The beginning is always the most exciting. The tease of the upcoming seasons as ospreys return to local skies in past weeks or the slight ripples of bait in back bay waters has stoked the anticipation for this year’s season. Expectations are high on the striped bass front as the season gets until full swing this month after the cold winter.
Along the far western shores of the island, things are starting up fast and furious. Jamaica Bay along with ocean waters outside of Breezy Point are greeting newly arrived migrators and post spawn bass to 25 pounds with the occasionally bigger fish in the mix. Live bunker is performing the best as usual. As in past years, regulations call for the use of circle hooks only when using live or dead bait to target stripers. When possible, it’s best to throw the cast net in the bay and stuff your live well. Snagging if a last or only resort is tough in the spring out front with pods not being as thick in warmer water temps and bait holding to the bottom. If you can’t find the bunker, jigging bunker spoons or casting medium to large swim shads will raise some fish. These migrating bass get into ferocious feeding mode and while the shads may not be the perfect profile match to adult bunker…it’s close enough for a hungry striper to take a swipe at. Trust the structure that’s produced in the past as the movement of early spring bass tend to repeat season after season. For anglers from Rockaway to Coney Island, don’t be shy to take a run to Sandy Hook and deep into Raritan. These areas are always hot in April.
Moving east along the south shore the waiting game for the bigger fish can be torture. Don’t sleep on what can be some very good light tackle fishing in the back bays and marshy areas from Oceanside to the back of Jones and into the Great South Bay. Small artificial offerings mimicking shrimp and spearing in white and chartreuse are deadly as sunny April days warm the dark muddy bottom and gets small baits moving around. Fat Cow, Hogy, and Tsunami have some amazing soft plastics when paired with .25-.50 jig heads catch fish. I’m a big fan of this method of fishing, and being further out east it’s kind of the only game in town in April. If you’ve been looking for a reason to pull the trigger on a trolling motor, this is one of the scenarios to justify it. The ability to hold a spot at the mouth of a creek or point in the bays is a tremendous advantage in early spring.
The western sound is seeing some fish as well. Not necessarily the big migrators, but quantity over quality for the first outings of the season are the norm. The coves and shallows on the north and south side of the sound hold a good number of resident fish along with the smaller fish making their way up to our neck of the woods. Cotton Cordell Redfin in chrome/black back has been one of the most productive lures in these areas in April. Most of the bass around the area are small, but a lot of fun to catch. It’s definitely a good idea to crush the barbs if you’re not a fan of a treble hook in your hand. While a lot of manufacturers along with anglers are swapping out tail trebles for a single hook to decrease release mortality, there are plugs it’s not feasible. A small swimmer like the redfin along with sp minnows and mag darters fall into this category where a single hook will change the intended action of the plug.
From Moriches inlet to Montauk most action is in the back bays for small bass. Some bigger residents are always lurking and feeding on adult bunker that frustratingly arrives weeks before the fish. Artificials are the way to go early in the month and as waters warm when there’s bunker available to live line then it’s go time. As we get towards the end of the month look for a possible early arrival of spawning blues invading the bays and looking to wreak a welcomed havoc on poppers and swimming plugs.