Due to the continued poor showing of early season Fluke in the Peconic Bay area, I postponed yesterday’s Fluke charter and suggested to my loyal crew that we try to find another date in June. Instead, with the fine spring weather I took the opportunity to do a little Striped Bass fishing myself, something I have had little time to do so far this year with my insane schedule.
The flood tide was very kind to me with pretty consistent action for the 2 hour span I spent in the Gut. During that window I decked 11 Bass, all on 3-way rigs and bucktails. Early on I put a nice healthy 29” fish in the box and then proceeded to play catch and release. Of course, the last three fish I caught were all the largest of the day going 32” ,33” and 34”. A real good workout for me and a nice fresh Bass dinner for myself and the wife as a result!
Today I had the John party join me for a half day outing. Strong North winds greeted us early on while we worked the Jessups area and found a few Porgies, the dreaded birds and one keeper Weakfish of about 3#. Next, we headed out to the Gut to take advantage of the very reliable Bass bite. I was a bit concerned about how “nautical’ the conditions would be with a strong wind vs. tide situation. However, for once we caught a break and with the late morning tidal shift the winds backed off just enough to make the area very fishable. I still had to power drift the boat for proper lure presentation but eventually we were rewarded for our efforts.
First few drifts were a “learning experience” for 2 of the crew members as they donated a few sinkers and bucktails trying to get a feel for the location of their rigs. Then about 30 minutes in, the fish turned on and we began to land Bass regularly on every drift. Ultimately the guys limited the boat, including my share, plus returned 3 more shorts. So, a very high keeper ratio today with the top fish a solid 34” beauty. Only other small concern was we did also land a couple of big Blues mixed in, the first I have seen in the Gut this season.
I have a lot of consulting jobs coming up over the next week so my next shot at fishing will not be until next Thursday, 6/1. I better be on my game that day and I have already made my promise to the family to catch a Bass for the grill to grace our upcoming family party the following Saturday!
Looks like a nice weather pattern for the Holiday weekend so tight lines to all and most of all be safe with all the crazy’s out there around this time of year!
The flood tide was very kind to me with pretty consistent action for the 2 hour span I spent in the Gut. During that window I decked 11 Bass, all on 3-way rigs and bucktails. Early on I put a nice healthy 29” fish in the box and then proceeded to play catch and release. Of course, the last three fish I caught were all the largest of the day going 32” ,33” and 34”. A real good workout for me and a nice fresh Bass dinner for myself and the wife as a result!
Today I had the John party join me for a half day outing. Strong North winds greeted us early on while we worked the Jessups area and found a few Porgies, the dreaded birds and one keeper Weakfish of about 3#. Next, we headed out to the Gut to take advantage of the very reliable Bass bite. I was a bit concerned about how “nautical’ the conditions would be with a strong wind vs. tide situation. However, for once we caught a break and with the late morning tidal shift the winds backed off just enough to make the area very fishable. I still had to power drift the boat for proper lure presentation but eventually we were rewarded for our efforts.
First few drifts were a “learning experience” for 2 of the crew members as they donated a few sinkers and bucktails trying to get a feel for the location of their rigs. Then about 30 minutes in, the fish turned on and we began to land Bass regularly on every drift. Ultimately the guys limited the boat, including my share, plus returned 3 more shorts. So, a very high keeper ratio today with the top fish a solid 34” beauty. Only other small concern was we did also land a couple of big Blues mixed in, the first I have seen in the Gut this season.
I have a lot of consulting jobs coming up over the next week so my next shot at fishing will not be until next Thursday, 6/1. I better be on my game that day and I have already made my promise to the family to catch a Bass for the grill to grace our upcoming family party the following Saturday!
Looks like a nice weather pattern for the Holiday weekend so tight lines to all and most of all be safe with all the crazy’s out there around this time of year!
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