2023 Striper Reports

We don need no stinking herring!
Bert caught a 29, 34, and a 36 incher Bravo!

The bite in Norrie has exploded wide open with all size fish from 13" to 44". We boated 82 fish the last few days and had a blast. This week the fish leaving the river are feeding on the Ebb tide and the ones still traveling north are feeding on the Flood tide so the bite was on all day for the last 2 days. The very pale sandy colored fish are the ones leaving. The get pale after being in the fresh water for a while. The fresh arrivals are a nice silver color that has a sheen to it. The males are hanging in the channel while the females are tight to shore waiting for their eggs to mature. There were a couple of spawns in Norrie this week but nothing major.....its gonna boil in the next few days. All this whining this week about no bite.....everyone forgets that the bite shuts down before they spawn and this year we also had a week of low pressure which further shuts the bite down. The post spawn fish are ravaging the baits as they are hungry and need to get some nutrition for the trip out. One a few occasions they hit 2 rods. Water temps started the week at 55 degrees and peaked yesterday at 61 degrees. That 58 degree mark seems to wake them up a bit. Tight lines everyone and have fun.

Got out for an hour and a half last night. Had to call it short for a board meeting I had to attend but managed to get on a nice fat 46" 36 pounder. Getting stoked for the weekend. Should be a good one. Tight lines to all.

I traveled up to Esopus area for the first time and we manged 3 on Friday, 8 today. Our 5yr old reeled a fiesty 4lber schoolie and was a trooper all day Fri. I took friends out today and lost tons of nibblers, but got up to 9lber. Every fish was male! So strange. I saw one with a red spot but was still spirting milk. We missed most of the early incoming but caught when the outgoing picked up.
We saw a 30lb+ get released right next to us in the area (with all the trollers) right at the outgoing. Should have got a pic... Definitely a great day!

Glad we finally found the schoolies up here, great action to keep guests busy.

5/11 to 5/15 report...
My wife and I got our 12yo sons out for a couple trips. They were each able to put a few fish in the boat. My son tied his PB with a skinny 38.5" and my step son beat his PB with a 39".

Had a banger am trip with the wife Friday. We put 16 on deck (most caught by her) and lost countless more due to pop-offs and cut lines. She beat her PB with a beautiful 42.5". Can't imagine how many we would have caught if we stayed out. Glad she decided to be "sick" ..the other days she took off earlier in the run were uneventful. She definitely puts in her time and deserves this.

Lots of smaller fish showed up this past week. With them came the dreaded run and drops, grabbing it just long enough to kill your herring.
The ones that are able to swallow the bait are feisty as can be making for exciting trips.

There were other days out there that Im skipping over. I know I'm forgetting details as I haven't been posting daily this season but these were the highlights. Regardless, it's been an odd year but fun none the less. Hoping it stays decent throughout the weekend.

Total: 103
Over 40": 26
Biggest: 50.75" 55lbs

"We don need no stinkin' herring."
Last night had seven hits, one on for a few minutes before the streamer and line parted company and caught 3, a 24, a 27 and a 28 incher.

There still around caught 4 yesterday and seen 2 others caught all fish wer between 35-38 inches bait is slowing down alot do to them just having one thing on there mind saw alot of herring spawning yesterday even with the chilly mornings it didn't matter