2020 STRIPER REPORTs

[freddiethej]

Fished Albany today. 4 in the boat, personal daily best. 29", 30", 31" and 34". All on live. They were still biting when I left to avoid the crush at the takeout. Here is a video of the 34". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc1W44hKdhc

[BUB]

Made morning and afternoon trips today. Bait continues to be easy to scap.

AM: landed 36.5", 37.5", 36", 39.25" and had a couple pop offs.
Also, hooked into something MASSIVE on chunk. The second I set the hook it went right to the channel and down the river. If it weren't for the initial hit, run and headshakes I would have sworn that it was a submerged tree. It never so much as gave me an inch.. just steadily kept pulling away.. It nearly spooled 300yds of line before it broke off. I started recording about 15 mins into the fight so at least I have proof of my "fisherman's story" lol. In retrospect, I wish that I released my anchor and chased it down. Not sure if it was a monster striper, a sturgeon or what?

PM: took my 9yo out for a couple hours. I've tried to put him on fish for a couple seasons but the weather and fish never seemed to cooperate. Got our bait quick and got at it. Had a few quick run and drops. Enough to keep him at the edge of his seat. Just as he was getting bored around slack tide a pole that we were about to reel in went screaming. He kicked ass and muscled in his first.. a nice healthy 38.5"! Stoked is an understatement. The picture will be framed and hanging in my livingroom till the day I die.
Back at it in the am��

[drebird]

Congrats to your boy--Priceless

[Doc Z]

We fished Marlboro today and ended up with 8 for the day up to 36" but the rest were 22-24". All were caught in the channel at the Rock plant which was loaded all day but the fish are not hitting in the typical strike zone of 15-18' but rather more in the 25-35' depth which is very unusual and the first time I have seen this in years. I will be dropping a temp probe soon to learn and see if the temperature thermocline has changed this year. We threw everything at them....eel, herring, bloods and sands. The latter 2 were 4/4 and nothing remotely was interested in the eel or herring today...our 36 incher bypassed all to hit a worm.....very interesting. Basically the bite is the best on the AM slack to Flood...a very small window. The bite dies quickly after that despite there being loads of fish coming by at 20' and below down to the channel floor...although I did manage to get one at 25' down at the PM slack to Flood but the screen was loaded and no takers after this so we left at 9pm. These fish are more interested in traveling N at this time and are NOT our resident fish we see schooling around the bay...they will arrive in a week or so. Don't get discouraged....there is ALWAYS a lull between these 2 waves and everyone panics that there are no fish....it happens every year some time between May 7-12 for a few days then it explodes after when the Cheseapeake fish arrive. Raritan Bay was hot this week which means they will be here in 5-7 days. Haverstraw Bay reports were empty...not surprising. Water temp was 51.5 all day and didn't budge....my buddy in Newburgh got the temp there at 49.

[fattony325]

Congrats to Bub's son......Hooked for life!!

[BUB]

Morning trip with my son. Bait was a bit slower but I was still able to scap enough to last for a few hours. My fish finder shit the bed so obviously couldn't mark anything and had to guesstimate my fow. About 30 mins in I caught a 41.5". Unfortunately for my kid there were no other hits or runs ..not that I'm calling it a lousy morning by any means.

[BUB]

and thanks for congratulating my son

[Glusk7]

Drifted may 6th around dennings around 9 am. . Caught 2 small ones in 35 fow. Went north of the nbb by the red buoy and hit the channel, 38 to 45 fow west side, found some active schools and ended up with 7 more. Only small ones. Up to 25 inches. Blood worms from 17 to 24 feet down....

Drifted today may 7th. Once again caught 2 around dennings in 35 fow. 9am. 21 feet down blood worms. Moved to the red buoy again in 40 fow and caught only one. The fish I caught was bleeding from his scales all banged up.... went south of the bridge and once we got passed the bridge, east side from 35 fow to 27 we drifted from west to east. There was alot of fish covering the screen.. only managed 2.. 24 and a 23.. I did see one bigger 35 plus inch fish caught but I wasnt able to manage any more.. very frustrating. Males are starting to sperm

[freddiethej]

Fished Albany today. 24" and a 33". 24 swallowed the hook (circle) so I kept it, in the slot. 33 was hooked in the roof of the mouth, released. Here is the 24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXpo8TFggU

[BUB]

Made a quick am trip today. Debris everywhere ...fun.
Bait was a little tough to scap but persistence paid off. Had one striper break off right away. Probably a nick in my line. Managed to boat a 36.5" and 37". One on live and one on chunk.

[fattony325]

Got out around 2 on Thursday. Ran into thick schools between the buoy and the stack in Marlboro/Poughkeepsie. The fish were on the west side of the buoy. Picked up 3 keeper sized fish in 40 minutes then it seemed to shut down. We trolled lures for a bit with no luck. My buddies up Kingston way swear by trolling with lures and never fish bait. I'll have to try and take a trip north. It seems all the fish we're catching have straight lines along them. Maybe the next wave of fish coming up will have that segmented line I'm used to seeing.

[Kirch]

Several run and drops near the Troy dam. Saw just one caught today. Must be the weather.

[bigboreblr]

Got 2 yesterday just north of the rip van winkle somewhere around slack high in about 25ft on chunk on the east side. 18" and 21". Lots of hits, but in my little 16ft tin boat, the wind picked up and was hard to present or even be in the boat for long..... Left around 5pm.

I had to work and got to the dock around 1:30pm. Several boats leaving with fish and caught several.

I cheated and bought bait again... Folks were having trouble with herring again........

I switched it up a little today. Instead of zooming right to a spot, I put a shallow and deep challenger on 2 rods and trolled the channel and banks near the catskill. Found both bait and bass . No hits on the crankbaits though. No monsters on the fish finder all medium sizes.

[Jumpingjoe180]

Anyone know this clown??? As you can tell he’s keeping illegal size fish.

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by Jumpingjoe180

Anyone know this clown??? As you can tell he’s keeping illegal size fish.

If you have more info I'd forward that to the DEC