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2020 STRIPER REPORTs

72K views 162 replies 33 participants last post by  Jono916 
#1 ·
** SHOW EM' IF YA GOT EM' **

Post any 2020 Striper Reports and photos here. Hope to see a bunch of HAWGS.
Feel free to include county or general area, No need to give up specific spots or honey holes.

Please try and limit it to just reports & congrats.

Thanks and good luck all !
 
#101 ·
The bite continues to improve from Rogers to Esopus and is on fire now. We did a 5 mile drift w/o ever starting the motors and marked a steady line of fish from S of the Island all the way past the Esopus Lighthouse...it was hard to leave when it got dark because the fish were chewing hard. We had a lot of small fish in the 15-22" range but did get some high 30s and another 43 in Cow that weighed in a staggering 45 lbs. Her belly was full of herring I'm guessing because she was fat. She went right past my eel to hit a Sandworm in the channel...go figure. We had one 37in fish hit one rod then a second rod on the way in to get hooked twice. Back out in the AM.
 

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#102 ·
We managed to get a good day of fishing in before those nasty Thunderstorms hit. We fished Norrie to Esopus and there were plenty of fish but the bite was not as aggressive as yesterday. AM Flood to Slack tide yielded many 25-30 inch fish. The bite slowed on the Ebb but is improving. Most of the fish on Ebb were in the 10-24 in range. There were thick black screen schools of 40+ lb cows stacked on the Western edge but as usual they are staging to spawn and have absolutely no interest in feeding. We hit them with bloods/sands and dragged an eel in front of their faces with no luck...so we went back into the channel to have some fun with the schoolies. We ended up with 49 today. Water temps are climbing and up to 57 degrees. The fish are hitting much harder but they hit the bait then most of the time keep going so we had to lock the bales to get them hooked on the initial hit. The PM flood bite would have been insane if it was not for the Thunderstorms and wind that forced us off the water...thankfully as a tornado went overhead a few hundred feet up but never touched down...it was an incredible site.
 
#105 ·
What an epic day on the river....the Striper are spawning and chewing hard. The bite was good on all tides although best on the Flood and slowed a bit at max Ebb. We almost broke our daily record with 152 today. We would have crushed it as we were on a mile long thick school and were landing quads until a barge came by at 9pm and broke the school up. After that they scattered and did not feed but I have no complaints. The Striper are loaded from Rogers to the Esopus Lighthouse with all sizes and Milton produced several cows above 30 lbs. Tonight the spawning was insane. We will be back out in the morning. Water temps crested 59 degrees at Rogers and 58 degrees at Norrie Point. In between all this fishing I will get some pics downloaded.
 
#106 ·
Fished Greene from 5-10am today. Was able to jig my limit quickly and get set. Had one screaming run and boated a 35.75". Nothing else on live or chunk(not even cats or eels). Marked lots of schools cruising by though.
 
#108 ·
First trip of the year Fished Mother’s Day weekend cold front weather did not cooperate, made it tough Friday we didn’t catch any and Saturday we stayed in because of the wind forecast and snow. Sunday we ended up with 14 fish none over 30” all drifting worms in the 15’-20’ range. Marked tons of fish Sunday and had all the rods down at once and put 4 in the net at once. Got the biggest fish of 14 on an eel on a redi rig . Had to head home feeling defeated after a sub par weekend on the water. Headed back up to fish this week Thursday-Sunday. Thursday we ended up with 20 fish nothin over 31” all on worms drifting, fished an eel on a redi rig all day no action. Friday we ended up with 51 fish. got a couple good ones a nice fat 36” and a fat 25lber. Back out first thing Saturday we ended up getting 68 fish, Bite died quick in the afternoon ,Almost gave up in the afternoon and went in for a food and bait break..., decided against it and stayed out ran back down to try above the Esopus lighthouse below the Rondout , paid off got our two bigger fish and lost one other big female, before the school dispersed. All on worms drifting 15’ down in 40’ of water seemed to be best at times. Fished an eel alll day again on a redi rig not one bite ... decided to put the eel back in the bucket and put a big sand worm on the same rig as the eel same depth fished it about 10 minutes and it was down with a decent striper ... fished Esopus lighthouse to Norrie . Screens were blacked out at times and then the fish seemed to disperse quickly at times, best bite for us was flood into slack, then end of ebb into slack. Managed to pick up 17 this morning on the flood tide before we came home. Saw a lot of spawning action on the graphs and on the surface, water temps went from 54 on Thursday to just over 59 degrees Saturday.
 

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#111 ·
The bite is still off the hook from Rogers to the Esopus lighthouse...there is a steady highway of fish with lots of big ones too. We ended up with 167 today and what a fun day. Almost all came at 24 feet down with some at 35 feet as I always run a deeper rig for big one...but...all the big ones came on my shallow setup at 18"...interesting. The bite was constant today through all tides....flood and ebb but I think the reason for the good Ebb bite was the South wind kept us moving no faster than 0.4 or 0.5 mph which was huge for presentation as typically the bite has shut down at the high drift speeds. Water temps hit 59 degrees and tonight when we got back to Marlboro they were only 56 degrees. The 40+ pounders moved through Milton today with numerous Cows boated by my buddies. Back out in the am for those Cows which are headed North. We also started to catch some of the Chesapeake fish so they are here. Newburgh reports from a few buddies were also better....the last 2 days produced some schooling.
 
#112 ·
Went out over the weekend in a friends new old boat up by Esopus only caught 1 30 inch and a 24” drifting worms. Tried chunking on anchor with no luck then rand into motor troubles, went out tonight around 5:30 in the kayak down in the Newburgh area and slammed some good fish. Started off in the first 5 minutes with a 34” then lost a monster right at the yak, hook pulled out. Then got 1 38” and then a 40”. Kept having to move back to where they were every fish I caught. Got another 39.5 “ weighed it in the net , scale with the net said 32.8 lbs. lost 2 more after that and finished off with a 35”. I’ll try to post up some pics. Unbelievable! What a day and there was nobody out there. Saw 2 boats!
 

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#113 ·
Another epic day and this time some Cows mixed in. We did a long drift from the N of Esopus Island to Hyde Park Marina and picked up 70 fish...it was constant on stop biting but not quite as good as the day before...that is a 9 mile drift. The bite did slow a bit on max ebb and there was no real flood tide with the N wind. Around 8pm I decided to go Cow hunting and did a last drift in Milton. I saw HUGE marks..we had sands/bloods and an eel out. My buddy's rod goes and we know its a big one so I grab the net to help....then the corner rod goes...I grab that..another big one...my 3rd buddy is helping my first buddy net his fish and the rod next to him goes....WOW. We ended up landing a 46"/38lb...44"/33lb...and a 40"/22 lb which is a boat record for length and for the Triple. Amazingly they skipped the eel and hit 2 bloods and a sandworm. We ended the night on that. Water Temp in the bay above Roger's Point was 59 degrees and in Milton a chilly 56. Lots of huge fish caught in the last 3 days on the East side from Newburgh all the way to Roger's point...these females are moving in. I also caught 2 Chesapeake Striper today so that wave has arrived.
 

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#116 ·
5am-1pm in Greene. Only jigged a few herring up the creek so I grabbed my scap net and headed to the river since they were finally beating the shoreline. On the way to my spot I marked what seemed like endless schools of herring, shad and stripers. I was able to easily jig my limit from the boat and landed a few shad which is always fun.
Got my first striper of the day within 5mins of anchoring. Then another.. then another... etc. Tons of run n drops and pop offs on live and chunk, a few snapped off.. It was hands down the most action packed trip that I have ever had in all my years of fishing the run. I ended the day with 23 stripers ranging between 32"-37.5". I wish I could have stayed out. Absolutely epic. Interested to see what tomorrow brings!
 
#118 ·
Despite only managing to find a couple hours a day to fish, the last few days have been productive, Marlboro/Milton/Poughkeepsie area. Drifting bloods, anywhere from 15 to 25’ deep in channel. Screens are loaded. This weekend will be 🔥🔥, we’re definitely at peak. My son’s arms are getting a tired. Tight lines!!!
 

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#120 ·
The fish are definitely now moving South. The area from Rogers to Norrie did not nearly have the volume of fish as the last 3 days and Hyde Park this morning was loaded. The have also moved into the Milton Stretch into Marlboro and there were way more fish in the channel and West side now moving South. I did not see any spawning today. That east wind was quite gusty but we managed another 40. Water temps in Norrie were 60 and down in Milton still a chilly 56.5. Time to start chasing them South.
 
#122 ·
Fished 5am to noon today. Scapped up my limit quickly and got myself situated. Caught 6 or 7 nice fat ladies in the first few hours up to 39.5". I was just having a conversation with my buddy that most of my fish have been 36"+ and that I've only caught a couple slot fish this run ...I jinxed myself because later in the am the dinks showed up in full force lol. Eveyone was slamming fish this am but the little bastards were relentlessly killing every live herring that was tossed out there. Had to adapt and switch to chunk and whole dead. Countless run n drops on the whole dead... but I spanked a few. All together I ended the day putting 15 in the boat.

So far I've topped my PBs for most in a day and most in a season. I have one goal left.. to pass the 42" mark on my bump board. Back at it in the am.
 
#123 ·
More fish have moved into the Milton stretch south of the Mid Hudson Bridge. Every male we caught today was spawned out and not producing any milt like this past weekend. These fish that have spawned are definitely moving south and out but some new schools have arrived in Newburgh as of yesterday. Today was a beautiful day but there was not lights out fishing...it was just steady fish every hour and we managed 49 fish up to 34 inches. We marked an humongous school of Herring moving south at IBM east shore this evening. Water temps hit 60 today in Milton.
 

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#124 ·
Very quick am trip with my son(5-7am). Was only able to scap two herring and forgot my frozen. The dinks are still around in force. We probably had a dozen run and drops. Finally got a solid run and my kid boated a hefty 35". Hoping the good fishing continues for another week.
 
#127 ·
The water temps in Milton today hit 60 and the fish were definitely more aggressive on the hit Again it was loaded from the MHB down past the Canoe Club. We ended up with 58 including 5 over 35 inches. These big ones were pale males meaning they have been in fresh water a while. I talked my wife into going out and she ends up with a 34 and 36.5 so now she is hooked. The seemed to be hitting more in the 24" deep range and we caught many down as low at 30. This is unusual because in prior years the feeding zone has been 15-18 but it looks like the thermocline has moved down to the 24 foot zone. Water temps ranged from 58.6 to a high of 60. I think based on how these males were acting we are gonna see a big spawn from Milton to Newburgh in the next few days.
 

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