Light tackle striper fishing with Plum Island Swimbaits.

I like to show what I'm fishing with, so here's a peak. Aside from the Plum Island soft plastics, I'm fishing a 7'6" MH St. Croix Tidemaster spinning rod with a Penn 460 Slammer reel.

Fishing with Jersey Justin

This season has been pretty unusual, both in the unpredictability of the local fishing and several of the locations I've fished. Just a few days after returning from Utah, I found myself heading (a bit) south to do something a little different from my norm. I had an opportunity to head down to Jersey City to meet up with Fishing with Jersey Justin Capt. Justin Suarez and friend Mike Prete from Plum Island Baits to do some fishing with my brother Doug and son Danny. Now, I typically associate Jersey City with an exit off the Jersey Turnpike, refineries, landfills and the Newark airport that I sometimes have to fly out of. None of these paint a very pleasant picture of Northern New Jersey.
Right across from Manhattan, tucked away off I-78, however, is Liberty State Park and Liberty Landing Marina. A block or two off the interstate and you're in a whole different world. Danny and I met up with Doug at Liberty Park Cafe & Diner for an early breakfast before hitting the water. I can't fish on an empty stomach, and the diner is open at 6:00am with all the standard breakfast fare.
We met Justin at the marina two minutes down the road. The morning was beautiful, with light winds and the seas settling down to just 1-2 feet. Headed out of the marina, your looking straight at the Lower Manhattan skyline, and as you turn to starboard, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. How cool is that? We ran out through the Verranzano Narrows past Ft. Wadsworth in Gateway National Recreation Area, past Sandy Hook to see what we could find. Our first location yielded more dogfish than anything else. Now, little do most know, but dogfish are actually good eating and make up a large percentage of the fried fish sold in British Fish & Chip shops. However, they rip up gear and are generally a pain in the ass. The next few spots we hit yielded a mix of keeper and short black sea bass and a few fluke, and this proved to be the dominant pattern for the rest of the day. Despite the sea bass limit being two per angler, there seems to be no end of short fish carpeting the bottom of most of our Southern New England and New York waters.
Plum Island's FLUKUSHIMA 'OG' 6.5" in Block Island Green proved to be the go to color, as Danny was sticking bass pretty consistently, including some nice keeper sized males. I eventually surrendered my pearl rigs, following Danny's lead and picked up more fish as well. Uncle Doug was as entertaining as always, trying to figure out how to hold onto little, flapping fish.
While the fishing wasn't on fire (we ground through a ton of locations), the day itself was awesome. I love the opportunities to get out on the water with Danny and my brother Doug, check out new locations, and fish with guys like Justin and Mike. I was so taken in with the surroundings that I forgot to get pics with Danny and some of his fish. I think Justin may have a few. I did manage to snap a pic of Danny enjoy the result of our trip last night. If you're in the New York area and looking to get away for awhile, give Capt. Justin a shout. He'll certainly show you a nice day on the water.

REMEMBER - TACKLE BOXES, NOT X-BOXES!!!!! Take your kids fishing!!!

A tradition continues with a little help from a friend.

Every summer begins the same way. Since I bought the Gemma Rose after my daughter was born, and continuing with the Gemma Rose II, the first official day of my summer vacation has been spent out on the water in pursuit of tranquility and a few stripers. Regardless of the weather or what ever else is ongoing, that first day following my final teacher work day of the school year you will find me doing the same thing. It's my own, quiet way of celebrating another year in the books, far removed from any kids and officially launching two months off that are sure to make my wife jealous. Let's face it, any teacher that claims this isn't one of the best perks of the job is lying, particularly if they love to fish. The day begins well before the sun rises, and every year has produced at least a keeper striper, a streak of which I'm quite proud.

My streak was put in jeopardy this year by a deer that decided to leap a guard rail early in the a.m. as I drove in for one of my last days of school. Any streak that deer had ended then and there, and my truck is still in the collision repair center, leaving me with a boat far from water. Fortunately, by buddy Rich, whom I have fished with on many occasions on the Gemma Rose II, invited me out to fish with him.

The weather forecasts called for winds and torrential rain by mid-morning, and the fishing has been very hit or miss to say the least. I could have cared less, because I was still fishing! I met up with Rich at 4:30am and we drove down to the launch and put our game plan into action. That plan was to run about 20 minutes from our launch, looking for bait and hitting a few spots along the way. If we couldn't locate any bunker, we'd work back to the launch, pull the boat and head to location B.  It didn't take long before we were marking fish and bringing in small schoolies both on the 7.5" Plum Island Pearl White River Eels I was throwing, and the 5.5" Lunker City Fin-S (both proudly made locally) that Rich was throwing in Sexy Shiner.  As our plan wasn't to catch schoolies, we continued to move in search of bunker.

Looking back a few seasons in my logs, this should have been an easy task, but this season has started out a little different. Despite quite a bit of looking, and with the aid of side imaging, we didn't mark any bunker, so we stuck with the plan to work back, focusing on several spots we knew would hold fish. I'm OK with this, as throwing top water is my preferred method hands down. Nothing beats the thrill of watching a big striper explode on an artificial, gripping the rod and waiting to come tight and set the hook.

We continued to mark and catch fish, but none breaking 28", and many not much bigger than adult bunker. That said, they were pretty ambitious, repeatedly hammering baits half their size. Sick of short strikes, I was looking to downsize when Rich's rod doubled over and his fish started pulling line. After a good fight, he boated a beautiful 40" fish sporting a few sea lice as evidence of having arrived after a long migratory journey. Forget the little stuff, I threw on my 9" Doc lure and started the slow, walk the dog retrieve. I had a big blow up but no hook set, and a few casts later, boated a nice fish just over keeper size. We continued to work the area, but the results were more smaller fish.

One Golden Rule of fishing is never switch from a lure that's producing (I did), and another is don't leave fish to find fish. We were going to break both of these today. Despite the 40" fish, we decided to pack up and make the move to location B. We'd had good early am intel on bunker, and were hoping some big fish would be hot on them. By the time we dropped the boat back in, the sky was turning increasingly grey, and the rain was beginning to fall. We quickly found the bunker, but generally in water too deep for our cast net, so we set to snagging, leaving some fish to struggle on the snag and dropping others down on a three way rig.  It wasn't too long before I hooked a fish that measured just a bit over 31" and the drizzle turned into a steady, heavy rain.

Despite our best efforts, we weren't getting any more takers, and the tide was going completely slack. The rain was relentless, and we made a move to a new location where I'd caught some of my largest fish last season, including a 46", 40+lber. We threw the bunker back out and just allowed them to free swim, resulting in a few boils but no takers. I hooked my Doc back on and gave it a heave.  A few slow side to side glides, and a large striper knocked it into the air and then latched on. I buried the hook, felt several violent shakes, and then the plug popped free. I'm sure there were a few expletives as I continued the retrieve, but then I saw the fish coming back and hitting again, following and hitting yet again. Still, I didn't hook up. I shook my head as I told Rich I wasn't sure how I missed that one, until I looked down at my plug again. The 4/0 VMC treble hook and triple split ring were nowhere to be found. I just had the single siwash bucktail in the rear left.  The power of these fish never ceases to amaze me.

By this time I was soaked through and felt like a drowned rat. Did I mention that my dry bag with my light weight Gage raingear was in my truck at the collision repair center? I'd thought it was too warm for Gore-Tex or heavy Grundens, opting instead for Frogg Toggs. Frogg Toggs are great for that unexpected shower, not so much for 3 hours of steady, heavy rain. We decided to call it a day and headed back to the ramp. While I'm still in search of my first monster of the season, thanks to Rich, I can celebrate another perfect start to my summer vacation!

Shady Rays - Cool Shades That Look Great And Won't Break the Bank

Shades are a must whenever I'm on the water, regardless of conditions. I need protection from glare and wind, against sharp objects, and bug impacts at high speeds.

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I've gone through dozens of brands from cheap stuff like Booyah's and Calcuttas (Florida - when I left ALL my shades back home) to Maui Jims and Costas. Finding a pair that fits my big mellon, provides wrap coverage and doesn't slip or fog, while meeting the aforementioned criteria is tough. The high end glasses keep going up in price while their customer service goes down. When it comes to shades, I don't have a great track record. I've placed more than one pair on the brim of my hat, only to take my hat off at 30-40mph. I've lost them in the boat, finding them scratched to hell days or weeks later. Sometimes, I just never know what became of them. I came across Shady Rays (https://shadyrays.com

) from a friend online, as they were preparing to launch their X-Series wrap glasses. The $45 price tag and the free replacement program caught my attention. I figured that even as a spare pair or two for the boat, if they were half way decent and with my history, I'd give them a try. I contacted the company, and they sent me the X-Series Emerald and Infrared Polarized glasses out ahead of their end of May release. I've been wearing them for the last two weeks, and I have to say, have been pretty pleased. They provide clear visibility comparable to glasses twice the price, with decent polarization, and that was comparing them to Orvis/Zeiss lenses that cost three times as much (which I scratched by dropping in the Salmon River, NY). The frames wrapped well providing great, non-slip coverage while underway on the boat. Both of the Shady Ray lenses are best suited for bright sunlight. I'd like to see an amber lens for low light, stream fishing. Maybe they'll consider this at some point down the road. I hate to admit it, but I did manage to scratch a pair already (hat thing), and Shady Ray's response was, "if the scratches bother you just let us know and we can send you one of your replacement pairs." So if you want a pair of good glasses that won't break the bank, check out Shady Rays.

Shady Ray's X-Series $45
www.shadyrays.com

https://www.facebook.com/WearShadyRays
• Sport frame with strong grip made for high speeds. Great for running, hiking and climbing, watersports, and other high impact activities.
• Durable matte black wrap-around frame with soft touch finish
• HD Polarized Emerald Green Mirror Lenses for crystal clear visibility without glare - razor thin and shatter-resistant with UV400 protection
• Includes Microfiber Cleansing Pouch
• Free Replacement if Lost or Broken for life (just pay S+H, max 2 per pair purchased)
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