New York Metro &
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“I’m leaving today.” Well tomorrow morning anyway. I’m out of Jamica Bay and up into New York Harbor!!! Once again this years Macallan CCA Manhattan Cup, proved that New York Harbor is a real diamond in the ruff. Who would have thought those fish were there? I ended up taking the 40 minute hike south to J. Bay where I knew the fish would be, However, just as I got there my cell phone rang, and with out a kind hello, tournament winner Richard Reagan screams “Two drifts and two fish over 40 inches!!!!” Honestly it broke my heart at the time, but now the thought fills me with pure anticipation. Can’t wait!!! While Richard took these fish in New York Harbor on jigs, they weren’t in very deep water. I’m going to get em on the fly tomorrow!!!

Wow, what a great tournament this year. (See news section for winning fish) Several fish released in the in the 20 pound range and a few extremely large fish. Once again the tournament committee did a fantastic job putting together this monumental event to benefit the Coastal Conservation Association, and while I unfortunately couldn’t stay around for the awards gala, I heard it was a blast!!! Put 20 plus guides in a room along with over 100 hard core anglers, mix in some free beer, Several Bottles of premium Macallan Scotch Whiskey, add a few cigars and you can only imagine the fun!!!

The following captains and guides donated their time and expert knowledge to fish this event and help protect this valuable resource which we all are more or less obsessed with:

 

Captaisn Frank Crescitelli and Dino Torrino Finchaser Charters		Captain Joe Mattioli On the Bight Charters
Captain Jim Levinson, Double Haul Charters		Captain Tom Cornicelli Back Bay Charters
Captain David Blinkin, North Flats Guiding		Captain Ken Courtlangus, Frequent Fly-er Charters
Captain Don Lundt, Fish New York Charters		Captain Ralph Burtis Island Charters
Captain Joe Shastay, New York Harbor Sportfishing		Captain Scott Holder, Dragonfly Charters
Captain Matt Morrillo, Blue Moon Charters		Captain Tony Dilernia, Rocket Charters
Captain Bob Cali, Sporty III		Captain John Maliza
Captain Tom Matteo		TJ’s
Captain Dennis O’Rorke		Captain Angelo Pignataro, Radial Sportfishing Charters
Captain Tony Acabasio, Maja		Captain Ken Carson
Captain Bill Bulla		Captain Rich Vitale
Fin Hunter Charters		One More Cast Charters
Captain Joe Toth

Hats off!!!! And a big hats off to tournament co-chairs Frank Crescitelli and Dave Fallon. You guys can’t imagine how much work goes into putting together an event like this. Well, I can tell you first hand that it is quite a lot. Well done guys!!!

Now, what’s happening throughout the rest of our area? Well, while Jamaica Bay has really slowed down to a few medium size bass a day (unless your fishing bunker) and tons of cocktail blues, Raritan Bay remains pretty hot with teen size fish taking big bunker patterns and the occasional weakfish strike on a deeply fished fly. Lower New York Harbor seems to be coming alive with some of the old reliable structure producing some nice fish this week. New Jersey Seems to have slowed down a bit, but most seem to think that after this cold spell passes its going to light right back up. Out on the western portion of the North Shore things seemed to have really started and fishing in the Bays has been good to excellent. While Jamaica Bay hasn’t quite seen a good run of weakies yet, the Great South Bay is loaded with them. Farther east Shinnecock is beginning to produce and Shelter Island seems to be a real hot spot. Still nothing to report from Montauk, but expect the action to begin soon.

This weekend should be a good one. So get out there!!!!

And don’t forget to email me your own reports. Tight lines all.

Tight Lines!

John McMurray

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New York & New Jersey's Fisheries

Eastern Long Island

Lots of action out east!!! Just got off the phone with Captain Jim Hull from Shelter Island Light Tackle Challenge. While the stiff east wind has shut things down for the last few days, last weekend was great. Jim described Shelter Island as a “pasture of plenty.” Jim says he hasn’t seen any rats this year. They’ve all been nice fish. Although this seems to worry Jim a bit, he’s certainly not complaining. On Friday, Jim had out Neil Dunklman, who scored with 5 fish to 32”. Saturday, Jim had out ace flyfisherman extraordinaire Ken Hawkins. Ken just got back from Guatemala, where he bagged several sails on the fly. Jim and Ken had gin clear water on Saturday, which allowed site fish for tailing bass. Ken was right on. He duped a dozen bass, and got his biggest bass on a fly, a robust female just shy of 37inches and estimated to weigh about 18lbs. Believe it or not he bagged this fish on an 8 wt in 2 feet of water! Congrats Ken!!!! Way to go! Sunday Jim had out, 90 year old Pap Kagawa and John Miller. They nailed several bass to 30”. On Monday Gary Chase had 14 fish to 34”. Then on came the rain and the NE blow, making fishing very tough. Jim let me know that the estuary is loaded with weakfish, some up to 10 lbs. In addition, there are bluefish in the 6 to 7 pound range all over the place. There’s lot of bait around to attract these predators. Jim said the quality of the sandeels is incredible. They’re incredibly iridescent, chunky and big (6 inches long). Before hanging up with Jim he let me know that now is the time to get out there and sight-fish a trophy.

Also heard form Captain David Blinken from North Flats Guiding. He had this to say about the week’s action:

The fishing is good with weaks, blues and bass. A couple of more calm days and some light wind and cool nights along with steady high pressure should break everything loose. The bait is here and the fish are so hang on.

I’m hanging David.

Shinnecock is looking pretty good also. Captain Don Kaye from Shinnecock Guiding checked in with this report:

First fishing week produced good numbers of fish as did this past week. Anglers, Bob Lawsless and Paul Parker, fighting a cold N/M windy day, managed to hook & release more than 2 dozen great fish consisting of Striped Bass, Bluefish and Hickory Shad. Lures, Jigs and flies all produced strikes. Bass averaged 26", Shad were over 20" and Blues ranged between 3-5 lbs. A chilly but rewarding day. Not to be outdone, Saturday's anglers were Steve Kempe and his son, Billy. Better weather made for a more comfortable day on the water. The pair caught and released over 20 fish; Bass and Bluefish. Bass were taken on both top water and sub surface lures as were the Bluefish. Bass were up to 27" and Blues to 5 lbs. A bunch of tired but happy anglers glad they plied the Shinnecock waters.

Capt. Don Kaye

Salty Flyrodder Joe Filner also got out this last weekend. He had this to say about his outing:

The weekend was not as exciting as I would have wanted as the time restraints and social events prevented two full sessions. Small stripers in the back of Shinnecock on the East side in the morning on Saturday, although others did much better after I left the beach, but Long Beach was abuzz at 6:30 PM with small blues and some bigger blues until 8 pm. Sunday was also quiet but small blues in the inlet and medium bass as the outgoing proceeded until 8:30 in the morning when once more the call of duty ended my morning. Saturday the Salties Seminar at Sunken Meadow showed some fish in the water but a bit far to cast. Reports from fellow flyrodders also confirm weakfish off Rose's Grove in the bay and more blues on Concience Point Sunday night. Cool weather and a lefthanders wind prevailed on Sunday.

Joel

New York Metro

Because of constant east winds and maybe just too much of a good thing, Jamaica Bay has really slowed down. I see it as only a small break before the action starts again. Those monster weaks we saw last year should show up any day now. But the big news is New York Harbor and those awesome fish caught by Richard Reagan’s crew at the Manhattan Cup.

Captain Frank Crescitelli from Fin Chaser Charters had a lot to say about the tourney and this week’s action. Check it out:

Hey John. To write a report about the fishing and not start off with comments about the CCA MAcallan Cup would be just wrong. The camaraderie, respect and commitment to the fishery that was shown by all involved was humbling. As you know the event is nothing without the captains that donate their time and expertise, and I consider it a personal favor from all that participated. They came out in force to support CCA, and the resource from as far out as East Hampton! These guy's are the best of the best and put their money where their mouth is. Whenever you thank people you inevitably leave someone out and I apologize, if I did, especially to my friend and co-chair, Scott Holder of Dragon Fly Charters, whom I did not mention on Friday night. Well, I hope I have expressed my gratitude, enough, and now to recap the fishing.

Since the tourney I have canceled 3 trips, and tomorrow is not looking too good, so the fishing report from the tourney will stand. Although the winds have been bad the huge amounts of Bunker that we have had around are still in the same places, the fish are with them. During the tourney we hit a bunch of places and finally scored in the western part of Raritan Bay. We had a mixed bag of Bass, chopper Blues and a couple of hefty Weakfish. Charles Earnst, landed a nice Weakie, nice enough to land him, the trophy in that category! My other client that day was Luke Petitgout from the New York Giants, and Luke would have also won his category, in the Weakfish division, if the fish didn't come off as I was landing it (at least 7 pounds)! we'll that's fishing! Luke is a great guy and we were glad to have 5 of the Giants fishing that day. The Metro channel was also on board and I can't let the host of the show, Beth Adubato off the hook for exactly that, letting all of her fish off the hook before I landed them!

Seriously, a great time was had by all, and the real winner of the day, was the Striped Bass! Oh yeah I (CCA& the NRPA) went home with a check for $20,000 thanks to you, Richard Reagan and The Norcross Wild Life Foundation. The monies will be used to purchase an ROV camera, so that we will be able to further and more accurately document the precious marine life that is being threatened by the possible dumping of toxic waste in Raritan Bay (see last nights news channel 4 report). Anyway we are a few thousand short of our goal, and will gladly accept tax deductible donations. That's it I'm off the soap box, thanks to everyone for their support and patience,

Capt. Frank

Well said Frank, and we all know how much work you put into the event. It was really great. Take a bow.

Captain Joe Mattioli form On the Bite Charters also checked in with a Manhattan Cup report. He had this to say:

Hi John

The CCA Manhattan Cup held on Friday May 18th was a great success. Fish were caught in numbers throughout the New York Bight. In addition the quality and size of the fish were impressive with bass to 30 lbs , Bluefish to 14.5 lbs and Weakfish to 10 lbs. I fished the Raritan Bay with my crew, Art Kenney, Austin Marxe and Dave Greenhouse. We concentrated on working pods of nervous bunker with bunker flies, Bucktails and Shad tails , Dave was the first to score with a 27in.Bass using a white Bunker fly. Shortly after Austin hooked up with a 25in. Bass using a shad tail. The Bluefish moved into the bite and Austin hooked a big fish on a Bucktail at 6:00 pm. We landed it and it at 6:10 PM it measured 36in.by 18in. in girth and weighed 14.5lbs on the Boga Grip. We knew we had a contender and had to leave the fish biting in order to make 6:30 pm deadline. Below is Austin Marxe with his 14.5 lb Tourney winning Bluefish caught using artifical’s, Great Job! Austin

Capt Joe Mattioli

Joe’s client, Art Kenney also checked in with a report as well:

Hi John,

I fished the CCA Macallan Cup on Friday with Austin Marxe and David Greenhouse of the Special Situations Fund, aboard Joe Mattioli's On The Bite Charters. Menhaden in Raritan Bay were spread out in small but concentrated schools, which made the flyfishing challenging. Joe worked extremely hard to put us on fish, and my friends were up to the challenge.

David caught and released 2 nice bass on the fly, and Austin caught and released a bass and several bluefish, one of which measured 37 inches and won the largest bluefish artificial category award. We all worked to make it a great day for a great cause, CCA!

NICE!!!

Also heard from Captain Ralph Burtis from Island Charters. He had this to say about the weeks’ event:

Hey John,

Another great week, blues everywhere and some good striper action to boot. The CCA Manhattan Tourney was a blast. We had some great action while working a school bunker early in the trip. Large bass busting bait right up near the boat and some very large blues, up to 32” were landed. Unfortunately we didn’t get any tourney winning fish this year, but we sure had a great time. We ended the day fishing blues in shallow water for some nonstop top water action that lasted about an hour and a half. The three anglers, John Papciak, Ron Roberts and Al Jaiman landed blues faster than I could get them back in the water.

Later that weekend I had out Joe Cerise and Peter Sharp for a half day of striper and bluefish action. Joe landed a nice Jamaica Bay striper (picture attached) while working one of those good spots. We stopped later on, in a shallow water flat and worked blues for about an hour. It ended up to be another one of those nonstop trips.

That afternoon I returned with a gentleman who was supposed to be somewhere else (so no name mentioned) and he also had a great bluefish trip. Blues on the surface and stripers in the holes.

To finish off the week I entertained a very special person and two of his friends with an afternoon on the water working the blues. My son Ryan and his two friends Joe Jacobs and Jarrad VanAsselt had an afternoon of blues (20 - 24”)on surface and swimming plugs that was the best they’ve ever seen. Watching kids fishing has got to be the best thing there is. The whoops and hollering was fabulous and the “holly cows did you see that” were tremendous. Teaching kids to fish really makes my day.

One last thing, I’d like to say thanks for everyone’s hard work making the CCA Manhattan tourney a success. There was a lot of effort put in by a few people to make the whole thing come together. My thanks go out to John McMurray or should I say Capt. John McMurray, David Fallon, Capt. Scott Holder, Alan Evelyn and Capt. Frank Crescitelli. These guys and several others really deserve a big thank you from everyone that reaped the benefits of the tourney. The real winner though is the New York Metro area fishery. This tourney helps put the spotlight on the whole picture, which was highlighted this week by Ralph Penza in a news report of what the Army Corp of Engineers is trying to do to the borrow pits of the New York Metro area. Dredging New York Harbor and filling those pits with the toxic mud that has been buried and covered over for years. Sorry I start getting worked up about this kind of stuff.

I’ll end by saying once more “Thanks guys, you did a great job with the tourney and you can bet I’ll be back next year.”

Until next time;
Capt. Ralph

Reel-Timer Joe Murphy also did some damage this weekend. Check out his report:

I went out on Saturday and Sunday. I put the boat in at Liberty State Park in NJ. Saturday morning was glass calm so I decided to run down to Jamaica Bay. I stopped at the east VZ Bridge tower and had respectable stripers follow my first two casts back to the boat. A dozen more cast yielded nothing so off to Jamaica Bay. I went under the first bridge and then to the second bridge but realized how little I know about the area. Since the tide was starting to move I decide to head for more familiar ground. I wnet out to Hoffman and Swinbourne Islands. I can never remember which is which so I refer to them as the north island and the south island. I fished these islands for a few hours and scored about 15 stripers 18-24 inches and one weakfish that I will guess was six to eight pounds. The weak was interesting, it must have been a female because other fish were swimming with her will I was reeling in. I did hook into one bigger striper. It struck about ten feet off the back of the boat. It took the flyline and about 75 yards of the backing and then dove into the rocks and broke off. I hooked that fish and most of the others on chartreuse and yellow clousers with large chrome eyes. I did catch a few fish on a large green deceiver , a white squid fly, and an olive and white hackle streamer. So when Sunday dawned I had high expectations. Not quite. Wind blew about 25 mph from the NE shifting to the S. I dropped five fish and landed one striper about 16 inches. I can't promise reports with any regularity, but I'll try to drop you a line if I can. Good fishing. Joe

Sounds like a great day!!!!

New Jersey

New Jersey seems to be moving along at a good pace, however things slowed a bit. Captain Gene Quigley from Shore Catch Guiding Service checked in with this report:

John,

We have had a mixed bag down here in Jersey this week. A few great days on the water with Bass, blues, and weakies, and a few very slow days. The beginning of the week was red hot in Barnegat Bay with the weakfish as the annual "swarming" ritual was in full swing. For those who did not catch last weeks report this ritual takes place every spring before the tiderunners spawn. When a female is hooked, anywhere from 5 to 10 males follow her up to the boat and "swarm" around her. It is truly an amazing site. The last five days however these fish have been ghosts. The few weakies that have been taken have been the smaller 4 to 6 lb fish. Once these tiderunners spawn out, which should be any day now, we should start to see a return to heavy feeding and solid fly fishing.

The striper fishing has been consistent and we have been sight fishing for tailing fish in about 1 to 2 feet of water. Jim Ardito did a number on these "northern bonefish" over the weekend. Jim he had fish in the skinny water from 6 to 16 LBS on topwater flies. The tail end of incoming and first two hours of outgoing have been the best tides for these taling Stripers. Bluefish are also here in the 2 to 4 LB range with the occasional fish up to 8 lbs being taken on basically anything that moves as long as its moving fast.

On the beach scene things have also been hot and cold depending where you are. The area around Barnegat Inlet has seen a good pick of weakfish and Stripers during dawn and dusk. My partner Jim freda has been working hard up on the northern shores and tells me that the big weakies have come into the Manaquan area and the fishing has also been pretty consistant around Sandy Hook. Weather permitting I will begin running off shore during the next few weeks in search a Mako's on the fly. We hooked two last season and I am raring to go this season with a whole new "quiver" of Powell bluewater fly rods. Until next tide....................

Capt. Gene

Captain Paul Eidman of Reel Therapy also checked in with a report of some action a little farther North, and west too!!:

Hi John,

Sorry I had to miss the cup this year, but I had to go to Northwestern Montana and catch some SLOB rainbow trout with my two Buds Bob Koss and Bob Missel. I have attached a photo of REEL THERAPY client turned friend Big Bob Missel with an example.We spent a week next to the Glacier and the continental divide fishing some high mountain lakes with 6 wts, nymphs. The Orvis brochure states that "for the hearty angler" springtime iceout fishing in this area produces some of the finest trout fishing anywhere....the "insane" angler would have been a better word for it. We had constant winds, 40mph and pushing at times to well over 50 mph. The next time somebody complains about the wind here in NJ I will laugh! It was like being at Montauk in an October Noreaster, great fishing, bad conditions! We had a couple of GREAT Blackfeet Indian guides from Cut Bank Creek Outfitters to show us the way and keep us from becoming part of the food chain.(Grizzly bears and mountain lions prefer slow moving flyguys in waders) Back to reality,On the local front, we are seeing some very large Blues, over 10 lbs, chomping on the springtime bunker run, and all around good fishing all over our waters here in NJ. Large striped bass and weakfish are all here waiting to eat your flies. I have some dates available.

Take a kid fishing!
Capt. Paul Eidman
Reeltherapy.com

Nice photo!!! That’s all for this week. See ya next tide!!!

Western Long Island

The western portions of the Island were good this week when the wind sat down, but for some reason, once we get even moderate east winds things turn right off. If anyone has a theory about this, send me an e-mail and let me know.

Captain Ken Courtlangus checked in with a report of this week’s action. He had this to say:

Hi John;

Al Setikas and Don Casey were aboard "Frequent Fly-er" for the CCA - Macallan Cup on Friday. A good time was had by all aboard. Don Casey caught and released a schoolie Striped Bass while Al Setikas caught and released a cocktail Bluefish after dropping a Striped Bass at boatside. Nothing quite like catching Stripers and Blues around the Statue of Liberty and Verrazano Bridge. Back on the home front, things seemed to have slowed down a little in the western sound bays this week. It must be the calm before the storm, literally. Once this cold front passes it should break open big time. Everything is in place, we just need the water to warm a few degrees. As far as a worm hatch is concerned, I think this new moon will be a blowout. The water temps are just too cold. I'm looking towards June for the hatches to get underway in the western sound areas. I have just a few dates open to get in on this phenomenal event.

Capt. Ken Courtlangus
"Frequent Fly-er"

Also spoke with Captain Scott Holder from Dragon Fly Charters. He said that while fishing in the Great South Bay remains good, the east wind really slowed things down. There are still a lot of weaks around, but they’re tough to get to in the fog. No bass this week, but Scott expects things to heat up again once the weather takes a turn. There are a lot of Shrimp in the water according to Scott and this weekend should be better.

Captain Matt Morillo checked in with a report as well:

Had a great time at the cup. Its a lot of work but worth it. Got out twice before the foul weather set in. Everything is shaping up nicely. Sat night things exploded in Smithtown bay area the smaller sand eels were present and lots of bass. Sun went out east (north fork) lots of bass and blues in the bays and some decent weakfish to 7#.

Also received a nice and brief report from Lou Caruso of some great action at Crab Meadow, and check out the pic!!!

The South Shore Beaches remain inactive with East winds and low water temps. Expect things to pick up with warmer weather and south wind.