It has been a long time, but I figured I'd start up the blog again, and try to be more diligent in my postings.
The last quarter of 2013 was a good one, and I had very good fall fishing for a variety of species. Hope to post some final pictures down the road of highlights from 2013.
I hit the Housatonic River in CT on Sunday and caught my first stripers of the year.
For me, it was the first time I didn't catch a January striper in nine years and the latest I've caught a striper in that time period, which just reflects how brutal that this winter has been in terms of weather even for me on Long Island. Normally, I take a 4 week break from fishing from mid-January to mid-February, but this year it was exactly two months since I caught my last fish.
I got to the Housatonic at around 8 am to an empty parking lot and 29 degree air temps, with a stiff northwest wind cranking at 15 knots. With the lack of activity, I almost went home, but went out anyway since it was a long trip.
Well, there were plenty of stripers there and I caught my first within a half hour not far from the launch - the same biomass moved up and downstream in the area around the launch for the next two hours before I quit at 11:30 am. I think that there were two distinct schools moving about in the area and I caught quite a few in a limited amount of time.
It ended up being a pretty good bite in cold weather, but the wind and cold were brutal, and I was constantly battling the ice freezing on my guides while I was fishing. I was not all that unhappy to go back into the warm jeep.
Only two boats out there and no other kayaks - not even the die-hard Uncle Duke! The lack of fisherman surprised me, but the cold weather and incoming tide were likely factors.
Next weekend is going to be my last weekend of the season up there until probably mid-November. It is ice out in downstate NY and northern NJ and I plan on hitting a couple of nearby lake trout and landlocked salmon spots in Jersey over the next three weeks before the stripers start showing up in salt around Long Island. Best part of living on Long Island other than the beaches is the proximity to both good fishing spots in CT and NJ.
Anyway, here is the picture of my first striper of the year:
Great info on this blog. I am just getting into kayak fishing and itching to get on the water but a little daunted by water temp. Sometime could you talk about the clothing you wear when fishing cold water?
ReplyDeleteSure. It is best if you wear a dry suit in most conditions. It is definitely the safest best when the water temp is 60 degrees or below, or maybe even slightly warmer than that. Hypothermia can set in fast. Dry suits are an essential item for the Long Island kayak fishermen in the spring fishing large windswept areas like the Long Island Sound or Jamaica Bay. On smaller waters on calm days, an angler can use a wader / dry top combo. For this, I like breathable waders. I've had leak problems with both but the dry suit is definitely worse.
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