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April 2009:  Raritan Bay & Sandy Hook

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It's that time again!
By Capt. Dave Azar

   Okay it’s that time again; let’s go fishing! Tradition tells us that fishing for winter flounder is the way to start. And while there are some flounder to be caught, their numbers are a shadow of what they were one or two decades ago. Putting together a catch seems to take a lot more effort, but after a long, cold winter just getting out on the water is a welcome relief.

   The key to success in this early season fishery is finding water that is a little warmer. Shallow mud flats in the back of Raritan Bay or along the banks of the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers are the first places to look as their dark bottoms warm faster than surrounding, deep, lighter bottomed areas. Heavy chumming with mussels and corn kernels is an all time favorite way to wake these sluggish fish out of their winter hibernation. Stirring the bottom with a long handled plunger or sash weights suspended on heavy rope is an excellent supplement to the chumming as both the commotion it creates, and the small clams, worms and copepods it stirs up, attract the fish.  

   These early season flounder will bite very gently, and limber, sensitive rods matched with small diameter monofilament, or preferably, braided line, will help anglers to feel the slight taps these fish make as they nip at the baits. Hooks, no bigger than size two, should be baited with softer baits like mussel or blood worm. Baits should be fished close to the chum pot as this is where the highest concentration of flounder will be.

   Current regulations are 10 fish per angler at a minimum length of 12 inches, with the season open from March 23 through May 21.

TGFS

   Each year the big question is, “When will the stripers show up?” and each year the answer seems to vary. One recent trend this captain has noticed is that they seem to be showing earlier than in years past, and this probably has a lot to due with the improvement in striped bass populations over the past two decades. Exactly when they will swim into local waters had always seemed to be directly affected by how cold the winter was, yet in recent years, the water temperature has been less of a factor. I’m still trying to figure out that one!

   Traditionally, the first catches of striped bass are reported sometime around mid to late April. Initial catches are commonly reported to come from beaches along the shoreline of upper Raritan Bay, but it does not take long for the fish to stack up on Flynn’s Knoll, the Romer Shoals and around the Highlands Bridge.

   The first bass to show are sexually immature, averaging around 20 to 22 inches in length. They arrive in large numbers as water temperatures move into the mid 40s. These fish move into Raritan Bay and New York Harbor before their, bigger, post-spawn cousins do. Much of this fishing will be at or close to the bottom over some structure. Structure often holds large schools of these small fish.  

   Chumming from an anchored boat with cracked whole clams or frozen clam chum helps draw them to the boat. Hooks can be baited with whole fresh clams or salted clam bellies. Sand worms are also great early season striper bait. While bait is the go-to method for springtime anglers, many of these fish can also be caught on either artificial lures or flies.

   With early-season water temperatures in the mid 40s the buzz word is SLOW. These fish will not work too hard to chase a bait and it almost has to be left hanging right in front of their faces. Weighted plastics, like 3 or 4-inch Storm Shads in bunker or chartreuse, 2 to 4-inch Tsunami paddle-tail style minnows in pearl, chartreuse or natural, or white Mister Twisters on lead head jigs, twitched slowly off the bottom can be deadly. Fly anglers will have to use fast sinking lines to get down to the fish holding in waters up to 25-feet deep. Top early-season producers are 2 or 3-inch Clouser minnows in all white, olive/white or chartreuse.

Depending on conditions at their spawning grounds bigger, post spawn stripers may start to show in the mix as the month progresses. It is not uncommon to find a few bigger stripers, probably females, mixed in with large schools of smaller fish. For that reason care should be taken to use lighter drag settings than needed for most of the fish that will be hooked. Regulations are currently the same as last year, with two fish per angler at a minimum of 28 inches.