You’d be surprised what water striped bass can live in. They’re in the Passaic River in nj and up in the Hackensack too.
Fishing 2022
- Thread starter Bonnewagon
- Start date
No, that bay is in very good condition compared to when I was a kid. We used to ride our bikes up there to fish after buying sandworms at the hardware store on Bell Blvd. Not knowing anything we usually got there at high noon at dead low tide. Man did it stink like a toilet. The Clean Water Act of 1968 (?) did a lot to stop polluted waste water discharge into NYC waters. They have built new waste treatment plants so that heavy rains don't overwhelm them and the overflow used to go right into the water. In fact at the rear of the bay in Alley Creek there is a huge waste holding facility that keeps that from happening. Where the sand used to be black it is now fairly clean. Probably the best law ever was the pooper scooper law. Clean up that dogshit! Otherwise it gets washed into the waters. Shelfish are still restricted but I know that they extract shellfish from LNB to transplant them to out on LI to replenish overfished waters out there. As for releasing fish, Bass and Blues are some tough bastards. If you only keep them out of water long enough for a quick picture then return them, they are just fine.
It is happening. In spite of the 90° days the fish know the clock is ticking. I got 7 Blues on Tuesday, this 24" one the biggest. Then the next day I took my Grandson hoping for a repeat. No Blues, but this 21" Fluke grabbed a live baby bunker. It comes with a story. Grandson is a great net man and he was ready for this guy by coming up from under the head of the fish. That way if it dives it dives into the net. So the second it is in the net - IT SPITS THE HOOK! If he was not there I would have lost it for sure. Then after I put it in the cooler and covered it with ice it banged the cooler around like King Kong trying to get out. I opened the cooler and saw the Fluke had shifted his head to the top. I reached in to push him back down and he jumped up and BIT ME!!! Chomped right down on my thumb! OUCH!!!! MOTHERF***CKER!!! Three nice fang punctures on my thumb. Don't worry- I will get my revenge when it is in the frying pan. 
Now that the temperatures are merely unusually warm, vs Crematoria, the fish are on the move. I was in two feet of water watching the Fluke fight over the baits. Amazing. They wanted the bucktail with a squid strip. After 25 throwbacks I nailed this 19.5 incher. Just as I was cleaning him I remembered to snap a pic. 
Excellent. We are hoping to get out on Fishing Lake before freeze up. It is a very open lake, over 13 km/hr winds are impossible to anchor. It is a decent size lake and fairly deep, 40 ft in most of the lake, 75 feet in one bay. It is all sand and gravel bottom with a few weed beds. Where the real magic happens is the first 200 feet from shore, zero to less than 15 feet. We have been catching 30 to 60 fish per day. Nothing big, biggest was a 4 pound Walleye. My Wife had something really big get off. There was a 39.9 pound Northern Pike released back in the lake 11 years ago. Another great year.
Finally made it to Fishing Lake, still pretty choppy when we first got there. The Lake is very open, 15 km/hr winds are rough water. The first spot yielded only two, across the lake, 10+. Not bad for maybe 2 hours of fishing and all the best fish were camera shy. Kathy had something really big that got off before we saw it a few trips ago. Anywhere from 30+ to 60 fish per day! We may try ice fishing there this Winter. If not, this is our season and what a great one again.
It was about 7 to 1, then I caught probably 5 or 6 in row. So actually pretty close to tie. Yes, she usually kicked my *ss all year, including the best Walleye of the year there. Oh and she caught this Channel Catfish, the Crooked Lake spillway where it meets the Qu'appelle River, a month or so ago. It was 34" and 24 pounds.
