greybeard

Ricpac I'm glad that the Southshore club was helpful, I met some very nice guys there. I am not a club guy so I didn't join, but if I had a different personality I would have. I got some good info from them. I went to their festivals a few times too. You mentioned Bashakill, I never hunted there, but did check it out. In fact, it was one of the Southshore guys who told me about it. I hope that they give you the paperback, "Ducks at a Distance" at the ID class. I hunted from my kayak a lot, I almost flipped out of it once as I shot a Canada goose which passed to my left. , I never shot that way again. I mainly used it to get to spots in the bays and then beach it and sometimes shoot from it while it was beached. I carried a chair and blind material to set up on shore too. I'm pretty short , so I used a kids camp chair. The kayak cheaper then a dog for retrieving too. I did have a system for shooting Brant in the shallows from it, but that's another story. I'm not familiar with waterfowling in Westchester, or Putnam, but it may be worth your while to check it out. I hunted in Putnam quite a bit , but never waterfowling. Maybe someone on this site can help you with that..

Yeah, I didn't think of that. I wasn't thinking of Nassau, I was only thinking of Suffolk. I had some good spots in Nassau, but I needed my kayak in those.

Virgil.. I hunted Long Island since the mid 60's , so I did know about some places and even saw blinds on occasion . I agree that knowing someone is a better way. That is the reason that I mentioned the waterfowl club., it might be a good place to make contacts for him, if he's interested. Also, if he likes the idea of the parks, it gives him an exact spot to hunt because they even give you the blind to hunt in. In addition, if they still do it, South Haven gave you decoys to use. I don't know if coming from the Bronx is that convenient to long Island. Bridge toll and traffic would be too much for me, but figured I'd just pass it on.

Shawn.. I felt the same way, and although I was surrounded by waterfowl areas growing up, I did not start waterfowl hunting until I was over 50.I didn't want to make mistakes. The year before I started, I learned to call, found legal spots and learned the rules by reading and asking. I even called some of the Town Law Enforcement Officials to check the laws in their jurisdiction which can be stricter then the State. The duck ID caused me angst, so until I got good at it, because of the way the limits are, I did not shoot at any brown colored ducks. The colorful ones were easier for me to positively identify. Maybe an over reaction, but it worked for me. In one spot, we were checked almost everyday by the DEC and although they were really good people, and I was glad that they were around, I knew that they had to, and would, enforce the laws. So you are right in being cautious.

If you hunt waterfowl on Long Island be sure to check ordinances..For example, there is NO waterfowl hunting in the Town of Huntington... Some local municipalities have ordinances against discharge of firearms too. I never used a guide on LI because I had my spots, but I know guys that do and are happy with the guided hunts.. Guides have decoys, boat, etc. I don't know what they charge.. There is a Waterfowl Identification Course, which I took and recommend..Check with the DEC about that. There is a waterfowl hunting club on Long Island called.. South Shore Waterfowlers..They have a website and have a waterfowl festival not far from Jones Beach in late October, or so. You can go on their site and read about what they do. I took my ID course through them. There are some parks on LI that have waterfowling for a fee... I'm not recommending them, just passing it on.. One is South Haven Park, and the other is Cedar Park... South Haven is off Rt. 27 near William Floyd Parkway. I did it once.. It's a lottery, which I did not like. Look it up on line and read about it , or call them and see if you like what you hear. It may have changed since I was there. I got lucky and got a blind, but if there are too many people you may not get a blind and that's the end of that. I had other spots out east so I didn't worry about it. I would hate to drive out there and get shut out. It's not opened everyday and sessions are 1/2 day. Cedar is on Eastern LI somewhere, you can find it on line. It's for Sea Ducks I don't know how it works, but I think it's from blinds on a beach.. It might be worth a look if you want to try for Sea Ducks. It may be a little further then you want to drive, and I don't know how it works, or how good it is. Study the rules, know the seasons , you will get checked.... also learn to call , it's fun

I finally got back out in the kayak today. I had to paddle quite a bit to find fish. I felt like a shrimp in a wok, man was it hot in that 'yak !! I only got 1 small striper, but finally found some schools of porgys.( I brought my fish finder with me and that's how I located the porgys). I didn't want any, so I released them. I was a little disappointed in the size. I did not find the big ones. They weren't in my favorite porgy spots. I guess they'll move in soon. (I hope so, anyway) The snappers are showing and chasing bait, but they are VERY small. They were stealing my Porgy bait. I saw no bunker and no bluefish, but another kayaker told me that he lost a blue.

Thanx ants and first light.. We had a really nice day, doing nothing, but relaxing.. I hope that I make it to see my 60th, that's really great, they deserve the Roayal Treatment.

My July 4th will be at Jones Beach with my wife... It's our Anniversary (Independence Day.). Married 42 years...We celebrated our 40th on Maui and this one on the Island of Hawaii(last week). So it'll just be a relaxing day locally today

Happy Birthday, I hope that you have a GREAT day

What a shame to have to eat all that lobster. Too bad I wasn't there. Being the charitable guy that I am, I would have helped you eat them

Live eels are great, except that they get costly, especially when blues hit them.. We used to say they go down as an eel, and after gettin' chomped by a bluefish, come up like a cigar..But it can be worth it. Have you ever been out that way during the November Herring run ? I did that a few times on a friend's boat. We used locate and load up on Herring using Sabiki rigs, and put them in the live well. We'd then head to the rips and get some nice bass by live lining them.. It's really good. My friend just took a Montauk charter and the boat limited on stripers. I don't know what they used though. I can't handle the boats anymore especially out there.So now I stick to surf, or kayak fishing and stay more local.I prefer kayak fishing to any other method. I hope you get to do the kayak fishing while you're up there, but no matter how you do it, good luck, be careful, and get some big un's

You should have offered her some bass fillets to make peace Did you diamond jig, or use bait on the night boat..

OMG.. No, not at Block Island, but I have fished the Montauk rips and could see Block Island, but we really were not that close. The times that I fished the rips were really good for striped bass, some really good ones too.

Both are great tasting fish.. Good luck, I hope that you limit on both. I'm looking forward to reading about your trip

My first real introduction to shore fishing for blues, stripers and shad in the surf and around bridges was in Rhode Island. I had done some before, but had a good teacher up there and he taught me a lot. There was some really good fishing there. By baby blues, do you mean snappers ? There are blues around down here in various sizes, but I don't think that the snappers are in. If snappers are in they are probably really small. Just some basic stuff : For snappers I would try a "snapper popper" and small spoons like 1/8th oz., maybe even 1/4 oz. silver kastmasters and the like. If you mean small bluefish , a pound, or so, I would try tins like a 005, or even a 007. Small spoons like Kastmasters maybe 1/2 oz., or 3/4 oz. will wok too for both. Small saltwater poppers for the blues can be good also. I never caught a shad on a popper though... I like white soft plastics on lead heads in appropriate sizes, but the blues eat them up, so it get's costly (I don't care because I'm a bluefish fanatic).. Lures with treble hooks can be a pain in the butt, especially for the blues. I've been hooked, and bitten gettin' them out. Unhooking a bluefish especially in a kayak can be hazardous.. I now use a lip grip and pliers. If you can check with a local tackle store you may get some specifics for up there. Remember to bring pliers, or a hook remover for the blues. If there are blues, you may want to consider having a few wire leaders When shad are in sometimes I tie on a teaser a foot, or so above the lure. That'll catch both also. I would also consider carrying lures for bigger blues, and maybe stripers, just in case they are around. It's kinda all trial and error, so you have to change until you find what they want. I love catching both and love the way those shad jump. Just a thought, when Shad are around, sometimes, if you catch one, if you live line it on a heavier setup you can catch really nice stripers and bluefish I hope this helps

I wish that I had your talent. I just got back from Hawaii and took many photos, but they do not have near the quality of yours.. I saw lots of Feral goats and would have loved to get good photos, but with my limited ability, I didn't try. Even when I took photos of the many Mongoose(s) , the pictures came out blurry You are truly talented

ATbuckhunter.. Thanx.. Yeah, I'm careful with size limits.. I carry a tape with me all the time when fishing and almost never keep a fish unless it is at least 1 inch longer then the legal size..When I'm in the kayak , for bass, it has to measure 2 inches longer. I do that because it's easy to mis-measure if I'm not on flat ground.. Good luck to you too. OMG.. If you mean for stripers then : ...Clams can be really good for stripers, also sand worms.. I don't personally use them, but they work. I did use clams once.. We used Clam chum, then let out globs of clam on a hook in free spool.. It took me a while to get the hang of it. The clam chummers do VERY well. The surf guys use clams a lot, This spring they did well with them.. One guy I know uses sand worms for stripers , very effectively, in the spring, if I remember right he uses them in late April..They are excellent when tube and worm trolling,.. They get monsters that way I'm sure you can catch stripers with squid, but I don't know anyone that uses squid for stripers. Squid came in one night and when they were caught and live lined the weakfish loved them, so that's why I assume that they would work for bass. Also, I have used squid imitation lures and got bass. I also assume that Parachute jigs, which are deadly bass lures, when used right, resemble squid.. If you're interested in using squid, I can ask guys who would know. I use clams, and squid for other saltwater fish. I used to use worms, but they get expensive

ATbuckhunter...Thanks for the info. I would NEVER ask for a specific spot, I really understand that. I am the same. I don't even like people seeing me take a fish from the kayak, or off the beach to my car. I have no problem with access to my favorite spot on the North Shore. I would love access to some other prime spots, but the ones that I like are ALL private so I have to paddle further. I don't surf cast on the North Shore, so access for that is not an issue with me I heard the same as you said about the bunker last night from a friend, so I guess that they thinned out in my spot also. I expected the bunker to thin out around this time . Last year was an exception in my favorite North Shore spot, they stayed from spring thru fall. The problem last year, where I was, there were no Stripers under them and even the blues were scarce in the bunker schools. I got them on lures outside of the schools of bunker. Late November the blues finally did go to the bunker, but almost no bass. This year, chunks did not work for me, all of the bigger bass that I caught were live lining. Some guys that I know who were there got them on chunks , but I just couldn't connect with them. I haven't checked, but porgys should be in my area , so if they are, I may try live lining them . Thanks again for the info

The ponds by me are too overgrown right now, so I am only in salt. If you live in Nassau County, possibly, the North Twin in Wantagh might be ok as far as weeds because the south end has some depth compared to the other lakes that I fish You might want to read the reports in The Fisherman especially for the Peconic. I used to do well in Hards Lake with the fly rod, for big bluegills and nice Largemouth(trout in cooler spring weather). If it's not too overgrown and you want to try it, check out the stumps in the southeast part of the lake.. I do suspect , however, that it is also overgrown now, but it might be worth a look if you are out that way..I think it's a $2 fee, but not sure if it went up.. They rent rowboats too.. I haven't been there in a while, so it's not a recommendation, just a thought. Not many freshwater guys that I know share info on spots because there are so few spots

First Light, I didn't see your post earlier..That's some great fish..Did she keep you on the bottom long ? I don't use pork rind, I use twister tails, but I gotta try the rind. Many of the guys I know use pork rind, now after reading your post, I gotta use it too.. Thanx for that info and congrats on the HUGE fish !! I would like to see a photo

ATbuckhunter..Congrats on those nice fish, you had a great day.. .. I dream of 10 lb. bluefish, and all stripers over 26 inches were some nice bass !! Were you on the North Shore(I won't ask specifics, just the shore). Were Bunker slapping ?? A southshore surf fisherman told me that the south shore surf wasn't too good. I may try the bays, but will probably go to the North Shore this week, I got a better report from there. Was anything on top, or all deeper..

I use them for stripers and have done well with them, but do not use them as often as soft plastics with lead heads, but I have friends that use them a lot and do very well on stripers. One fall, a friend suggested that I switch to bucktails so I tied on a heavier bucktail in the rough surf and was greatly rewarded. When I use bucktails,I mainly use Spro bucktails, but do like Smiling Bills. I use either yellow, or white, but the more experienced bucktailers change around to other colors too. I think that I'm using soft plastics more only because I have so much confidence in them and I think that bucktails would work equally as well if I used them more.

Great idea !! Many years ago, I read an article where a guy squirrel hunted from a canoe and stated that the game does not usually expect danger from the water. I pretty much live in my kayak and can agree with the author. I have paddled up on many deer, including some big bucks, and even had an 8 pointer mount a doe no more then 10 yards from me and never turned to see me. I have called numerous fox from it too. I waterfowl hunted from it, and although I do not recommend shooting from it, it got me to great spots and did not spook waterfowl as much as powered duck boats..They do spook though.. I would guess that for deer hunting a stable canoe might be better because you may have more room to store the deer, although you may have to quarter it.. My opinion... Canoes and kayaks are much different than years ago. They have many models and are designed for different needs. I would see if there is a dealer that carries them and take a look and ask about stability, etc. I'm not sure, but I THINK that paddling.net has reviews on canoes and lists different manufacturers.

Shawn, Do you use mainly bucktails for stripers..If so do you add pork rind, or soft plastics, like twister tails.

Thanx Shawn, I appreciate the compliment, but luck, and being there has a lot to do with it.. I was in Hawaii, so I'm not sure if the bunker are still in and if the Big Bass are still;; around...I gotta check to see..But not today because I just got in and am beat from all the flying. I'm gonna get out in the yak to search the harbors next week, . Ford, do you fish for stripers the North Shore ??