Hammer These Early Season Hot Spots
A shallow, wind-protected cove with scattered structure, a marshy shoreline and a nearby tidal creek can be a great place to ambush early spring stripers. Don’t be afraid to work tight to the shore as long as water depth will safely allow. OutdoorTom.com photo.
Every crew wants those first few fishing trips of the new year to set a positive tone for the season ahead. Problem is, from the fish’s viewpoint, most coastal water in our area is still relatively cool. That can leave your cold-blooded quarry feeling somewhat sluggish and, thus, ambivalent about engaging with serious enthusiasm.
Of course, there are some proven fishing techniques designed to manage this exact dilemma. Slowing retrieves to a crawl, choosing live or cut bait over artificials, and opting for smaller bucktails or soft-plastic lures with limited tail action and life-like color patterns are solid examples. All of these modifications are worthy of consideration but be warned, they only arm you for battle. Searching out a few warm-water sweet spots is where the war is really won.
For most of our local inshore spring species like stripers, weakfish, fluke or even scup, targeting warm pockets may be the single most important key to early-season success. After all, most popular sportfish species will naturally gravitate toward higher temperatures when they find them at this time of year. Indeed, an increase of only two or three degrees can make a huge difference in their willingness to feed and, thus, your odds of success. Find the preferred habitat your primary target enjoys, centered in a warming pocket, and the fishing can be prime – even as a new cold front rolls into town.
A small, white Spro bucktail tipped with a Fat Cow trailer is a great lure for tempting early spring bass, weaks, fluke and scup with a slow, gliding retrieve. Small and slender soft-plastic swimbaits in white or silver work well too. OutdoorTom.com photo.
The back story here is that over the winter many fish species in our waters simply depart shallow coastal depths in favor of deeper offshore ocean haunts where the temperature is less prone to quick fluctuations than on inshore flats. Other species, school stripers and weakfish especially, might also run up and seek refuge in well-protected tidal rivers and creeks when they first arrive. As these fish trickle back toward the open water shallows as spring advances they are driven to find warmer water that will kick their metabolism back into high gear.
One super area-type to probe for anglers prospecting in Long Island’s inshore waters during April and May is hard bottom in close proximity to a creek outflow. True, expansive mud flats can warm up a little quicker, but a smaller flat with a mix of rocky bottom, some larger stones, and shellfish beds dispersed between sandy patches, also warms up fast. This scenario offers not only the crabs, shrimp and crustaceans found on mud bottoms, but plenty of baitfish entering and exiting the creek that are easily ambushed along a nearby marshy point or from behind hard structure like bridge abutments, docks or even scattered boulders.
Pocket waters buried in the back of a cove, along island edges, or on either side of a pronounced point are other great spring starting spots. Look for tiny, protected coves with divots in their surrounding vegetation where predatory fish can lurk in several inches of water. Time your exploration of these potential hot spots to late morning or late afternoon when the sun is shining right where you hope to cast. Fish light, fish tight and, should you spot a decent target, tease it away from the phragmites or shoreline structure with a slightly short cast, painfully slow retrieve, and smooth hook-set.
Look carefully at night along the edges of docks and similar structure. Spring bass love to patrol shadow lines in warm, well-protected creek and river waters but are easy to miss or mistake for a rock or structure if you don’t look carefully. OutdoorTom.com photo.
Yet another early-season hot spot worth investigating, especially for larger predators, is the back side of an inlet. As water enters a bay and begins to slide down the beach, it often eddies upon bumping the first shallows encountered. On the ebb flow, however, warmer water may be pulled seaward from further back on the flats, carrying with it small baitfish, crabs and shrimp that are drawn into the eddy pool, serving as a natural chum click. This is a terrific place to drop a fly if you’re game for such encounters.
Continuing on the inlet theme, be aware that inlets come in all shapes and sizes. Yes, the big inlets that usher tides in and out of bay waters are obvious places to explore, but so are harbor, creek and river mouths. From a similar perspective, drains that allow water to funnel onto the flats or recede into deeper, clearly defined channels can also offer exciting action. At these locations both incoming tides that deliver freshly arriving baitfish schools to the flats and ebbing water that sucks those same schools back to the drains and troughs can produce stellar results. Find this situation a stone’s throw from a known squid hangout and the results can be really impressive.
Lastly, serious cold snaps can cause predators and scavengers alike to simply withdraw to the slopes or even the center of prominent holes. Find a distinct hole with steep edges and a center point of 30 to 50 feet deep and you may have your quarry tightly bunched together just a foot or two above the bottom.
Fortunately for East End anglers, there are plenty of such cuts, holes, drains and flats to be discovered whether you fish Shinnecock Bay, Peconic Bay, or the waters of Long Island Sound. So, break out your charts and search around the areas you usually plan to fish for these nearby sweet spots before heading out. With a little prospecting and effort, you might just come away with a brand new favorite spring honey hole - one where the action might actually peak as the next passing cold front approaches.
- Bryce Poyer
