It started like any other September Saturday last weekend with a run out to Montauk point to fish the rip on an outgoing tide. To say it was slow was an understatement. Six hours of trying everything from live eels to trolling the rip yielded one sand shark and two big blue fish.

We decided to head back to Hampton Bays about 5:00 PM and saw what was nothing short of amazing as we rounded Montauk point near Camp Hero. The surf was alive with hundreds a striped bass with a cloud of birds hovering above. It turned out to be an epic fishing adventure.

The school of stripers worked their way up and down the beach pushing the bait fish up against the beach. The surf casters wearing wet suits were getting pulled off the rocks as the big bass hit their lures. We managed to pull in over a dozen bass using light spin casting tackle with katmasters. Three were keepers, including a 34" fish.

We saw another boil about a mile to the west on the way home, this time it turned out to be a school of "slammer blues" again pushing bait fish up against the beach, with the birds above the school the whole time. A September day which will not soon be forgotten for these anglers!

Slammer Blues at Plum Gut

We got on the "Slammer Blues" last Sunday August 15th drifting an incoming tide rip out at Plum Gut. Live eels down deep was the bait of choice and look what came up!

We were on board "Honey I Shrunk the Boat" out of Sag Harbor and hooked up within minutes of dropping our first lines. One strike bent a 40lbs test barrel swivel and about pulled one 13 year old overboard!

The two fish that were landed were 32" and weighed about 15 lbs. each, and were 10 years old. An exciting outing for all on board.

Blue Fish Frenzy in Bridgehampton

There was a blue fish frenzy over the weekend of July 10-11 just off the beach in Bridgehampton, NY. A school of large blues pinned a school of Bunker (Atlantic Menhaden) up against the beach in a feeding frenzy.

It was so crazy that dozens of Bunker up to 12" in length beached themselves in an attempt to avoid being shredded by the razor sharp teeth of the bluefish. On the outgoing tide I even saw one 30" bluefish in a large puddle left on the beach chasing a lone bunker in circles. A big wave broke over the beach and that fish got a new lease on life, returning to the ocean.

Bunker are the main source of protein for both bluefish and stripped bass growing up in the Chesapeake Bay. Bunker is one of the best baits to use when fishing for stripped bass. They can be "live lined" or cut up into chucks, including the head. A fishfinder rig is a good choice to use when fishing bunker chunks for striped bass, if the bluefish don't take it first!

Yellow Fin Tuna at the Hudson Canyon

We had the thrill of the season so far this season on a trip that left Hampton Bays, NY at 3:30 AM last Saturday July 3rd. We headed due south about 90 miles to the Hudson Canyon.

The Hudson Canyon is a submarine canyon about 100 miles east of the mouth of the Hudson River off the coast of NJ. Its wall rise nearly three quarters of mile from the canyon floor making it comparable to the Grand Canyon, cutting through the continental shelf, and having been formed by the Hudson River during the last ice age over 10,000 years ago.

It is a very well known fishing destination for "blue water" deep sea fishing, with large tuna species including yellow fin, blue fin and big eye; and other game fish like Mahi Mahi following the gulf stream north every spring and summer in search of bait such as squid.

We also landed a large Mahi Mahi trolling earlier in the day. These fish are sought due to their beauty, size, food quality and healthy population. Both fish were caught trolling with Ballyhoo.

Blue Crab Special at Sagg Main Beach

It was a very unusual "blue crab special" early Sunday morning June 27th at the Sagg Main Beach near Bridgehampton, NY as I arrived with fishing rod in hand with clam bellies looking for some striped bass action. At some point overnight on the high tide the ocean had deposited dozens of small (3-5") blue crabs all over the beach. I could only imagine what the bass were doing just off shore with the rest of this mass group of crabs, as blue crabs are a favorite food of striped bass when they can find them.

With all that bait in the water the bass showed no interest in my clam bellies, so I turned to collecting 40+ crabs and returned them to Sagg Pond with the help of my black lab Decoy. Maybe I will have better luck next weekend!

Stripers on the bite in June.

Fishing off of Montauk on Friday, June 18^th in very calm seas, we hooked up with some beautiful stripe bass. Fun to catch and very tasty too! Nothing puts a larger smile on a kids face than reeling in one of these beautiful fish.

We also saw one of the first striped bass of the season taken early this morning off Sagg Main beach right after first light. Lots of clam shells on the beach, so there was obviously a clam bed right off shore. Clam bellies proved to be the right bait this morning for the feeding bass.

Unexpected Catch Off Montauk

We had quite a surprise about a week ago fishing one day off Montauk point. We has set out to catch large striped bass and blue fish which frequent the waters south of the lighthouse. However, after several hours of trying all sorts of live bait including eels and live porgies with no success we switched over to fluke rigs with squid.

Much to our surprise, we pulled up a Black Sea Bass pictured here, which is a member of the Grouper family. These fish are found off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, in the Chesapeake Bay and off New York. However, in 15+ years of fishing the waters off both the north and south fork, we have rarely come across them due to recreational and commercial fishing pressures. This catch was a real delight for this young angler!

Bass on the South Fork of Long Island

After too much time spent with work and school this spring, we finally got back to some serious fishing, this time on the South Fork of Long Island. The bass are now in post-spawn mode, and we landed this fish in a small pond near a golf course late one afternoon.

We got him by "sight fishing" where the bait (a plastic worm) was pitched just past where he was swimming and then jerked by him. He made a very aggressive lurch towards the bait and was hooked up!

Lots of fun catching this fish on ultra-light spin tackle with braided line, the perfect combo for both casting distance and accuracy.

Central Park Largemouth Bass "On the Bite!"

With the warmer weather in April the largemouth bass in Central Park are finally "on the bite" and we've caught dozens of them over the last few weeks. Pictured about is one of the first fish we caught in early April in "The Pond" near the southeast corner of the park.

In terms of feeding, newly-hatched largemouth bass feed heavily on tiny crustaceans and other zooplankton until they're about two inches in length. Young bass east insects and small fish, including small bass. Adult largemouths prey most on fish, but also on crayfish, frogs and insects.

Largemouth bass inhale small food. The bass opens its mouth quickly to suck in water and the food. Then it forces the water out of its gills while it either swallows or rejects the object. Bass can expel food quickly, so anglers must set the hook immediately when using small lures or baits.

As the waters in Central Park warm up, the metabolism of the bass increases and they feed more often. They seldom eat when the water is below 50 degrees F, and from 50-68 degrees F feeding increases and from 68-80 degrees F they feed heavily.

So as the bass move actively in their "pre-spawn" mode the fishing should be great for the next few weeks!

Finding the Largemouth Bass in Central Park

One bass said that "80% of the challenge in bass fishing is finding the fish." In Central Park they are in one of three main bodies of water: The Harlem Meer located at the northeast corner of the park near Central Park North and 5th Avenue; "The Lake" or "Boat House Pond" located between 68th Street and 72nd Street in the middle of the park; and "The Pond" which is in the southeast corner of the park at Central Park South and Fifth Avenue.

Bass move according to the season, and water temperature, oxygen levels and food supply all impact their movement. In the springtime movement of bass centers around spawning. In the weeks before the spawn, bass move from deep water to shallow water as it warms up. Males move in first, and on a warm spring day like today in NYC, they will be in the shallow spawning areas even though spawning is weeks away.

Bass will begin to feed when the water temperature hits 50 degrees F, but they're hard to catch until the water hits 55 degrees F. Then they begin a feeding binge that is unmatched to any other time of year. Spawning starts when the water gets into the mid-60s. After dropping their eggs, the females leave their nests and the males move in to guard them - and will strike lures that come to close. So the next six weeks are some of the most exciting to fish in Central Park!

What we'll fishing for this spring: Largemouth Bass

We will focusing on fishing for both fresh water and salt water fish this spring. At the top of the list for freshwater fish will largemouth bass.

Know for its explosive strikes and exciting leaps, this fish is sought after by millions of freshwater fishermen across the US, including those right here in New York City and the surrounding area.

The fish shown here was caught near New York City on Long Island in a relatively small pond - on a live night crawler worm at about 6:30 AM.

The largemouth bass is the largest member of a family of fish known as black bass, which also include smallmouth bass. Largemouth bass are distinguished from other species by a jaw that extends beyond the eye. All bass belong to the sunfish family, but are different because of their longer body.

Largemouths vary in color depending on the type of water they live in. Bass from clear waters are darker while those from murky water like the lakes in Central Park are pale. All bass have a black lateral band that runs from their head to tail. This lateral line can pick up underwater vibrations like those coming from swimming bait fish. This sense helps bass detect lures even in the murkiest water found in New York City.

Bass can see in all directions except directly below or behind them. They can also see objects that are above water. So in order to avoid spooking them - we recommend that when you fish you wear neutral colored clothes that will blend in with background in the park.

The start of Big Apple Angler

This week the weather is finally warming up and it's time to think about fishing.

The Big Apple Angler is all about fishing in and around New York City. Manhattan is after all an island, and there is amazing fresh and salt water fishing to be found just steps away from busy city streets of the Big Apple.

From fresh water large mouth bass and bluegills in Central Park and on Staten Island to striped bass in the East River, Hudson River, Jamaica Bay near JFK and out in Long Island Sound off Orchard Beach the fish are all around us.

And the focus of this blog will be helping to get kids fishing. My son has been fishing in and around NYC for over five years and has become quite the angler in his own right.

So get ready to learn more about fishing in the Big Apple!