On Tuesday April 23rd the second big moon event of the month will hit the skies. The first was the Lunar Eclipse that came on April 8th and in two days the sky will be lit up with the first full moon of the month. It's an important moon, hopefully, to us fishermen and women.
The Pink Moon gets its name from the plant, the creeping phlox, aka moss phlox or mountain phlox. It's one of the first flowering plants of the spring. It's also known as the Fish Moon because that is when the shad begin their migratory upstream to spawn. Well, it's in name only as the shad have been here for a month although catches have been spotty due to the mess of weather we have had this spring.
The fish I care about on this moon are the river herring. This year has been, well, different. The weather has been all over the place and so have been the fish. Some early ones but most seem to be somewhere else, as have been the herring. Herring make great Scoobie-snacks for striped bass. They're a great bait fish to imitate with synthetics. I tie them on the bigger side and vary the coloring, some more
silver and white others more colorful like the one above. I enjoy feeding the fish in the shallower water when I can. So we'll see if a few days of warmer weather will bring the water temps back up in the upper 50's to low 60's and get them and the bass on the move and the hunt. But each year is different and
just like striped bass having an off year the herring can as well. Only time will tell. I've been fishing when I can and have put a few nice ones into the tank for a rest before releasing them strong. There's
been a few nice ones but they came late last month when things were better. It seems like the bites been off all around the state and anglers are chomping at the bit for things to heat up. The question is will it heat up in time or will the fish have passed us by heading to their spawning grounds or changing things up this year. Not only is there a wait on the herring but the bunker seem to be hit and miss in the rivers. There's some early reports of bluefish hitting the scene at the popular inlets and they're always fun if you're throwing cheap flies with a metal leader. There's nothing worse then getting an expensive fly or one you painstakingly tied get bit off by the yellow-eyed demons.