Captain's Table - Prospecting Today

captmike28

captmike28

Well-Known Angler
Today was prospecting day for me as I decided to check out the Bass action at Orient along with a mix of our traditional species inside Peconic Bay.

Bass were at least 10 days late inside the bay this season and it seems the same pattern is happening to the east. Despite a full moon and good drift, things were pretty quiet in the Gut this morning. Marked a fair amount of bait and a few Bass but had to work really hard to come up with only one fish for a little over 2 hours effort. Thankfully it was a solid 30” slot Striper so at least the wife and I got to enjoy a fresh Bass dinner tonight. Water temps never got above 51 degrees, about 6-10 degrees cooler than inside so I guess we still need a few more days of warmer weather.

Moved back inside to find pods of Weakfish all over the Jessups area, mainly smalls but a few keeper sized fish to make things interesting. Just a few drifts to put some jumbo Scup in the box for a friend before I turned my attention to Fluke. Or should I say Birds! I had decent drifting conditions but just could not seem to find even a short this afternoon.

Nevertheless, it was an insightful and fun day to be on the water. Some out-of-town business coming up this week, but I will be back at it with a charter next week. By then I am confident the bite for a number of species will be moving into high gear.

Capt. Mike

51225bass.webp
 
Water temps up here still very low. With all the rain I was getting excited as Ebb temps were poking into the 50s, but after an incredibly long rainless stretch, 48 hrs, the flood temp yesterday was mid-40s, just like in the Gulf.
 
captmike28 said:
Today was prospecting day for me as I decided to check out the Bass action at Orient along with a mix of our traditional species inside Peconic Bay.

Bass were at least 10 days late inside the bay this season and it seems the same pattern is happening to the east. Despite a full moon and good drift, things were pretty quiet in the Gut this morning. Marked a fair amount of bait and a few Bass but had to work really hard to come up with only one fish for a little over 2 hours effort. Thankfully it was a solid 30” slot Striper so at least the wife and I got to enjoy a fresh Bass dinner tonight. Water temps never got above 51 degrees, about 6-10 degrees cooler than inside so I guess we still need a few more days of warmer weather.

Moved back inside to find pods of Weakfish all over the Jessups area, mainly smalls but a few keeper sized fish to make things interesting. Just a few drifts to put some jumbo Scup in the box for a friend before I turned my attention to Fluke. Or should I say Birds! I had decent drifting conditions but just could not seem to find even a short this afternoon.

Nevertheless, it was an insightful and fun day to be on the water. Some out-of-town business coming up this week, but I will be back at it with a charter next week. By then I am confident the bite for a number of species will be moving into high gear.

Capt. Mike

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Thanks for the update Capt Mike!
Looks like an iffy week of weather this week but if conditions allow we may try our initial Peconic run of the season on Saturday due to one of the crews busy work schedule 🤣
 
Weather has been dreadful this spring: rain and cold.......just need a good stretch of weather to get things going. Glad to hear the weakfish are abundant! Always been a great fishery for the North fork/Peconics.
Been a long time since I heard of a weak over 8lbs.......
 
OVERBORED said:
Weather has been dreadful this spring: rain and cold.......just need a good stretch of weather to get things going. Glad to hear the weakfish are abundant! Always been a great fishery for the North fork/Peconics.
Been a long time since I heard of a weak over 8lbs.......
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I have mentioned this before, but you are correct, Overbored. During the famous Weakfish runs of the 70's an 8# fish was not even considered exceptional. Many 10#+ fish were captured and my PB of 13.5# was caught on a whole sandworm one calm night near Jessups.

Then came the long drought but in the last 5-6 years the quantity of Weakfish in the Peconic's have been amazing. Really saving our bacon when the Fluke fishing seems to get tougher inside the bay.

The funny thing about the 70's run was it seemed most of the best fishing took place either sunrise, sunset, or overnight. But not much happened during full daylight hours. Starting with the latest resurgence, we have been very fortunate to be able to catch Weaks virtually any time of day, especially if the tide is moving. I have had days in July and August, blazing hot weather mid-day and still found an excellent Weakfish bite. I hope it lasts for many years to come!
 
Those were the days Capt. Mike. I remember them well. My dad talked about weakfish in the early 60's but I never saw one and then, all of a sudden, they arrived in the late 60's early 70's. Cookie cutter for the most part here in the Fire Island Inlet area at about 7-8 lbs per fish. They were everywhere and spawned on the flats. The lure of choice was the Pink Salty Dog.
 
Crabman said:
Those were the days Capt. Mike. I remember them well. My dad talked about weakfish in the early 60's but I never saw one and then, all of a sudden, they arrived in the late 60's early 70's. Cookie cutter for the most part here in the Fire Island Inlet area at about 7-8 lbs per fish. They were everywhere and spawned on the flats. The lure of choice was the Pink Salty Dog.
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You are correct, Crabman. Pink Salty Dogs were red hot during those days. I don't think they are even for sale anymore but would probably still work.
 
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