Got out yesterday by myself for a few hours. Tide not great but fog (good). I handle the fog OK without radar but its the guys that fly around with no electronics that really scare me. It gets a bit stressful! Up at 3 and on the water by 4:30. First bass in the boat shortly after. 5 fish for a few hours, catch and release but for one, was better than I expected. All caught trolling on Slope Head swimmers and bunker spoons. There's a good charge of fish here, not all monsters but in the 20/35 lb range. Seem to be fish from the Hudson Rv. Dark color and no sea lice.
I have a buddy that lives in NY and he fishes the Hudson early on and then comes to fish with me. Going up there next week as he's been catching and tracking a huge body of big girl's heading down the river. Once the River temps heat up they beat it and all you catch is little guys. 2 yrs ago we fished up there for 2 weeks and caught many 40/45 on eels at night. He says this bunch of fish is even bigger.
I also included a pic of my trolling setup. Nothing fancy or special but use to use Outrodders by Tony M and TGT, but this setup works even better. Those things were a bugger to get the rod's out of the holder when you get a big one on. I was never comfortable with the rod hanging out over the water. Always use a safety line. When you hit a big fish trolling its like coming up to a brick wall. Lots of stress on associated tackle. Trolling has worked out to be the best method for me as it covers a lot of ground in a short period of time. I also enjoy diamond jigging.
Got lots of projects going on and lots of irons in the fire but everything else takes a back seat at this time of the year.
Can you figure out what the priority is now?????
Nice fish Lou, looks like you have been having a great spring so far. I want to get out there but have been sidelined the last few weeks. We are hoping to get out this afternoon.
Very nice Lou... looks nice and healthy.
Nice work Lou. Dominick
Hey Sal, these Hudson Rv fish are really looking good this year. The one thing that scares me a bit though is I have not caught any bright fish which usually come up from the Chesapeake Bay area. It either means they haven't gotten here yet or they headed offshore like a few years ago and the guys trolling for tuna were catching them on Stellwagen Bank. Many over 50lbs were caught.
People sometimes don't realize just how many bass spawn in the Hudson and what a tremendous fishery resource it is..
By the way, the one bass I kept must have went to the lobster fest at Red Lobster. She had 4 little ones in her belly. She was eatin good!!!
Dom, do you guys get any big bass out your way?
NICE STRIPER, Lou! ;). Keep 'em coming.