Back to our Sort-Of Regularly Scheduled Reports
We hope everyone had a happy, safe, Easter. And we hope your bellies don’t hurt from eating all of those chocolate bunnies and hard boiled eggs. Ray is regretting his choco bunny binge at the moment.
Most of the shop news for Grumpys is bait related. We will mix that into the fishing report below.
In upcoming shop news, we have a big order of Berkley Gulp! coming this week. Huge! Best Gulp! order ever. What’s in it? Swimming mullets and grubs for sure. You will have to pay attention to either Facebook or Instagram to see what else there is. Ray put in this order so long ago even he forgot what is in it. It will be like Gulpmas for Ray. Needles to say, we will be your Gulp! headquarters when fluke season opens.
So the fishing continues to be good. Locally, we have been hearing of striped bass everywhere in the bay. Both the east and west sides, and both north and south of the shop. For those throwing artificials, the same stuff that has been working for the past couple weeks is still working. So, at the risk of sounding redundant, they are hard baits like Rapala X-raps, small Yozuri Mag Darters, 5 inch Cotton Cordell Red Fins, small Scabelly Gliders and Midway Lures Swizzle Sticks, or soft baits like Kettle Creek Shads on light jig heads, small Storm Wildeye Shads, small Tsunami Pro Holographis Swim Shads, and Vudu Shads. Sunrise, sundown, and in the dark have proven to be the best times for lures. Anglers fishing bait have been getting fish all day, with bloodworms taking most of those fish, though smaller bits of clam have taken a fish or two.
Also in the bay, the winter flounder fishing has been good for those who have gone. Bloodworms are the top bait for these also.
That being said, we have bloodworms in the shop for those who want them. And if you are going flounder fishing, we have the clam chum logs too.
On the oceanfront, things have been slower, but the ocean is starting to show signs of life. Clams are the bait of choice for those trying the oceanside. Artificial lures have not yet really started to produce there, but hey, someone must be the first person to report a striped bass on a lure from the surf. Why not you?
No so locally, we have been hearing reports of big striped bass being caught in a bay well north of the shop. Anglers on kayaks and in boats have been getting them on big metal lip wooden trolling plugs. Anglers fishing off the shoreline have been wading out and using large plastic plugs like Cotton Cordell Redfins or larger SP Minnows. Large gliders should work too as these bass are feeding on large baitfish.
Tautog (Blackfish) season has opened, and we heard some good stuff from boats that went out this weekend. None of them seemed willing to say what wreck they were on, so you are on your own for the spot. But if you go, we have green crabs available in the shop and plenty of S&S Whitechin Wrecker jigs.
For those who don’t know, Sheldon is leaving Grumpys for the air force. We predict his first day of flight school will look like this:
