As expected, the long hard winter here has kept water temperatures down. Not a bad start to the season but this month could be some real lights out fishing for stripers from Coney Island to Jones Inlet. Monster blues should be invading the bays all through the month and the force should be with everyone for the fluke opener on May 4th. Porgy season is open as well so there are plenty of options to start your 2025 fishing season if you haven’t already.
Temperatures not breaking the mid 50’s for most of April moved the timeline a bit for the normal first showing of bunker and ultimately the bass feeding on them. In my home fishing grounds in the Moriches to Shinnecock area, the bays and inlets are the best option in early spring. While some sporadic schools of migrators may be out front, most of the action is in the back. The western south shore though has plenty of bunker not just in Jamaica Bay and the marshy areas from Rockaway Inlet east to Jones Inlet, but in the ocean too. As in the past few seasons, while using live bait to target stripers a circle hook must be used. So, if throwing a cast net and stuffing the LiveWell is an option, take it. If not, any spinning rod approaching retirement would be happy to be a dedicated bunker snag rod and not end up at a yard sale or in cobwebs in the corner of the garage.
Depending on the depths of bay areas you’d be fishing, live bunker is almost always out fish anything else. In shallower waters and marshy areas where bunker isn’t prevalent, that’s the best invitation to employ some light tackle or fly strategies. Depending on how much water your boat drafts, the skinny water in the spring is some of the most rewarding. A blue sky with bright sunshine that triggers so many small profile baits hatching as the dark muddy bay bottom warms will have bass looking for ambush opportunities. With the colder water temps and if we don’t have a hard west wind as the month moves on water clarity should be very good. Sight fishing is often associated with the keys, but with polarized glasses and a trained eye the Long Island version is quite a thrill.
The mouth of small creeks and estuaries feeding into the bays are where you want to focus and setting up your drift at a distance that allows you to land your fly or soft plastic a foot or two from the shoreline or marsh. This is where a trolling motor truly shines to slow your drift on a moon tide or uncooperative wind. The further into May we get, the more you can justify working a surface plug like a spook or metal lip nice and slow creating a gorgeous v wake in the calm shallow waters. The explosions are an adrenaline rush, and the fight is a welcomed one after those long cold winter months.
The middle of May if not earlier the gorilla blues start swarming the bays. They’re on the spawn, ferocious, and hungry. The finesse of landing a ¼ ounce jig head with a shrimp tail soft plastic to entice a 10–12-pound bass is a thrilling, but civil catch. Thinking a 20-pound bass just hit that same soft plastic and pulling nothing but half of that soft plastic is a total shifting of gears. The bass will still bite, and a competitive feeding instinct kicks in when the bluefish take up their short-term residence among the spring stripers. Old school single hook offerings like bucktails and tins are the most economical and practical to target both species as the bluefish tend to dominate the bites over bass. I like taking advantage of these brutes being around and unlike a slow steady retrieve with stripers, ripping a popper back to the boat. Vicious swipes at the surface, getting tight, that fish spitting the hook, seconds later a bigger fish explodes on the plug. It’s some really fun fishing. And my two cents… cotton Cordell plastic poppers and the tsunami talking popper are both good bang for the buck and perform well. The tsunamis now come with a front treble which I remove, and a single flagged tail hook. The cotton Cordell comes with two trebles, the front I remove and the tail treble I swap out for a single hook. It’s made life a lot easier and allows me to still count to ten using both hands.
Even though fluke season is open, the beginning of the season is probably more ceremonial than anything else after a cold winter. Keepers will be caught but we’re still a few months from true doormat season. The three fish limit at a minimum of 19’ until August 1st when it adjusts to 19.5’ minimum may not send you home with enough fish for the neighborhood, but the overlooked and delicious porgies now in season or worth a stop on any structure.
It sure is nice to be back fishing!
2025 Manhattan Cup Friday June 7, 2025 7am-7pm benefitting local brave and courageous post combat veterans.
Come and join the best anglers and captains in the tri state area along with our honored guests that have fought for our freedom. Using the power and passion of fishing to show these brave men and women the role it can play on their path to healing is something special.
- Catch and release tournament for stripers and blues in fly, artificial and bait categories with trophies awarded for the largest in each species.
- Breakfast, gourmet box lunch, and a crawfish boil dinner with many other offerings along with open bar.
- Swag bag with tournament shirt and items from our sponsors.
Registration is open now at manhattancup.com. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Anyone wishing to volunteer their time and boat to take out a team is more than welcome at no charge. You need to supply the tackle for a team of up to 4. Please contact me at mdean329@gmail.com or on my cell, 917-873-6651 with any questions.