First Stripers Of This Season

I had fished several times since mid-March in Little Neck Bay, and finally today I caught three stripers after the peak of the high tide.

 

Little Neck Bay, NY and New Jersey Shore

     

I fished the Little Neck Bay on Saturday and the New Jersey Shore on Sunday.

In Little Neck Bay, I caught one schoolie to end my skunked streak.



  

In the early Sunday morning, I fished in Monmouth Beach. The surf was quite flat - Nada!
Later I went to the Sandy Hook Point.
Only some shads welcomed me.

The striper season will end soon.
I wish I could finally have a memory of a good catch for the long off season.
     

Little Neck Bay （Ⅸ）night fishing

Did I get a "skunk"  also at my back?  Oh no, it was a RACCOON.

I fished in Little Neck Bay last night from 9:30 to 11:00.  High tide came at 11:00 pm.
It was a nice and quiet spring evening.
The gentle east wind blowing behind me made my fly casting easier,
and yet, nothing happened at all. A bait fisherman fishing next to me caught a large striper. But none of my stuff works - flies, retrieve speed or depth countdown etc.
Maybe I just didn't have any luck.

The well known early spring striper season in Little Neck Bay has been over.
Let me move on.

Little Neck Bay（Ⅷ） night fishing

I tried night fishing for 2-3 hours three times last week in the Bay.
I got only a tiny schoolie in the third night.

I fished two nights in the east side of the Bay at the same spot.
In both nights one lure fisherman took his same spot on my right hand side.
He caught a large striper in the second night.
It is obvious that large fish were there, but I couldn't catch them.
The lure fisherman reeled slowly most of the time and changed lures often.
I used the heavy sinking shooting head at all time, so that I could cast the large fly in farther distance.
It seems I have this obsession to use large flies once I have seen bunkers in the Bay.  Last year I saw large bunkers jumping in the Bay as if they were trying to escape from large stripers' pursue.  I have tied large bunker flies to entice these large stripers.
The heavy sinking line requires constant fast retrieve, otherwise the fly will sink and snag the bottom.
Unfortunately this approach has not worked much so far for night fishing in the Bay.

If I go night fishing next time, I'd better have more variety of flies and use intermediate line so I can retrieve with various speed.  

Little Neck Bay（Ⅶ）bunker fly

Last week I fished the Bay intensively
- Thursday evening, Saturday morning and evening, and Sunday morning -
trying to catch a keeper, but I got only several schoolies.
I am a little bit tired of catching schoolies.
Well, maybe I will try my luck night fishing.

I met an acquaintance, who told me two weeks ago bunkers were in the Bay and he caught two keepers with his fly rod.

I think that was the day 3~4 lure fishermen near me caught large stripers one after the other, but I got none, not even one bite.   I assumed that my small silver- side flies didn't get the fish's attention. Since then I have been using bunker flies, regardless bunkers being in the Bay or not, for their larger profiles. I have caught more fish.

 I don't mean to say larger flies catch more fish, but they work for me so far.

Little Neck Bay ( Ⅵ ) The season is in full swing now.

I fished the east side of the Bay yesterday.
It was one of my most productive days as I caught seven schoolies ranging from 13-inch to 24-inch in 2 hours.

But today I fished the west side of the Bay.
I caught three schoolies in 3 hours.
I would say I was the luckiest among about 10 fishermen fishing around me, though I caught only three.

I give credits to my tackles for such good fortune.
The combination of my 5-inch bunker tied with SF flash blend and my 16-foot, 12-weight two-handed rod with 21-foot, 700 grains sinking shooting head line work extremely well.
I can deliver the fly over 30 yards away with only one swing of the rod  and retrieve the line in quick succession like lure fishermen do.

Now I hope I may catch a keeper in the remaining days of the early striper season of the Bay.

Little Neck Bay （Ⅴ）first striper

                                                  
 I finally caught four stripers in the Bay this morning.
I fished for three hours around the time of the high tide at 10:30 am.
I looked forward to the warm morning temperature which was in the 40's, for a good day of  fishing.
I said to myself I had to catch some fish today.
I felt relief when I did.    

   

  

          

Yesterday I fished in the Bay too.
It was chilly and windy. I got nothing, not even one bite.
Six or seven lure fishermen and I fished in the same vicinity.  Some hooked and landed the fish.
I saw their lures were much bigger than my silverside flies which I always use in the early spring as they are supposed to be abundant at this time in the Bay.

So today I changed to use the banker flies which have bigger profiles than the silversides.
I figured that the stripers wouldn't be picky at this time in the Bay as winter had just gone.
Bigger flies can let them to find my flies easier.

 The structure is behind me on the right side. 

On Wednesday I lost my shooting head line in the Bay.  After fishing in the morning yesterday, I went back in the afternoon with my wife during low tide and hoped to find my lost line when the bottom was exposed.
The bottom was muddy and the soft soil sucked our feet. Both fell down on the mud and had good laughs at ourselves.  What a mess we made, but I  found my shooting head line!!
As I was searching for my line, I got an inkling why a spot in the back of the Bay has more fish caught than somewhere else.  There is some kind of a structure sticking out at that spot. In general the bottom is flat, so I guess stripers prefer hiding in that spot to ambush their preys.

Little Neck Bay 2013（Ⅳ）all Sic guides rod

I fished the Bay yesterday afternoon for 3 hours and hooked one, but failed to land it.
Since started the season fishing the Bay for almost a month, I haven't caught any yet.
Maybe I won't start fishing so early next year.
Though I haven't got any fish, I don't think I waste any time as I need to practice the two-handed rod casting.
I need to practice often, especially the spey casting.
Here is a good point for the fan of the two-handed rod fishing.  Even you don't catch any fish, you can have an excuse for just casting practice.

During off season, I replaced all the guides of my 10-weight 15-foot two-handed rod with Sic guides.
I have used the rod couple of times. It performs well as expected.
I can cast the line farther than before. It becomes easier to cast the line with the shooting spey which I often use in the Bay because of  the limited back space.
One of  the reasons the shooting spey casting makes easier is that the rod's better casting ability allows me to use less power, thus prevent blown anchor.
  
I think if someone wants more casting distance, rather than spending a large sum of money on the latest high end rods, it is worthwhile to spend a little time and money to replace the rod guides to Sic or other ceramic guides as most makers' rods are equipped with the wire guides except stripping guide.                  

Little Neck Bay 2013（Ⅲ） They are here !

I fished the Bay for 3 hours this afternoon.
It was still quite chilly.
As the northwest wind made some waves in the Bay, the water became murky.
I saw only one lure fisherman.

When I started to wonder the striper's presence, I hooked one but failed to land it.
Now the stripers are finally and surely here.

Little Neck Bay 2013 （Ⅱ） Icy Water

Yesterday was a beautiful day.
I started fishing around 9:00 am at the back of the Bay.
There was only a slight breeze, so the surface of the water was as flat as a calm lake.
As it was an incoming tide, the water slowly moved toward the back of the Bay.
I was casting the fly with a hopeful mood. Then I saw something like spilled oil coming around me and it hit my legs with a cracking sound.

It was a huge, thin layer of ice drifting from somewhere. It didn't break into pieces because the water was so calm.
This layer of ice on the water surface was not a good sign.  My heart sank.
The water temperature was colder than I thought.
But I continue casting till my body was totally frozen from top to bottom.
No luck!

The tidal timings of this week are not convenient for me. I have to wait till the weekend to try again.

Little Neck Bay 2013

I have just started the new saltwater season in Little Neck Bay this weekend.
I didn't have any luck.
I guess it was still a bit cold.  However, I enjoyed casting the flies and swinging the rod after a couple months of hibernation.

I didn't see any fisherman except a lure fisherman passing by me when I was walking to the parking lot while he was heading to the back of the Bay.
He said to me, "They are here!!"
I am not sure of it. But I am sure the striper season will be in full swing next week.

 Somebody  left a curious piece of art work by the Bay. 

Little Neck Bay (III)

I fished at the Bay again early this morning and caught several schoolies.
They were all small.
I felt I had gotten enough of them.

I usually don't reel the line when a fish is hooked.
I continue stripping the line and land the fish, especially a small one.
I cannot reel in the fish because when the fish is hooked, usually at that time the long running line has already piled up in the stripping basket.
If the hooked fish is big and strong enough to pull all the running line from the stripping basket, then I can use the reel.  But it seldom happens.
Most of the time I strip the line to bring the fish in as if the fish and I were playing the "tug of war".


            

  

                                                                                  

Little Neck Bay (II)

This afternoon I fished the Little Neck Bay again till dark and had another productive day.
I caught several schoolies but also missed several.
Many times the strike came when I had striped all the running line and was raising the rod to pick up the shooting line.
It seemed like the fish was waiting for my fly just right in front of me.

I probably can enjoy more fishing in the Bay before the end of the season finally comes.
How nice!

Little Neck Bay

I want to fish the south shore of Long Island before the striper season ends.
The West End of Jones Beach is one of the few public areas open for fishing after Hurricane Sandy.
So yesterday I went there, but I was skunked.
I felt that was it, the end of my striper fishing season.

Today was warm and nice.
So I went to the closest fishing spot from my home,  Little Neck Bay, without much expectation.
The bay is a famous fishing spot for early spring striper, but not for other season.
I figured that I would be happy just to practice spey casting, overhead casting, etc with my long spey rod.
As it turned out, today was quite a productive fishing day.
I landed two schoolies.

Oh boy!  The season has not yet ended.