Fishing Update....May Fishing Forecast
Posted by Bryan Reissig on
Fluke opens Tuesday May 4th
just in: Striped bass hit the beach. Fish have been reported at smith point beach. Anglers have reported tacking fish on sp minnows, diamond jigs and shads.
Over the past week, Striped Bass were reported from anglers venturing out east. Heading west have seen success in the back bays. Mainly schoolies sized fish but a 28" sized fish in the mix is not out of the question. For this go with swimming plugs like sp minnows, redfins and mag darters, small swim shads, bass assassins. The local rivers and creeks also host a nice resident population of Stripers that seem to have awoken. Once again all schoolies but with the proper tackle they are a blast.
We've also had reports of some Flounder being caught, Sandworms and heavy chumming with mussels seem to be the keys to success. Smithpoint bridge, Quogue Canal are good spring areas to try.
On the Blackfish front, fishing has started to pick up as the water temps increase. Clam seems to be the bait for this spring season. Keep in mind the spring season is a 2 fish 16" limit and closes on April 30th!
"TACKLE TIP OF THE WEEK" from Andy at the shop "try to downsize on the lures and baits you throw small quarter or half ounce jig heads with small soft plastics is perfect to use this time of year , remember elephants eat peanuts " he said.
On the Freshwater side lakes are fully stocked for the second time this month West Lake is the place to be seeing more trout rising around dusk , this stocking includes the addition of yearling rainbow trout. Anglers have been successful using small gold or silver tins like a Kastmaster fished with a slow retrieve or using Nightcrawlwers and "Dough baits" like powerbait or trout pellets fished on a float with a small hook. In the mix yellowperch have been also picked off on the same baits while trout fishing