2008 Fishing Reports

May 6 - The Best Grass-Shrimp Hatches in Years!

Wow!  I was gonna wait till Friday to do this report, but I just couldn't wait that long.  For the last 4 days grass-shrimp have been hatching thick at dawn and dusk, and the bass have been on them in a big way.  Too many fish north of 30" this week to count!  And if you know anything about a grass-shrimp hatch, you know that they happen in some very shallow mud-flats.  Thus, we're getting these fat spring fish to eat poppers in just a foot or two of water!  Based on the last four springs, the grass-shrimp hatch seemed to have been a thing of the past.  I had written the lack of substantial hatches off as a casualty of climate change, pollution or some other factor I had no control over.  But I stumbled over a big one on Saturday and we had fish in the mid 30" range on just about every drift.  Same thing on Sunday and the same thing today.  I can't F'n believe I have to leave this action for a wedding in California the weekend!  The nerve of folks getting married during peak fishing season!  So inconsiderate.  David and Danny have some dates available though.  Shoot us an email if you want to get out last minute.  It's good, but I don't know how long it will last. 

May 2 - Things improve

A load of fish in the back this week.  Plenty of double hook-ups and at times, the marks on the fish-finder were just ridiculous.  Saw the first of the season's grass-shrimp hatches on the mud-flats yesterday, but surprisingly, there were only small bluefish on them.  The bass are still deep and are on some sort of small bait that I'm marking, but have been unable to determine the species.  My guess is that they are spearing.  I'd think that it's just a matter of time before they figure out that those grass-shrimp are up in the mud-flats.  When that happens, we'll be banging fish on poppers in just a couple feet of water.  Maybe by the weekend.  Still a ton of bunker around.  The guys live-lining them are starting to see some fish north of 20-pounds.  What we're doing with light-spin-gear and fly-gear are mostly small fish, but we are getting some fish in the 28 to 32" range.  The size should only go up with each week.  Oh, I almost forgot...  There are large bluefish mixed in with the bass.  Boy are these things fun on a flyrod...  All-in-all, not a bad start to the season.  I'm optimistic that it's gonna be a good one. 

April 25 - Getting Bigger and Better

The fishing was pretty good this week.  Loads of schoolies around just like last week, but there are some bigger fish in the mix.  The amount of bunker in the back bay is extraordinary and the guys livelineing are scoring big.  Not much in the way of small-bait so far, which can make flyfishing somewhat difficult, but still we are finding good numbers on the fly and this will only continue to get better.  Without a doubt, this season has started much earlier than the last three...  And that's a good thing!

April 17 - It's on!

Splashed the boats last week, and it's really good to be back on the water.  For the last several days we've been into solid light-tackle/flyfishing for schoolie bass and even a few "keepers" in the mix.  The weather this weekend has been great and each day we are out, the size of the stripers seems to get incrementally larger.  The back bay is load with bunker, and while I haven't gotten a chance to drop a livie down, my guess is there are some pigs in the bay eating these big baits.  And it won't be long until they get active enough to eat a fly or soft-plastic.  Water temps are unusually high for this time of the year.  My guess is things are going to break open in a big way within the next week.  Stay tuned!