Soft Plastics and Big Stripers and the Radar Pier



36" striper caught on 10" hogy.



Biggest striper of the day at 37"

I got out last Saturday morning with Eric Harrison on Jamaica Bay. As a Hogy rep, Eric is a big soft plastics fisherman and has designed some hardware for Hogy for targeting striped bass around structure. He is the master at fishing soft plastics for big stripers and every fishing trip with him is like taking a PhD level class in fishing. Eric grew up fishing the coast of southern California and honed his skills in the big fish waters of Massachusetts fishing around Boston Harbor and catches as many trophy stripers as anyone on the coast.

So, I dedicated the day to fishing Hogy soft plastics with him. I picked his brain about using them for stripers and got an excellent tutorial on fishing the deep channels of Jamaica Bay with soft plastics. We fished the last three hours of the flood in area west of the railroad bridge to the ruined radar pier and had a slow pick of quality fish to 37". All of my fish were at least 30" and my largest was 36".

There was a slight WNW wind, that was a little higher than predicted. This WNW wind combined with an incoming tide gave us a good drift across some fairly productive water.

We had success pulling stripers out of bunker schools in 25' using 10" Hogys. The key was either marking or seeing bunker and fishing through them. Most of the time, we would be bumping bunker only to have our jig thumped hard by a big striper. When the bunker would disappear, the bite stopped. The bunker were moving around fast and the stripers were moving with them in hot pursuit. As such, we moved around quite a bit.

Retrieve was key to getting hit. For me, I let the jig fall to the bottom and worked it up - the odder the retrieve, the more hits I got. My best retrieve was a long haul with a few periodic hard twitches to keep it in the middle of the water column, away from the surface. During the pause between twitching the plug, I would often receive a violent hit from a striper. When the action was good, I was always hitting bunker. It was easy to tell the difference between bumping bunker and a striper hit.

We both caught fish by the radar pier, but the up-current side of the pier was the better producer. This surprised me because usually the bass hold at the down-current side of pilings. But, all of the bunker was on the up-current side of the pier as well.

The bite slowed as the top of the flood approached and the bunker spread out. The stripers also spread out, and we hardly marked any stripers moving through the channel at all on our journey back to the launch.  While the tide was incoming, we had periodic marks of stripers but very rarely were the stripers schooled up except for one occasion. Otherwise, we would mark a lone big striper moving through the middle of the water column. I saw one once that looked to be about 4'. It was the biggest mark I ever saw on my fishfinder.

Great fishing and it isn't even the peak yet.

We discovered that the bluefish are moving in. Eric had several plastics bitten off. I expect to see them in hordes next weekend.

Also, there were some weakfish caught by others. With some reports of weakfish in the area, I did a scoping mission on Sunday morning. I got a late start and fished for 90 minutes before the south wind came up and blew out the afternoon. No weakfish for me but I expect them to be in better numbers next weekend. I believe they are in there in numbers right now. I just have to find them. For the next three weeks, I'm likely dedicating one scouting mission per week until I find some.

Freshwater Grand Slam





I targeted walleyes on Lake Ronkonkoma last night. Although I caught walleyes, I also caught smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and white perch. I totaled 8 fish - 4 walleyes, 2 smallmouths, 1 largemouth, and 1 white perch. 

I fished from 6 pm - 10:15 pm. Rick showed up later and caught some walleyes as well. The early part of the trip was extremely slow with only one hit before dark. 

At dusk, I hooked into a nice fish trolling a crankbait. I figured it was at least a 20" walleye by the fight, but then it jumped. It turned out to be a nice 16" smallmouth bass. My first bronzeback of the year, one of my favorite all-time fish. 

A few minutes later, I hooked into a heavy fish while turning a corner. It turned out to be an 18" walleye. A few minutes later, I hooked into another fish, but dropped it shortly thereafter. 

Soon, I caught a decent white perch, a fish that alluded me in my species quest last season in Kayak Wars. After passing a point, I picked up a 15" largemouth, which was a little brown, so I thought it was a smallmouth at first. 

For the next 40 minutes, the fishing slowed. From 9:00 pm until 9:30 pm, the walleyes started feeding intensely, and I picked up 3 more walleyes in a flurry, but they were all spread out across the lake. Last spring, the fish were much more congregated. I haven't found them schooled up at all this year. 

18" walleye.

Later, my main lure got snagged and the plug snapped off. Simultaneously, my other rod bent over and I thought I was stuck on the same structure, but then I heard a jump. After a spirited fight, I landed my second smallmouth of the night. It was slightly smaller than my first at 15". 

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the walleye fishing, but the other species made up for it, especially the smallmouths. The area that the walleyes had congregated last spring has been completely void of eyes this year. Although the walleyes have mostly been spread out, I have consistently caught them in one area this season on every trip. 

My fishfinder ran out of juice around dusk. If that was working, I may have caught more fish. I was mostly blind trolling with shallow plugs, and would change direction when the lip started smacking the bottom. The smallmouths were holding deeper than the walleyes. 

Overall, a great night. I expect to return to better fishing next week. 

Smallmouth bass.

White perch.

Largemouth bass.

New York State Angler Achievement Award - 23" Largemouth Bass

I'm continuing my two year trend of exploring freshwater fishing on Long Island, which has been extremely rewarding, and has often provided very good freshwater fishing for a variety of species such as largemouth bass, walleye, pickerel, and brown trout. 

I had heard for many years of the quality largemouth bass fishing on the east end but never gave it a shot. With high winds forecasted, the small pond that I fished offered good shelter in every direction during the blustery day. Plus, the water temp was likely just right for pre-spawn largemouth fishing, and I had planned to make a trip to this pond before the season closed for a month at the end of April. 

In the early spring, mature largemouths move into the shallows to feed heartily in preparation for the changes their bodies will undergo during the spawn. They also scope out an area to dig out their bed. At this time, they will orientate towards structure such as fallen trees, brush, boulders, or weeds in 2' - 4' of water (or sometimes more shallow). They will look for food, but find it in scarcity at this time and will roam the shallows in search of baitfish. The pre-spawn usually occurs when the water temp reaches the low 50s and the spawn begins at around 60 degrees. This is an excellent time to get a shot at some pig-sized largemouths that bury themselves in cover as lakes become infested with weeds in the warmer weather. 

A warming trend will lead to excellent fishing, but a cold front usually shuts the bite down. 

Unfortunately, it was a cold and windy day with strong winds out of the west. As we rolled into the north fork, the air temp was 37 degrees. As expected, this little pond was perfectly sheltered in every direction. 

We launched at 10 am and fished until 1 pm. I was optimistic because the water temp was 57 degrees but also a little leery due to the cold front. 

This lake had great structure for largemouth bass fishing. 

On my second cast of the day into a tangled mess of fallen trees and brush, my rod bent hard and I thought it was stuck. To my surprise, a very big largemouth jumped out of the water - it didn't give an inch as I tried to bring it to the kayak. On the second jump, it wrapped itself around a big submerged tree branch, but I continued to reel . . . . I brought back a little line, but it was bad, so I had to grab the paddle and work my way into the brush - the bass's big mouth was out of the water, and I lipped it and brought her into the boat. She measured at 23", which is the biggest largemouth bass I've caught in over ten years. I took some pics and quickly revived and released with the help of George T. She swam away strongly. 

That was it. No more hits for the rest of the morning and we went around the pond twice. We called it a morning after three hours. 

The lake is a pretty little gem. With a mostly undeveloped shoreline, nature abounds. For fishing, it had the best largemouth bass structure that I have seen in a very long time - fallen timber and brush everywhere. Due to the small size of the pond, it is easy to explore and fishable in almost any weather. I intend on going back after the bass season opens again in June. It also apparently holds walleyes, which is surprising for such a little pond. White perch are the primary forage for the largemouths. 

Long Island has some really underrated freshwater fishing, especially for largemouth bass and pickerel. For these two species, I would say that LI would rival any fishery in the country. The warmer winters provide a longer growing season. I am anxious to keep exploring some of the largemouth bass fishing on the east end. It is worth the drive. 

Jamaica Bay - April 21, 2012

37" Striped Bass - released.

33" Striped Bass.

The west radar pier was badly damaged by Sandy.

East end of Jamaica Bay.

During a given season, the vast majority of my striped bass fishing occurs in the Long Island Sound and it's harbors and estuaries. However, I spend a portion of my spring fishing the big striper run on the Long Island south shore in Jamaica Bay. When the fishing peaks, it is the best striper fishing on the east coast and the overall saltwater fishing rivals any locale in the U.S.

For a brief period in the early spring, quality Atlantic coast stripers move inshore into Jamaica Bay in very good numbers. In contrast to the overall fishery in the Sound, the older age class stripers dominate this fishery, and there are numerous fish in the 26" - 34" range, and a very good number of large stripers in the 35" - 38" class. The second moon in April usually brings in the first wave of these bigger striped bass, and, sometimes the lucky angler can get out on a day when fresh fish from the ocean are moving in.

Today was one of those days - numerous fresh fish in the 28" - 31", most carrying sea lice, moved into the bay to feed on spawning menhaden which have been filtering into the bay in better numbers than earlier in the week.

I fished the area from the north railroad bridge to the west radar pier and found good numbers of these striped bass spread out along the big channel, and highly aggressive. I caught 12 stripers 28" - 37" and only one short 22" striper. My two biggest fish were 33" and 37".

I only saw random marks of stripers on the fishfinder, spread out, but definitely more concentrated to the east. The fish were cruising the deep channels during moving water. The bunker were spread out as well, and I saw my first bunker ball of the year on the sonar. This was the first day that I saw a substantial amount of bunker this year.

High tide was at noon, and the fishing was slow during the slack, as expected. But, the slack was short with the moon, and the fishing picked up as the tide started moving again, and I picked away at nice stripers, trolling against the tide on my trip back.

I fished deep diving plugs, soft plastics, and metal, but the only producer today was the tube. Head to head, the tube outfished the plastic trolling, and with limited time, I didn't have much of an opportunity to cast. But, when I did, plastics didn't produce for me. A big factor for the failure of artificials was the fact that the water was brown, with less than a foot of visability.

The tube was the producer today, and it produced most in deep open water, as the stripers were moving around fast between the bridge and the pier. For me, this is unusual, as the tube is normally used for me to strategically fish nearshore structure in the Sound. The water temp was perfect, and these bass were looking for food. As more bunker move in, they will become much more picky.

As much as I try to diverse my striper fishing tactics, the tube is an excellent producer of quality bass . . . . sometimes it makes it almost too easy. Catching these ocean-run stripers from the kayak on the tube requires some sturdy equipment. Stripers in the 30" class make hard runs, and your drag needs to be set appropriately. These fish were fighting hard, and often got a second wind when they saw the kayak. The tube makes for easy landing and quick release.

As I caught my largest fish, a whaler sped by me, relatively close, and my drag started to screech and my rod tipped over to the point it was almost perpendicular to the water - I had to grab the rod to make sure it wouldn't fly out of the holder. I was certain I snagged a propeller, but turns out it was a big striper. My seven year old Penn held up well - kept my rod tip high and let her take as much drag as she wanted. As I fought to get her under the boat for greater leverage, I cranked the handle fast on my reel. Fighting her in deep, open water on slightly heavier tackle gave me a huge advantage. After a few runs, she came to the kayak, and I lipped her and brought her into the yak, which slightly tipped me to the side. 

Overall, quality striper fishing like this occurs on only a few occasions per year for the weekend warrior. With a greater diversity of food, the Atlantic stripers are thick bodied. These fish are transient in nature and the intrepid angler needs to get on them while they're hot. I'm hoping for stable cooler weather until the second moon in May when the bunker moves out. Cool conditions could stabilize the fishing

North Shore Stripers Improve

Today was all about the race to 40 . . . . 

I fished Little Neck Bay today with Eric Harrison. 

I didn't make it to 40 stripers, but did catch 37, including 2 legal sized fish at 28" and 29", and one other that was 3/4 inch short . . . . as usual, Eric outpaced me and caught somewhere between 45 and 50 bass. We were once tied at 28 . . . . but then he took off with a flurry of stripers on his Hogy. Big surprise there. Eric is one of the best fishermen on the planet and I learn much every time we fish together. 

I've never had much success using plastics on the north shore flats, but this was an eye opener. A 6" slim hogy on a 3/8 ounce head being twitched through the flats is a killer presentation. I'm going to give it a shot the next time out. 

I caught my fish twitching rapalas. A straight retrieve didn't work as well today, unless it was slow. Sometimes, the retrieve needed to be varied. 

We launched at 10:30 am. By this time, there wasn't much water in the bay, since high tide was 2:05 pm, but we pushed back. We started fishing in 4' but weren't catching anything, so we moved up on the flats to 2'. Well, the bass were holding shallow and we started to pound them there, catching striper after striper. 

The fish spread out a little with the rising tide and moved slightly deeper, and pods kept moving around the flats chasing silversides. Periodically, the stripers would push them to the surface, so we knew they were looking up. If there was a lull, action would start again as soon as we marked the little pods of baitfish on our fishfinders. Occasionally, pods of bass would move under our boats as well, which is unusual for shallow water, so we knew there a good number of fish around.  

The bite was good until high-tide slack and the fishing became a pick. We caught a few more, including a 28" for me at the very end. That last fish was caught on the dropping tide after a big period of inactivity. 

Two of the highlights of the day: 1) when the 28" I caught exploded on my plug as I was about to lift to re-cast - it happened so fast I thought that the striper missed it - the water went dark and my plug was gone, but when I reeled in the slack, the striper was there and running under the kayak 2) while twitching my rapala, I got a hard hit - I knew it was a nice fish that hit it, but the line went slack, and I thought I had lost it. Much to my delight, the fish was moving towards me, so I reeled in my slack and horsed him in. 

No less that a dozen other kayakers out there today, and everyone was catching. 

The uptick in the striper fishing may keep me off freshwater for a little while. 

North Shore Stripers Turn On

 Usually, the spring back bay flats striped bass fishing on the north shore is peaking now. This year is different. It has been a cold spring. The usual early spring Long Island Sound striper pattern is about three weeks behind schedule. As recently as ten days ago, the water was 43 degrees at the warmest point of the day.

Every year, this early season striper pattern is triggered by high pressure systems reinforced by a few days of stable warm weather. In short, anglers are looking for a warming trend with offshore winds. The best case occurs after an abrupt period of extremely warm weather after a normal spring warming trend. I finally got such a pattern this week and decided to take the day off.

Well, my hunch was correct and the early season striper bite was on. I caught 19 stripers to 28".

I fished with Gary Innes, a fellow member of KFA-NY. Gary is a long time surf fisherman, and one of the club's resident fluke sharpies, so I knew that if the fishing was poor, at least the conversation would be good. But, we both expected the fishing to be pretty good today based on conditions - hot day, incoming tide, and soft winds. The air temp was around 70 degrees with a modest northeast wind. I was pleasantly surprised to find the water temp to be 52 degrees.

The cable broke on my Mirage Drive as soon as I launched. Fortunately, I had a spare. Gary was nice enough to bring it out to the KFA meeting tonight, which was greatly appreciated, as it saved me a long drive to Captain Kayak.

So, I got my new drive and off we went. With a light wind at our backs, we were on the backbay flats by 11:30 am and got into stripers immediately. The fishing was localized, and the stripers were holding tight in shallow water around 4'. They were a little spooky today, as the stripers were all around us, but not under the boat, except for one brief moment when I ran over a school.

For the next hour, I was either catching a striper or getting a hit on every cast. I had the most action plugging a  slow dummy retrieve, others were working their lures differently, but slow and steady worked for me today. Only dapped the 8 wt fly rod briefly.

I caught 12 stripers by high tide slack at 12:30 pm. . . . at which point, the proverbial light switch was turned off in an instant.

At slack, the fish spread out, and I picked away at 6 more schoolies over the next hour. The fish dispersed at the beginning of the ebb, and the bite stopped as the water fell. I called it a day at 2:30 pm as the northeast wind picked up pace. Although it was predicted that the wind would turn southeast, it never happened.

My biggest fish was a thin 28" bass whose lip was torn by my plug, so when I went to get my camera after measuring, the lipped ripped totally and she got off my grappler, so I got no pics.

This is the first wave of stripers in the Long Island Sound. As usual, it is fast action with mostly schoolie-sized bass. If the weather stays stable and warm, the menhaden will move inshore to spawn. This will trigger the second wave of bigger striped bass. For kayakers, if the weather doesn't work, we don't always get a shot at these fish at Little Neck Bay before it is closed. Lets hope that the warm trends continues and that the air temps stabilize for a while so we can get a shot at some big stripers there by the end of the month.

April 8, 2013 - Walleyes

I had a good, but frustrating night on Lake Ronkonkoma. It was the night of the short strike, and dropped fish. But, the fishing improved and I totaled 5 walleyes, including a nice one.

I met up with Darren and we launched around dusk.

I started trolling two rods. As I was rigging my second rod, my other rod went down hard, and I had a nice fish - the rod was really bent. After a very good fight, I got the fish to the boat, and saw a long slender figure with glowing eyes emerge from the dark water. It was a nice walleye. Although I thought it was over 20", it only measured at 19". It had a serious set of teeth.

After this, I hooked into two more walleyes, but pulled the hook out before I could land them. The 'eyes had mouths like weakfish tonight.

I made my way over to Darren at the opposite end of the lake. He was also having luck, but  was also having problems dropping fish. As I approached him, I hooked into a walleye, but the hook pulled out again.

The action was fairly constant and I caught another walleye the next pass.

15" walleye. 

Darren took off about this time, and I stayed out another hour. I picked away at three more walleyes working a point. After this, I decided to explore and come back. On my way back, I hooked into a big fish in a new area - it was fighting me like a walleye but it was heavy. It was definitely the biggest fish I hooked on the Ronk . . . . but again, the hook pulled out. I was not happy.

I had a few more hits trolling back to the launch, but it slowed down. For the entire night, the walleyes would hit hard, but just didn't fully commit. The walleyes didn't grab the crankbaits enough to get a good hook set. They seemed more like aggression hits than hungry fish.

Great night on the water. Flat. The water temp was 52 degrees. The air temp started at 70 and went down to about 60. A nice change from the horrible cold we have been experiencing.

I hope to get out again soon. The pre-spawn walleye fishing is about to peak.

19' walleye.