Fishing Reports

Hudson River fishing with RIVER BASIN SPORTS

Fishing Tackle for Hudson River Stripers and Black Bass Tournaments

ALTHOUGH THE HUDSON'S BASS TEND TO BEFUDDLE MANY ANGLERS IT SEEMS THAT THE MORE EXPERIENCED FISHERMEN ALWAYS DO O.K. ******************************************* FOLLOWING ARE THE FINAL RESULTS OF OUR 2008 STRIPER CONTEST. 1) WALT CHUDKOSKY 46" $3,797 2) TIE Tim Haas 45 1/2" $1,138 Jason Alvarez 45 1/2" $1,138 4) TIE Frank Green 45 1/4" $569 Marcel Boisvert 45 1/4" $569 6) Brian Bishop 45" $379 7) Eric Borchert 44 3/4" $50 8) Lori Lasch 44 1/2" $50 - SUMMER HOURS - THE RIVER BASIN WILL BE OPEN FROM 8:30 A.M. TO 5 P.M. FOR THE DURATION OF THE SUMMER FISHING SEASON BUT WILL BE CLOSED ON SUNDAYS AND MONDAYS. - Fishing Reports - Lots of anglers come to this website to check our reports about the fishing conditions on the river. The information they find is just what you and other anglers have told us. Your input is needed to keep these fishing/river reports up to date. And although we are not able to reply to the reports you send in they are all read. This information is then returned here, to you, on a larger scale which will, hopefully, be of assistance in your fishing efforts. Send your reports to tomgriver@yahoo.com. Below the fishing reports you will find a schedule of Hudson River Black Bass tournaments that will be held in the Catskill area in 2008. This schedule is always liable to be revised or changed. There are some pictures at the bottom of this page and other lunker fish shots can be found on the "pictures" page.
Hudson River Fishing Report – Wednesday, August 13, 2008 What a summer on the Hudson’s water’s. The start appeared to be a harbinger of a perfect season to come– no flooding, no mud, and fewer than the usual number of pleasure craft on the waterway. A fisherman couldn’t ask for better! Then things changed. Checking out the calendar I guess one would have to say that things started to go bad the weekend that Greene County’s “Wacky Raft Race” was held. Without any consideration or advance warning for the dozens of boaters and anglers who travel to Catskill to use the ramp at Dutchman’s Park, the facility was closed down for that entire day. And, since the “race” started in Athens, that launch site was already jammed to capacity when any Catskill escapees arrived there - the rafters had already filled up that smaller location with their equipment. It was quite a mess – just ask any boater who wanted to launch on that day! That was the precursor – soon after that we got into our still-remaining almost daily cycle of thunderstorms and heavy downpours which proceeded to make a muddy mess of the river. Last week it seemed that the river was finally clearing up and then BOOM! – the end of the week brought additional heavy rains to our already water-logged Hudson Valley. Then, as if to add icing to the cake, this past Sunday brought yet additional flooding rains. Even today, according to this morning’s radio reports, some sections around Albany remain under flood conditions with evacuation centers still in operation. Presently the Hudson River is flowing dirty with mud. No, the river is not flooding and is far from it. It’s tidal and can take these small area floodings without blinking an eye – but it is muddy. Most dirty inflowing tributary streams to the Hudson will clean up in 3 – 4 days but the river itself takes 1 to 2 weeks… and that’s only if no more torrential downpours occur (we haven’t seen such a placid period in over a month). I guess that what all this is leading to is the report that presently the bass fishing in the Hudson is probably at the slowest productivity period that it will be all year. Oh, the fish are out there alright – you just can’t find them. By this upcoming weekend all the tributary creeks should be entirely fishable and in good shape. The river is muddy and will remain so throughout all next week – although the conditions will be slightly improving on a daily basis. It seems that the next few days should be perfect to do some catfishing and I’m already planning a channel cat excursion for this weekend. Those beauties are really turned on and biting out there. You just can’t beat the taste of hot catfish fillets when they come out of the frying pan. Yum! By the way, our shop record for a Hudson River channel catfish is a straight-line measurement of 26 inches. There's a $25 gift certificate waiting for you IF you top that one - bring the fish in to the shop for official certification. Tom G ********************************* Hudson River Fishing Report – Wednesday, August 6, 2008 The state of Hudson River’s water has shown considerable improvement during the past week, a trend that should be presently continuing. If you went out today what you’d find, from approximately Stuyvesant to the south, is water with a one and a half foot (or better) see-thru visibility. To the north of that all the way up to where the Normans kill enters the Hudson at the port of Albany the situation changes to “considerably muddy”. Barring any additional heavy thunderstorm generated deluges the water, now at 75 degrees, will continue to get clearer and clearer on a daily basis. Floating debris in the waterway is still considerable so being alert is a must for any boater. Boat traffic appears relatively light compared to previous years but the Yahoos on jet skis are still out there and the 3-foot wakes from larger pleasure boats will still make you clench your teeth and take the Lord’s name in vain. Fishing this past Sunday we were fortunate to hit upon a productive stained-water smallmouth pattern right at the start and pursued it for the remainder of the fishing day. It was simple – just a single gold Colorado blade, white spinnerbait fished in shallower water on hard structure. Whereas a couple of weeks earlier we were finding a bunch of those smallies relating to shallow water eelgrass points now such locations were barren. It seemed that those bronzebacks had moved to harder structures since all eelgrass that we tried failed to produce any action. Yes, we did get a few fish drop-shotting Senkos and Gulp minnows on suck-holes and deeper gravel bars but that method seemed to be more productive for channel cats than bass. During the course of the day we boated 15 smallmouths… and the strange part of it was that there were only a few shorts included in that total. Two weeks ago (pre-mud and 80 degrees) short fish abounded. Still, other anglers we talked to on Sunday reported a majority of shorts in their catch totals so obviously they were fishing somewhat different lures on different types of structures. If you’re fishing this weekend the very start of the day will present you with a good weed fishing time. Your main choice will be whether to hit the chestnuts for largemouths or try the eelgrass beds to see if the smallies have returned to those haunts. If neither pattern produces then my plan would be to just hit harder structures by hopping around to rock piles, gravel bars and current-swept points. We’ll be trying it again this Sunday so we’ll let you know. The top 4 finishers in this past weekend’s Greene County Bassmasters club tournament were 1) Gentalen, 2) Daley, 3) Imbesi, 4) Tabor. The present yearly standings for their top 8 fishermen are as follows: 1) Gentalen, 2) TIE – Imbesi and Daley, 4) Tabor, 5) Burton, 6) Henderson, 7) Menelaos, 8) Clarke. This coming weekend the CT OUTDOORS pro trail will be hosting a Saturday event at Catskill and the Greene County Bassmasters will be holding yet another of their club tournaments on Sunday. Good luck to all. Tom G. *********************************** Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, July 31, 2008 This is going to a rather brief river report… since there isn’t much to say about mud. Due to last week’s marathon one and a half day deluge that came up the Hudson Valley the present river conditions are still pretty dismal – but improving daily. This improving trend should be accelerating on a daily basis as long as we don’t get any additional monsoonal rainstorms. Last Sunday morning when I checked the river at Catskill there was about a 1 inch see-thru visibility at the Dutchman’s Landing boat launch site. The Catskill Creek itself appeared even worse – you could even see swirling mud patterns in the flow there. Yet, further downriver the main mud flow hadn’t reached Kingston and the conditions there were decent for fishing. I also drove upriver to the Coeymans launch ramp (about 18 miles to the north) and found that water clarity perhaps an inch or so better, and then proceeded across river and down to the Stuyvesant launch ramp and made just about the same observation - a very small sign of pending improvement. Today I checked the river at the Catskill ramp and found the water temp there to be about 77 degrees with a see-thru visibility of about 10 – 11 inches. By this weekend the river will still have poor visibility but should be fishable. However, you must be careful of floating debris out there. In the Catskill Creek today I found a visibility of more than two feet with a temperature of 74 degrees - entirely fishable right now and probably at normal summertime conditions by this weekend. If fishing the river this weekend look for cleaner inflow locations, particularly around any suckholes. If fishing hard structure on the bottom just slow your presentation down a little bit more. It ain’t pretty out there presently but the river should be entirely fishable (albeit still way off-color) by Saturday. I’ll be out there in a club tournament with the Greene County Bassmasters this weekend so I’ll know precisely what’s happening and will let you know how it went next week. Good Luck. Tom G ************************************ Hudson River Condition Report – Thursday, July 24, 2008 The heavy rains yesterday caused flood warnings to be posted for all feeder streams flowing into the Hudson. The downpours were heavy and rain continued through Wednesday night into Thursday morning. All feeder creeks and streams were running high, fast and extremely muddy. Although the main Hudson will get dirty from all this inflow there is no concern about the waterway turning fast and treacherous as in most other non-tidal waters. However, one must be even more careful of flotsam and jetsam that will be washed in by the feeder tributaries. Tom G *************************************** Hudson River Fishing Report – Wednesday, July 22, 2008 We checked out the Hudson all the way from Troy to Saugerties this past Sunday and Monday mornings. Here’s the present situation as we found it: the water temperature was running at a smidgen above 79 degrees in the Albany/ Troy area with a water see-thru clarity of about 10 feet to the north of the DUNN MEMORIAL BRIDGE (1st bridge in Albany) and between 3 and 4 feet to the south of that span (due to heavy commercial boat traffic stirring up bottom sediment); the water was relatively debris free with some minor amounts of loose floating weeds; boat traffic wasn’t too bad except for the big “wake-master” cruisers heading to and from the Federal Lock at Troy. Proceeding further downriver the water clarity continued to improve until, in the Cementon/ Saugerties area, we found a see-thru visibility of as much as 8 feet in spots; the water temperature was slightly warmer, just a hair below 81 degrees; floating debris hazards were minimal but the down-wind side of the river had enough loose floating weeds to make fishing a chore; boat traffic was slightly less than we have been seeing during the past few years. A word on see-thru water clarity – early mornings and higher tides generally will give you greater water clarity, perhaps suggesting the use of lighter line sizes at those times. Once boat traffic increases the waves caused by the wakes stir up the shoreline sediment and reduce the visibility greatly. This becomes even more the case during lower tide periods when more of the shallow silt-covered shorelines are exposed to the intrusive wave action. Larger weed beds do have a filtering effect on the water and you may find 10 feet or more of visibility on the down flow side of some such areas. We had our best success on smallies fishing gravel bars immediately adjacent to deeper water drop-offs. However, many of our favorite locations were barren of any keeper size smallmouths and seemed to be overly populated by channel catfish, many of which were in a spawning mode. Back bay “suckholes” also produced a few fish. Our best results in such places were produced by drop-shotting small 3 inch Senkos. Largemouths appeared to be well tucked into the chestnut beds and rather reluctant to come out. These fish are crammed into very small areas of the chestnut beds – if you can located such specific spots during low tide periods then you should get some good action. Our biggest surprise, and a pleasant one at that, was finding a bunch of nice hefty smallies located on the edge of an eelgrass flat without any deep water in that vicinity. There we managed to put six keeper smallmouths in the boat (and lost one other) in about 15 minutes and additionally boated a bonus 2 keeper bigmouths. These fish came on a Rebel Tennessee shad popper and a white spinnerbait with a single gold Colorado blade. This coming weekend’s best smallmouth fishing times in the Catskill area should occur somewhere between 8 and 11:45 a.m. while the best largemouth tide will probably be from daybreak ‘til 7 and again in the afternoon from about 2 until 7:30. Tom G ***************************************** Hudson River Fishing Report – Friday, July 18, 2008 – With the Hudson’s water temperatures running in the high 70’s it’s quite apparent that summertime fishing conditions exist on the river. This year, somewhat more than in the past several, the tidal waters are running clearer than usual. In many spots the see-thru visibility now extends down to 8 feet which is not so common in this waterway where the current sloshes back and forth every six hours. Of course, this is attributable to the lack of any great amount of rain during the past two months, The amount of floating hazardous debris on the river is minimal… unless one considers the weekend’s kayakers, canoers, jet-boaters, cruisers and water skiers a hazard. But even so, I guess that presently the number of these is also somewhat minimal. I think that the best way to describe the present fishing conditions out there is by example so we’ll take a quick look at the River Basin Sports fishing team of John Imbesi and Steve Daley and their third place finish in the ABA of PA & NJ tournament last Sunday. While pre-fishing the boys had discovered a good grouping of extremely active bass in a weedbed slightly south of Kingston. However, upon arrival at that location they were greeted by 2 foot waves caused by a 20mph+ south wind blowing against the tide. Although they tried hard the best they could do was hook one decent fish… which, due to equipment failure, never even made it back to the boat. Their hot spot was worthless. Jumping around to other possible weed-related locations in that vicinity produced nothing so they headed back up-river to more familiar territory. Spotting a deserted “suck-hole” they took a few casts – and in quick order put three keepers in the boat. Anyone familiar with river bass knows that they have a tendency to move in or off structure in a heartbeat. Such had been the case in this location – one of the most popular spots on the river for tournament anglers! After fruitlessly scouring the rip-rap shore in that same area they moved further upriver into the “saddlebags” section where yet another keeper came into the boat from a weed point. Then they worked their way up to Cementon, again fishing mainly weeds or weed-related hard structure and put three additional keepers in the boat to finish their day with a 7 fish limit of 14 lb 14 oz. From a dismal start to a fairly good day – not too bad! The point of this telling is to show that you should be willing to, and must, hit many, many places during the course of the fishing day. 9 out of 10 might produce nothing but there are active fish out there even under the worse of conditions and they will eventually come to the boat if you keep trying. Lures used for the weed beds are rubber worms, the newer style flapping-leg frogs, creature baits, Senkos and weedless spoons. On hard structure, where possible, toss a Norman’s Deep Baby N in the “gel” color or a white spinnerbait. In the weed beds you must pay particular attention to openings in the mat while retrieving since that’s where the best action usually comes from. And – have a follow-up rod and lure ready to pitch to a bass that just struck and missed your first offering. This weekend’s best largemouth fishing times in the Catskill area should occur between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and smallies should be prime right at first light ‘til about 7:30 a.m. and again in the afternoon from about 4 to 8. Tom G *********************************** Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, July 10, 2008 – The Hudson River is now entering its summer mode – present water temps are running in the high 70’s, and while loose floating weeds can present a problem for fishermen the amount of hazardous floating debris is minimal. Water clarity is good, 5 to 6 feet in most places except at lower tides when boat wakes and waves stir up the shoreline silt. Pleasure boaters seem to dominate the river on weekend afternoons… and the living is easy (except for the gas prices). Largemouth bass are settling into their summer homes in the water chestnut beds but there still are a few stragglers left close to their spawning areas. Most of the smallmouths to be found now are the smaller ones since most of the nice “chunks” headed for deeper water a couple of weeks ago. The summer doldrums are about to start. This Sunday sees the American Bass Association of Pa. & N.J. here for a stop on their tournament trail. This group has been plying our waters for as far back as I can remember and generally has done real well on the river. Still, our newly mandated 15 inch size limit for black bass is bound to present a problem for some of those anglers. Best bets for largemouths would now be in the chestnut beds and at any harder structure in that immediate vicinity. Surface lures such as frogs and spoons should work just fine but sometimes a more subtle approach, such as slowly dragging a tube or worm across the top, will do the trick. If the chestnut beds have surrounding shallow weeds a spinnerbait will often yank a bass or two out of there. Still, don’t ignore the areas around the mouths of tributary creeks – these can hold bass all summer long. Concentrate your weedbed efforts around periods of lower tide. Smallmouths demand moving water and a harder, usually gravel, bottom. Likely productive fishing areas are the numerous “suckholes” that fill and empty the back bays. Smallies will take up feeding stations and wait for their meal to be delivered to them by the moving water. These are very obvious locations for all anglers but since river fish will move in to and out of structure all day long they should not be passed by. Another good structure to fish for smallies is a “sweep” – the up-current side of a point right where it drops into deeper water. Crankbaits, jigs and dropshot methods are very effective in such areas. For this weekend in the Catskill area the best largemouth fishing times should take place between “safe light” and 9 a.m. while smallies should be most catchable between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. But regardless of tide time it always seems as if the first 2-3 hours of daylight each day is a prime time to put a few fish in your livewell. By the way, the catfishing still remains excellent out on the river. I went out for a couple of hours this past Sunday morning and had a nice frying pan of fresh catfish fillets for lunch. Man, it just doesn’t get any better than that! Tom G ********************************* Hudson River Fishing Report – Wednesday, July 02, 2008 – Heading into this July 4th weekend we find the Hudson’s water temperature to still be holding in the 75 to 76 degree range. The see-through clarity though seems to be increasing and in most locations seems to range between 4 and 5 feet. Even though the amount of floating debris on the waterway is minimal every once in a while you will see something which may prove a hazard… like a tree, or piece of bulkhead! Do keep you eyes open. Waterway traffic this weekend will probably be considerable, as will the congestion at most launch ramps –if you want to fish do it in the morning from first light up to about 10:30 a.m. while the pleasure boaters are still having breakfast. I did get a chance to check out the river’s bass fishing last Sunday. My brother and I gave it a good six hours and even though we caught a bunch of bass I would still have to rate the bass fishing as somewhat spotty since there was about a 3 hour long spell when we didn’t even get a bite. We started out the early morning (5:30 a.m.) thinking smallmouths and found them to be feeding on a current-swept gravel shoal. Casting 3 inch long “fluke type” artificials and allowing the current to bounce them along the bottom until they came to the top of a 4 to 10 foot drop-off produced great action. This accounted for 8 boated fish, and another 2 that managed to escape the hook. Shifting a little from that position and trying the same tactic around some free-standing pilings put another 2 smallies in the boat for us. This was all done on the tail end of an out-flowing tide. Then, as the tide slowed and approached slack low, the smallmouths disappeared so we decided to run south in the river and pick up a rising tide further on down. By this time the sun was already fairly high and we knew that the best fishing of the day was done. Several gravel areas we tried produced nothing and the low-tide chestnut bed we frogged for largemouths also appeared to be deserted. Eventually, as the rising tide picked up velocity, we managed another couple of smallies from an underwater gravel hump but it was obvious that the better smallies were hiding somewhere else, somewhere that we weren’t going to find them. So, we went into the back of a cove to look for some largemouths that might still be hanging around in close vicinity to their spawning area. Some were. After fishing about 20 minutes with the 3 inch “fluke” minnows and not getting a bite I switched to a four incher and received almost immediate affirmation of the value of the change – they wanted the 4 incher, not the 3. Of the five largemouths that we found in that location 4 were in the 3 pound class and there was one that went over 4. Surprisingly, the largest one’s tail was not only still red from the recent spawn, as were those of the other 4, but was actually yet bleeding – a sure sign that this particular fish was still in the process of spawning. Go figure – it was a strange year with the striper run and the strangeness seems to have continued with the largemouth. Anyway, it seems that the Hudson’s bass are fairly active but you might have to choose your fishing time and location very carefully. If the bass frustrate you then you might try some channel catfish action – that’s been great ever since ice-out this year. Fancy baits aren’t necessary, night crawlers or minnows work just fine but the best bait is probably small herring chunks fished right on bottom. We’ve still got some frozen herring left here at the River Basin Sports Shop but the supply always seems to sell out by mid-summer. Best fishing times for smallies this weekend, in the Catskill area, should be from first light up until about 8 a.m. The largemouths should be most active from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 in the afternoon. The catfish should bite well all day long. Good Luck. Tom G ********************************** Hudson River/ Catskill area Fishing Report – Thursday, June 26, 2008 – New York’s black bass season finally had its official start this past Saturday, a week later than most anglers had expected due to a strange calendar configuration. Locally most ponds and lakes were in excellent shape for the fishermen and angler success seemed to be high. Locally the most talked about body of water during the past 2 weeks has been Albany’s Basic Reservoir. Since it’s 9/11 fishing closure it has had years to allow its fish population to return to just about a virgin state. The anglers who went and got their new reservoir permits have been having a field day. What’s been happening is this – northern pike up to 44 inches, walleyes to 9 pounds, largemouths to 7 pounds and lots of other panfish. The water is being hit hard by the fishermen and the success being had there most certainly cannot be sustained for long. For information on getting a permit call (518) 434-5300. On the Hudson River the summertime bass patterns are finally starting to kick in. The water temp is holding right around the mid-70 mark and the water chestnut beds are just about fully developed. Water clarity in most locations is about 3 feet but can be far greater on the down-current side of larger chestnut beds. The amount of floating debris in the river is rather minimal with the exception of some lose matted weeds. Boat traffic on the waterway last weekend was light but you can expect the Saturday and Sunday afternoons from this time on to get much busier (don’t quite know what effect the gas prices will have on this yet). The areas where bass were spawning just two or three weeks ago are now starting to lose those fish, but the present pleasant water temperature will probably keep some bass hanging around. Still, lots of largemouths have already transitioned into their summertime habitat. Smallmouths have also moved into their vacation quarters although you certainly couldn’t have proved it by my performance last weekend. I only caught one keeper smallie all day long… of course it was 18 inches long so that, as well as a hefty bag of largemouths, made for a great day. Top producing lures were reported to be white with single gold Colorado blade spinnerbaits, and assorted frogs thrown across the chestnut beds. Most certainly some crankbaits were working better than others and one in particular, Normans Deep Baby N, accounted for some good fish. The better locations last weekend appeared to be chestnut related – Coxsackie cove, outer Stockport cove, and Embough Bay but some harder structures in close proximity to the weedbeds also accounted for good bass. It must be remembered that for some inane reason the river has a 15 inch limit on black bass so while the catching out there can be fairly easy - putting together a livewell limit of five 15” keepers can be a difficult task. The local GREENE COUNTY BASSMASTERS held their traditional season opening tournament on the river last Sunday and here’s what their results showed: their total catch averaged out to 2.83 fish per angler and those bass averaged out to a hefty 2.61 lbs. each (not surprising with a 15” limit). The winner’s weight of 16.58 pounds works out to a 3.32 lb. average per fish, with the lunker in that bag having tipped the scales at 3.73 pounds. Their top 6 finishers were as follows: 1) Gentalen, 2) Imbesi, 3) Daley, 4) Burton, 5) Tabor, 6) Henderson. Top largemouth fishing times on the river for this weekend, in the Catskill area, will occur from daybreak up until 9 a.m. (and at approximately the same time in the late afternoon) and the top smallmouth “catch’n” times should be from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. Tom G ************************************* Hudson River Fishing Report – Friday June 20, 2008 – Although summer is now upon us it seems that the Hudson River is still holding in a late spring pattern. With mid-day water temperatures ranging from 75 to 78 degrees the largemouth bass still have not fully established themselves in their preferred summer habitat. Sure, there are some that are holding on harder structure close to their favorite weed bed locations but lots are still to be found meandering around the feeder tributaries where they spawned not too long ago. The main Hudson River is in real good shape with many locations having perfect 3 foot fishing clarity and not much in the way of floating hazards. Most certainly the heavy storms that passed through the region a few days ago added color to some inflowing creeks but any deleterious effects from that should be over by this weekend. Several reports indicate that the LOWER sections of all three major tidewater feeder creeks should be capable of producing good size fish at the present. In the Esopus the entrance pilings and the north side shoreline up from the coast guard station might bear checking out while in the Catskill Creek the entire section up to the 9-W Bridge has great potential. The tidal Rondout Creek in Kingston, due to its different configuration, should be holding good fish throughout its entire length. If you have a favorite main river weed bed location you should certainly give it a try but unless you get some fairly quick action there you should move on to some adjacent harder structure. Standard lure assortments should work just fine but this happens to be a favorite time of year for me to throw some top-waters and spinnerbaits; a favorite crankbait is Norman’s Deep Baby N in either the “spring craw” or Tennessee shad pattern. We’ll be able to give a much more factual appraisal of what’s going on with the river’s bass fishing after this weekend, when the season has officially started. Tom G ************************************* Catskill / Hudson River Update – Friday, June 13, 2008 Presently the water temperature in the Hudson is running in the mid-70’s but if you venture further up the feeder creeks there seems to be a definite warm up. This past Sunday in the early morning the main flow was about 73 but when I went up the Esopus Creek in Saugerties, on my scouting expedition, the temperature at the cliffs was all the way up to 78. In the main river you’ll find very little floating debris thanks to the lack of heavier rain this year but there definitely are smaller rafts of torn-free weeds drifting around in some sections. The water clarity from Athens to the south is good with a see-thru visibility of 3 feet or more but reports from further to the north were of dingier water. It’s kind of hard to predict how heavy the seasonal weekend boat traffic out there will be this year but it’s bound to be a little less than we’ve been seeing in the years past due to the exorbitant cost of gas. While the scouting reports indicate that many river smallmouth bass have already moved into their summertime habitat such does not appear to be the case with the largemouths. The largemouths up to this time have been holding in the near-proximity of their spawning areas – the larger deeper back bays and the feeder creeks. The water chestnut beds are quickly developing but as of last weekend still were not visible until the tide was about half low. The carp seem to be in a spawning frenzy in these newly forming chestnut beds and you’ll see churning water everywhere. Although the larger striped bass have mostly abandoned our waters until next April yet remaining are smaller schoolie striped bass which seem to be excessively abundant this year. Most better smallmouth areas with water flow are reported to be attracting groups of such 14 to 24 inch linesiders. The channel catfish explosion continues on the river and up the feeder creeks – these fish are ranging from 12 to 26 inches in length and, as much as I don’t really want to admit it, usually put up a much better, although different, fight than their black bass cousins. Good baits for the cats can be just about anything that will put out a scent trail for them to follow – commercially prepared baits, minnows, night crawlers, chunk herring, etc. Although lighter fishing gear will usually work just fine a medium to medium-heavy rod with 14 lb. test is just about perfect. I’ll take mine filleted and out of the frying pan while still warm, thank you! Tom G ***************************** Catskill / Hudson River Update – Friday, June 06, 2008 With the water temperature in the river running in the low 70’s this past week it was surprising to see how many stripers were still out there to be caught. Most certainly they weren’t the size of those that were out there just a week ago but there’s certainly nothing wrong with catching stripers bigger than 2 ½ feet in length. Chunk bait was, and still is, working well to catch these fish but it is a chore trying to keep your bait away from the catfish and eels, both of which also just love chunk herring. Trolling is also presently working for the stripers. When I go out I’ll start by checking three different contour levels, starting at first light in the morning with the shallowest one. If this 10 – 12 foot level doesn’t produce I’ll drop down to the 16 – 18 foot level next, and then try the 25 – 28 foot depth as a final resort. If a fish is taken at any time, immediately after landing (and releasing) it I’ll circle back a couple of hundred yards and make that portion of the run again. This doubling back is a necessity if you want to catch more fish – do NOT continue your troll without rechecking the area of the first hit. Using 14 pound test mono the lures that will run at these levels are: 10/12 – your standard lipped larger plugs such as Rapala 18 or Rapala Husky 13, Bomber 17A; 16/18 – Rebel DJ30 series or Bomber 25A series; 26/28 – Bomber 26A or Mann’s Stretch 25+. If you troll rough rocky areas we do suggest the use of a 24” steel leader even though we know that this will reduce the action of the lure and lessen its running depth. But – it is a necessity if you don’t want to have to tie on a new $8 lure every 10 minutes. If the trolling becomes impossible due to an excess of loose floating weeds try shifting to the opposite side of the river if possible – often the wind and current cause one side to be unfishable while the other side is clear. With the water temp as warm as it is and real hot weather due to arrive in the next few days any of the river’s black bass that have not yet completed their spawn will certainly do so this week. This is just in time for the state’s black bass season opener on Saturday, June 21st. The conditions being what they are I would expect the bass to be hanging around in relatively close proximity to their spawning areas in the feeder creeks as well as in certain larger back bays in the main river itself. Remember that the river’s black bass have to be 15 inches long before they can go into the livewell. Locally the Greene County Bassmasters fishing club will be on the Hudson Sunday (June 22nd) for their traditional bass season opener tournament. This opening contest typically sees some of the best tournament weights of the year brought in. Among the members trying to become this year’s top angler, MR. BASS 2008, will be last year’s top six finishers - 1) Gentalen, 2) Daley, 3) Henderson, 4) Imbesi, 5) Menelaos, 6) Tabor. Members are reminded that there is a meeting this week. This upcoming week will be the last time to sign up for our annual River Basin Sports black bass contest. The entry fee is $5 and the prizes are: first prize (longest bass) - $75 in merchandise of your choice and second (longest 5 bass total) is $50 worth of goodies. Last year’s winners were Ken Boehlke Sr. with a 20 ¼” largemouth bass and Mike Proper Sr. with a 5 bass total length of 84 ¾”. Tom G ******************************* Catskill / Hudson River Note – Thursday, May 29, 2008 We’ll just insert a brief note here for those of you still interested in trying to land a striper – THEY’RE STILL HERE. Not only are they here but there are some real slammers out there. We’re aware of at least three fish in the 47 inch range that have been caught during the past 3 days and, of course, plenty of other smaller ones were also taken. I was talking to Mike, the owner of Catskill’s River View Marina, this morning and he said that in his opinion the best fishing of the entire run was taking place right now. If that’s not the truth it certainly must be real close to it. So, if you want to give it a try this weekend don’t be shy. There were some anglers out there trolling this week and the ones we talked to caught their share of fish, albeit mostly smaller ones in the 2 to 2 ½ foot category. The shoreline anglers down at the Catskill Point Park also were getting some, although the number of channel catfish caught certainly outnumbered the quantity of stripers hauled in over the shoreline rip-rap. Additionally there still appears to be an abundance of bait herring to be caught - but if you don’t have confidence in that aspect of it we still have a supply of “legal” frozen bait available here at the shop. Tom G **************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Although our Striped Bass contest has now concluded the striped bass are still around. The river around Catskill continues to produce excellent fishing for them with fish up to 41 inches still being caught! Even so we know that all this is due to come to an end very soon as more and more stripers finish their 2008 spawn, There is no doubt that this was probably our best striper year in both quality and quantity in the past 10 years. Regular spots will continue to produce good fishing as long as the stripers are here but there always seem to be one or two locations that appear to shine brighter than the rest after the main run is over. One of these is the edge of the main channel drop-off immediately out from the Catskill launch ramp. For some reason the stripers will tend to linger and group in that area. The other location is not for those of you with larger boats – it’s up the Catskill Creek, up past many of the hazardous shoal areas. It seems that after the main spawn in the river has completed a number of the remaining larger stripers start to cruise up the tidewater feeder streams. Why this happens I don’t know. Are the stripers looking for mates? Not likely since their spawning occurs in the main river itself. A more logical conclusion here might be that they are looking for food. Usually by the start of June a lot of our herring have completed their spawn and their numbers are starting to thin out - but the creeks continue to hold heavier concentrations of them. It’s just natural that the big predators will seek them out. Night time in particular, on a rising tide, will see the stripers follow the flooding flow all the way up to the head of tidewater and then either drop back into the deeper holes or the river itself when daylight or a lower tide comes about. Herring work real well for this creek fishing but may become harder to obtain. We used to use #13 Rapala Husky lures but all too often these big fish would straighten out those hooks. A much better substitute was found in the larger salt water sized shallow running #17 Bomber Long A plugs which have magnum strength hooks. Such should be cast over shoal areas that have from 2 to 6 feet of water over them, or on the upstream edge of the deeper holes immediately below the shoals. As we previously noted, winners in our striper contest who have not already been in contact with us may come through the shop at any time to collect their winnings. Be sure to have your driver’s license and social security number with you when you come. Although we’ll still be fishing stripers in a big way for another week or two in our area the black bass season is now right around the corner. At the bottom of this page is a listing of the river’s bass tournaments in the Catskill area of which we are aware. This list is liable to change at any time. Here at the shop we will again hold our own small-scale annual black bass contest which will run from June 14 through noon on Saturday July 7th. The entry fee is $5 and there are two different prizes: 1st (largest bass) $75 merchandise of your choice; 2nd (longest 5 bass total accumulated. Call us for further details. Tom G ********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Saturday NOON, May 24, 2008 The 2008 striped bass contest is officially over. The final results can be seen immediately above this posting. Tom G ************************************* Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Saturday a.m., May 24, 2008 Our contest standings were once more altered this morning when Jason Alvarez of Hudson pulled in to the shop with a 45 ½ inch brute of a striper. Jason was fishing the upper “Bridge Run” at Catskill at 1 a.m. in the morning when the large striper inhaled his live herring. “It reeled in so easy I thought it was a catfish,” commented Jason. This catch moved Jason into a tie with Tim Haas for second place in our contest which, as of this writing still has approximately 4 hours to run. “It ain’t over till it’s over”… Yogi Berra. Let’s see what the rest of the morning brings. Tom G ********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Friday, May 23, 2008 Last night saw Catskill’s first large striper spawn of the 2008 run. That occurrence probably was a mirror image of what was going on at other locations both up and down river from the Catskill Point. But it won’t be the end of it – no way! The water temp last night was only around 59 which was below the preferred spawning temperature for our Hudson River stripers. However, it seems that due to the time factor involved the eggs in some fish have ripened sufficiently so as to bring on the spawn. Still, the cooler water temperature should have a dampening effect on the spawn and help delay the process in many other locations for 3 to 5 days (or more) into the future. I’d have to say that the striper run, as far as numbers are concerned, is at its peak right now. Lots of fish are being caught at most locations in what probably is the best run of the last 10 years. Additionally, the river is just chock-full of herring so if you wish to try catching your own bait it should be relatively easy – just get yourself a herring rig (Sabiki) and drag it through the water. Our contest will be ending tomorrow and we’ll post the results right here as soon after noon time as possible. The winners, with the exception of the Number One angler, may stop through the River Basin Sports Shop any time afterward to collect their prizes. Winners, please remember that we will need your driver’s license and social security number before we can conclude the winning transaction. The top man should contact us for details regarding his payback. Tom G ************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Thursday, May 22, 2008 The striped bass action has continued to be strong for the last couple of days. All the way from Norrie Point to Bethlehem the reports have been of good to excellent fishing. The main exception to this abundance of fish seems to be up in the Troy area from where we’ve heard many tales of woe – but if you drop back downriver a few miles to Albany the fishing improves. In the upper stretches of tidewater most fish are tending to run between 5 and 25 pounds but from Coxsackie to the south the fish are much heftier with quite a few that hit the scales from 32 to 38 pounds. There seems to be an abundance of herring all up and down the river, probably the strongest showing of the last 10 years. Yesterday we did have another change in our striped bass contest standings when Eric Borchert of High Falls landed a 44 ¾” beaut. Eric was fishing a four foot deep section of the Esopus Meadows with chunk bait when the linesider nailed his bait. That fish earns the fisherman the number 6 spot in our tournament standings. As I am sure most of the 469 people entered in our contest are aware, the event will come to a conclusion at 12 noon this Saturday (May 24). But with the abundance of big fish yet in the river the contest standings are liable to change right up to the last minute. If you do catch a fish on Saturday just remember this part of the rules – “Any fish brought in after 12 noon Saturday, May 24, 2008 will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered for contest ranking.” We will post a final standings result here as soon as possible after the conclusion of the event. The fishing is still excellent on the Hudson and the weather forecast for this Saturday and Sunday looks great – get out and enjoy our great river this Memorial Day weekend! Tom G ******************************** Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 10 a.m. - There was an error in our contest standings list for a short while this morning - it's been corrected now. Tom G ******************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Tuesday, May 20, 2008 It was just barely a day and a half ago when Walt Chudkosky landed the new leader in our River Basin Sports striped bass contest, a huge 46 inch fish that was the FIRST ONE to legitimately tip our scales at over 40 pounds this year (40 lb. 11 oz. adj.) Walt was following his usual fishing procedures and fishing chunk bait in shallower waters in the dark of night. Additionally, he was fishing one of his favorite locations in the Esopus Meadows section of the river and… it was during the days surrounding the full moon, a time believed by many fishermen to be THE time to catch BIG fish. It worked for him. This morning here in the Catskill Germantown Malden “magic triangle” another “belief” seemed to hold true as several fish over 40 inches were taken during the morning bite. That belief is that approximately 1 to 2 days after larger fish have been observed to arrive at the Esopus Meadows section of the river (approximately 25 miles south of Catskill) the fish from that same schooling batch will have traveled further northward and arrived at Catskill. Illustrating that belief was Vince Amoia’s catch of a 44 ¼ inch striper at Malden at just about 6 a.m. this morning. Additionally, other giant fish we are aware of were landed here this morning by Gerard Uhrik, Jerry Rowell, John Munno and Capt. Richard Booth. There’s no doubt that a batch of larger fish are now moving upriver but how far up they’ll go is unknown. One of the larger fish at Catskill was reported to have already been spawned out and a report from Bethlehem shows that those fish up there are ready to do the same thing. Once they spawn, they are gone. Still, with the cooler weather predicted for the next few days the fishing should remain good to excellent in our local area of Coxsackie to Malden. Tom G. ***************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Monday, May 19, 2008 Well known river fisherman Walt Chudkosky has bounced back up into the lead in our striped bass contest with a 46 inch giant striper. He took the linesider while fishing a four foot deep river flat with chunk herring at 11 p.m. last night. The fishing action on the river as a whole remains good but not as good as it was this past Saturday when it seemed that just about everybody could get their limit. The water temperature is still hovering around the 59 to 60 degree mark and from all indications should remain at this level for the next 3 or 4 days. With the water temp stablizing at the present level the completion of the striped bass spawn should be delayed for yet another 10 to 14 days. This is great for all you late-run anglers since you will have a decent shot at catching them right through this Memorial Day weekend. Even though we have received reports of immediate pre-spawn behavior from Poughkeepsie and Esopus Meadows,and even as far north as Four Mile Point (Athens) there has been no major spawn reported as of this time. Locations report schools of fish moving in and out so just because your home water seemed barren today does not mean it won't be hot tomorrow. Thanks for all the reports coming in - they are appreciated. Good Luck - Tom G *********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Saturday A.M., May 17, 2008 We’ve received our first report of the start of spawning activity from a few miles north of Poughkeepsie. Hopefully the cool weather predicted for the next few days will prolong the entire procedure. The fishing action in the Catskill area appears to be excellent at this present time with multiple fish landings per boat being reported. The Stockport and Coxsackie cliffs sections are also producing fish. The Ravena Coeymans area reported slow action as of a couple of days ago but we are expecting that to turn red-hot at any time now. Due to the lack of reports from most other sections we have to assume that the stripers are probably there but that the fishing could be better. Herring seem to be abundant in most areas. Tom G ***************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Thursday, May 15, 2008 The striper action here at Catskill during the past 4 days has definitely seen an uphill trend with more anglers than usual reporting multiple catches. This morning that same situation was seen continuing with fish up to 40 inches in length being caught. The water temperature in the river at Catskill this morning was running about 59-60 degrees and this, along with the continuing increase in fish activity, would indicate that the stripers are in an IMMEDIATE PRE-SPAWN CONDITION. The spawn may be delayed somewhat by the showery, cloudy weather predicted for the next few days but it is right around the corner. The best striper fishing of the year, here in the Catskill area, will probably occur within the next 7 days. One of the signs of an ongoing spawn is seeing smaller stripers following a hooked fish to the boat. Sometimes multiple fish are netted in the attempt to net the hooked striper. Another sure sign is seeing smaller male stripers chasing a larger female in tight circles at the surface of the water. Quite often this will tend to be a mass ritual where an acre or more of water seems to be covered with thrashing fish. This will usually take place in the slightly slower flow of side coves but can occur right in the middle of the main river channel itself, either at night or in the daytime. If you observe this do NOT drive your boat into the middle of the fracas - these fish are just about oblivious to any external danger and you will definitely cause damage and death to multiple fish with your motor. Fishing such areas of spawn can pay off. Even though the fish that are engrossed in the actual act of spawning will not bite – there usually is a whole bunch of other ones in the water below the spawning fish which are more than willing to strike a bait. We have not had any reports as of yet of either of the two above mentioned events occurring. If you witness either please send us a report of it to “tomgriver at yahoo.com” and include the date, time of day, location and water temp (if possible). But, whatever you do – try to get out on the river during this next week. Tom G ******************************* Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Wednesday A.M., May 14, 2008 It appears that the grouping of larger stripers which was down in the Esopus Meadows section of the river at the end of last week is presently up in the Catskill-Stockport area. The largest three fish to be caught during the past 4 days, have all come from that stretch. The most recent fish was a 45 1/4" beauty taken yesterday evening at the mouth of the Catskill Creek by Marcel Boisvert of Hudson. This places Marcel into a tie for second with Frank Green. The scary thing here is that the BEST fishing of the 2008 run is probably yet to come in the next week or two. Tom G *************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Tuesday A.M., May 13, 2008 Tim Haas had to work last night - until 10:30 p.m.. Sure, he was tired, but the night was too perfect to just go home... but it WAS just perfect for a little bit of STRIPER FISHING! So Tim went down to the Hudson River shoreline in Catskill, managed to catch a live herring without too much trouble and flung this offering out to the great "God Of The Hudson". Somebody out there must have been paying attention for it wasn't too much later when the line started to zing off Tim's reel. The battle was joined! From the way the ensuing fight went it was obviously a truly BIG FISH! Somewhat later a good sized striper finally came to shore and then came the long wait 'till morning and a visit to the RIVER BASIN. When I put that striper on the measuring board the fish's tail covered the 45 1/2 inch mark easily and thereby gave us a new leader in our 2008 striped bass contest. Nice fish. Congrats, Tim! Now Tim, as well as the rest of us, will just have to sit back and see what other fish the next 13 days have in store for us. Tom G *************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Monday P.M., May 12, 2008 The nice stripers continue to come in. At this point it’s quite obvious that we’re having the best run of fish that we’ve seen in the last 6-8 years, additionally it seems to be a banner year for herring. Whether this is just a fluke year with a great grouping of stripers or perhaps the long-anticipated cyclical turnaround in their numbers won’t really be known until we see what next year’s run brings. This past weekend saw our striped bass contest standings shift several times with the main change being to the first place slot. It was Beacon’s Frank Green who brought in a 45 ¼ incher on Saturday to take over the contest lead. Frank was fishing early daylight on the Esopus Meadows section of the river when his big fish hit. Lori Lasch’s 44 ½ incher had been holding first place until Frank’s fish came in… but as of now she’s been pushed all the way down to 3rd place since Brian Bishop of Philmont brought in yet another of 2008’s hefty stripers. Brian, now in second place, was fishing a live herring in the Stockport area of the river on Sunday when his 45 inch long rockfish struck. Contest entries over 40 inches in length abound this year and this morning I even had to inform 3 additional fishermen that their fish, running between 41 and 42 inches long, were not large enough to make the present minimum contest entry ranking of 42.25 inches. Action in the river is fair to very-good all the way from Norrie Point north to Troy. This past weekend the Troy-Albany section seemed to produce fairly good results but most of the fish reported were less than 36 inches. We know from past experience that the action there should ratchet up several additional notches starting this week. Herring seemed to be in abundance. Dennis, who runs his own annual striper derby out of the Castleton Yacht club, reported action in his last weekend’s contest to be far better than what he saw last year - a 40 inch fish won the contest. He anticipates even better fare this week – and we have to agree with that assessment. As of this morning the reports were that the stretch between Ravena and New Baltimore had started to produce fairly well as we had several reports of multiple catches from there. As I was talking to one of those anglers on the phone, telling him that his 41 incher wasn’t big enough for the contest, we had to break off the conversation because he had another run just then. The Coxsackie cliffs produced quite a few fish this weekend but we didn’t hear of any real big ones. The Stockport area of the main river just a bit further south from there just might have been tops on the big fish list and produced several over 40 inches, including the 45 incher now in second place in our contest. Catskill’s bridge run seems to be producing quick bursts of action – the bite is terrific for 30 minutes or so and then dies right off. Obviously the schools of stripers are just moving through there without lingering too long. We haven’t heard too much from the Roe-Jan area lately but the Cheviot section is still producing fish. We’d have to rate West Camp-Malden as fair, although we know one lucky angler who takes his share there on a regular basis. Glasco Flats (Saddlebags) has stripers but we’re not seeing any giants from there. The same report seems to hold true for the mid-river flats both north and south of the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge. Just to the south of Kingston the Esopus Meadows and Vandenberg Cove areas are producing and had some big fish there just a few days ago. Presently we’re lacking any data from further south. The main river temperature around Catskill has been hovering around the 54 degree mark now for 5-6 days… which is good - it should help delay this year’s striper spawn for another week or two. Last year (2007) in some sections of the river we saw the start of spawn on May 11 but that date has already passed us by. Right now we’re hoping for at least another week before the spawning action starts in the southern section of the river and perhaps a week and a half before the fish around Catskill do the same. When that water temperature rises into the low 60’s the procreation activity will start and proceed to conclusion fairly rapidly. For you upriver guys - Albany’s spawn can be starting a full week behind Catskill’s. The VERY BEST striper fishing will take place starting about 4 days before spawn and last about a week. Here’s an internet special on 2 top-of-the-line OKUMA baitrunner reels which are brand new for 2008. The following rock-bottom prices are only valid if you ask – they are not listed anywhere in the store and we only have 1 left of each reel so if one strikes your fancy – don’t delay. OKUMA SALINA SAF 55 - $87.97 OKUMA SALINA SAF 65 - $93.98 Anglers – the next two weeks on the river should be the best. Don’t miss out on it. Tom G ******************************************* Catskill / Hudson River Striper NOTE – Monday A.M., May 11, 2008 Several changes have occured in our contest standings since last Friday. ************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Friday A.M., May 09, 2008 Looks like it might be a good striper weekend on the river… if the weather doesn’t goof it up for you. Although today’s rain is supposed to be over by Saturday it will probably get breezy. Bring warmer gear along. All in all the striper action on the river remains good but there are some barren spots out there. Better spots right now are at the Esopus Meadows-Vandenberg Cove section, the mid-river flats both north and south of the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge, the Saddlebag flats around the Glasco area, Catskill’s Bridge Run, and the Albany-Troy area. Just because we haven’t mentioned any some particular location above doesn’t mean that the fishing there is necessarily poor – we probably just haven’t received sufficient reports about it, so don’t hesitate to go out. It looks like it’s probably one of the best striper runs we’ve had in the last 6 or 7 years. Locally in the Catskill area the river temp this morning was around 53 and the Catskill Creek was running at around 57. The fishing was respectable and I’m aware of at least 2 bigger fish being taken on the bridge run. Salted chunk herring is working extremely well. Catskill’s Dutchmen’s Landing boat ramp now has brand new floating docks to aid in your efforts in putting your boat in the water. The ramp is 4 lanes and there is NO user fee. Good luck this weekend. We’re expecting (hoping) to see a few more monster stripers hit our measuring board in the next couple of days. Tom G *********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Thursday afternoon, May 8, 2008 The larger fish just keep rolling in: This morning it was Greg Zifchak of Port Ewen who nailed a 44 inch striper to move into third place in our contest standings. While fishing in the Esopus Meadows section of the river yesterday a huge fish played keep-away with him so he was back out at that very same spot today to play another round. This time he won! His bait of choice was a herring chunk (head). Looking good out there. Tom G ******************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Thursday, May 8, 2008 While there undoubtedly are some spots on the river where the action may be slow there certainly is no doubt that we have a bunch of bigger stripers roaming our waters right now. We have had 2 contest rankings change since late yesterday afternoon. Wayne Farber, fishing from shore down in the Poughkeepsie section of the river, brought in a great 43 1/4 incher late yesterday afternoon, and this morning Jerry Rowell Sr. landed a 43 3/4 incher on the Catskill Bridge Run while using cut bait. As of this time Jerry is in the 3rd slot in the contest and Wayne is fourth. Tom G ********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Wednesday, May 07, 2008 The good striper bite continues this morning with fish up to 40" being taken. Our contest standings list (above) seems to change just about every hour. **************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Tuesday, May 06, 2008 A glance at the changed striped bass standings roster above will show that the river has gone through a change - and definitely for the better! Yesterday we started to get an inkling that something was happening... and indeed it was. As of today we have a goodly bunch of stripers in our river all the way from Kingston to Albany. Reports of multi-catches have come in all day today and the next few days should see the fishing improve even more. Additionally the reports are that herring abound throughout the same area. I'll try to post the new pictures tomorrow.Sorry to Peter Longo whose first fish never got seen on the website but he has now replaced it by a another even larger one. Tom G ******************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Monday, May 05, 2008 New leader - 44 1/2 inches - caught by Lori Lasch. Lori Lasch, the winner of our 2005 striped bass contest with a 45 3/4" striped bass, has once more shown that she has the perseverance to bring in a big fish. She and her husband, both now on the first week of their Hudson River fishing vacation, were in the New Baltimore / Coeymans area when it appeared that perhaps their fishing lines had tangled. When she picked up her rod she quickly discovered that it was no tangle at all as her 30 pound test line went zipping off her reel. The resulting drawn-out battle drew to a conclusion with the use of a Boga Grip and a quick measurement showed the fish to be close to the River Basin's contest lead. Upon official measurement that was shown to be the case - by a mere 1/4 inch. 44 1/2 inches!! It's nice to see that the larger fish are finally starting to make it to the upper environs of our tidewater Hudson. All that remains now is for those anglers up there to catch them. Tom G *************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Monday, May 05, 2008 As can be seen from the striped bass contest standings above we now have a full field of entries in contention. The final open slot was filled this past Saturday when Peter Longo brought in his 39 ½ incher for a measurement. Pete caught his fish in the Malden area of the river on live herring and now is locked into 6th place. This dropped Scott Skelley’s 38 ¾ incher down to the 8th payback spot and puts him right on the bubble of having his entry eliminated. From this point on fish smaller than 38 ¾ inches brought in for the competition will have no standing, but if you’re not sure of your measurement don’t hesitate to bring it in – we’ll be more than happy to give it an official look-see. . As we’ve been posting here, the fishing has been rather spotty all up and down the river. Sure, a few of the “seasoned” striper guys might go out to their favorite locations and catch multiple fish but overall – that just is not the case. So far we’ve heard of one river tournament being cancelled and yet another postponed because of the present conditions. And, the results of this past weekend’s Albany tournament certainly weren’t much to talk about either – mostly smaller fish… and less than 2 dozen weighed in by the hundreds of entrants. Even so, we did see an increase in action here in our area starting late Saturday and continuing right through this morning’s tides. In the area from Stockport Creek to Malden we are aware of perhaps a dozen or more nice stripers that were boated. Additionally, the area around the Glasco flats (Saddlebags) and the Catskill Bridge Run also had some respectable action. These fish ranged from about 28 inches all the way up to 38 (we measured in a 38 ¼ for the “Le Chef” this morning). Both live and chunk herring seem to be working equally well but anglers are reporting that the herring were in short supply this past weekend. With this present warming trend upon us we are anticipating an increase in the striper activity during the next few days. Data - here’s the weight/length for the top and bottom fish in our contest so far: smallest – 38.25 inches, 22.5 pounds; largest – 44.25 inches, 38.75 pounds. Here’s hoping we’ll see something bigger in the next few days. Tom G ******************************* Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Friday, May 2, 2008 We had been receiving a few reports of what seemed to be a grouping of larger stripers moving upriver since late yesterday afternoon. Those fish were just to the south of Kingston and, if their migration continues as usual, should be making their presence known in the Catskill area sometime this weekend. The stripers ranged upwards of the 38 ½ incher that Gregg Zifchak caught there late yesterday afternoon and appear to be the grouping that contained what is now the new leader of our striped bass contest. And - the new leader is a 44 ¼” linesider that was caught by well-known river fisherman Walt Chudkosky of Wappingers Falls. Walt tied into the fish while night fishing to the south of Kingston at approximately 1 a.m. this morning. He reported that there also were other respectable fish in that area. This pretty well coincides with other reports we’ve received this afternoon. Looks like it just might be a good weekend for larger bass around Catskill – we’ll know tomorrow morning if those fish have made it to our area. Tom G ************************************ Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Friday, May 02, 2008, noon We do have a new leader in the contest - 44 1/4". We'll post details as soon as possible. *********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Friday, May 02, 2008 NEW CONTEST ENTRY - Although yesterday morning’s bite was weak, from the local reports we received it was apparent that there was a slight pickup in the action later on in the day. Included in the above action was a new entry in our striper contest, a 38 ¾ inch fish which now holds 6th place in our contest standings. Scott Skelly of Hillsdale took the fish to the north of Catskill’s Rip Van Winkle Bridge yesterday afternoon while fishing a live herring. There is a picture of it up on our “pictures” page. While we’re here I’ll just mention that traditionally the beginning of May sees what must be a “flushing out” of the above-tidewater river’s locks. Generally speaking this occurrence gives us poor downriver boaters a couple of weeks of all sorts of floating debris to contend with – it can be extremely hazardous out there and you must use extra vigilance while plying the Hudson’s waters during this time. Tom G *********************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Thursday, May 1, 2008 Unfortunately at the present time there seems to be relatively little good to report about the status of this year’s striper run. Regardless of what you might hear from a few lucky individuals about numbers of fish being caught, the action out there is definitely spotty. Most of the fish from the south of Kingston all the way up to Albany have been measuring between 22 and 32 inches. But, as usual, there also is a spattering of them that hit the 36-37 inch mark. And, not to be left out, we have also already received our usual half-dozen or so annual reports of 48 inch stripers being caught, but none of these were caught by the 469 entrants in our contest, nor were they measured by us. The rains of a few days ago certainly did muddy up the local tributary creeks for a day or three but those waterways are pretty much back to normal now and completely fishable. A few of the deeper holes (15 feet and deeper) in these creeks are virtually untouched by the majority of striped bass anglers. These locations are paying off for the select-few fishermen with the patience to fish them properly. The trick there is to live-line a weighted herring under a slip-float, about 10 to 15 feet deep. Best times are early morning and at any other time when the boat traffic is at a minimum. The locations that have shoreline anglers in presence are generally best avoided. With the river temperature now in the low to mid-50’s (creek temps in the upper 40’s) it seems that the rains and the present cold snap (I had 28 degrees at my house this morning and yesterday some higher elevation locations in the area saw snow) put a temporary pause on the progress of this spring’s action. However, we must remember that the run this year was about a week early to start with and traditionally THIS coming week is the time when the action has really started to pick up. It seems that we are probably reverting back to a more-normal schedule now – if so, then we should see improving action these next few days. A couple of interesting tidbits, for whatever they might be worth: Al Higgins, a long time friend who writes an outdoor column for the Kingston Freeman newspaper, related his experience spending a long day on the river this week, all the way from Norrie Point up to Turkey Point (Kingston area). It was a rather frustrating time for him with not much to show for it until… he finally marked a large school of fish on his sonar – not just a large school, it was huge! Then it was non-stop action until he finally lost his last Heddon Sonar lure and had to leave. Yes, it is possible to catch stripers on the river with artificials if you know what you’re doing. Most of those fish were less than 34 inches in length but - what a blast! He had a great time and I’m sure he’ll write all about it in his column this weekend. From up around Bethlehem/Albany way we’ve received two different but similar reports. Both Dennis and Cliff told me about male fish “running milt” when they were boated. The anglers reported the water temperature as being in the 52 – 55 degree range which is a far cry from the usual striper spawning temperature in the low 60’s. Most certainly smaller males will be ready for spawn before that optimal temperature is reached but this seems to be a little bit earlier than I can recall. Best of luck this weekend. Bring back a big one - I'm dying to measure one such. Tom G ***************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update – Monday, April 28, 2008 Although we did get a spurt of action from a few somewhat larger stripers on Saturday afternoon that faded away with the cold light of Sunday’s dawn. Overall action in the Catskill vicinity appeared to be slow except for a couple of fish around the 34-35 inch range (one from the main river and the other from the creek). However we did hear of other small fish (24 to 30 inches) being taken all up and down the river from Kingston to Albany. The big surge of herring seems to have somewhat disappeared but there still appears to be enough of them around to keep everybody happy. While most of us sleep at night there is a small contingent of striped bass fishermen that take to the river’s water during those hours… and they DO get their share of fish. The brothers Longo – Vincent and Pete – have been doing so for years. This Sunday night Vinny was out there and scored again, moving into a tie for second place in our contest with his 40 ¼ incher. He was fishing a live herring in about two feet of water, in the vicinity of Cheviot, when he nailed the big fish. We are expecting the action to pick up this week – traditionally it does. Hope to see you out there. Tom G ************************************************** Catskill / Hudson River Striper Update - Friday, April 25, 2008; 5:30 p.m. It appears that the stripers which had turned off this morning became active again this afternoon as the weather conditions changed. All of a sudden the action between Cheviot and the Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Catskill jumped up a few notches. Tim Haas is now the new holder of second place in our contest with a 40 1/4 inch striped bass. Tim was fishing at the Catskill Point area using live herring when he took this fish. Other small stripers were also landed at that location on cut chunk herring. This action moves Jerry Rowell Jr. down into third place with his 40 incher. Now we also have a fourth place fish in the contest, a 39 1/4 incher caught by David Handlowich. Dave was fishing up at Stuyvesant using chunk herring for bait. We are expecting to see some good action tomorrow morning. Try to hit the water early before the crowds arrive. We'll be waiting here at the shop to measure your fish in and we'll try to get the new striper pictures posted as soon as possible. Good Luck - Tom G ******************************************** HUDSON RIVER BLACK BASS TOURNAMENTS (Catskill Area) August 24 - Greene County Bassmasters September 7 - Greene County Bassmasters September 21 - Greene County Bassmasters October 5 - 1st Bassmasters Sullivan Co. October 5 - Greene County Bassmasters October 12 - Greene County Bassmasters October 17 - American Bass Assoc. of Pa. & N.J. October 18 - 2 day Classic Championship October 19 - First Bassmasters Sullivan Co. Partners Open October 26 - Rip Van Winkle Bassmasters Partners Open November 2 - Orange County Bassmasters Partners Open *************************************** BE SURE TO GO TO THE "PICTURES" PAGE TO SEE ADDITIONAL SHOTS OF GREAT FISH! For FISHING REPORTS from earlier this year, visit our archives at "HUDSONRIVERFISHING.COM".
THIS WAS THE SECOND LONGEST LOCAL SMALLMOUTH BASS WE'VE SEEN HERE IN THE PAST 30 YEARS	YOUNG KEN BOEHLKE JR. HELD OUR EARLY BLACK BASS CONTEST LEAD WITH THIS BEAUT.
JOE HAD A BLAST CATCHING THESE WITH A POPPER.	YOUNG BEN IS BECOMING QUITE A FISHERMAN - LOTS OF BIG ONES!
HAROLD HAS BEEN A REGULAR IN ALL OUR EVENTS FOR MANY YEARS.	Charles Lambert with the River Basin Bass Contest "LUNKER" bass for 2008. It weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz.