Had some local succes finally. Even with the drought like conditions it seems things out west here are falling in line with last year. Waters still cool at around 45 so the fish aren't aggressive and need
the fly basically put in front of them. Above is one of the flies I used, ones I tied with those eyes that I love. Basically I'm finding that after a half a dozen casts the eyes are either twisted or gone and for a while I was throwing one-eyed flies. Even though the fish are +/- 25 inches the cool thing is I was able
to watch each eat. The one above, which was a 4:15 am catch, was 26 inches and had to weigh about 10 pounds. That's about a six year old young female with eggs on board. The one below was an evening fish and although small, the peduncle, the stalk-like part that leads to the tail, is way thick and appears out of proportion. I wonder if that is a common thing for bass that have to migrate so far upriver to spawn.
I'm not going to report others posts all spring but since it's the start of the season why not. Raritan Bay is stacked in the back with bunker and the early boats are already putting a beatdown on them. Heard one boat went out and limited out in 15 minutes and then spent the day catching over 200 fish. Reports like below
have been common. Most of the armada doesn't go until April 1st so get ready for your social media to blow up in the next week or so. Wait until the party boats get out there. The bay and river will be red with blood. As far as the bay, shore anglers are crushing big bass too as they are on adult bunker that comes into the shallow water. The rivers are getting warmer after a cold spell but one thing is we need water, especially on the Delaware River. That's not just for spring striped bass fishing but for the rest of the year as well.
I heard a report that a party boat heading out of Shark River on their way to cod fish and came upon acres of big bass blowing up on bunker, kinda early out front for that. Thank God theres a < 38" and a one fish per angler limit, although that party boat netting, the plopping on the deck and then the release from heights unknown is sure to keep the mortality up. Again, I believe head boats numbers should count towards the commercial side, and not the recreational.
And tomorrow Theresa and I are heading out to Long Island where I'll be able to attend my first Long Island Fly Fishing Expo. I've been wantng to go for a few years and I'm looking forward to it. I think what we're gonna see is summer arrive quicker than we think. The temperatures in both air and water will shoot up to over average numbers, especially in the waters that don't have a solid volume base or he potential for a good snow pack melt. And then there's the April deluge showers that blow rivers out, actually I wouldn't mind that sooner than later.