New York Metro &
New Jersey

June 27th, 2003

The Spring That Wasn’t, But It Sure Is Summer Now

Featured Affiliate

Mirage Striper Leader Designed to turn over big flies in a head wind. Excellent abrasion resistance for use in rugged surfside, shoreline conditions. Sold in 2-pack.

Guest Fishwire reporter for this week - Ralph Burtis from Island Charters

John’s away, and it’s my turn to take a shot at the weekly report. April, May and almost all of June came and went. The spring fishery in the metro are never really got into full swing, I’m not saying it wasn’t good, it just wasn’t what it’s been in past years. I think even the fish were confused by the up and down temperatures. Almost late winter temperatures and then warm weather then back to cold weather again. I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you what it as like as I’m sure you were as confounded by it as most of us were. Last week I was on the water in full rain gear, multiple tee shirts, fishing shirt, and a sweatshirt just to stay comfortable underway. June 21st comes and as the season changes from spring to summer, so does the temperature. Summer has arrived with a vengeance. The water temperatures have risen several degrees during the past days of excessive heat and with that a lot of the reaming spring fishing is fading with it. We’re entering the summer season and it seems nature is resetting it’s clock. The fishing season started a couple of weeks late, but during the past week, it’s almost back on target. The offshore water temps are also rising fast and with that, those of us that do the offshore scene will be back at it as the inshore fishery slows with the doldrums.   Reports have started to come in that the bluefin have arrived off southern Jersey,,,, Ohhh Boy, I can’t wait.

This week, the big bunker continued to hang in along the Jersey shore. There have still been occasions where flies are almost useless, but other days they have been irresistible. Big bass and blues have been marauding the schools playing havoc with the bait and just about everyone’s gear that has been using light tackle. But, that’s what we do, we give the fish a fighting chance.

In the metro area, with the increased water temperatures, the ocean showed signs of the usual early summer shrimp hatch. Birds flitting on the surface picking shrimp as though they were walking on the surface of the water. Blues and bass finning on the waters surface slurping shrimp and lazily cruising along to the point you almost drift right over them. If you were lucky to get their attention you hooked up with a fish that was worth the effort, bass to 32” and blues to 28”. Several times, while the fish were finning on the surface, large pods of fish were schooled up below, eager to take whatever we threw at them, but that didn’t happen every day. In other metro areas blues are aggressively eating anything and everything that they can find, so keep that fly box with the old beat up bluefish flies handy.

With the change of the weather, the East End and the sound seemed to have broken wide open and it’s about time too. I received reports of large pods of bait finally showing in the sound this week after almost the whole spring of desert like conditions. Big bass continue to stay deep in the channels of the sound and the bait fisherman are still doing well chunking, but we don'’ talk about that here.

And don’t forget to email me your own reports. Tight lines all.

Tight Lines!

John McMurray

New Jersey

Capt. Gene Quigley of Shore Catch sent in this descriptive report.

Just got back from the Vineyard and had a great trip! We had bass every day on the boat from 15 to 30 lbs. on the fly. Hot flies up there were definitely BIG SKOK Mega Mushy's. Nothing like watching as thirty pound bass come up from thirty feet in gin clear water to take your fly in the middle of the day! Man what a great place.

As for central Jersey their are still HUGE bass around all along the beaches and they are finally starting to hit big bunker flies. This has been the best striper fishing we have seen for really BIG fish in over thirty years. Countless forty and fifty pounders being taken on live Bunker every day and the 25 to 30 LB fish are the small ones.
The really good news is that the BLUEFIN TUNA have shown up to our south and I will be running for these guys on the fly exclusively for the next three months out of Cape May, NJ.

Capt. Jim is on his way up to the Vineyard for a little R & R and he was doing very well with the weakfish all this past week down in Barnegat.

That’s all for now!

Capt. Gene Quigley
Shore Catch Guide Service

Nice report Gene...

Capt. Paul Eidman of Reel Therapy called in this report about more big bass and blues:

Lots of bunker along the Jersey beaches, the big problem is there is so much bait that the fish have become finicky. The blues have been in the 12 pound range (for you guys that don’t use a scale, that’s a 35” fish). Big bass are still hanging in there, but the best shot seems to be early or late with low light conditions. Paul adds, he has openings, so don’t miss out on the big fish action, call him.

Great Paul... and
Capt. Bryan DiLeo sent in this report

Capt. Bryan DiLeo/Iowa Fortune
Ocean City /Atlantic City Report
This week, despite the poor weather, was very active with nice catches of stripers as well as Bluefish. Good tides through out the week in combination with just coming off the full moon triggered multiple hatches putting the fish up on the flats ready to feed. We consistently were able to get on to fish early in our trips and with the almost nonexistent boat traffic (due to the weather) the fish were tracking very well allowing us to stay on them at times for an hour and a half or so. The schools of bluefish were holding in dense schools ranging in size from 2-5lbs and willing to go for most lures and flies put with in a foot of them. Any thing outside a foot seemed to do nothing. The bass
this week were mostly schoolie size in the 14" - 26" range and very aggressive (but selective) and the larger fish 28+ were "one time short striking" us all week. The bass were also tightly packed in smaller schools (6-10 fish) and could be seen tailing at times in the shallowest water usually with the larger fish lagging behind and deeper. Water Temperatures were 64-67 through out the week offering prime daytime bass fishing this should remain the case until were break 70 then the summer time patterns will kick in.
Capt.Bryan DiLeo
609-926-5415

Capt. Joe Mattiolli sent in this report:

Hi Ralph

Bluefish are dominating the NY Bight with plenty of action with fish up to 10lbs, if your patient you can find nice size Weakfish  7-10lbs under the marauding Blues, Clousers and bunker flies have been working. This is an opportune time to catch fish on a fly (very easy)

Capt. Joe Mattioli
On The Bite Charters

Western Long Island

Capt. Barry Kanavy of Natural Anglers sent in this brief but descriptive report.

Fishing is ridiculous it just doesn't get any better than this. Enough said!

Captain Barry Kanavy

Reel-Timer Angelo sent in this report about the Sound...

Hi John,
I was beginning to feel a bit like the lyrics of a Jimmy Buffett song, "Fins to the left of me, fins to the right of me...fins, fins...fins!" The bulk of stripers are still to the west and east of my neck of the Sound. Areas like Eaton's Neck, Hempstead Harbor, Huntington Harbor, Oyster Bay are seeing lots of cow bass and hordes of bluefish and very consistent action.  Slowly, and we are getting some of those bigger. Hopefully, more will arrive before the waters temperatures warm too much and it is too late.  The live liners and bait chunkers are taking their share of big bass on the night tides, but over deepwater humps and structure making it difficult to present flies.  The last two days saw a number of keeper-sized bass succumb to white/olive/chartreuse flat wings during the early morning hours.  Shad are still present and the arriving bluefish are chewing up flies at a rapid rate. The evening wade trips along the beaches are yielding more blues than bass.  The good news on the beach front is that there are now a lot of sand eels in the area. But the biggest story out this way is the incredible masses of big fluke, which by the way love chartreuse and yellow clousers fished on 400 to 500 grain Teeny lines....five pound fluke are a fairly common occurrence.  It has looked like Normandy out there the last few days with all the boats!
Till next time...Angelo

Eastern Long Island

Bob Sullivan of To The Point Charters had this to say:

Alex Powers and I sight fished Maidstone Beach, Fireplace, Cartwright, Tobacco Lot and the Ruins. We saw plenty of fish but only hooked a few and got followed by a few more. Was perfect sight fishing weather until the haze developed later in the day. We saw plenty of cow bass but only landed the little ones. I had one striper jump three feet up in the air. Part tarpon I guess.
Capt. Bob Sullivan
To the Point Charters

Capt. Brendan McCarthy of Urban Fly Guides sent in this report:

Hey man- hows things? finally got some nice weather and the fishing has been good as far as Bass on the flats and shots at them when the sun is good. Some are really picky some days and gorging others but the fish gods are always generous with some fish on the tougher days. I have attached the Al Caucci photo I promised. Starting to show good in all areas finally and am always amazed  at how big an area it is out here. hope all is well
regards
Capt. Brendan McCarthy

Capt. Don Kaye reports:

This past week had us dodging raindrops again on the Bay. However, brief periods of sunshine provided some sight fishing opportunities in the shallows with a few Stripers in the 6-8 lb. class captured and released. On the rising tide, schools of breaking Bluefish allowed for some excellent surface action while the dropping tide produced more fine Bass hook-ups (a couple up to 37 inches), probing the deeper channels. With some decent weather predicted for the coming week, Summer on Shinnecock should be sensational!
Capt. Don Kaye,
Shinnecock
Guiding 631-7288175

Josh Gruss sent in this report

Fishing was just ridiculously good out on the flats out east this week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday had the best action I have yet to see out East.On Tuesday I visited a flat I haven't been to in a while. Had consistent action for about three hours. Not a minute went by without seeing fish. With the sun it felt as though we were in the Bahamas with the sun and clear water. The fish were cruising SHALLOW. My flats boat was barely floating where we saw some of the fish. Most of the fish were mid-sized. They cruised in bonefish-like schools of ten to fifteen fish. They only liked small flies. Two inches max. One with rabbit fur worked the best.I fantasize about days like these all winter long. I hope all the Reel-Timers get to enjoy some of them too. It''s such a narrow window we have to enjoy these kind of days. I recommend getting out soon before those summer doldrums set in.
 
Capt. JG
striperflats.com

Salty Joel Filner had this to say:

It seems we can only manage a rare morning and or afternoon where both schedule and weather coincide in order to squeeze a few hours out on the water. Fished Wednesday in the wind on Peconic and managed two small stripers, Thursday late in the afternoon on the outgoing at Shinnecock with a little wind and more rain, for one bluefish, and Friday the bonanza day with sun, 15 knot winds and the outgoing for one small striper and at the inlet where I went to see if anything was happening, managed 4 blues, 6 flies, and watched the spin guys manage a steady take of 3 to 5 lb blue fish. Two gentlemen fishing barbless managed their limit on top water plugs and politely offered me a fish or two and went on to help two kids manage their fish. There was some spearing in the water that the birds were actively feeding on, but the blues were also looking for bigger flies and lures. 66 degree water in the afternoon sun, still heavy winds with rain through Saturday and Sunday morning. Lost the brakes on the jeep Saturday so will be out of beach until Friday.

Joel

Thanks for another great report Joel.

Well, that’s it for this week. Remember, if you’ve got a report, send it in to John so he can include it in the Fishwire.

Until next week, Tight Lines;