I hate to be that place, like a blog, or a social media post, or an article, that uses other people's catches to fill the pages. Either you chase reports or you make your own. Well I haven't fished to make my own report so I'll have to do what I hate.
If you were wondering when and if the first push of fish would arrive around the time of our first nor'easter then wonder no more. The fish are here, and places like Facebook and Instagram are proof. While the fish may not be blitzing on bait like we see with the later fall-run season there's some big fish out there ready to chew. You just have to find them, and in most cases need a boat to do so.
Those early fish seem to concentrate in the channels of the Upper (North of the Verrazano) and Lower New York Bays (South of the Verrazano), and the Ambrose, Chapel Hill, and Sandy Hook Channels.
But just because you have a boat doesn't mean you'll always find the fish. This early push of fish during any early movement of bait is usually deeper than more up top. You won't find birds and blitzing fish early so fly rodding this part of the fall run can be frustrating. Staring at the electronics armed with a sinking line that gets mended to get down to 30-40 feet can be effective, but isn't really fun. Those spin guys get the job done easier throwing heavy swings shads, deep diving plugs, or drifting live baits.
For the anglers in waders places like the Rockaways, the back of the Raritan Bay, and Sandy Hook can give you a shot, maybe, if the fish come into the shallow water looking for a meal. But it's a hit or miss endeavor. You can only catch what swims in front of you, and if they're not there, then there's nothing to catch, no matter how sexy the water looks in front of you.
One of the first places we get a shot a fall run striped bass, well can be, Sandy Hook. That usually calls for the long death-walk out to the False Hook and stops in places designated as "Lots". For those that are successful luck comes into play, along with a charged cell phone with buddies on the other end who are out and about. Binoculars can help, but again we don't see birds and blitzes usually with the early push. If there's no bait moving then there's not much to see. It's there you'll have to rely on old fashioned fishing, like reading water and picking the right tides.
While this week has been mild, and fishable from the boats, over the next couple of days it'll be small craft advisory warnings putting guys on the sand. From what I'm seeing it's been bones and bluefish in and around the Vineyard, albies at Montauk, and a smattering of bass along the South Shore down to the New York Bight. It's this time of year when lucky anglers who put in their time wind up with those one and done 35 + inch fish that catch them by surprise.
Today the Bayshore Saltwater Flyrodder's are holding a beginners clinic out on Sandy Hook. They'll meet up at Lot B starting at 2 pm. Whoever is running this did their homework because
high tide is around noon so they'll be catching the mid-outgoing to low. If the fish are there they should be in the game. Imagine just starting out and just being in the right place at the right time.
So as I write this at 437 am I sit and think what my own plan will be. I have to fish some part of this storm. I rolled over at 230 am thinking I may go hit the outgoing in one of the rivers, but then thought I was already an hour late. By the time I got there it would be the end of the outgoing, so I rolled back over. Then I thought if I left at 5 am I could catch first light, but then it would be dead low. If I go today I'll miss the last minute push of burning more lead paint off the side of the house and priming it before the rains. If I go tomorrow it might be too late as the storm may have the surf to churned up. And Monday it may blowing too hard or too off-color to be worth the time and effort.
Sounds to me like a lot of excuses. But that's what happens when you get old and have to drive aways to go fishing. You can't catch them from the couch, they say. And what's funny is I say I'm old. 57. What a shame. It makes me remember my buddy Al, who I met on the beach when he
when he was "young" at 88. He had me by just over 30 years. If he were still around and I gave him the litany of justifications of why I wasn't fishing he would be very disappointed. And that's when that other saying comes to mind, "Shut up and fish!". Good luck out there and stay safe.
