to fishing for largemouth bass. Each spring, the biggest bass in the lakes and ponds across Long Island wait just as eagerly as trout fishermen for the stocking-trucks to arrive. The trout arrive disoriented, having lived a life completely free from natural predators. Lets just say it takes them awhile to adjust. Those first few weeks are a smorgasbord for the 5- to 10-pound largemouth lucky enough to be a resident in a stocked waterway. Fortunately, this all takes place before aquatic vegetation builds up, making it possible to slowly retrieve large, trout-imitation swimbaits like the SB80 by Spro in places where it would be impossible most of the year. This style of fishing definitely requires a lot of patients, and a little bit of getting used to, but if you like trophy largemouth bass — it’s definitely worth a shot. I try to think about it like musky fishing. You’re going to have to make a lot of casts in-between strikes, but when you do hook-up — it’s well-worth the wait.
Metro New York
In Brooklyn, bottom fishing continues going strong for the crew and fares aboard the Marilyn Jean IV. Throw in daytime temperatures consistently hitting the high 40s and 50s, and you really can’t complain. Captain Tony reported “super” conditions on yesterday’s trip, adding that all the fares aboard had “no problem filling up a bucket with nice size ling.” There wasn’t many cod caught, but Captain Tony was focused on some spot more known for ling. For the most part, a few keeper cod are showing up at the filet table by the end of every trip. Sea conditions look good for the upcoming long weekend, and the ling fishing has showed no signs at all of slowing up.
Upstate
Depending on where you’re located upstate, you’re either ice fishing in relatively comfortable conditions, or you’ve packed away your sled and are hoping for better ice next year. Ice conditions are being affected across the board, and even the St. Lawrence River has lost huge areas of fishable ice. “Only the coves have good ice right now” Steve from Northern Harness Bait & Tackle told me, “it’s warm as heck.” A lot of the local derbies and tournaments have been canceled or postponed due to the poor ice conditions, others are still hanging in the balance. The immediate forecast doesn’t look great, there’s a chance for rain over the the next two days. “Rain is like acid for ice,” Steve mentions after relaying the details about the forecast. “The perch fishing is good though,” he mentions, noting that things are not bad on all fronts. The ice is still holding up on the smaller bodies of water, and fishermen are taking advantage of the manageable ice-pack. “Less ice is good for the fishing” Steve reminds me, “there’s more oxygen.” More oxygen mean the perch are not all suspended in the deepest parts of the lakes, making them nearly impossible to find without electronics. Trout fishing has heated up in the area, and some really huge northern pike have been caught including one 25-pound monster. If you’re planning on heading out this weekend, be extremely careful and avoid any areas with significant current. Rain and mild temperatures over the next two days will compromise even more that had been fishable this week. It might not be a bad idea to wait until nighttime lows fall back into the teens early next week, because for the next few days the ice will be getting thinner by the hour.
In the southern foothills of the Adirondacks, I talked to the owner of Jim’s Bait & Tackle in Mayfield to check and see how the ice has been holding up in the area. Fortunately, ice conditions are still good around Mayfield. Even the biggest body of water in the area, Great Lake Sacandaga, is holding a solid foot of ice. Jim thinks the ice will hold through the next few days of mild weather, and without something drastic happening, should hold out until mid-March.
Best Bets for New York Fishing
It’s definitely been a strange winter in New York. Most of the season, it’s felt more like a mix of late fall and early spring on Long Island, and you still have to travel pretty far upstate to find some fishable ice. I’ve been personally trapped in this zone of “angling purgatory” quite some time now. For me, spring can’t come soon enough. I just might have to make one or two more road trips to help run out the clock.