New York Fishing Report 3-1-2012

It’s finally March, and although many upstaters woke to a fresh layer of the white stuff this morning, we’re now only weeks away from the official start of spring 2012. It almost feels fitting in a way, to cap-off this unusual winter with a brief reminder into what we missed out on. Overall, New York State remains about as diverse as it gets from a weather standpoint. Nighttime lows will still be dipping into single digits in some places upstate this week, but daytime temperatures will be reaching into the low 60s in New York City by the weekend.

There’s no doubt it’s an exciting time of year to be an angler, and I’m sure I’m not the only one chomping at the bit. The long dormant fisheries throughout the state will soon start stirring with life and gamefish down south are already thinking of their impending journey north. In the meantime, there are still many wintertime fisheries in the state that are ending the season on a high note. Block Island cod fishing is as good as it’s been since this time last year, and the next few weeks should give up some of the best ground fishing of the season. Upstate, many of the hardwater lakes are still holding enough fishable ice to outlast the mild days and continue giving up big numbers of panfish, northern pike, trout and walleye. Even though we’re on the final leg of the hardwater season, some of the small, shady farm ponds will be holding fishable ice for weeks to come.

East End Fishing Report

Block Island cod fishing has been slowly gaining momentum all month, and now some larger cod in the 20- and low 30-pound class are being caught almost daily. There’s also been some nice-sized pollock taken on the last few trips. As has generally been the case in the last few years, the best bite of the day is in the pre-dawn grey, sometime stretching into the first few hours of morning. So it’s important to get your gear and bait situation in order before racking out for the ride to the grounds, and I’d even consider setting an alarm on your phone. Watching the entire rail tight to fish while you’re still tying dropper loops is a tough way to start the day — trust me. But even if you do oversleep on the first drop by a minute or two, the morning and early afternoon bite has also been picking up. Even when the cod decide to take the feedbag off for half a tide, there’s been plenty of jumbo ling close by to keep anglers busy. Many of the fares have been reaching their recommended limit of 10 cod by the end of the trip in the past week. The most encouraging development this week has been the appearance of a few larger cod and pollack. Hopefully they represent the leading edge of what’s in store for the next several weeks. The dogfish haven’t been as bad recently, but they’re still showing up occasionally so I wouldn’t abandon the idea of jigging. Even if you don’t bring a separate rod specifically setup for jigging, I’d still those three or four in the bag with your lead.

South Shore Fishing Report

Although I’ve already heard some scattered reports of linesiders already showing up in some of the south shore estuaries, most anglers are still focused on the local wrecks and the codfish and pollack that are still showing up on most trips for the local headboats. As it’s been all winter, the cod and pollack are showing up in bigger numbers for the boats out of eastern south shore ports, but even the Captree boats are having some respectable days with keeper-cod.

North Shore Fishing Report

Without a late winter/springtime blackfish season to talk about, there are still not many reports coming from the sound worth mentioning. I check-in with Richard at Camp-Site Sports Shop in Huntington Station, but all of his year-round anglers are focused on wintertime codfish, and had yet to turn their attention to the sound. I have heard scattered reports of linesiders already showing up sporadically, so it should be a quick transition into the spring run.

Metro New York Fishing Report

Ling fishing aboard the Marilyn Jean IV out of Sheepshead has been as steady as it’s been all winter, and the occasional market-size cod still continues showing up in buckets of the more persistent anglers by the end of each day. The only issue right now is the weather. Today’s trip was canceled due to the high seas, and the forecast looks questionable for at least the first part of the weekend. Hopefully this storm is moving through the area a little faster than forecasted and conditions will settle down a day ahead of schedule.

Upstate New York Fishing Report

Ice conditions upstate are about as varied as they can get at this point in the season. The ice is still holding firm in some northern regions like the adirondacks, but there’s still no ice to speak around Lake Ontario. “There was a little snow yesterday, just enough to coat the ground,” Sharon from Narby’s Superette & Tackle told me over the phone, “but it’s just rain now.” The Kent area has been largely ice-free this winter, and the streams that were locked-up tight at this point last year are still running free and are easily accessible. “Is there anyone still fishing?” I asked hesitantly, without expecting to hear about many fresh reports. “Oh, yeah” she said, “they’re still out there.” Apparently the crew of die-hard anglers up at Narby’s Station live up to their billing. Sharon even told me about a few anglers that already have their boats out in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River flatlining for brown trout. Unfortunately, most of Sharon’s attention this week has been on the administrative side of things, going to meetings about ongoing problems in the salmon stocking programs and concern about the high-water levels in Lake Ontario and how best to deal with it without damaging the downriver fisheries in the St. Lawrence River.

Best Bets

If you can make it happen, I’d recommend getting out to the eastern end of Long Island in the next week or so for a Block Island cod fishing trip before it winds down. Even if you’re coming from upstate, fishing is as good and consistent as it’s been all season, and hotel rooms are as cheap as they get this time of year in Montauk. Even though conditions for this weekend don’t look great, there’s still time for the forecast to improve and some of the larger boats in the fleet might get out, especially on Sunday, if the forecast improves even slightly. Either way, conditions will have laid down to 3- to 4-foot seas by early next week and the solid fishing should hold out, and possibly even get a little better, right through the middle of the month and possibly even into April. Upstate, even if your local haunts are iced-out for the year, you can still get in at least one more hardwater trip before the spring thaw reaches the entire state. Fishable ice to well over a foot thick is still within a few hours drive for just about everyone north of New York City, and nighttime lows in the low teens should keep things locked-up for a few more weeks in some places. Just remember to be cautious, and that this time of year is the most common for ice fishermen to fall through the ice. The longer days and mild daytime temperatures are put more strain on the ice-pack that’s already weakened from the months of heavy use.