The Race is On

Went out this morning on the Blackhawk, hoping to pick up some stripers in the Race, as my little Gemma Rose can't venture out that far.  The last few trips they had limited out by mid-morning.  Weather was beautiful, too good for an early spring day with lots of guys itching to get out.   Before we left, Capt. Greg warned us that the fish were in, but holding in relatively small areas, and once large numbers of boats got on top of them, the bite was done.  We had the entire flood tide, and were on fish pretty quickly about 1/4-1/2 mile away from the 3 dozen closest boats.  We weren't slamming them, but several keepers were coming over the rail per drift.  I had a decent fish that ended up being the pool winner.  However, after half a dozen drifts, every boat within sight was motoring towards us.  As predicted, that was about it for the decent fishing.  By about 8:30-9:00am, we were surrounded by dozens of boats.  We moved, picked up a few more fish, and drew another crowd.  It wasn't as busy as it gets at the height of summer, but the blues are in thick by then and less bothered by the number of boats.  If you have a boat, the fishing is really good right now weekdays early am or late in the afternoon to evening.  I have a coworker who has been catching steady keepers on the north side of Fisher's Island.  I plan to start fishing there soon.  From here on out, I try to fish weekdays and nights. 

Probably won't get out again 'til after Memorial Day, as it is by far the worst weekend of the year to be on the water.