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2001 Fishing Reports

January 2001

1/29/01 Ice Fishing Jack Spoto
Well Hunting Season is over for most of us.
What the Hell are we gonna do next Saturday?
Stay home, NAH!!!!
There's plenty of ice up on Oxford's Furnace Lake.
I was on the ice yesterday, where there's still 8-10'' of hard water.
The few fisherman who were up there we're pulling out newly stocked trout.
The state put 900 trout in November and sweetened it with 600 more just
before the freeze in early Decemeber. So the people who Know how to get there
are reaping the benefits. The Ice should hold out through February with out a
doubt. Maybe LONGER!
So lets make plans to hit it, just like we did in the old days!

Anyone who wants directions can e-mail me or call me at 732-863-7212.
There's a bait shop just 1 mile away on Rt.31, so call your bait and tackle
needs are real close. It's Oxford Bait and Sports 908-453-4294.

Jack Spoto

1/15/01 HRFA Surf Marines Florida
Hey Charlie, A contingent of Surf Marines hit the beaches on the East coast
of Florida this past week. General Tony Evangelista, Col.Tim Burden and
Sergeant Carl Hartmann got their lines wet, while in the cool Florida sun
near ST. Augustine. The first of the catch was landed at the Flagler Pier, in
Flagler Florida! Despite the temperatures in the low 60s, the Marines were
able to fetch dinner with about a half dozen Whiting! Later on that week we
had a great day on Captain Kevin Faber's 22 foot Hydra Sport. The Captain
took us on a trip through the chock-full Oyster beds of the back waters of
the Intercoastal water way.  I was the first Angler to land a fish, A nice
size Flounder. We all went on to catch more flounder, 10 in all with Timmy
Burden with the largest Flounder and myself as high hook with five. Tony came
very close to Tim's large Flounder! We then went on to target other species
in different locations.  Tony, Timmy and myself went on to secure more then a
half dozen Black Drum and about the same number of Red fish. I was able to
land a large Red at 24+ inches!  The challenge to all of this was that other
boats were not producing fish. We all spoke of the Captain and gave credit to
him for his knowledge base and resourcefulness of obtaining the only live
shrimp in the area. He is also a CO-host of a Radio sport fishing show in the
St.Augustine area in which Tony called in and spoke live about the productive
fishing day we had with him. Kevin went on to tell his audience that "we were
serious fishermen who strive for the environment and competitiveness of our
Surf Tournaments"! Anyway just hours before we were back in Jersey, we were
able to catch several more whiting to load Tony's dinner plate up. Timmy
hooked onto something big that the locals thought was either a large turtle
or Manta Ray. He unfortunately had to cut the line. This fisherman definitely
had a great time. Tight lines and cold beers, Carl Hartmann

1/7/01 first report of 2001  Ling
Well here's the first Report of 2001    Fished Sunday 1/07/01  with club
members Ron Valverde & Glen Cinelli  on the Norma K out of Pont Pleasant. 
Weather was good for this time of year.   We had lots of ling, over 25,  I
stopped trying for them, and switched to blackfish, which was slow in 160
feet of water.  About 8 nice cod we caught to 18 pounds and all the other
bottom dwellers of the mud hole.  Tight lines to all   There is no such thing
as "Cabin Fever"  in my book!

Saturday March 31st---Trout Season's Eve--a very religious day for some.

We fished at Piermont today and heard news of a couple of keeper sized
fish being caught. I met some shady characters there maybe you know
them--Tony E. and his accomplice Glenn--yeah and this Judge Joe guy.

Vinnie and I landed a nice sized cat and a shortie striper,  my first
for the season. I got the week off and being April 1st tomorrow I am
determined to get my limit of trout for the rest of the week and
possibly a few of them early or schoolie stripers.

Again we were fishing the out going tide on the north side of the pier.
Most of the action seemed to be on the south side.

Tight lines,
Rich Berlingeri

March 2001

3/2501  Alpine Boat Basin  Mick Latimer
Chas, the book was great, thanks. I will be sending my membership application
to HRFA soon and look forward to recieving the news letters.
Thanks Chas,
Mick Latimer
BTW: Fished Alpine Boat Basin last Sunday got a 17 1/2 inch striper on a
blood worm using a high low rig with 4 oz. cast straight out from the left
side of the fishing pier about 45 min. before high tide in the am.

"I`ll be back"

March 25, 2001 Piermont Pier
Vinnie and I fished the Nyack Pier again this week. I landed 3 good sizes white pearch. Only one striper brought in (22") by one of the guys we were fishing with.
This was on the out going tide.
Rich Berlingeri

3/24  Saturday Alpine Boat Basin
Hi Guys  Fished Alpine this morning, one striper 16".
Several of us had bite's but just one hook up.. the water temp is cold ..

3/25   Sunday  Croton Point

Cold ! had several hits but no hook ups. Saw a couple of lucky fisherman pull
in several
fish about 18 to 20 ". With the wind it was cold out there !
See ya on the River !

 Bill Grayson
"Eagle Seven"

March 25 2001(Sunday)
Fishing at Half Moon Bay Area.
20 Striper caught ( 4 keepers )   They were still small (18.5" to 20")
Fishing is just started..  
      Good Go Boat......  Mike T.
 
The ice is gone from the town ramp at Chelsea but it is clogged with winter
debris, driftwood and such.  Hopefully a south wind and some high tides will
clear it out. The town has not put in the docks yet so launching is an
adventure.  The bass won't be this far upriver for another 3 or 4 weeks.

Dennis G from Chelsea

3/25/01 Englewood Boat Basin
Fished off of Englewood Boat Basin on 3/25.  That shore points book helped out a lot.   I would have never known to go down there.  I caught a 16" striper right where it tells you to go, my first of the season.  Plenty of other hits, too, just couldn't land any.  Eugene Ienuso
Saturday 3/17
Fishing off the pier at the end of Main Street in Nyack my son,Vincent,
skunked his dad and offically started off the Berlingeri Family's
Striper Season with a 151/2" Striper. Two other fishermen pulled in a
couple of shorties as well. We were there for the outgoing tide.

Rich Berlingeri

 3-18- 01 Englewood Alpine Shoreline
This afternoon Glenn Blank and I stopped at Englewood boat basin
there was no one fishing.On the next stop we went to Alpine and talked to a fishermen named Rich and he told us that he /caught six small stripers up to 15inches, our next stop was Piermont we talked to a couple of fishermen and nothing was d/oing today but did say  that there were a couple caught during the pasted week. We did  see a couple of boats trying there luck.Well at least we know the fish are starting to show up. Tony Evangelista

3/18/01  Piermont Pier
Well it is a slow start this year , went fishing at Piermont and had no luck. I saw a few other guys fishing and did`nt see any action yet. The wind was ripping and I was glad I left the boat home. Well all I can say is it can only get better from here. see you all on the river. john

April 2001

4/30/01  Newburgh   Chasbo
My friend Ed, and I hung in there from sunrise till sunset
yesterday. What a great day we had. Not only was the weather as good as it
gets, we caught fish to. I'm not going to tell you we had non stop action,
but we did boat around 20 fish. They were all of the small version, with 3
weighing in around 6 Lbs.
      The best part of the day was that we were able to be out there. We
would not have been if we hadn't gotten bait. There is a severe shortage of
Bloods, that’s not the gang either, we have plenty of them around here. So,
if your coming to fish check for bait first. By the end of this week’s hot
spell the fish should really get to feeding. We are so lucky to have this
Hudson Valley to fish in. Enjoy it, Respect it, Protect it.

      Good Fishing, ChasBo
 
4/30/01 Sandy Hook Tom Paciorkowski
Fish report for the web.
Took the boat out yesterday, Monday, going for flounder. Anchored in
Shrewsbury River on Sandy Hook side, 15 feet of water, between Plum
Island and the Sea Bright-Highlands Bridge. Julians B&T reported bass
came in Sunday nite, biting on clam. I fished 4 rods, 3 for flounder, 1
for bass. I anchored at 12:15 pm to 5:45 pm and boated 12 bass, 3
bluefish and 1- 3lb.3oz. flounder. Bluefish were 23"-25"-26", all 4 lbs.
few ozs. either way. Bass were between 25" to 34", from 6 lbs.8 ozs. to
14 lbs. 10 ozs. Majority of bass were 25-27".  I switched to 2 rods for
bass & 2 for flounder. Hi tide was 2:30 but water flow changed between
3:30-4. From 4:30 to 5:30, I had hits every 10 minutes.  Lost 6 bass at
boat at net. Kept 1-27" bass, 1-23" blue & the 1 flounder, released all
others.
Small, 6-7 inch bunker were all over the place, blues were
regurgatating half eaten bunker. Even though bunker were numerous, all my
fish were caught on clam. There was 1 other boat fishing this area and
about 10 shore guys. Only we boat guys were catching fish, saw no shore
anglers catching.
I stopped fishing when I ran out of clam. I fished sandworms &
clam, no hits on the worms.  At one point my hands started to cramp up
from working the 5 minute plus battles in the strong current.
Thom   (*< - - -

4/29/01 54 Lb Striped Bass Saugerties

 
4/29/01  Island Beach, NJ   Peter Von Rudenborg
PETE VON RUDENBORG caught 2 Striped Bass (Released)
from 21 inches ? ?lb. ?oz.
to 19 inches ? ?lb. ?oz.
fishing on 4/29/01          7 AM-3 PM from Surf on ATLANTIC OCEAN ISLAND BEACHNJ
Using 20 LB pound test line and CLAMS & MACKERAL STRIPS
Water temp MID 40s conditions Windy
THERE WERE FISH BEING CAUGHT ALL DAY, MOSTLY SHORTS BUT THERE WERE MORE THAN A SPRINKLING OF KEEPERS THROWN IN.   THE WATER TEMP SEEMS TO BE RISING NOW SO IT WON'T BE LONG BEFORE THE BIGGER ONES START ROAMING IN LOOKING FOR A QUICK MEAL.

4/28/01 Beacon Still Slow
went over to the beacon bridge and the action was slow to none my brotherinlaw and i only waited untill 4:30 when we caught 2 cats really bad day   rich&don
  Croton  
 Croton Point 4/28 Adrian
Finally got out to wet a line but got to the park about an hour after the bite finished. Locals reported good activity about three hours before low.

I thought I'd give it a few casts anyway. No stripers but I did manage a first on fly - a 30lb Carp!

There were a few folk fishing bait from shore but not much activity except for one man who had his son with him on their first fishing trip together. They'd hooked and released about a dozen catfish and were having a blast!
 

April 26,2001  Croton George Gieger
George Gieger caught 2 Striped Bass
from 39 inches  25lb. oz.
to 24.5 inches  7lb. oz.
fishing on April 26,2001/ 5-7PM from Boat on Hudson River Croton Bay  NY
Using  pound test line and Herring Cut Bait
Water temp 50 conditions Windy
Ro-Sea "G" fished Croton Bay on the Hudson River. George Gieger and Art Hyslop fished outgoing water. Only two fish were caught. Wind was out of the south (wind against the current). Art had the big fish of the trip a 39" 25 pound striper. The smaller of the two fish had a tag  which will be returned to the Littoral Society. Approximately three and a half hours spent on the water.
 
4/26/01  Newburgh    Joe
South of Bridge
We went out late and the fish were scattered, alot of fish at 6` I think
they were shad. As soon as it got dark, the larger schools showed up at ,
24 feet, 53 degrees, and we caught six 22-26 inch fish trolling a silver &
black Rapala, we left around 9:00 pm. The fish are here, see you out there!
it was pretty busy too bad we have to Work or I'd still be out there.

Beguiled  Joe
4/24/01  Newburgh  John George
hello to all , the fish are in Newburgh as I saw a lot on the graph. bounded a few balls off them as we trolled sat, Sunday and Monday, not to good yet. water temp 48 surface and 40 at twenty feet. Monday was the best as the river got to a 57 temp and then turned over. I think this week should produce fish as I saw a few hooked up Monday. I know of a seventeen pound caught on a lure . so it is going to start soon boys. also no docks in Newburgh yet as the town is not doing it as I hear orange county is. I hope it happens soon as it is hard to launch your boat. good luck to all and see you on the water.
 John
 
1/24/01 Albany  Cynthia Flaherty
I caught a 32 inch sixteen pound striper in the upper Hudson just north of Albany. The herring are finally in the canals & are easily caught with throw nets. Looking forward to a good run.  Cynthia
 
4/23/01  Ross Dock  Gerry Hujber
Gerry L. Hujber caught 1 Striped Bass (Released)
from 29 inches  .
fishing on 4/23/01 from Surf on Hudson GWBNJ
Using 14 pound test line and Shad
Water temp  conditions Sunny
Had some time this morning so I went down to the hazards ramp and threw in a line. Much to my surprise I hooked this nice 29" striper. I had to land it off the floating dock LOL.
Gerry

4/23/01  Croton  Walt Weglinski
PS BASS ARE HITTING IN  CROTON NY. UP TO 40 LBS. OVER 95 BOATS IN CROTON
AREA THIS PAST FRI SAT &SUN

DOCK'S MARINA         <>{  <>{   <>{ <>{      WALTER WEGLINSKI  RT. 46
BEAUTIFUL BUDD LAKE NJ. 07828     
                                  
4/23/01  Bass Buster Newburgh.
Fish were being marked from Cornwall to the Newburgh  Beacon Bridge, but there were very little caught.  Sundays weather brought out the fishermen and the fish but the two never hooked up.  All reports on the VHF radios were, we see fish on the finders but they were not hitting.  People tired ells, blood worms, herring, and lures they did not hit.

4/22/01  East River Gil Hawkins
Gil Hawkins caught 2 Striped Bass (Released)
from 27 inches  lb. oz.
to 18 inches  lb. oz.
fishing on 4/22 10:00-11:30 AM  from  on East River NY
Using  pound test line and sand worms
Water temp  conditions Calm & Clear
Slack high tide (28) and running (18) out. 
4/23 Monday .... Old Crow 2  Joe Spilewski
First trip out. Made it to the East River and noticed my engine temperature  was rising and the heart beats started to rise. Went thru the normal procedures. Started back home, engine appeared to cool down some. Proceeded back, over heating
again, started back home, cooled down, went back and fished one of your holes .
We caught one 29" striper on a chunk of herring.  Decided to go home due to
the engine. Made it to Jersey and anchored near Alpine, no luck . Engine
normal now and we went to the Bay Ridge flats, nothing except for a small
schoolie that liked one of my teasers.
             All aside it was a great day.
                                                                 
Saturday 4/21/01   Corwall Bay Jay 
10am-6:30pm  Bait: Bloodworms, from shore
We had a group of about 10 of us and we were fishing from shore. We caught
about13 stripers between us and a heck of a buzz.  All small,  between 10-20
inches. Run has not gotten up here yet but I'll keep you posted. We will start fishing
from the boat in a couple of weeks. Right now its like trying to find a needle in a
haystack. ....Jay

Alpine   
Saturday 4/21/01 4:00 PM to 6:45 PM  Gerry Hujber
BAIT Cut Shad..

We Caught a few shorts and there were many short stripers caught. Only a few catfish today and no keepers that I saw or heard of.all in all a very slow day at Alpine.
4/21/01 Fishin' Mission  Mark Strober
Fishin' Mission - Fishing report:   Fished Saturday 4/21/01 The weather men
were totally wrong as always!  They called for high wind and rain.  Went
anyhow  and had fantastic weather NO WIND or rain.  Fished the NY Harbor and
surrounding areas for 13 Stripers.  largest were 31" - 29" & 28". < Pssst
Charlie, one of your favorite stomping grounds was producing >  Saw a few
guys doing great with the winter flounder. ( over 150 between 3 boats! )
Surface water temps have risen nicely to 47 - 49 degrees.
Friday 4/20/01 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM Gerry Hujber
BAIT Cut Shad and Bloodworms

I caught a few short stripers on the worms, and ridiculous numbers of catfish on Shad..there were 4 keepers caught at Alpine today,I witnessed and measured all of them
24.5", 29" 31.5" 35"
 4/19-20 Croton
Reports slow fishing and late Spring in Croton.
Thursday 4/19 3:30pm-7:00pm fished Croton Point and North side of point toward bay. Striper run was non existent with little amount of fish being marked. No hits at all.
Friday 4/20 9:30Am-5:30pm Fished outer Croton Bay with some luck . (2) Cats (2) stripers 26"x18lbs and 28"x24lbs.
Waiting for the RUN!!!    Capt. Jethro      Stella Blue
Questionable Figures!  Captain Jethro's Figures would seem to be a bit off...wouldn't you say? 26inches...18lbs!  28inches...24lbs! I think not!
26 inches...should be about a ten pound fish even if loaded with eggs.   28 inches...15 pounds tops!   36 and 38 inches ...maybe!
        Chas   <'////><

4/15/01  Chelsea Town Ramp Info
People are starting to use the free town ramp but the docks are not in yet.  
Makes launching a real adventure.  Tried fishing with nite crawlers but the
water is far to cold as yet.  Due to heavy spring runoff the visibility is
about 3 inches...No kidding!
A guy capsized and is feared lost on Saturday just north of Chelsea.  Use
your life preservers.  The life you save may be your own.
Dennis G from Chelsea Yacht Club....  chelseayacht.org

Saturday 4/14/01 Alpine NJ Gerry Hujber
WHAT A DAY!!! I have never seen so many fish pulled over the bulkhead in a single day. from 9 AM to about 12 noon, without exaggeration there was well over 100 fish caught. ( mostly catfish and perch with only 9 shorts and 1 keeper striper ) I personally caught 41 Catfish and 2 short stripers. it was a great day to be outdoors and fishing.
 
4/14/01  Mark Strober
Fished Sat. 4/14/01  with Ron and Collette on the "Reel Wild"  out of Nyack,
NY ramp.   Story of my life  " should have been out with us yesterday trips! 
1 striper @18inches, 1 large catfish and 1 perch!!   Tried lots of spots, 
they were surprised on how slow it was being last trip out they had lots of
fish!  Oh well there's always next time!
4/14/01 East River Renegade
First of the season! Saturday , April 14, incoming tide. Lots of fish on
the fish finder, middle depth and on the bottom, probably migrating
shad. I got one 27" striper on a blood. Still a little early, the
weather was great but the water was cold. Gil Hawkins with Paul Helmold
on the Renegade.

FRIDAY 4/06/01 21:30 PM to 7 PM Alpine NJ  Gerry Hujber
BAIT   Cut Shad & Bloodworms
1 short striper......and the catfish are in. 2 of us caught well over 20 catfish , and all were 2 to 5 pounds. Must have been that nice day we had Thursday. Didn't do much for striper fishing, but it seems to have awakened the catfish.
 
 
Saturday 4/7/01 Alpine NJ South of the Marina  Gerry Hujber
BAIT- Cut Shad & Bloodworms
lots of short stripers up to 20", and catfish up to 5 pounds

Flounder
4/12/01 Manasquan Flounder  Wayne Guider
Wayne Guider just called me with a flounder report.  He took his
boat to the Manasquan River and caught 28 winter flounder in 2 1/2 hours,
no chumming.
Date: April 12, 1 hr. before hi and 1 hr. after, plus slack
water.  Biggest was 2 lbs. 2 ozs., 16". 16 fish were over 1 lb.  Smallest
fish was 12", Using sands and bloods.  Wayne reported as soon as the
water started to slow down, the bite began.  As the current started to
move faster after the high tide, bite stopped.  The only other boat at
that spot was a party boat and another private boat.

4/13/01 Bell Harbor  Ronnie
My friend and i went out of belle harbor marina in stony point  ny.It was a nice day late in the afternoon the wind picked up but all in all we had a good time.Several 16,17 inchers were caught also boated two 23 inchers.I plan to go back in a few days.Yes the stripers are in so get out there and enjoy your self. Have  fun hope to see you out there.GOOD   LUCK.
 Ronnie

 4/13/01  Croton  Mike B.
Fished the south side of Croton Point on 4/13/01 and had a great day. The
fish ranged from 15 to 32 inches and there were plenty of em. I threw lures all
day, there was no reason to pick up bait.

    mike b.

 4/13/01 Navasink Flounder Fred Rung
I do have a fishing report on the Navesink by the Oceanic bridge.  The flounder are starting.  A SLOW pick is the best way to describe it.  I caught two yesterday (4/13/01) (Friday the 13th) 14.5 and 15.5 inches long( 1lb 4 oz and 1 lb 10 oz).   Saw three others caught by the 20 - 30 boats out there.  They are big but still dug into the mud. 
 
Friday 4/13/01  Alpine NJ   Gerry Hujber
3 catfish and a few shorts all day and a surprise 23" Sturgeon

4/11/01 Beacon  Jason Williams
YESTERDAY AFTERNOON I WENT FISHING IN BEACON.
CAST MY PINNACLE REEL EQUIPPED WITH A 4.0 HOOK AND A BLOOD WORM. A 23" STRIPED BASS BENT MY POLE AND THAT'S ALL IT TOOK FOR ME TO BECOME EXCITED ENOUGH TO JUMP UP,
GRAB MY POLE, YANK BACK AND HOOK MY FIRST BEACON N.Y STRIPED BASS IN THE YEAR 2001. NOW I CAN ALERT MY CO – WORKERS SO THEY DON’T DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO CROTON HARMON JUST TO CATCH A
STRIPED BASS.     THEY’RE HERE FELLOWS!!!

Wednesday 4/11/01 Alpine NJ  Gerry Hujber
Bait Cut Shad, Bunker, Herring & Sand Worms
Time 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
Bait Cut Shad, Bunker, Herring & Sand Worms
fished all day only had one real nice hit, but I missed it.
Not a striper in site.....but I caught 39 catfish. All in all, not a bad day.

4/10/01 Alpine NJ  Gerry Hujber
32" and a 33" striper and a monster that broke off at the beach in Alpine....No pics of the big cow.
4/9/01  Nyack  Art Hyslop 
George and I had a good afternoon. Left Nyack dock at about3:00P.M.and anchored in about 11 feet of water about 1000 yards south of the dock. Fished with bloods and herring chunks.  Caught a 15.9 lb.(34inch)fish and a 6.5 lb (24 inch fish on chunks and had two other run offs. Also caught about 20plus small stripers on bloods within 2 hours. We were back at the dock just before six P.M. and a wicked thunderstorm that blew in from the west. Great afternoon of fishing. Photos to be developed.

Monday 4/9/01  Alpine NJ  Gerry Hujber
catfish galore, and a few shorts
Seems the tide as always has nothing to do with fishing...you need to follow the currents. At alpine 3 hrs after high tide to 3 hrs after low ebb is producing the most fish, just as it has in Alpine for the past 4 years....some things never change.LOL
 
Sunday 4/8/01 7 Am to 2 pm Alpine NJ  Gerry Hujber
BAIT -Cut Shad & Bloodworms
A FEW SHORTS BUT OTHERWISE A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME
 
4/7/01 Bear Mountain Bridge John Van Herk
I Fished under the Bear Mountain Bridge yesterday (Saturday) with my buddy Rich from 8:30AM to 6:30PM
We caught 4 Striped Bass and one white perch. the bass were 26, 18.5, 17.5 and 12 inches.  We started catching them on the out going tide around 3:00PM with blood worms.  The bait shop up the road on 9W has closed up, but there is a sign on the road that gets you to someone's back yard shop. There was one other bass caught on the pier that day 19.5 "
Good luck Fishing!
John Van Herk

4/7/01 Alpine Boat Basin Mick Latimer 
Fished ABB Sat. 4.7.01 on the incoming in the pm, there where many cats off
the pier. In addition our rigs where picked clean on a regular basis, bring
plenty of bait. A no show on our striped friends.

Mick Latimer

FRIDAY 4/06/01 21:30 PM to 7 PM Alpine
1 short striper......and the catfish are in. 2 of us caught well over 20 catfish , and all were 2 to 5 pounds. Must have been that nice day we had Thursday. Didn't do much for striper fishing, but it seems to have awakened the catfish...

TIGHTLINES
Gerry

Piermont
4/5/01 Piermont Pier Art
I fished with my partner George on the Ro-Sea on April 5,2001. Launched out
of Nyack and headed south to the pilings south of Piermont Pier at 5:00 P.M..
Began fishing with bloods in 14-15 feet of water. The water temperature was
45/46 degrees, a welcome change to the 41 degree water a week before. Caught
a 12incher and a cat. moved into 8 feet and caught a 16 incher and a cat.
moved again and caught another 16 incher. Arrived during dead low and fished
the incoming tide. Moved again just south of the bridge in 9 feet of water
and caught another 16 incher. By now it was 8P.M. and the wind came up .
First fish of the season put in the boat. good luck this season see ya on the
water. Art
 
 Englewood
4/4/01 Englewood Boat Basin
HRFA member Jim Macaluso fished the incoming tide in the vicinity of the
Englewood Boat Basin on Weds.,April 4 with blood worms. The results of 2.5
hours of fishing were 5 schoolies to 16" and two perch. They're starting to
hit!

4/3/01 Nyack Pier
Mr. G., a local comercial fisherman who sells us our bait,  has started
catching some herring in his nets. With the herring coming up river we all know the
stripers can't be far behind.

Fished the Nyack Pier today--hooked into 2 shortie stripers and two
pesky perch. The guys I was with also pulled in a few shortie stripers.
All caught on Bloods and all caught on the incoming tide.

Rich

Tapzee 
4/1/01  Tappan Zee Bridge
HRFA member Willard Bierwas and Artie Cole fished the south side of the
Tappan Zee Bridge on 4/1/01.  We caught 41 stripers from 7:00 AM until 10:15
AM on the outgoing tide.  The largest stripers were 17 1/2" long - no
keepers.  The water temperature on a certified thermometer was 39.4 degrees.

May 2001

5/29/01 Sandy Hook Report Tom Paciorkowski
Did some surf fishing at Sandy Hook, Tuesday, May 29, trying for
incoming water at 2pm.  Hit the beach around 10am at the 'fishing lot',
people were going home saying not much fish out there, just a few bass.
I walked a mile to my favorite spot by the sand bars, set my stuff up,
shucked an ocean clam, baited & threw JUST beyond the breakers, 10
minutes past then my 8 1/2 foot rod bent over,  Bass from 19 - 28 inches
hit EVERY clam baited hook, EVERY cast, no more than 10 - 15 minute wait.
 Action lasted to high water and out going, used up all clam before
thunder storms hit. Had to make mad dash to parking lot. Fished by the
parking lot for an hour, saw one fish, 26", being pulled in, me nothing.
Went back to my spot with 3 clams after the storm, same thing as before,
bass where there by the bars.  Action was good, had to hold rod because
the fish hit fast, no time to lite up a stoggie, really. At one point I
had to stop and rest because my hands were cramping up from reeling and
holding the rod.
TIP for surfers, if you see guys sitting by their rods, drinking,
talking with each other, try another spot, probably not that much action.
Walk to different areas, read the water.  This time of year fish are in
close to the shore line, not that far out, DON'T cast far out.
I saw what looked like miles of bunker, streching north to south, just
beyond cast range, must have been millions of bait fish in that school.
Thom   (*< - - -
5/27/01  Chas Stamm & Joe Curvino  Ctr Harbor NYC
HRFA Director and Web Master Chas Stamm fished with HRFA member Joe Curvino on Sunday for a great day with some striped bass.  Water temps pushed 58 degrees in the East River which produce and 18 pound Striped bass for Chas while Joe pulled in a couple of 6 and 8 pounders.  From there we tried the Bayridge Flats hoping for some early season weakfish.  Well the season was too early.  Still no weaks on the flats but there were some bluefish in the 6 to 8 pound class being caught from boats anchoring and chumming.  From there we hit the Vz bridge which produced another couple of 8 pound stripers and then the big 22 pound bass came in for Joe on his fresh water bass rod and 8 pound test.  What a great fight!  All fish were caught on sandworms off the bottom.


Click on a photo for a closer look!

5/27 01  Newburgh Is it Over?
Dear Chas,
                        today was it for us here on the upper Hudson. The
Cotton Wood is blowing around up here like it is snowing. Any old timer will
tell you that the Striper season is over, once the Cotton Wood arrives. We
did give it one last hurrah though. My friend Ed, and I were out from 8 til
4, caught the tide change, and did it all. We got the big Black&White Fish <
known as the Skunk >. Signing off for this season, until next year.
      I will let you in on any event in the mean time. Such as, on the 9th I
leave with my fishing club, "The Orange Lake Fish and Game Club" to go to
Lake Champlain. We are after the great fighting Northern Pike. We have been
going to the same spot now for 3 years. I will give you a report upon return.

      Good Health, and great fishing to all,
                                                         ChasBo
 
5/26/01 Center Harbor Fishin Mission
Fished Saturday 5/26/01 New York Harbor Area ( I learned a long time ago
SCREW the weathermen )  called for wind and showers all day, just had a
little rain in am then nice and calm rest of day!   Fished with club member
Ron Valverde, started for fluke and weakies in morning.   VERY slow Ron had 3
short fluke, and NO weakies anywhere.   Switched to bass and had about 24
between the both of us to 34 inches.   Tight lines to all  and remember as
long as they don't forecast servere weather >>GET OUT AND FISH!
 
5/26/01  Eusopus Creek Phill Kozak
WE have been fishing the Esopus flats just about ever weekend and some days
its great and others poor. Sat fished at the begining of the outgoing and
tried clams had the fish behind the boat, hook ups were another thing. The
results were just 3 fish one being a 37 inch 20 pound male. We tagged that
one. Water temp was right for the spawn to occur. One shool was so big that
it took at least 5 mins to pass under the boat and was 10 foot thick. That
was the school we took the 20 pounder from. The river is loaded with males
and many of them have yet to complete the spawning process. I think it will
last at least one more week.
Next weekend will begin our tagging operations in the Raritan Bay. I will be
there for the next three weekends and then we move to Cape May.
Phil Kozak NFA  

FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF MAY 14TH -20TH  Capt Gene


Well...its already turning into a "mixed bag" of fishing, both from a species
as well as a results standpoint......this past week saw mixed bottom fishing
results, with some charters scratching out a few keeper fluke when drift and
sea conditions permitted, but no big scores to report.......Blue fishing has
been excellent, in a variety of places, and it's simply a matter of finding
the still-moving schools as they settle in along our coastline.....
This past Saturday was a perfect example of what fishing can be like at the
moment.....after spending some time trying our luck at bottom fishing...and
finding the fluke rather un-cooperative, it was decided to give blue fishing
a try...but the huge fleet focusing on jigging 3-4 pound blues all the way up
around the hook, was batting .000.....this is one of those situations that,
as a captain, I simply dread....options start dwindling down, and we have to
try and find some fish to fill the boxes with.....as we sailed North along
the beach, I spotted some bird activity in closer to shore, and also started
noticing some major bait readings on my new Is Tex fish finder....deciding to
give jigging a try with literally not a boat in sight, and miles way from the
fleet, we started hooking up IMMEDIATELY with those very same 3-4 pound blues
plus one keeper Striped Bass , and in a matter of minutes everyone on board
was into catch and release the action was so fast and furious......I called
in a few of the other boats, and before you know it, the "Fleet" was centered
around US!!!!!!!
Better yet....after I decided to move and try and find a new school of fish,
we spotted bird activity yet again....once again, not a party or charter boat
in sight, and the action resumed just as fast and furious as before.......
Night fishing has been pretty decent about 10 miles S.E. of the inlet, and
out at the mud hole, with larger blues invading the lights, and charters
getting their fill of action......
This past Sunday, the fleet was forced to drift the Manasquan river due to
rough seas and a snotty easterly wind that kicked things up, but about a
dozen keeper fluke were lifted over the rails, and if there had been less
boat traffic, who knows how much better we would have done there.......
Keep posted for the weekly conditions right here......
Tight Lines!   www.charterfishingboat.com

Capt. Gene Becker

Bluefish
5/19/01 Raritan Blues! Charlie Sanacore
Took the boat out 1st trip fished Raritan Reach with my sons Mike & Steve and a friend, found Bluefish blitzing bunkers caught 10 fish largest about 13lbs . 1st big fish for my sons they had a blast. Snagged one bunker had it at the boat and a big blue come up and chop it in half the kids could not believe it . Also got one 17in fluke a pretty good day  Tight Lines

5/20/01 Center Harbor Mark Strober
Fished Saturday 5/19/01, the New York Harbor & surroundding areas,   Took a
new guy out ( he never fished salt water, thought it would be a disaster but
he caught on well), and caught the biggest fish.   We had 16 stripers to 35
inches, 4 bluefish, a bunch of short fluke, about 6 weakfish to 26 inches,
also ran into a giant school of sea robins, we got out the ultra lights, and
must have caught 30 of them.  Hey a sea robin on 6 pound test still fights
better a largemouth bass!!!!!!!!!  Tight Lines to all!
 
5/20/01  Center Harbor   Gil Hawkins
Sunday; 5/20/01Gil Hawkins, and Jim Lee aboard Paul Helmold's  Renegade. With an east wind and outgoing tide we looked for weaks but there were none. Paul and I hooked a couple of short fluke with Jim landing a keeper ( four in all). All were caught on sands. I boated a nice 28 inch striper  on a sand as well. I was using a striper rig with a circle hook. The wind picked up around 11:30 so we headed in. Not a total wash for a half day! Gil~~~<^><...
 
5/20/01  East River  Chas Stamm
Joef Curvino and Chas Stamm fished the East River on Sunday with sand worms and bucktails to produce 6 striped bass with the biggest being 15 and 16+ pounds.  Water temps were 56 –58 degrees and fishing an outgoing tide.  Fishing off the Bayridge flats produced nothing.
Chas  <’////><



5/19/01 Roundout Creek  Phil Kozak
Left Roundout Creek at 6:30am and went south to the Esopus flats. Wind and
tide were in the same direction and the water temp in the am was 62. In the
afternoon it climbed to 65. Incoming tide till about 1PM. Drifted with worms
and eels till 10am then went on the anchor where we proceeded to catch 25
Striper between 10 and 15 pounds till the tide went slack. The additional 5
to round out the day were taken on eels and worms. Fished south of the barge
on the out going and did see some fish.
Phil Kozak/ Pocket Rocket
NFA
 
5/18/01  Plum point/Newburg   Mark Quick
Fished car top12ft. 6 stripers 5shorts/1 male with tag 29 in.Shore angler caught 2 fish over 20lbs.All fish caught on blood worms.
Mark

5/17/01  Phil Kozak  Esopus
NFA Fished Esopus Flats Thursday 17th. Water temp 62.2 incoming tide to 10:30
Southerly wind light through out the day. Fished with worms and eels. Bass
were in shallow water until about 9am then fish were around the green can
#63. Our largest fish was a 31 inch 14 pound female which we tagged. Total
catch of the day was 18 fish. Tagged four. New England Outdoors did a TV
shoot on the Pocket Rocket. We did not catch a fish on eels. Several in the
20 pound mark were taken in the late afternoon north of the Esopus light
house. Trollers did fair on some large fish in the 39 to 40 inch class.
NFA would like to see these large female spawners released. There is no
reason to keep them. Harvesting these female before spawning in just plain
wrong and NFA will do all in its power to see a slot limit that will prevent
this from continuing.
Phil Kozak
President NFA
 
5/16/01   Bannerman’s Island Capt Mack
 Fishing near Bannerman's island me and my daughter caught
two stripers over 20 pounds and one 8 pounds 6oz fishing down riggers at 17 feet had a good day
 CAPTMAC'K     STEPHEN MCNAMEE

5/15/01 Bannerman’s Island  Capt. Mac
Fished from 8:00 am till 2:00 pm, caught (1) male striper, 10-12 pounds by Bannerman's Island in
18 ft of water with a live eel.  I estimated this weight because I left my scale home.     
Maybe better luck tomorrow....see you out there.
Steve Mc Namee
Cap't Mack 

5/14/01 Newburgh  ChasBo
Dear Chas,
Mother's Day was a Mother out there. Yes, we were
out there in our 17 foot Bass Tracker in 25 MPH winds. We thought we could
escape the wind by going up to the Ulster landing, WRONG. We stayed there for
about 2 hours, caught 3 fish. We couldn't take it any more, so went back to
Newburgh. It looked a lot calmer there, WRONG! We hung in there though until
4PM. We caught 2 more fish. We really paid for every one to. Of course today,
as I came across the bridge, it is as calm as a pond. Oh well, some days you
eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. They are out there though, in
large numbers, so go get em!!!!

      ChasBo
 
 
5/13/01  Roundout Creek   Phil Kozak
Sunday took Frank C and his two grandchildren and I took my to grand
daughters fishing We left round out creek about 10:30. Caught 3 small stripers
and then moved north to Fish North of the south bay out flow. Took 17 nice
stripers on worms in 18 ft of water. Wind blew at least 25 kts and the water
temp was 64 degrees. These young anglers released all their fish and we
tagged 4 fish. Will be back thurs to try again.
Phil Kozak NFA
 
5/13/01  Lower Harbor  Mark Strober
Fished Sunday 5/13/01  the NY Harbor and surrounding areas.   Fished on Glen
Cinelli's boat CAST IRON.   We were forced to hide from the strong winds, so
we decided to chunk bunker, only 1 fish caught by Glen but it was a good one
-- 35 inches at 16&1/2 pounds.   Tight lines to all!

5/12  Long Island Fluke.
Took a 2 day mini vacation out to Southold L.I hoping to bag a monster fluke.
Didn't get any monster's but we did get 14 fluke between 3 and 5.5 lbs, all
nice healthy fish.Also caught a few 2 lb Porgy's which was also fun.Now is
the time to go out to the North Fork area to catch a large Fluke. Tight lines
to all !!!
 
May 12, Newburgh…View from the Bridge!
 
Hey Fishdoggies,
                              if you were out there today, and didn't get a
few fish, you just have plain old, really bad luck. I live in Newburgh, and
travel the bridge back and forth to work. This morning the pods of fish are
thick enough that you could see them all over the area. If you never have
been on the bridge when they are this thick, it is a site that will get the
old heart a thumping. Espesially if you headed for work. This is how the DEC
measures the migration, but from a plain. They do there measurment by the
acre size of the pods. Just some trivia for you fish nuts like me.
      See you in the early AM Sunday.

      ChasBo
 
5/12/01  Rhinecliff  Phil Kozak
Left Round out creek at 7 am water temp 58n in creek and 62 as we moved south
to the Esopus flats. Fished there for about 3 hours not much happening there.
11:30 moved to the east side of the river nothing happening there either.
Made a move to the north of the Rhinecliff Bridge. Stopped at the out flow of
south lake. Tried clams and that didn't work. Moved North to the flats east
of Turkey Point. Fish in 22 ft of water/ They moved through all the incoming
tide. No large fish most in the 20 to 25 inch size. Did see some spawning
activity in the later part of the tidal stage. We released 12 fish and tagged
10.  Will fish again tomorrow. Water temp was 64.7 degrees when we left at
5:30.
Phil Kozak
NFA

5/11/01 Newburgh Chas Bo
I fished from 8AM Thursday morning until 4PM. The best fishing happened
between 10AM and noon. Out of the nine fish I caught there were three in the
15 pound range. The rest were 3- 8 pounds. It is getting better out there in
Newburgh/Beacon area every day. By the way out of the 3 fish I caught last
Sunday one was a keeper at 28 pounds. See you all Sunday.

      ChasBo

5/7/01 Troy Dam  Toomer2000
I fished the Hudson around the Troy Dam this weekend and they are here and ready! On sat. we caught 3 stripers 12 lbs 15 lbs 22 lbs We had a really good one on and it got off. Sun. we caught nothing because we missed four hits. I had one on and he was taking almost all my line so I started reeling and he yanked and the hook came out! People next to us boated 3 stripers all 15 lbs. and up.
 
5/7/01 Newburgh  John George
hello Charles, had a great weekend of fishing. the fishing is getting good for us trollers . fish Saturday with no luck . but Sunday was a nice day on the water . lots of boats on the water . water temp was in the sixties Sunday and the same for today. fifty two at twenty feet. fish that are biting are mostly shorts with some bigger male taking lures and bate too. colors were black and silver , blue and white and the old clown work too. most fish caught at 14-17 feet. we were able to land twenty Sunday and twenty five Monday with a nice thirty pound fish on a four inch clown. the fishing can only get better as the water is almost there.
 
5/6/01 Albany  Rodney
I finally got my first Striper. I went out at 8am and got lots of
herring.We went north on the Hudson towards the troy dam. Marking fish
the whole way up. We finally anchored and that’s when I caught her. It was
41.25inch 26 lb.. It has a tag on it from the Littoral society in New
Jersey. Does anyone have a address(its worn off)or a website? Great site I
check in every day....Rodney
 
5/8/01  Chelsea Ramp   Dennis
The Chelsea Town Ramp is very active because of the bass fishing but the
floating ramps are not in yet.  Local newspaper said the docks will be in by
the third week of May.

Dennis G from Chelsea Yacht Club.

5/6/01 Newburgh  Joe
I went out twice. May 6, 7 - Fished both mornings with bloods and eels
starting at low/slack tide till after high tide water temps in the 57-58
degrees range, no luck. The schools just aren't there yet. There have been
reports locally of 20, and 30 lbs being landed, but the fishing isn't
heated up just yet. It seemed 31 feet of water, was where they were, they
just weren’t hitting. on Sunday there were 30-50 boats out there, I didn't
see one caught.

Beguiled      
 
Sunday May 6 Catskill
Went out this morning, 5/06, had a little trouble finding herring in the net. Finally did and was worth the wait.   Hooked 30" striper (forgot the scale this morning). Chunk herring for bait.   We were not getting any action on live bait. There were about 20 boats out and to my knowledge no one was hooking up.  Starting out slow up this way.
Robert Krasney 

5/5/01 Rhinecliff / Eusopus Phil Kozak
National Fishing Association started it's 5th year tag and release program on
the Hudson River. Base of operations is Roundout Yatch Basin in Connely, NY.
We started Sat May 5th and fished North of the Rinecliff Bridge at place
called the south bay out flow. Wind was 20kts out of the NNE and there was a
considerable sea. Water temp was 56.4 and climbed to 57.5 as the day
progressed. We fished sand and blood worm combos. Fresh cut herring and eels.
Number of fish tagged was just one. 19 inch striper. I would say it was a
tough day on the river. We traveled south to the Esopus flats and did nothing
there. The were several fish caught around us on chunked herring and the
Trollers did well also. We found no fish feeding on the bottom and when the
fish are suspended like they were the trollers do much better. We did try
trolling but were really not equipped for it. I will be on the river next
weekend and try again.
PHil Kozak
National Fishing Association
Pocket Rocket on Channel 68

5/5/01 Delaware River  John Bry
Hey guys, I haven't been here since my puter crashed and I lost all my
addresses, but your site is looking good. Here's the scoop on the Delaware:
The water level and color are excellent and the river is just jam-packed full
of shad. If you want to give it a try, anchor your boat on a current edge and
dead-stick a few rods rigged with three-ways with a 1/8 oz orange dart on an
8 in. dropper and a flutter spoon on a 2 foot leader behind it.  6 to 8 lb.
line is about right. Hang em in the current 75-100 ft behind the boat and
you'll hook up for sure. At the very least, you could get yourself a decent
supply of striper/shark bait and have a blast doing it.

I'm heading up to Kingston tomorrow for 2 weeks. I'll let you' all  know how
I make out.

John Bry  AKA  " The Muskie Maven"

 5/5/01  Lower Harbor   Fishin Mission
Fishin' Mission report:   Fished the New York Harbor and surrounding areas
Saturday May 5th.  Caught 41 Striped Bass.   The largest was 29" ( 9 pounds )
with most of the others in the low to mid 20 inch range.   Everything was
working -- Eels, sandworms, and jigs. Tight Lines to all, Mark
5/1/01 Saugerties Steve
Caught a 29 pound 40 inch Female early in the morning 5/1 .  Just North of the Saugerties Lighthouse. After that they shut off. She was caught on small live Herring. Fish are being caught Sporadically.
                        Steve

5/4/01 Sandy Hook  Tom P.
Friday, May 4th, surf fishing at the Hook, ocean side.
Low tide to 2 hours after, Bass to 10 lbs., blues to 5 lbs. and weakfish
to 8 lbs., all in the surf.  Using full clam found plentiful on the
beach.  Just pick up clam, shuck and impale on hook, throw in water and
catch fish, it's that easy.
A guy next to me pulled in a weakfish that looked like a 10-12
pounder.  My biggest was just under 8 lbs.  The fish are here!!!
NOW!!!!!
Thom   (*< - - -

5/4/01   Newburgh  STEPHEN MC NAMEE

Fishing south of the Beacon Newburgh bridge using down riggers we caught two stripers one 12 lbs and the other 13 lbs fishing 22 to 24 feet deep using fast track rebel firetiger, and a color  blue and silver.   Not as productive as the 35 pounder caught on Tuesday (5/1), hopefully better luck on Monday. 
5/4/01  Newburgh  ChasBO
It's me again, and I was out there fighting the heat yesterday. The good
news is I was fighting the fish to. I was out for three and a half hours, and
caught eight fish. The one pictured is, of course, the biggest one. It's
happening out there FishMates. Go try and find some bait, and wet a line.

      The ChasBo

5/1/01    Newburgh  STEPHEN MCNAMEE

FISHING WITH DOWNRIGER SOUTH SIDE OF BEACON NEWBURGH BRIGE CAUGHT ONE 35POUND 9OZ STRIPER ON A FAST TRACK REBEL 24FT DOWN    HAD A GOOD DAY
5/1/01  Kingston  Pat & Alex
I CAUGHT A 22 LB  STRIPER ON A BLUE & SILVER PLASTIC SHAD DOWNRIGGING IN 45' OF WATER AT ABOUT 25'.  THIS WAS ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE ESOPUS LIGHTHOUSE AT HYDE PARK,NY JUST SOUTH OF KINGSTON . MOST OF THE FISH NOW BEING CAUGHT ARE SMALL. IT LOOKS LIKE WITH THIS RECENT WARM WEATHER THE ACTION IS STARTING UP HERE. 

June 2001

Monday, June 25, 2001,  Sandy Hook  Packman
Surf fished Sandy Hook by sand bars.  Fluke in close, hitting on
killy/Sea Robin belly strip.  Fished just the killy's and caught only sea
robins until I cut one robin belly and used that with the live minnow,
thus producing 18 fluke, 4 keepers to 19 inches.  Had to work for them,
fish were in close to beach.
The tiny sand bugs, the ones that look like little armadillo's, hatched.
 Millions of them were buried in the sand, the size of my pinky
fingernail.  A lot of the fluke and sea robins had them in their bellys.
Good bait source.


Wednesday, June 27, 2001,  Sandy Hook Packman
Surf fished the bars at the Hook again, this time came prepared with
smaller hooks and strip bait.  Used sand bugs on small wire hooks, caught
only sea robins and spider crabs.  No fluke the whole day.  Water temp
had to be in the mid 70's, just like bath water, and boy was the sun hot,
spent most of the time up to my neck in the water.  Good beach day!  The
shore area was packed with people, doesn't anyone work anymore?


Thursday, June 28, 2001,  Berry’s Creek   Packman
Fished Berry's Creek in Carlstadt in back by the warehouses, where
Berry's and Riser Creeks meet.  Caught 7 White Perch, 3 eels and 2 small
carp, [ 2 -3 lbs.].  This tidal marsh water produced more action than the
 days on Sandy Hook, and only 5 minutes from my front door.  Would have
fished longer but I had other things to do.

Keepin' thems lines wet,
Thom   (*< - - -

6/24/01 Lower Harbor Fishin Mission
Fished Sunday 6/24/01  with my 8 year old daughter, we fished the Lower NY
Harbor for fluke,  loads of shorts, with about a 10 to 1 keeper ratio.   It
was great watching my daughter jig up fluke all on her own.   We caught
through all tide phases, and everything worked from spearing to jigs to
Berkley power bait ( freshwater grubs ).   Tight Lines to All.
 
6/24/01  Last Drift Chas Stamm & Norm Andreasen
Norm and I anchored up in the East River on Sunday.  Got two stripers up to 8 pounds and one ten ...maybe 8-pound bluefish.  Drove down to the flats and picked up one fluke.
Bought this new Yamaha 115 four-stroke engine for the 19-foot aluminum boat.  Very quiet running engine.  VERY QUIET.  Have to be careful when idling...its too quiet.  Fuel savings is incredible.  Trip from the G.W Bridge… down to the East River...then to the south end of Bay Ridge flats...back up to Hellgate for a few drifts...7 gallons of fuel!  That trip with our old Evinrude was a $25 trip….with lower fuel prices!  Yesterday...$12.   Very impressed with this engine.   Starts with half a turn of the key.  Evinrude was never…NEVER like that.
 Chas  <’////><
June 18, Monday, 11 AM to 9 PM
Took my boat, PACMAN ll, out, fished Sandy Hook area, off beaches and in
the bay.  Caught loads of 11 - 13 inch fluke, no keepers.  Most fish
caught in 10 - 15 feet of water.  No Weakfish or bass, but a lot of Sea
Robins.  Plugged the shallows at dusk with no results.

June 20, Wednesday, 10 AM to 9:30 PM
Out on boat again, fished same areas, same results, SMALL fluke.  Drifted
the Rips with other boats, saw and caught nothing.  Anchored on Flynn's
Knoll in the afternoon near #14 can, using sandworms, clam and peanut
bunker, 18 - 20 inch bluefish hit constantly in the 3 hours, [ before and
after the tide change], at that one location. The blues were spitting up
spearing in various stages of regurgitation.  Drifted the S. H. Channel,
squid/spearing combo, 4 fat fluke, 14 to 15 1/2 inches, no keepers but
these fish were really FAT.
Hit the shallow inland waters, 1 to 4 feet, from 7 to 9 PM, high water,
using plugs and bucktails, saw no bait fish being spooked, caught
nothing, these areas usually good for bass, weaks and blues in the later
hours of the day.
Word about the weakfish; locals say these fish are in the spawn right
now, hard to catch, have to wait till their thing is over which will be
soon.

June 21, Thursday, 5 PM to 7 PM
Fished Riser Creek in Moonachie, using left over mushed up 2 inch peanut
bunker, caught 2 carp, 8 lbs. 3 ozs. and 6 lbs. 6 ozs. on 4 lb. test
line. Used my lite trout set up to catch these spool screaming bulls, in
1 - 3 feet of water.  Shades of Salmon ! !  Fish were released in good
condition.

Thom   (*< - - -
6/19/01  Alpine Boat Basin Eric & Don Niebergall
This week is the story of the one that got away. I had a least a 10 pound
striper on. He was a beautiful site to see jumping out of the water and
fighting like a demon, but alas he broke my line and got away. My father and
I fished the south side of the basin along the wall. We caught several tommy
cod, one white perch, one small catfish, and the one that got away. It was
high tide and we fished from 6:30pm to 8:30pm using blood worm and shad.

Eric & Don Niebergall
6/17/01  East River  Stripers…Chas Stamm   & Norm Andreasen
Chas Stamm and Norm Andreasen fished with Norm’s son Paul in all that rain and wind on Sunday morning fished the East River…Northern section for some great striped bass action.  Sandworms fished on the bottom on an outgoing tide produced maybe…12 bass to 11 pounds.  Weather finally got the best of us and had to stop around noon.   All fish released.
6/16/01 Bayridge Fluke   Mike Mulligan
After the dismal Friday night marine forecast we decided to cancel Saturdays
trip. Big mistake! Saturday turned out just fine. So we put together a crew
trip with Don Grippo and stayed close to home on the Bayridge flats. Looking
for Weakfish but found Fluke. There was a pretty decent fluke bite on right
on top of the flats with a very good drift with the outgoing tide. We ended
up falling two short of our limit in 4 1/2 hours. On Friday we found 8
weakfish all in the 5 -7 lb. range on the flats. All the action was at the
top of the tide. Where are the #'s? I hope to see some weaks move in and give
us some action similar to the past few years. I'm beginning to doubt their
presence this season.
 
6/13/01 Sandy Hook Phil Kozack
Left the dock at 8AM in a heavy fog vis was just 1/4 of a mile. Went to the
the pound nets. Made several drifts several shorts fog lifted about 11AM.
Went to green can 17 tried drifting with the incoming, that didn't work. Went
to the tip of the hook in very shallow water. Started at 8 ft and drifted out
to the deeper water. Took 8 keeper fluke from 17 to 22 inches. Caught many
shorts to 15 inches. Used large spearing and large sand eels with squid
strips. Still haven't hook up with some striper, but with the good fluking I
really don't care.
Phil Kozak
National Fishing Association  

6/14/01   NY Harbor Mark Strober
TONS of short fluke all over!   Had about 12 Striped Bass  to 34 inches ( 15
& 1/2 pounds ), and  caught a 26 inch ( 5 pounds ) weakfish in of all places
in Hellgate in the deep water!  All fish were released ( some tagged )   to
live another day!    To all you taggers now is the time to lay off the
stripers, especially after a good fight, release them right away, tagging
them once the water goes about 68 degrees will decrease their chance for
servival!!!!!   Water temps were between 65 and 70 degrees on the surface,
depending where you fished! Tight Lines to all!
Mark Strober
 
June 14 Sandy Hook Report Tom Paciorkowski
Sea Robbins, Sea Robbins, and more Sea Robbins in the surf at the Hook,
plus loads of Spider crabs, small ones.  Couldn’t keep the bait in the
water, it was just crab food.  Strange thing, don't usually see Spider
Crabs in the surf like it is now.  Something is happening in that area.
South East winds and fog at the waters edge put a damper on the whole
day.
Thom  (*< - - -
6/9/01  Bayridge  James Vester
fished sat. June 9th on the bay ridge flats from eight o’clock until two. one keeper fluke fifteen shorts. no stripers and no weakfish
 
6/9/01  Center NYC Harbor    Charles B. Sanacore
Launched out of Liberty St. Park With my sons Stephen & Mike , saw alot of boats @ the top & bottom of the Bay Ridge Flats. Ran straight to the V Z bridge caugth 10
Fluke 2 keepers & 1 cocktail Blue (bait) . Ran up to Flats caught 3 Fluke , 1 keeper & my son Mike got 1 short Striper . Saw 2 Weakfish hooked one boated one lost @ the boat . By the way the name of my boat is Charlies Folly give me a shout if your out tight lines.

Charles B. Sanacore
 (201) 557-8377
 
FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 3RD - 10TH

Well??????? What have you folks been waiting for?????? GET OUT AND FISH!!!!!!

Bluefishing is finally approaching it's early season peak, with big catches
being made day and night....we had several fine days this week, with most of
the action about 18 miles southeast of the inlet....all nice gaffing size
fish.....bunker chunks work well......there is action north of the inlet as
well, so this fishery is shaping up real nice for June and early July......I
don,t even want to venture a guess as to when the mid-summer spawning will
occur....water temps have still been holding on the cool side, but the past
few days have finally seen major temperature improvements.......

We had the chance to take a great group of guys and gals out this past week
on a shark charter.......hearing of the first Mako activity in the vicinity
of the Resor wreck, we left the inlet at first light this past Thursday with
"near-perfect" conditions....light breeze....calm seas...NO boat
traffic.....setting up a slick in 61.5 degree waters(still a bit cool)
immediately got us action but from the wrong kind of sharks: spiny
dogfish.....It didn't matter where in the water c column we fished...the
packs of dogs were so intense that even blues were few and far between in our
slick.....one mystery run-off, and a few bergalls later(even the resor wasn't
giving up her load of ling and sea bass easily: fish marked just weren't
cooperating), the reason for our slow day was finally
discovered........Laurie had been sitting on the bait most of the day, and
while it DID help thaw the frozen bait much quicker, it just wasn't working
as a fish attractant!!!
 Bottom fishing is holding up nicely.......lots of nice size sea bass are
coming over the rail, and fluke fishing, which was very slow with the cooler
waters, is finally showing signs of improvement.....its great to fish the
hard-bottomed areas and know that fluke AND sea bass can come over the rails
on any given drift.........

 Call or E mail for more details www.tampavii.com

Tight Lines,

Capt. Gene
 
June 11, 2001  East River  Chas Stamm Joe Curvino
Chas and Joe fished the East River locations today and had good results with the Striped Bass ( 6 )up to ten pounds. Bucktails were used exclusively in several East River locations. Outgoing tide, water temps 63.
Chas  <’////><
 
Saturday 6/9/01 Fishin Mission Mark Strober
Fished in the JCAA Fluke Tournament with Club members Ron
Valverde & Collette D., it was a slow day we fished hard and tried every
possible spot, and used every kind of bait.  Collette ( figures it had to be
the lady on the boat ) caught the biggest fluke, 4 pounds even, and put us in
7th place  ( unofficially ).  We competed against 40 boats from our port.   
The weather was excellent with light wind.
 
6/8/01  East River  Chas  Stamm
Fished the upper and lower sections of the east river on Friday afternoon.   Water temps 63 degrees, outgoing water.   Got one small striper in the north and two bigger ones…lost at the side of the boat!!…looked like 20 pounds + each. In the lower section.  Used white bucktails on the one big one and a firetail rig with sandworm on the other.
Don’t usually use a net but did this time.  Lost both fish.  Think I’ll give up on that practice.  Felt real stupid!
Chas  <’////><
 
June 7th and 8th at the north side of the tz bridge
on an outgoing tide, using bunker chunk, i finally caught two blues.  one each day.   five pounder on thursday, and 8 1/2 pounder on fri.    both fish were healthy and fighters.   Dont expect a lot of action unless you like eels and catfish, but at least there are a few scattered blues for hope.
Bestweb!
June 6,2001 Alpine Boat Basin

We got to the basin at about 6pm and fished the incoming tide. Caught about
ten White Perch. About three were a decent size. No Stripers and No Catfish.
Just Perch. We were using blood worms and shad. All fish were very healthy
looking and were released.

Don & Eric Niebergall
North Bergen, NJ
 
June 6, 2001  Sandy Hook  Tom Paciorkowski
at my favorite spot, by sand bars.
Did not get a bite, used clam.  Low tide was around 3PM, extremely
low due to the full moon, could have been the reason no fish.
I did notice in the flats, the areas between the sand bars and the beach
which hold one foot or less of water, that there were ALOT of 2 inch baby
fluke swimming around.  Also in these flats were very tiny calico crabs,
size of my thumb nail.
Between 11 and noon, bluefish, 12 to 18 inches, hit the beach with
gusto, chasing the peanut bunker, caught 8 blues, released all.
Saw very large schools of bait fish all afternoon, 100 yards out from
beach.  Saw NO Splashing within the schools.

Thom  (*< - - -

6/3/01 Rarital Bay fluke Phil Kozak
Arrived from a 109 mile ride from Kingston NY on Sat. berthed the Pocket
Rocket in the Shrewsbury River. Great ride down the river burned 88 gal. of
fuel. Decided to fish for fluke Sunday. Went to the Ammo Pier and fished from
the pound nets to the Pier. Caught and released 12 fluke from to 15 to 17
inches. Kept 3 17 inch fluke the dinner plate. First fish I kept this year.
Water temp 65 degrees wind out of the West about 10 to 15 mph. Blew harder in
the afternoon. Wind was with the tide in the am not as good drifting in the
PM as the wind was against the tide. I haven't fished the bay in at least 30
years. Should be interesting 3 weeks. Start tagging operations next week.
 There were still large schools of male Stripers in the Esopus flats area on Sat.
Phil Kozak NFA
 
6/2/01  Sea Bass Ken Lazorchak
Launched out of Belmar Friday, June 1st on my boat. Fished a rocky bottom in
65ft of water off Long Branch and had a good catch of decent sized Sea Bass.
I used a fish finder fluke rig with spearing. The Sea bass action  is just
beginning and it looks like its going to be a good season. Tight Lines
HRFA Member Ken Lazorchak

July 2001

7/29/01 Fishin Mission  Mark Strober
Fished Sunday 7/29/01  The New York harbor and surrounding areas with a
friend.   We had a good day, 19 striped bass to 29 inches, 4 bluefish, and 37
fluke ( mostly shorts with about 8 keepers to 19 inches).  Tagged a few fluke
and caught 1 striper with a tag in it.  All fished were released to swim
another day.  Tight lines to all!
 
7/29/01 Rich Berlingeri
fished the Hudson again we went to Newburgh on the tracks we caught some channel cats and long round things (eels) hehe was a family trip and we had a good time its nice to see how the river is cleaning its self up as always rich&don&family

July 29  Chas Stamm Striped Bass and Blues
Chas fished with the Andreasen boys again on Sunday and had a mixed bag of Bass and Blues.  Fishing the northern reaches of the East River the trio of angers landed eight striped bass up to 9 pounds and four bluefish in the 6 pound range.   Rubber worms and sandworms fished on the bottom of an outgoing current was the pattern that always works.

Thursday, July 26, 2001 8:59 PM
Subject: HRFANJ Wreck Produces!
 HRFA member Ralph Roth fished Saturday July 21, 2001 on the World famous
HRFANJ Wreck!!!!!!!!!!!  He caught Sea Bass & Ling which he enjoyed
afterwards with his famous beer batter!   3 Cheers for the HRFANJ wreck!
Wednesday, July 25, 2001 Garrison Koehler    fluke
Fished the Manasquan river on the bottom last of the incoming slack
&outgoing 7/23. 3 of us caught & released 30 fluke only 6 keepers. No
stripers or weakies on a variety of bottom baits-they were eating spearing.
Strong se in the ocean kept us inside but heard not the best in the ocean on
Monday
Garry

7/22/01 Chas Stamm & Norm Andreasen Stripers & Fluke
Chas Stamm and Norm Andreasen fished again with Norm’s son Paul on the East River again today.  This week we anchored next to HRFA member Glenn Cinnelli for a while for some striped bass action.  Cut bait was used to land three striped bass up to 9 pounds.  No bluefish this day.  Water temp was 71 degrees.  Left the East River after the action slowed down and hit the Vz Bride for a couple of small fluke.  No keepers.  Plenty of boats fishing the area.  Came back home and fished a couple of drifts back up in the East River again. Wanted the outgoing tide.  Had striped bass on every drift. Worms on the bottom.  Fish were small…up to 6 pounds.
 
7/20/01  Lori Nacht  Highlands  Blues & Fluke
Made an early launch on Friday morning out of the Highlands with a friend
and his 10 year old son.  Blues were everywhere to be found at 40-60
foot deep waters.  We must have caught more than 40 between us in just a
few hours.  Fluke were a bit more sparse.  We caught a total of 11, with
10 year old Nicholas catching 7 of them, himself --- and the only 2
keepers.  We found the fluke in areas of the water where the stone crab
population was dense.  Not many sea robins, surprisingly.  Still looking
for stripers.  Having no luck, but will keep trying.
7/15/01  Chas Stamm & Norm Andreasen
Chas and Norm fished with Norm’s son Paul in the upper reaches of the East River on Sunday.  Water temps had cooled down a bit to 68 degrees.  Fished the outgoing tide from 9am till noon and released 6 striped bass up to 15 pounds and one bluefish … maybe 6 pounds.  Worms fished on the bottom.
 
7/15/01  Fishin Mission  Mark Strober
Fished Sunday 7/15/01, with some friends below the Verrrazanno Bridge for
fluke, we had a total of 72 fluke, with only 3 keepers!  ( that’s a 24 to 1
ratio )  And to top it all off the largest keeper which was 19 inches flopped
back in water when being transported from live well to cooler! Still had a
good time.  Tight Lines to all!

7/12/01 Fishin Mission
Cut out of work early and fished the PM tide, Tried the upper East
River, with very strong west winds, still managed 9 stripers to 26 inches,
and 1 cocktail blue, then headed south to Verrazanno Bridge area for a bunch
of short fluke.  All fished released, some tagged!  Tight Lines to all!
Fluke
7/6/01  Giant Fluke!  Bill Grayson
Hi Gang!
We fished the Hoffman Island area on Tuesday the 3rd, caught about 40 fluke,
with only four keepers. Saw a couple of HRFA members as they stooped by and said hello.. Nice day on the
water.. July 6th , fished the S I side, started a little late, drift was crazy due to
the west wind and the tide.  Drift was from S.I. beach out towards Hoffman Island at the break 15 to 23 foot area . About
9:20 Am ,one line went taught, I was dragging a buck tail and squid combo ,We   figured it snagged on a mussel
clump. Well the next thing we new the drag started running out !
After about a 10 minute heart stopping battle , the biggest Fluke I ever saw
came to the surface ! We got the monster into the boat and into the live well.   Calming down , which took about a half
hour , we measured and put it on the scale it measured 33 1/4 inches and top the scale at 11 pound 4 oz . A  really door
mat ! Not bad for a late start ! See you all on the water.

Bill Grayson
 
7/8/01  Old Crow  Joe Spilewski  Fluke
   Went out Sunday. Caught 25 fluke -7 keepers that ranged 17"to 23"
(spearing and squid combo) - South of the narrows H/S area.Past Charlie on the
way home-still over heating at slow speed ,so I must speed---- SORRY IF I
CREATED A WAKE...
Old Crow 11

7/8/01  Lower Harbor  Lori Nacht
We were going to launch out of Sandy Hook, but a last minute change of
plans brought my new fishing friend and me to launch out of Liberty
State for an afternoon/evening of fishing.  We fished an area right by
the bridge.  We were going for stripers, but caught none.  Small fluke
were everywhere, very little in the way of keepers (I think we got about
3 or 4 keepers).  We also caught about 11 weak fish.  Two were close to
5 pounds, the rest were smaller and not worth mentioning.   Surprisingly,
we found no blues or sea robins.  Fishing is really fun when the fish
are this abundant.  Too bad they're not bigger!  Will keep trying.
  
7/8/01  Screeming Reel Mike Mulligan
On Sunday we had the Jose Quardon party on board and planned on c-bass
fishing the wrecks around Cholera Banks. When we hit the Ambrose Tower we
quickly made a change of plans. Seas were about 5-6ft and very close
together. We headed west toward the Highlands bridge for some fluke but were
diverted by hoards of birds working the schools of bait and 2 - 4lb Bluefish.
After about an hour of non stop action we headed to the Knoll and we boated
16 fluke but only 5 keepers. Further west into the reach we did about the
same. After making 6 stops from the Reach to NY harbor we only managed 16
keepers. Too many shorts to count. The dog fish have taken over in many
areas. The big bluefish are moving north and the bite is fair at 17 and the
Mud. See Ya !! Capt. Mike
 
7/8/01 East River  Half-Moon  Chas Stamm
Chas fished with HRFA member Joe Curvino again this Sunday in the upper reaches of the East River.  An outgoing tide and water temps of 73 Degrees produced 10 striped bass for the two anglers up to 22 pounds and 40 inches.  Sandworms … on the bottom.  We fished only a portion of the outgoing tide.
 
7/7/01 Sandy Hook  Lori Nacht
A new friend and I launched out of Sandy Hook late morning on his boat.
Had quite a bit of fluke action over by #9 at around 35 - 40 ft,
according to his depth finder.  Used spearing/squid and caught about 22
fluke between the two of us (by #9 and in the channel), but only 2
keepers.  Going back out again on Saturday July 7, hopefully will find
some of more substantial size.  Heard the bass fishing is pretty good at
SH now.  Will check it out and let you know how I do.
 
7/6/01 Fishin Mission Mark Strober
Fished Friday 7/6/01, fished south of the Verrazanno Bridge, fluke all over,
had 26 shorts and 4 keepers, ( 2 at 17 inches, 1 at 19 & 1/2"  and 1 at 20
1/2" ).  Also some Sea Robins and 1 blue.  Frozen spearing and a rubber grub
seem to work best.   Club member Glenn Blank worked the deeper water for a
25inch fluke at 6 pounds.  Tight Lines to all!
7/4/01  East River Chas Stamm
Chas fished with Joe Curvino on Wednesday morning before all the pleasure boater came out.  We fished the upper regions of the East River on an outgoing tide which produced several nice stripers in the 10 pound range.  Sandworms fished on the bottom.  Water temps 71 degrees.  Had to leave around noon because of all the boat traffic.
7/2/01  79th Street  Capt 2 Cans
Anchored up off 79th Street marina and chunked bunker from 4pm - 6:30pm.
Landed one 14 pound Striper, biggest we've landed this summer, fought like he
was on a mission! Heading to lower Hudson next Monday, will try similar
methods for Blues/Stripers. Keep catching them !
Capt. 2 Cans

August 2001

8/26/01  East River blues and Bass Chas Stamm
Chas teamed up with the Andreasen boys, Norm and Paul for a mixed bag of striped bass and bluefish in the northern reaches of the East River on Sunday.   The last of the outgoing water produced snapper sized bluefish on every drift using sandworms fished on the bottom.  The blues were no bigger than 6 pounds.   Several drifts produced striped bass as well.  The bass were a little bigger...perhaps 7 to 8 pounds as my fisherman's eye could tell.  Paul Andreasen came up with the biggest Bluefish of the day with a seven pounder while his dad landed the biggest bass...perhaps...7 maybe 8 pounds.

8/19/01 Chas Stamm Weakfish
I fished with HRFA member Joe Curvino today.  Fished the outgoing tide at the Vz. Bridge which yielded three weakfish.  Nothing big but did hook into a big one but he got off.  We were using sandworms on the bottom.   Water temps 75 degrees.

8/18/01 Fishin Mission Mark Strober
Fished Saturday August 18th with club member Ron Valverde.  We ran all the
way out to the Ambrose light , in search of all these "so called" tons of
fish!   NO LUCK  turned around  and went back to the NY Harbor and
surrounding areas for a Total mixed bag of Just about everything that swims. 
>>> 4 weakfish, 3 fluke ( largest 21" 3# ), bunch of sea bass, large porgies,
1 striper, 4 blues, and a lot of small Banded rudder fish  ( most commonly
confused with jacks )  tight lines to all!

8/13/01 Screaming Reel Mike Mulligan
After a dismal weekend  off shore we decided to take the Rob Pozo party from
the Highland Falls Mkt. out to the Mud buoy. 20 minutes into our bucket of
chum we had blues in the 5 - 12# range flying around the boat. The bite was
non stop and we left them that way to try to pick away at the fluke. 1st
drift a the 6  in the reach produced an 8 1/2 lb fluke and from there it was
all down hill. As usual we hit every nook and cranny there is to no avail.  8
keepers, 4 shorts for 3 hrs of fishing. That's it for fluke for a while. It
just isn't productive enough. We are seeing plenty of Bonito along the
beaches. The water was white with them this morning but the crew had no
interest in them. Till next time Capt. Mike

8/11/01  Bill Greene
Daughter Rosemary & I fished both Saturday and Sunday, August 11 & 12, at
this spot in Old Bridge just off Route 527. (Phone: 732-446-2850). This is a
series of pay-ponds- $9 per person per day - catch and release. It worked out
splendidly for us, and might be of interest for people/families with similar
needs. I wanted a place with "action guaranteed" for Rosemary, who is an
occasional fisherperson only, and that's what we got (without great planning,
access issues, and miscellaneous sidetrips for her license and bait, etc.).
Small red-and-white float and a worm - period. We fished five hours straight
each day. Rosemary was regularly into larger sunnies, some smaller bass - and
then she got hold (as did a few others fishing there) of one of the larger
types of stocked fish - her's a 22" channel catfish - on her light spinning
rod - Penn 714Z reel and 8 lb. test. The catfish "kept swimming back out
every time I tried to reel him in" -- Rosemary's description of the cat's
repeated runs. [Channels are much better fighters - pound for pound - than
bullheads or white cats]. Molder's had bait - worms, shiners, chicken livers,
etc. - no license needed, catch & release, barbless hooks required - I think
they sell them (or you bring them) - they also apparently permit you to
squeeze down the barb on a regular hook with pliers. I used barbless # 4
hooks I buy from a British supplier of tackle for English carp-fishing
----very strong (forged, too) and razor sharp. Molder's is mentioned in book
by Manny Luftglass and Ron Bern, "100 Best Spots to Fish in New Jersey". I
bought my copy a few years ago - Rutgers Press puts it out, and I've seen it
in large book chains. Hope this is interesting and helpful.      

8/10/01 Screamin Reel Mike Mulligan
Made an attempt to sail to the Mud buoy on Friday for more blue fish but
heavy seas in the am forced us to sail west and drift for fluke. The fluke
fishing was the worst I've seen this season. Talking to 6 of the party boat
captains looking for a decent pick warned me of the most horrific sea robin
bites ever. They were correct. NON STOP BIRDS !!! There was a fleet stretched
from the 7 can south to the highlands bridge and everyone was doing the same.
NODA. We sailed north to all the usual pieces and it just wasn't going to
happen. We ended the day with just 8 keepers. The wind was strong SW and the
heat was salt on the wound.
On Saturday we sailed off shore planning on fishing the 25 - 30 fath areas
but conditions made us second guess the situation. In stead we hit the Yankee
for one knock down. Then we trolled south along the 20 fath line all the way
to Monster, Mud hole, Arundo and oil wreck. FINAL RESULTS 2 BLUE FISH. A trip
we would like to forget. Everyone at the Mud buoy & 17 limited on blues. I
didn’t hear anything on the fluke fishing but 4 of the party boats I talk to
got away from fluke fishing to take advantage of the hot blue fish bite.

8/7/01 Cassandra Merklinghouse  Bluefish!
CASSANDRA MERKLINGHAUS, AGE 10 AND HER DAD WENT OUT ON THE MISS BARNGAET
ON AUGUST 7. SHE CAUGHT 5 BLUE FISH BY 11:00 AM RANGING FROM 6 POUNDS
TO 10 1/2 POUNDS. JUST MISSED THE POOL BY A 1/2 POUND.

JIM MERKLINGHAUS

8/5/01 Offshore Blues & Fluke  Mike Mulligan
Sunday Jose Quardron and the crew from Astoria Gardens were on board the
Screaming Reel for another 1/2 day bluefish, 1/2 day fluke. We cut thru the
fog and hit the Mud Buoy @ 7am. By 10 am the boxes were full of blues up to
15#. We had 3 -4 fish on at all times. We also caught two bonito on small
plugs. The action never stopped. We left the blues biting and headed west to
the Sandy Hook channel between the 3 and 5 cans and put together a very
respectable fluke catch. We boxed 14 keepers in 1 1/2 hr. We had 4 @ 3lb and
2 @ 4lb. From there we headed north to the 21 in the ambrose and only boated
4 shorts. Other than the fog it was a great day. A few boats at the mud
pulled up a couple of large fluke on bunker chunks. To foggy to try a drift
but I think it would be worth while.

8/5/01   East River Chas Stamm
Chas Stamm fished the East River this morning with the father and son team of Norm and Paul Andreasen.  Before the heat and humidity chased the trio of anglers of the water, Two striped bass were landed.  The largest striper was 7 pounds caught with a rubber worm off the bottom.  Earlier, several bluefish were potted chasing bunker on the surface near the UN Building but that produced no hookups.  Anchoring up in the area and fishing chunked bunker had several run offs but nothing landed.  Surprising water temps of 74 degrees in Hellgate and 76 degrees at the ramp at the G.W. Bridge. Heat and humidity and absolutely no breeze chased us off the water by 1:00 pm.

8/3/01 Screaming Reel  Mike Mulligan
Had the Brian Mcgowan party on board today for 1/2 day blue, 1/2 day fluke.
We anchored up between the channels dropped the chum bucket and a 1/2 hr
later we had non stop action. Most fish were in the 5 lb range but several
hit the 15 lb mark easily. Out at the Mud and 17 two of my buddies had blues
in the 10 - 15# range all day long. It has been like this for over two weeks.
After our morning wake up of blues we headed to the knoll and pulled up 4
keeper fluke and just as many shorts. We headed north to the ambrose fishing
60 ft and managed 4 more keepers of a much larger variety. The big fluke of
the day measured 22".  Not one bird all day and just one dog fish. 3 -4 ft
seas early in the morning wind about 15 out of the SW. Once again bluefish
save the day. Time to go off shore.

September 2001

9/30/01 East River Chas Stamm
Fished with HRFA member Joe Curvino today and put up with 6-foot seas in the Hudson North of the George Washington Bridge.   30 MPH winds out of the north really kicked up the white caps. Rods in the holders on the roof of the boat were getting drenched!Getting across the Hudson was the big challenge.  Once we got in through the Spytun Dyval Bridge opening …the waters of the Harlem River were calm.
We fished the upper region of the East river, which was also not affected by the winds.  Bluefish were working the surface all over the place.  Not big fish, maybe 4 and 5 pounders but in light of the conditions of the Hudson, and fearing we were not going to get out at all, this was great.  Birds kept working and bluefish kept torpedoing through the surface the entire outgoing tide.   Water temps were 68 degrees.  Top water plugs, bucktails and cast masters were the baits of choice.  Bigger fish came off the bottom on the Charlie Rig.  For as bad as the conditions were in getting across the Hudson, The East River was paradise.  All fish were released.
Ran in to HRFA member Glenn Cinneli who came up the East River from the Battery.  He told us of Bluefish to 14 pounds off Dimond Reef.  He was allowed to fish there for a couple of hours until one patrol boat told him to leave and ruined it for him.
HRFA member Barry Davis Told me of getting out during the week and finding weakfish and blues past the Vz at “the Reach.”  He was able to get to the lower harbor via the East River as well. Barry told us of a smell as he pasted through the Battery that he would not soon forget.
Chas  <’////><

9/29/01 Fishin Mission Mark Strober
Fished Saturday 9/29/01 with club member Glenn Blank, on his boat, due to the
terrible events on Sept. 11, we fished the outer reaches of the East River &
Whitestone Bridge areas.  Despite the high winds, and limited fishing areas,
we caught about 16 striped bass. The largest was 27 inches, 2 of the fish had
tags in them!  All were released.   We also had about a dozen blues, largest
was 31 inches.  Tight Lines to all!  And God Bless America!

9/23/01  East River Bass And Blues
HRFA member Barry Davis and his brother Dan, fished with HRFA director and web master Chas Stamm on Sunday in the northern region of the East River.   The trio of anglers brought about 15 fish to the boat.  Striped bass to 10 pounds and Bluefish to 14 pounds were caught and released.  both the outgoing and incoming tides produced fish off the bottom.  A photo of Barry's 14 pound bluefish is the "photo of the month" for October at the beginning of these reports.

9/18/01 Tappan Zee Bridge
The terror that shut down our hearts, city, country, and our river will leave
a permanent scar. Needing to get away from the reports we set out to do what
makes us happiest and makes us feel most comfortable - fishing. Not being
able nor wanting to fish the harbor we dropped blood worms just south of the
Tappan Zee and good ol' Uncle Sam sent a never ending school of snapper blues
and short stripers towards our boat. Light tackle, good conversation, and the
tenacious fish put a patch on our spirits and renewed our belief that this
country can overcome and conquer any troubles that some lunatics send our
way. Keep the lines tight and god bless this beautiful home of ours.
Capt 2-cans

9/10/01 Screaming Reel
Not a lot of time so I'll just run right thru it. We have been hitting the
reef for sea bass and scoring well. Sunday regular Jose Quardron and friends
limited with 125 C-bass with 3 fish reaching the 4lb mark and several in the
3lb range. Weakfish have been abundant in the reach with limits the norm.
STAY AWAY FROM THE FLEET!!! Most fish are in the 16 - 24 inch slot but now
and then we get lucky and nail a 5lb fish. We made a stop at the Verrazano
and boated 12 keeper weaks on our way home Sunday. Blues can be found any
where from the Mud south to the oil wreck. The Phil Griffo party was on board
last week and we casted underneath the birds down around the reach and scored
well with Spanish mackerel and small blues. from there we headed a little
east and put 32 weak fish in the box and topped the day off with 2 buckets of
porgies. If you want Albi's and Bonito just sail south along the beaches.
Every other day they appear in good #'s. Some times a bit further off shore.
We are scoring with SMALL tins and frozen spearing on a 1/0 live bait hook. A
good friend of mine Capt. Ken Dubman who sail the K KAT is on a good fluke
bite by this seasons standards. Ken is fishing between the channels(SH &
Ambrose) and faired well all week. He has put several 3 - 5lb fish in the box
all in this area. Too bad the fluke season is about to end. No love lost here.                                                                          
Capt. Mike    "Screaming  Reel Charters"

9/9/01 East River Still holding Bass and Blues    
Chas Stamm fished again with Norm and Paul Andreasen today with good action on striped bass to 6 pounds and bluefish to 5 pounds. Water temps were still in the mid seventy range.  Sandworms fished on the bottom produced all the fish.

9/3/01  Fishin Mission
Fished again Monday 9/03  ( Labor Day )  with my 8 year old daughter Amanda. 
We started out at the Bayridge Flats catching and releasing short fluke.  As
were club members Chas Stamm & Ken Carson.  Then a school of cocktail blues
chased bait by us.  I casted top water and my daughter jigged the bottom.   
Double header, at that moment life does not get any better,  my daughter and
I both with blues on.  8 years old & she jigged and hooked up  all by
herself.  From there we ran south for more fluke, lots of sea bass, and to
top it all off she caught the largest Porgy I have ever seen! A real
slab-dinner plate size fish!  All fished were released to swim another day (
besides she doesn't like killing them. )   Some were tagged.  Tight Lines to
all.  I have to get back to hearing about this porgy for the 100th time!

9/3/01  Lower NYC Harbor  Chas Stamm & Ken Carson
I fished with Captain Ken Carson today in the Lower Harbor of NYC.   We had a mixed bag of small fish.  We had originally intended to fish the East River but the Bridgekeeper at Spytun Dyval did not show up for work and we were not able to pass.  A call to the coast guard reported this incident but the fishing plans had to change.  Bayridge flats produced surface action on the cocktail blues while plenty of short fluke were captured off the bottom. It was entertaining on light tackle.   Rattle Traps and 2 oz jigs were great fun on the blues.  The Vz. bridge produced several larger fish and a couple of weakfish got off but again...no great sizes.   Plenty of short fluke around the Vz. bridge.  All shorts.  water temps 73 at the Vz. Bridge.

9/2/01 Fishin Mission
Fished Sunday Sept. 2, the NY Harbor and surrounding areas for a mixed bag of
12 schoolie stripers, 1 cocktail blue, 6 fluke, & 12 sea bass.

October 2001

10/28/01 Center Harbor Fishin Mission
Fished Sunday 10/28/01 with club member Ron Valverde.  We fished the NY
Harbor and surrounding areas.  We had a total of 16 striped bass, all keepers
except of 1 schoolie, most were in the mid 30 inch range, with the largest
being 41 & 1/2 inches ( 25 pounds even ).   We fished deeper waters and just
targeted larger fish.  Tight Lines to all!!!!!!

Sunday, October 28th Penfield Reef
a cool crisp fall day, a squad of surf fishermen from the HRFA traveled north to the Beautiful and Majestic Penfield Reef in Connecticut. They were led by HRFA'S past presidents Bob Mallory and Tony Evangelista.

Marvin Oresky was the first to get a strike. A large blue fish around 30inches. Marvin went ahead and landed two more fish. One a Striper at 28 1/2" and another blue around 3lbs. Carl Hartmann was the next fishermen to land a large blue. It measured 34" at 12lbs 11 ounces. Carl went on to catch a few more blues at 9+ pounds. Wayne Guida came alittle late but, he was able to land some blue fish also. Ron? was another fishermen who was able to fetch several more blues with a nice one around 9lbs. The Grand Daddy of them all was Bob Mallory. Bob landed a Wopper-Chopper Blue Fish at 16lbs 11 ounces. Congratulations Bob.  Both Bob and Carl's were caught on 10lb mono. The entire male Sterlacci Family showed with poles ready for a fight. Walter Welingski gave his best effort. There are now several Sea Robins out in the sound that wish they never met Walter.  Although Tony Evangelista did not catch any fish, he was very instrumental on helping guys out with their equipment. I especially thank him for helping me catch the 12+lber Blue fish. I had no land to bring the fish onto and Tony was there to assist me. Thanks Tony! Besides, Tony went home with most of the fish!

The highlight of the entire trip was when we were getting something to eat at a local establishment. An unknown local fishermen came up to our table and asked about Bob's fish. He went on to say that you guys "Murdered the fish out there today." That felt good to hear that. Especially not being locals ourselves. All in all it was a great trip with many guys saying that it was the "best they ever saw."

Tight Lines, Carl Hartmann
 

10/28/01 Center Harbor NYC Chas Stamm
Fished with HRFA member Joe Curvino today and did well fishing in front of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Caught several striped bass on sandworms and bucktails in 40 to 50 feet of water.  Outgoing tide.   Picked up a couple of bass off Dimond reef as well.  No big stripers or blues today.  All small fish...between 6 and 8 pounds. Wind was nasty out of the north and temperatures were cold.  Made for some uncomfortable conditions.

10/28/01  Garry Merritt-- Baha Cruisers
Slow pick of bass and blues at 23rd-- 2 really nice size fish-- over 34 inches.  Shot down to the hook and found lots of cocktail blues breaking water and caught many on metal jigs-- good day!

10/22/01 Croton  Ken Sheldon
Chas, We went out again on 10/20, caught lots of cats up to 4.5 lbs and one 3 lb striper.  Today [10/22] was such great weather I took off from work at noon, and went out with my Dad, Ray [who is 82 by the way]   We went to the south end of Croton this time.  My bait runner reel started screaming, and I had a great fight.  In the middle of my fight, my Dad had to drop the net as one of the other reels was stripping line.  We each had quite a fight, my blue weighed 7lbs,5oz and his was 3 lb 15 oz .  A little later, I had another good run, and after fighting the blue on 3 sides of the boat, finally managed to land my biggest blue from the river, 9 lbs 5 oz..   Not quite the action you had in the East River a couple of weeks ago, but 3 blues in a few hours fishing at Croton is OK by me.  Plus the usual small blues, and stripers, and cats.   One of the bass was also tagged.  All fish let go to be caught again. Weather started out sunny and 70s, clouded over and a NW wind picked up.  Water was 62, fished with bunker, tide was the end of incoming to slack to start of outgoing.  Hope to get out again before the cold and wind sets in.     Ken Sheldon
 
10/22 East River Gil Hawkins
incoming aboard Paul Helmold's Renegade. Fished for
one hour before we developed engine trouble and limped back to port (Liberty
Harbor). Five fish caught just below the UT rock 3 stripers- 10.lbs.Jim Lee
11.5lbs & 24"  Gil Hawkins. Caught on eels. 2 blues 4-5 lbs. caught by 11
year old guest of Paul's. Caught on firetails. We were doing great in the
west channel until a NYC Police boat chased us back south. It was a fortunate
thing that we had to retire early. As we were limping into port with battery
trouble they closed the Hudson River to all traffic. We would have been stuck
in the East River if we left later.  

10/21/01 Englewood Boat Basin 42 inch Striped Bass!
As I was preparing to pull out in my boat to do a little striper fishing a report of a big striper came over to me.  I walked over to the parking lot at the south end of the Englewood Boat basin and there, in a cooler was a 42 inch striped bass that had just been pulled in.  The fish was a giant!  The anglers name was Ray...that's the only name I got off the guy.  He caught the fish at the north corner of the south parking lot on a half a sandworm.  What a great fish!   To bad he put it in his cooler.

10/19/01 Ted Sheola  East River Stripers and Blues!
HRFA member Ted Sheola caught 6 Striped Bass,Striped Bass (Released),Bluefish
from 35 inches  lb. oz.
fishing on 10/19/01 from Boat on EAST RIVER NYNJ
Using 30 # braided pound test line and eels
conditions: Windy
Total 18 fish for three anglers... Glenn Blank, Richie Biagiotti and myself.  I caught 6 fish, 5 stripers to 35" and a bluefish. Ted Sheola

10/15/01  East River NYC
I flew out from Wisconsin and my son came up from DC
to fish with Captain Don Grippo of Hookem Charters on
October 15th. We caught a mixed bag of 11 of good size
stripers and blues on sand eels in the lower East
River. Photos of some of the fish can be seen at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/joel_black88
I plan to take out my niece and her friend out on the
18th and will post a report when we get back.

10/14/01  East River Chas Stamm  Half Moon  Striped Bass and Blues!
One of my best days ever on the River.
 I fished today with my neighbor, Sam, and HRFA member Joe Curvino.  We started off in the East river at Hellgate without much luck.  We soon left and headed south and found several boats working the lower East River area.  Working sandworms off the bottom, I landed an 8-pound striper on the first drift.  Next drift Joe lands a 20-pound striped bass.  Next drift I land a twenty-pound striped bass.  Next drift we land a 9-pound bluefish and another 10-pound bass.   Next drift I hook into another large bass, as big as the first two and hand the rod to Sam.  This is one of Sam’s first times fishing our area. He looses the fish.  Next drift he lands a 10-pound bluefish.  The following drift I land a 25-pound striper.  The action continued like this for a good three hours.  We were fishing sandworms with a red firetail dragging on the bottom.   All boats around us also seemed to be having good luck.  I could not tell if their fish were as big but most boats were hooking up with fish.
Chas  <’////><

10/13/01 BlackFishing Ken Lazorchak
Started at the Sandy Hook Reef with no luck, boats everywhere. Moved to S B
Rocks
and did well with some nice sized sea bass. On a hunch went out to the Mud
Buoy and hammered some nice size Blackfish up to 6lbs. Green crabs was the
bait of choice for Blackfish and Bergal strips for Sea Bass. All and all a
great day.
HRFA and RFA Member
Ken Lazorchak

10/10/01  Croton Ken Sheldon
Finally got out in the river for the first time since March.  Don't ask, one repair after another.  It was a great day to be on the river, couldn't ask for anything better.  Temps in the 70s, minimal to no wind.  We fished the south end of Croton for a while, and no luck.  Then we moved a little south to our catfish hole, just so we could reel something in after all the months of non-fishing.  The catfish were very co-operative.  In 2 hours we boated about a dozen [kinda lost count] most 3-4 pounds, a fluke, several small schoolie stripers, the ever-present perch, and one bluefish just a couple of ounces under 3 lbs.  A good time was had by all [my Dad Ray, my uncle Woody Stalter, and me. We were sorry to leave but we had commitments for later in the day.  It was great sport catching them in the fast-moving current.  Fished outgoing tide, water temps 65.  Bunker was the bait of choice.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.        Ken Sheldon

10/7/01 Mark Strober
Fished Sunday 10/07/01  with club member Glenn Cineli, Once again HEAVY
winds, and limited fishing areas ( due to Terror attacks ).   We fished the
reaches of the East River for 2 striped bass, 35 inches and 27 inches.  And
LOTS of big blues  3 were over 31 - inches weighing between 12 & 8 pounds. 
For those fishing by boat -- try to check with Coast Guard regulations, on
our way in were almost not allowed back to Liberty park! Fishing is a great
way to ease your mind through these stressfull times!  Tight lines  & God
Bless America!
 
10/2/01Offshore...the Canyon Glenn Blank
Club members Darren Cardinal, Glenn Blank & Ralph Roth, fished on Tuesday
10/2/01 into Weds morning on the Charter Boat Hyper Striper.  They caught 3
Blue fin tuna, 10 yellowfin Tuna, a good number of Dolphin ( Maui Maui )  &
released several nice size sharks, out at Canyon!  They enjoyed a great
fishing trip!

 10/6/01 Englewood Boat Basin
A 36 inch striped bass was brought in at the north end of the parking lot at the Englewood Boat Basin today.  The fish was caught on cut bunker. 

10/7/01  East River
Chas Stamm and Joe Curvino found bluefish working  the UN area of the East River today.  Birds were all over the place with 4 to 5 pound bluefish working a school of bunker below.  However..the Coast Guard cutter and the NY marine police would not let you fish there.  We had to fish to the south at the 23rd street marina or above up at Hellgate.  Topwater action is a great experience and to be that close to the boiling action and not be able to throw a line in was torture.
Some small blues and bass were caught at the 23rd street area but not nearly the fishing action just to our north.  Hellgate produced some small stripers but nothing to write home about. The wind was the biggest problem we had.  Just made things difficult to control.
Several boats working the same area.  HRFA member Mark Strober in the Fishin Mission reported a couple of 36 inch fish caught earlier..  HRFA member Rudy Padro was drowning worms but had not much luck.
Water temps had cooled down to 63 degrees.  Wind and the bombing of Afghanistan chased us off the water around 1 pm. 

November 2001

11/25/01 14st Pier  Hoboken  Tony Evangelista
HRFA VP Tony Evangelista reports Catching a dozen striped bass in less than an hour off the newly rebuilt 14th street in Hoboken. Tony was using clams and bunker.  All were schoolie sized today but yesterday a 27 pound striper  was landed off this same pier.  Tony was fishing the incoming water.

11/24 - 25/01 Raritan Bay Reel Deal
Went out last Sunday out of Belmar-- loaded up with the birds working on small blues, bunch of stripers and landed a 44 incher drifting in 70 feet of water just north of Manasquan Inlet.
Went out again today (11/25/01) out of Belmar-- NOTHING to be found except for a bunch of dogfish-- as many as you wanted or, or more like wanted none.  Went as far south as Seaside without seeing any signs of life or fish caught.
Going to go back to the River next week to go for the schoolies and then possibly put the boat away depending on the weather and the action.
Garry--- Reel Deal

11/23/01 Lower Harbor Mark Strober
Fished ( The NY Harbor areas ) Friday 11/23/01     While launching my boat, I
ran into  A HRFA Surf Marine, Colonel Tim Burton, he was on his way to work,
he said "hello" and I told him, "the heck with work jump on my boat"!   He
said he could be 1 hour late, I gaurenteed him a striped bass ( schoolie size
)! Not only did Tim get 1,  he tried for a cool 5,  then went on for a dozen,
all in all Tim had 16 stripers in under 1 hour, went back to work, didn't
even wash his hands, wanted that great smell to stay with him! Tim was so
happy he wanted to make me the Surf Marine's Admiral.   I went back to
fishing and wound up with a total of 60 schoolie stripers ( would have had
more but spent a lot of time tagging fish ).   Tried for bigger fish too, but
they had slowed up, got 2 --27 inch stripers in upper East River.  Think I'll
just stick to the schoolies !

11/23/01  Alpine Boat Basin Bill Grayson
Fished Alpine on Friday. Started at 7am , outgoing tide . I wasn't there
to long when the cat fish started to bite. Hooked five  in the next two
hours and all were between 2 and 4 pounds. Bait was bunker strip.
11am , at almost dead low , hooked a keeper striper , 33 inch , 14.7
pounds. I'm finding that the bite is on a long leader, I'm using a three
to four foot leader to keep the bunker off the bottom,  I guess the
current is floating the bunker strip up about two feet and the fish are
feeding up.  This year has been my best season ever fishing from the
shore , so far I've landed and released 12 keepers from 28 to 42 inches,
all from the Alpine boat basin... In the afternoon hours a couple of
young fisher persons
joined me with their dad. One young angler caught her first fish, a
Hudson river striper about 10 inches. This is what its all about!

See you on the water

Bill Grayson

11/23/01 East River Gil Hawkins
Friday, Nov. 23, on the East River (incoming) Paul Helmold (Renegade) and I
caught 12 stripers (6 each) in 13 drifts. The fish ranged between 18 and 30
inches with the bulk being in the 26 inch area. Almost all of the fish were
healthy and heavy! One fish had some skin spots. Though we had a few eels,
most of the fish were caught on plastic worm-sand worm combos. It was a good
day!~~~<^>< Gil

11/18/01 Lower NYC Harbor Fishin Mission
Fished Sunday 11/18/01  with Ron Valverde.   Finally   no hassles from
anyone!!!   And excellent weather-NO WIND. Fished the reaches of East River  
for a total of 14 keeper stripers ( all released )  from 28"  to 36"    most
were on the 33" inch mark.   Then on the way in,  in the NY Harbor we jigged
about 50 schoolie stripers in about 1 hour!
Mark

11/17/01 Alpine Boat Basin Bill Grayson
Fished Alpine again today, in coming and part of the outgoing tide.
Picked up several shorts , and several good hits on the in coming all on
bunker. Around 12 noon landed a 31" . When the tide changed , got
several more good bites but no hook ups... The fish were taking the bait
and dropping it.
Will fish again on Sunday, this time with a couple of new anglers
(Kids).Thats what its all about!

See you on the Water

Bill Grayson

11/16/01 Ken Lazorchak  Stripers and Jumbo Blues !!!
Fished off Point Pleasant on my boat in 65 ft of water. Hammered 28" to
32" Bass and 10lb + Blues all on Ava 27's . The trick to catching them today
was dropping the jig all the way to the bottom and reeling up at medium speed
about 20ft. Also saw a whale feeding close to shore on the way out, what a
sight.
Ken

11/13/01  Raritan Bay    Garry
Took the day off on Wed as weather man predicted a nice day.. Wind was howling until about noon then it died down.
Fished Raritan Bay without a hit or sign of life - did not see many others doing well so headed south to Manasquan.  Found birds working from the beach to about a 1/4 mile out.  Landed 5 nice stripers, but too much work to chase birds.  Shot out to 17 Fathoms- got some real nice blues.  Came back in to fish Raritan Bay at night- landed 2 stripers and decided to call it a night-- 18 hour day was enough.
 See you out there on Sunday
 Garry -- Reel Deal

11/12/01 Fishin Mission Mark Strober
Once again TRIED to fish Monday 11/12/01 ( Veteran's day )     Took my father
out.  Ofcourse mother nature didn't want me fishing.  20 knot winds made the
NY Harbor tuff.   Headed towards the sound, right away picked up 2 bass   34"
& 32 " then the winds increased.  Fought the winds picked up 2 more mid 30
inch bass.  Then the NY police came and told me they were back on high alert
since a plane just crashed in Queens.  I asked if I could fish hell gate,
they said"yes", picked up 4 more bass there: 28 to 32 inches.  Headed back to
Harbor  too WINDY!  Went in early, well atleast pops got a 34 incher!


11/12/01  Alpine Boat Basin  Bill Grayson
Fished Alpine this morning, outgoing tide, bait bunker strips.... Landed
two keepers
and a couple of shorts. Biggest was 29 inches, one 28 and the other were
around 18".
Bites were few , the fish were picking up the bait and running a little.
Lost a good one that picked up the bait and felt the weight and dropped
the bait. Can't wait till spring when the boat goes back in.  Took some
more photo's will send along when developed.

Regards

Bill Grayson

11/11/01  Morris Canal NYC Harbor  Gil Hawkins
Chas, we fished by the entrance to the Morris Canal yesterday, security was
tight and the East River was closed. Paul Helmold caught on 32" striper on an
eel, but that was it. The wind was ripping so we ended early. We'll try again
today. Best ~~~<^><...Gil
Saturday 11/10  Alpine Boat Basin  Bill Grayson
Fished Alpine Boat basin again today, started at 7:00 am, first fish hit
around 7:20 out going tide, bunker strip, Not chunk .
With in a hour and a half hooked and released three keepers, biggest
being about 37 inches.
I used both a bunker chunk and a bunker strip, the only bait they would
take was the strip. The bite was a grab and hold on, if any resistance
was felt the bait was dropped so a light drag was necessary.

Sunday 11/11/01  Alpine Boat Basin  Bill Grayson
7:00 Am to 10:00 Am, only one bite, it took off with the bait pealing
line, however as soon as I tightened the drag it let go, never did see this one. It
was the only hit in three hours. The river was choppy and the current
was pulling very hard 5 or 6 oz would not hold.
See ya on the water.
Bill Grayson. 

11/10/01 NY Harbor Closed to Fishing!   Mark Strober
"Tried" to fish Saturday 11/10/01   NY Harbor off limits and East River
closed,  since President Bush was in NYC.  They let boats transit slowly out
of harbor, tried below Verrazano Bridge.  Tried dragging eels in all the
regular "hot spots".   Nothing!    Ran into large schools of schoolie size
striped, caught and released about 30 on jigs, tagged a bunch.   They odd
thing was that there was a lot of Hickory Shad mixed in with the stripers,
caught many, landed 5  between 2 and 3 pounds.  Tight lines to all!    The
schoolies have arrived-get out and fish ( just not in my spots )!

11/9/01  Alpine Boat Basin  Leslie Shan
Fished at north side of Alpine boat basin this morning (11/09), caught a 32
inches striper this morning on incoming tide.  1st striper caught with
circle hook for me.

11/8/01 Bill Greene  Peekskill  Carp

Targeted carp from shore in the Peekskill area Thursday 11/8. Just knew they
would be there - and eating - because although the weather had turned colder,
the temperature and weather had been holding steady for a couple of days, and
I had an incoming tide - high at about 4:00 PM. Cold or hot, steady weather
is a key. Fished 10:30 - 4:15 using a combo corn kernels and fresh bread  -
the latter squeezed tight on the hook. Before making any casts, I chummed
with corn kernels and bread chunks. Got a 9-1/lb at 1:15 and a 10-1/2 at 3:00
PM, and a couple of other bites. Fish are caught within 20 feet of shore.
Good fighters as ever.

                                                           Bill Greene

11/6/01 NY Harbor Dave K
Started in the East River at 23rd Street . There were a few boats
drifting eels, but after about an hour with no hits and not seeing any fish we headed out to troll
between the channels only to be stopped at the Verrazano bridge by the
Coast Guard , seems there was a security zone that did not open until
12:30. Trolled the S.I. Shore with nary a hit. As soon as we could head
out to sea we headed for the Sandy Hook channel and started trolling a
shad rig and a tube rig. In the same area there were quite a few charter
boats. They had a slow pick going ,some using chartreuse shad rigs and
others tube umbrellas. We trolled the same area without a hit. Thanks to
the beautiful weather it wasn't too bad a day. Came back to our
Edgewater dock listening to the Giants trying and beating Dallas.
Well there is always next year
DaveK
Easy GO

11/4/01 Screaming Reel Mike Mulligan
Sailed south on Sunday to do some bottom fishing. With four fares on board we managed well with sea bass and only fair with black fish. We made four drops. The first two drops were on a rock pile SE of  Shrewsbury in 80 ft. of water. We scored well there with sea bass to 4# but only 7 blacks, the largest about 7#. The next two drops were at the reef where the entire bottom fishing fleet were anchored. We managed another 14 blacks and a much smaller variety of sea bass. The days total: 77 sea bass to 4# and 21 blacks 3 - 7#. On the way home we jigged cocktail blues around the Highlands bridge. There seemed to be blue fish stretched from the bridge to Sandy Hook channel.

11/4/01  The Reel Deal    Raritan Bay
Took Kevin and Serge out this weekend to fish Raritan Bay (tired of the restrictions in the river and Liberty State Park).  Saw some birds working and banged some small cocktail blues.   Fished the rips, tin can and every where else we saw boats and had very slow action ( no eels did not help).  Decided to shoot out to 17 Fathoms and scored some really big blues diamond jigging off the bottom.  Kevin is still trying to tell me he had the biggest blue of the day.  NOT!!!!!!!
Garry     Baha Cruisers        "Reel Deal"
 Striped Bass 

Sunday 11/4/01  Fishin Mission  Mark Strober
Tried to Fish,     Headed for mid NY Harbor, finally NO wind and
a good tide, hooked two nice stripers right away.   Then the Coast Guard came
and chased me away, told me no fishing in harbor!!!!!   Tried to head for
Verrazano bridge, that area was closed due to the NYC marathon.  < SEEMS THE
US COAST GUARD DOESN'T AGREE WITH THEIR COMMANDER AND CHIEF - PRESIDENT BUSH,
THAT LIFE SHOULD GET BACK TO NORMAL >  Allot of business and economy depends
on the fall striped bass run, such as tackle shops, sporting good stores,
marinas, fuel docks, boat repairs etc..  So I finally headed towards the LI
Sound, picked up a dozen bass from 26 inches to 37 inches, and 2 cocktail
blues  all released, some tagged.  Most of us who fish, do so besides the fact
that we enjoy it, to escape from the rat race of life.   I can see NO reason
why a bunch of fishing boats would effect any security of the NY Harbor, if
anything it would have more watchful eyes.  Any damage that could be done
from a boat could be done from the roof top of any close by building!  To top
it all off saw Ron Valverde & Collette at the ramp at Liberty Park on the way
in, they were fishing the same area I was kicked out of, told me no one
bothered them there.   Ron had a 44 & 1/2 inch  ( 32.5 pound ) striper that I
saw weighed and verified!
 
11/3/01 Croton   Ken Shelton
We took one last trip to Croton for this season.   We fished outgoing to slack to incoming, and it was slower then the last time, but my Dad, Ray landed one 3lb blue, and my neighbor Doug Todd landed his biggest blue out of the river at 9 1/2 lbs. Not too many boats on the river, and only 2 other fisherman so we were pretty much alone out there.  It was a nice day to end the season.        Ken Sheldon

11/2/01 51 Lb Striper Jersey City

My fish was caught at 2:30 am.   I used a chunk of bunker  with a 20lb test line, my rod was  a custom built rod from my husband.  I'm pretty sure it was outgoing tide.  My fish was measured that night at 52in and weighed in at 51 lbs 4oz .  Still waiting from the state to hear the results.  I caught this fish on November 2 at 2:30 am at Grundy Pier (also known as exchange place ) in Jersey City  across    from New York right in front of the no longer there twin towers. I did not release this fish because I was checking to see if I had beat the record for the state   which is still being checked out at this time.
Kristie Ann Ramos    Jersey City NJ
and if you also want to mention  that I could not have done it with out my great GUIDE my husband  Emilio M Ramos

Kristie Ann Ramos  More on this fish with photos

December 2001

12/30/01 Butch Pawson Flounder
       went flounder fishing on sunday 12/30/01  under the route37 peligan
island bridge.. got 7 nice flounder biggest was only 1 1/2 lbs. caught them
on sandworms that i got at betty and nicks for 6.50 a dozzen.. it was cold
but for those flatties,you can't keep me away.. till latter.
                                butch pawson. member hrfa

12/27/01 Hoboken Carl Hartmann
Thursday, December 27th. Got a call from Jim Campbell to meet him and Wayne Guida at the 14th street Pier in Hoboken. It was cold, around 38 degrees with a moderate 15mph southwest wind kicking. Jim, using blood worms got a short bass. I came down there with the intent of just stopping by and found myself holding Jim's fishing pole for only a minute. Naturally, it hit!  A nice slot Striped Bass at 25". I had a hard time bringing it up because Jim's spool had 10lb mono on it and the water was 15 feet down. The fish was landed and the "HORIZONTAL RULE" was invoked. The fish was later given to Wayne Guida to bring home. The fish was caught on the out going tide. Thanks, Carl Hartmann

12/16/01 Shark River Tony Evangelista
Jim Cambell, Carl Hartman and myself just happened to stop by the Shark River bulkhead and decided to try our luck fishing with some of the locals catching winter flounder we were watching some sharpies from the Shark River fishing club pick up 2 to 3 lb. flounder. We were not as lucky or as experienced as they were we dropped a few (we had know net), Although I   did pick up one and tagged and released it. They also were jigging for herring and filling up 5 gallon buckets full.  Tony Evangelista      

                                   
12/16/01 Lower Harbor Mark Strober
Fished Sunday 12/16/01    Lower NY Harbor & surrounding areas. Surface water
tempetures remain 50  -- 51 degrees!  Above average for this time of year!  
Caught a total of 42 schoolie striped bass and 2 windowpane flounders.  All
on jigs.  Club member Frank Johnson was fishing along side me with his boat
"Tin Can".  Him and his friend were picking away at the stripers too, even
saw them flyrod a few.  The US Coast Guard have been, reasonable, just asking
us not to get too close to Verrazanno Bridge, while fishing  boat must me
atleat 25 yards from perimeter of bridge abutment.  Ofcourse fish were
holding tight to bridge, but I could live with and understand the 25 yards.
Tight Lines to all!   Those of you brave enough, the fish should still be
biting for a while!  GO FISH!


12/12/01  Bill Greene East River NYC
Casting Bucktail & Pork Rind from shore (FDR Drive - Manhattan) for
nice 10lb. 9 oz./ 31-1/4" striper - 7:30 PM, outgoing tide. Got this fish's
twin back on November 20 casting small surgical-tube jig with pork rind.

                                               Bill Greene 

12/9/01 Fishin Mission Lower Harbor
Fished  Sunday 12/9/01   with Club member Glenn Cinelli.   We got off to a
late start because of AM rain.   Ran into large schools of stripers by
Verrazanno Bridge.   Started jigging them and having a good old time, until
Coast Guard came and chased away from bridge.    ( If they see we are just
fishing, why can't they search our boat then leave us alone! )  Tried to head
to Coney Island Flats- winds kicked up big time.  Headed back up north, ran
into lots of stripers, for a total of over fifty  ( 50 ) bass to 29 1/2
inches.  All caught on jigs!  Surface water temps are still around 52
degrees.  Schoolies should still be active for quite a while!  Considering AM
rain, high winds, cold tempetures and limited places allowed to fish, we
still caught alot and had a great day!   Tight lines to all - GO FISH!

12/9/01 Alpine Boat Basin Bill Grayson
Just got in from fishing Alpine started at 9:30Am .. weather cool and cloudy,
current pulling hard..
Using bunker strips again.. Outgoing tide... Right of the bat hooked into cat
fish, largest as 19 inches then a couple of schoolies 18 and 20 inchers..
About noon time , hook into a nice 35 inch, 15.4 pounder. It didn't know it
was hooked until I made the set. Then it took off for the yonkers peeling line
all of the way. The river must be the right temp for these guys as they are
fighting hard. Fish was released !
I had several more slams but no hook ups before calling it quits at 2Pm.

Regards

Bill Grayson
HRFANJ MEMBER

12/8/01 14th Street Pier Hoboken
I had a fun day down at the 14th St. fishing pier I caught a lot of schoolies up to 18in.
Although there were no keepers it was better than staying home. I did ask if some of the HRFA members if they would like to join me but know one show up.  There was one other fishermen there besides myself and he told me that he caught 6 nice Ling the other night at the pier that was nice to hear. I was fishing with sand worms on the high tide, I will keep trying to promote this great access that we have worked so long for, it would be ashamed not to take advantage of it.  Tony Evangelista  VP HRFA



12/6/01 Ted Sheola Party Boat Fishing
HRFA Member Ted Sheola reports catching a boatload of striped bass on the Pioneer party boat on Friday.  Ted tells us striped bass up to 35 inches were caught along with a few 10 to 12 pound bluefish.  Ted was using live eels and jigs for his fish.
 
12/5/01 Fishin Mission  Verrazano Bridge
After attending Tuesday Night's HRFANJ Annual fishing auction, which was a
fun time to buy and sell fishing items.   Took Wednesday off , 12/05/01. 
What a great picture perfect day!  69 degrees,  no wind --a tee shirt in
December.  Water temps remain around 53 degrees! Fished below the Verrazano
Bridge due to the security hassles of the NY Harbor.   For a total of  104 -
yes one hundred four schoolie stripers and including 1 keeper at 29 inches (
released ) 1 windowpane ( flounder ) and 1 hickory shad.  All caught on jigs.
Also ran boat all the way to Breezy Point after "rumors" of large bass all
over!   All they were, were rumors, NOT 1 bass there.  For lunch I enjoyed Dan
from the Outdoorsman’s delicious Meatballs , that I bid on, the leftovers at
the auction.   Dan always makes the auction special by supplying great food!  
Tight lines to all, if this weather keeps up I might just fish till New
Year's day!!!!!!  Bet you guys are sorry that winterized already!

December 1st and Sunday, December 2nd.   Carl Hartmann

Saturday, I fished alone in Seaside Heights from the Surf. Around 7am, Landed a nice Striped Bass at 32" 11lbs 10oz.  Fish was caught on clam. Note: large liter was hanging from fish's rectum. Upon filleting the Fish, Large hook was found to be penetrated in fish's Stomach. Weighed in at the Dolphin bait and Tackle.

Sunday, Fishing with Tony Evangelista and Walter Weglinski, in Island Beach State Park, I landed a slot Striper at 24". Walter Weglinski landed a 22" Bass. All fish caught on clam.

Tight lines and cold beers, Carl Hartmann <'///><

12/2/01  Alpine Boat Basin Bill Grayson

Just got back from fishing Alpine. Started at 7Am, in coming tide,
nothing.. 11:15 hooked up with a 33 incher , 14.5 pounds. This fish was loaded with red
sores possibly fish handler disease, fought like a 30 pounder had a heck
of a time getting it to the net.
Also a couple of shorts were caught.. All fish were released.. Bait was
bunker , caught all of the shorts on blood worms.

Regards

HRFA member
Bill Grayson