The Big Apple has Spots

An angler casts into the swirling waters off of Breezy Point see a larger jpeg

But as any urban angler will tell you, the waters within a double-haul of the Big Apple are as hot as any for catching stripers. I didn't know this until two summers ago when a friend who lived nearby on the north shore of Long Island, suggested that I join him for an evening on a beach near his house, about 20 miles outside of the city. Upon arriving, the sun hung low in the sky over the haze over the city, burning red. A saltwater creek was rushing out into Long Island Sound, halfway through an outgoing, and stripers were chasing enormous schools of bait out of the water within 1 5 feet of the beach.

We nailed several each, using clousers and a chartreuse bucktail-and-silicon concoction of my friend's design. Having used a fly-rod only in relatively feeble attempts to catch trout, this was a true life-changing experience. Even more fortunate, I have found since that fateful night that I need not travel even those 20 miles out of town to fish. Stripers are all over.

Ironic though it may seem, the Hudson River, whose delta formed Manhattan, is one of the primary spawning grounds for striped bass (the other being the Chesapeake Bay). Since a commercial ban was enacted in 1980's (and later repealed , but replaced wi th strong catch limitations), the species has staged a dramatic recovery. Granted, fish right out of the Hudson may not be the best eating you've ever had, but for the sportfisher, they more than serve their purpose.

WHERE TO FISH

Should you be in the area, hankering for a shot at these muscular fish, it is not too difficult to find action. To the west and east of Statton Island, two well known spots, Sandy Hook and Breezy Point, guard the entrance to New York City's harbors.

Looking at Coney Island from the jettie at Breezy Pt.

Sandy Hook is in New Jersey about 45 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel. Breezy Point is in the Far Rockaways, 30 short minutes from downtown Manhattan. Both provide excellent access to flats which can be waded and jetties which attract bait and gamefish. But New York City's striper fishing is by no means limited to these well known destinations. Within an hours drive of the city lie literally hundreds of miles of productive shorelines, but there are things to look for, and I have found a few geographical pointers to be quite reliable:

Marshes/creeks

The land masses around the New York City area are sandy; they were formed as a glacier withdrew, leaving sand and silt in shifting piles at the sea's edge. As a result, the bays in northern New Jersey and Long Island generally are shallow, with lots of sandbars and cuts - ideal turf for gamefish to find trapped prey. As an added bonus, many of the bays and coves terminate into marshy creeks. The stripers will come in - generally in the evening - to look for food as t hese shallow, marshy areas empty out after a high tide. There are dozens of these spots - you can pretty well identify the likely strike zones from a regular road map. Most are reachable by wading.

Coves

If you've got a boat, you're in good shape. Look for virtually any beachy cove where baitfish might want protection from stronger currents and wind conditions. You'll generally not find stripers on the surface of deeper water (thou gh bluefish may turn up anywhere). Instead, probe shallower areas at strong flood or ebb tides.

Even the East River

A good friend and fishing companion of mine actually hooked a striper right in the East River under the shadow of mid-town skyscrapers. He was merely practicing his cast when on one random retrieve, his fly was inhal ed by a schoolie.

The point here is that opportunities are pretty easy to find. Just be sure to check the tide tables and make sure you'll be out during the ebb tide if you're going wading, or during maximum flood if you've got a boat. These are good rules of thumb t o start with. In time, you'll learn that the most productive tides to fish at each spot can vary.

THE NECESSARY GEAR

I've caught a keeper-size bass on a six-weight trout rod before, and would like to do it again, but I generally fish with a nine-weight. The line is a nine-weight, medium sinking line. The slight sink of the line helps in windier conditions, when th e surface is a bit torn up.

I generally use a 10-pound test tippet on a tapered leader. But you might want to have handy a length of wire shock tippet. Bluefish are always a possibility when you go for a striper, and they will rip clean through any mono you tie. After you've lost a fly to a blue, splice a length of that wire into your tippet and keep casting, because they will hit just about anything when they are feeding.

If you're going to wade, you probably won't want felt soles. The sand will eat them alive and a lot of the bays closest to the cities are lined with a fine muck, the smell of which may never depart from the felt. Another handy reminder - bring Cutte r.

BEST TIME OF YEAR

Then again, from September through November, when water temperatures tick down a notch, stripers get the biological signal to go back up the rivers. They are feeding aggressively, fueling up for the haul. This is a good time, as well, though blankin g is more common than it is in the spring. Try bigger flies, the bunker imitations, and move around a lot. These fish are on the run and, by definition, more likely to disappear from under your nose.

I concentrate my efforts on the early season, then take a breather in mid-summer. Fall is more of a "last chance" experience before hanging it up for the winter, but the fish are there, sometimes as late as December. So give it a shot.