The RIVER BASIN is now open on it’s  late-winter/pre-spring schedule, my wife Linda and I having returned from a brief vacation to catch some  peacock bass. The next few weeks will be busy here as we prepare for the upcoming trout season and our 2012 STRIPED BASS CONTEST which is expected to draw more than 600 entrants this year.                                         *********************************************************** - WINTER BUSINESS HOURS -  CLOSED SUNDAYS AND MONDAYS OPEN TUESDAY THRU SATURDAY 9:30 TO 5 There are some pictures of your fish at the bottom of this page and other lunker fish shots can be found on the "pictures" page. *********************************************************** . - Fishing Report - ************************************************************   Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, November 17, 2011 . This report will just about wind up our fishing updates for 2011. . As strange as it may seem the Hudson River here in the vicinity of Catskill has actually gotten a wee-bit warmer during the course of the past week and a  half – from 46 degrees up to 48. As could be expected, the Catskill Creek has seen a similar temperature rise, from 44 degrees to 46. . The river’s color, for the most part, is pretty good with a see-through visibility in most locations of at least 1 to 2 feet. The Catskill Creek will show bottom all the way down to the 8-10 foot level. . Somewhat surprisingly the creek’s smallmouth action has been very sporadic – real good for a day or two and then dropping off to just about nil for several days. We’re going to have to assume that this is due to the temperature differential between the big river and the creek – generally we don’t see the mass of the smallie movement into the creek until the temperatures of the two waters equalize or when the creek actually gets to be warmer than the river - that certainly has not happened yet. . Although the river’s fishing has coalesced into some small, very distinct areas the catch from any such spot tends to be superb. It almost seems that 3 pound smallies are the norm now and 4 to 4 ½ pounders are not uncommon. Of course the trick is to locate such small honey-holes. . Best baits have been 1/8 ounce black or brown hair jigs, tubes and live shiners. Of course a slow retrieved Rat-L-trap or Normans Deep Little N can still put a fish or two in the boat at this time so don’t hesitate to give them a try. . Although we have received one or two reports of walleyes being taken from the creek most assuredly there has been no big movement of these fish into the creek yet. The same can be said of the wintering population of yellow perch – we’ve caught no perch from the creek yet but last time out on the river we did catch 5 or six. . As a final wrap-up, here are the 2011 finishing positions for our local TIDERUNNERS black bass fishing club, an affiliate of the FLW, NYTBF. They hold all 9 of their events on the Hudson River. 1) T Gentalen, 2) TIE R. Phelan and J. Imbesi, 4) R. Burton, 5) K. Clarke, 6) L. Paccione, 7) J. Rath Jr., 8) S. Daley, 9) J. Rath Sr., 10) Fidelius, 11) Henderson, 12) Delaware, 13) Vinci 14) Erikson. . From this time on we are going to start thinking mainly of the upcoming year’s annual striped bass run and our RIVER BASIN SPORTS striped bass contest. This past spring’s run produced some great fish and the $5,758 dollar first prize (we paid back to the top 6 fish) was won by Tom Borchert with a 49 ¼” contest record-breaking linesider. We’ll have entry forms for the event available sometime starting in February – last year there were almost 600 fishermen entered in this 100% pay-back contest.    Tom G . ********************************************************************************* . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, November 3, 2011 . Last week’s surprise snowstorm did a real nasty job here in the mid-Hudson Valley and the two tournaments that were scheduled were each cancelled. To make up for it we have two other ones scheduled for this weekend, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. Since I have not received any information on Saturday’s event there’s not much to say about it but Sunday’s contest is the Bergen Bassmasters “Bassin Lane Open.” .  Sunday’s weather really seems too good to be true – a NICE day for this 5 fish boat-limit event. Since there is only a five bass limit you can even partake in it by yourself if you don’t have a partner. The entry fee is $160 per boat and you can sign up at the Catskill ramp that morning starting at around 5 a.m. .  I hit the river for a couple of hours before work this morning and here’s what I found. The water temperature is running at just about the 47 degree mark but the feeder creeks are 2 to 3 degrees cooler. In most locations I fished the see-thru water clarity ranged from 1 to 2 feet but there was one spot where 6 inches was the best to be had. The feeder creeks, with the exception of the Esopus, were running nice and clean. .  Somewhat surprisingly there was more floating debris on the main river than you would have expected and branches, limbs and larger chunks of timber were to be seen. Although it actually wasn’t real bad more than the usual amount of caution should be exercised. But what will require more than the normal amount of caution is just how close you go to any duck blinds out there. Saturday is the opening day of the second half of the duck season here in our southeast region. Let’s not tick those duck hunters off! .  The smallmouths which were supposed to have been real active at the beginning of this week seemed somewhat dormant this morn. Using Gulp Minno drop shot rigs I hit 6 spots which I felt should have been producING good action considering the present conditions and was really surprised that three of them turned out to be zips. On each of 2 locations that held fish I shook off 2 that felt decent and then left those spots alone. On the third spot a 14 inch smallie decided to hook itself but that was the only fish that seemed to be holding there. .  The fellows fishing the Catskill Creek yesterday caught a few fish but reported the action was considerably slower than what they had found there this past Monday and Tuesday. .  With the warming trend coming in the fishing this weekend should really turn on. Good luck to any of you that’ll be out there.    Tom G . ******************************************************************** . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, October 27, 2011 . As incredible as it may seem the forecast for later on this afternoon calls for an inch or two of snow in our area… but that’s no problem since I’m NOT going fishing today! Now, this weekend is a different story. Saturday’s predicted high of 45 and low of 27 are about 5 degrees below the norm. The wind isn’t supposed to be too bad, 4 mph with gusts to 9, but there is supposed to be a little bit of rain mixed in with that. Sunday looks to be 3 – 4 degrees warmer, perhaps a wee bit breezier but no rain. Not too bad, so I think I’ll fish the local TIDERUNNERS bass club’s final tournament of the year this Sunday. Should be fun. . The Hudson’s fishing conditions for this weekend should find the water temperature to be running somewhere in the low to mid 50 degree range with a little bit of floating junk (just left over weed stems and leaves). The water color is going to be harder to predict. Last weekend it was all dependent on location - we found some places with an almost two foot see-thru clarity and others with barely six inches. The muddiest waters we encountered were to the north and south of Saugerties where the Esopus Creek still continues to pump in very muddy water and, surprisingly, further north in Stockport Cove. I suspect that conditions this weekend will be very similar to last weekend’s with the water’s see-thru range perhaps somewhat a little bit better. . Although my partner John Imbesi and I didn’t exactly “kill ‘em” last weekend we did put a respectable 5 fish limit just shy of 16 pounds in the boat. The winner’s of last weekend’s 1st Sullivan Open tournament found a bunch of largemouths somewhere and weighed in a 19 pound limit of those green fish. . We fished primarily crankbaits (Rattletraps and Norman Deep Little N’s) all day long hitting lots of points all up and down the river between the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge and the Stockport Cove, picking up a fish here and then a couple of others there. Unfortunately we did not get into a good school of chunkers until just about the very end of the tournament day with about 10 minutes of fishing time left. That was when a school of 3+ pound smallies moved out of deeper water and up into our area. We boated several, lost several, and then had to go. Another 15 minutes there and the final weight in the livewell would definitely have been a few pounds heavier… but that’s the way it goes. . I received a note from Nick of the Bergen Bassmasters stating that although there would be no advance registration for their Catskill “The Bassin’ Lane Open” tournament on November 6th (see previous notice below) you can fill in their registration form in advance and bring it to the tournament site that morning rather than doing it there in the dark. If you come through the River Basin you can pick up one of the forms here.         Tom G . *****************************************************************************************    Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, October 19, 2011 . LAST WEEKEND: once again the Hudson’s feeder creeks were wiped out as far as any decent bass fishing was concerned. By late Friday afternoon the Catskill Creek was almost up to flood stage again… but then dropped down rather quickly. Still, I doubt if the bass boat I saw heading up-creek against the muddy flow on Saturday morning was able to catch much. By Sunday the current had reduced considerably but we were still considering the creek to be unfishable. . There was a TIDERUNNERS club tournament held on the river on Sunday - and man, did some of those guys whack the smallmouths. The top two finishers had over 15 lbs. each while third place weighed in just mere ounces below 15. Even though no 4 pounders were taken in that event I am aware of at least one that was caught the very next day. . The fish have definitely started to school up and there were at least 5 different schools of bass that Sunday’s anglers discovered. Even though most of these congregations consisted of 6 to 10 bass there was one that yielded 24 fish before it was depleted. Best yielding lures appeared to be rattletraps, Norman’s Deep Little N (gel-coat with sparkles) crankbaits, Senkos, tubes and spinnerbaits. . The semi-muddy water of the main river flow (most places had about 12 inches of see-thru visibility) seemed to dictate the use of lures which would produce more vibration - but yet the productivity of tubes and Senkos almost seemed to put a lie to that. I guess then that my best guess as to the reason for such success under the present conditions would be… location, location, location. . Guys that fished the “suck-holes” had good success with the smallies but were often sidetracked by vicious attacks by stripers weighing up to about 15 pounds. Mouths of creeks were also decent producing areas. Water temperature was running just around the 60 to 61 degree range, definitely somewhat warm for this time of year. Amount of debris in the river here in the central tidewater section is surprisingly little but some reports from 30 miles further down are of considerable trash. . We are now heading into the peak of the smallmouth fishing on our tidal waters and as long as excess rain doesn’t once more spoil it – the next 3 to 4 weeks should see absolutely the best smallmouth fishing of the year.   Tom G . ***************************************************************** . Hudson River Update, Friday, October 14, 2011 . Bad news for anyone planing to fish the creeks this weekend... as of late this afternoon most of them are running very high and extremely muddy. Last night's and today's storms have dumped an awful lot of rain on our already waterlogged area - local rain gauges were reading in excess of 3 inches for just the overnight rain and we had quite a bit more today. The river is going to be the angler's only hope this weekend.  Tom G  . ****************************************************  Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, October 13, 2011 . The bass fishing in the Hudson River has been real good during this past week. The smallmouth bite seems to have really turned on and quality fish, in the 3 ½ + lb range are starting to show up. I don’t have an accurate temperature reading on the water but will make a guess that it is somewhere in the 62 to 63 degree range. . The hazardous floating debris on the waterway is fairly minimal but you will encounter loose floating clumps of weeds… which have an affinity to attach themselves to objects such as logs or branches. Water see-thru clarity is more than a foot at most locations, a good indicator that most types of lures should work. The waters to the north, in the Albany area, have slightly less clarity than those here in Catskill but south of Saugerties the conditions become ridiculously bad. . It seems that the powers that be found out that they had failed to kill off all the fish life in the Esopus Creek last fall and winter and are now giving their efforts an even greater try – volumes of swirling red-mud waters continue to be discharged from the Ashoken Reservoir further upstream in an effort to clog up the gills of any remaining fish life in that waterway. The river’s waters for miles to the south of Saugerties, on the west shore side, should be avoided. . Many fish have already made their fall  migration into the river’s feeder creeks and the reports were of good action from largemouths in the Rondout and smallies in the Catskill Creek. Grubs, Senkos, tubes, spinnerbaits and crankbaits have all been working well in the creeks as well as on the main river. . Of course we do have a prediction for about an inch and a half of rain during the next 24 hours, as well as another half inch of rain forecast for Friday – these possibly could muddy up the creeks. Additionally, Saturday is predicted to be quite windy so the first half of this weekend might not provide the of best fishing conditions. Still, if the wind is bad you should find some refuge in the creeks.    Best of luck.   Tom G . ************************************************************ . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, October 06, 2011 . Although the calendar says that it’s the 6th of October the Hudson’s water temperature certainly is not indicative of that.  This past weekend we had 65 – 66 degree water temperatures out there, fully 10 degrees warmer than what we had during the same period for most of the past decade when at times the temp was down into the low 50’s. What this does to the fall transitioning of the bass is to slow it down – oh, it’s still taking place but perhaps at a much more leisurely pace than what most bass fishermen would like. Be prepared for this if you go out this weekend. . Although most of the anglers we talked to this week reported smaller groupings of fish, perhaps two or three, we did talk to one who hit the mother lode. This angler pulled up on the back side of a point and scored on smallies for almost two hours straight. At the start it was a hit on just about every flip of his Senko, grub or tube. He lost count after 15 bass but continued to pull out what he figures was at least half a dozen more. Then – as the tide went slack… the fish disappeared. . Over 90 percent of the bass we are hearing about right now are smallies – the bigmouths seem to be lost out there somewhere. This could be due to the main breakup of the chestnut beds that’s been occurring – last Sunday saw huge rafts of chestnuts heading down to sea. Places like Coxsackie Cove were completely barren while larger sections, such as in the Embough Bay at Cementon, were still clinging on to perhaps 50% of the greenery. We would not be surprised if just about all the chestnuts here in the mid-Hudson region were gone by this weekend. Of course, those in the lower river around the Newburgh area usually last a couple of weeks longer. . The river is still somewhat muddy but fishable in most locations with see-thru clarity of 10 to 12 inches. An exception to the “fishable” rating would be the waters directly downstream from Saugerties and the Esopus Creek. That waterway is discharging extremely muddy water which seemingly has shut down the bass fishing in the waters extending several miles to the south. Avoid this if you can. . Although there is some floating debris out on the waterway, the situation is not that bad. Still, keep a sharp eye. . The river’s tributary creeks should be receiving the first of the season’s transitioning fish right now and bear a good checking out before the Bergen Bassmasters Open on November 6. See the info on that event at the end of this report. . The fall run of striped bass is in our area right now – don’t be surprised if you hook a 3 footer while fishing any suckhole. Hint – if the hooked fish is not landed within 15 seconds it’s not a black bass. It’s either a carp or a striper. . NOTICEThe Bassin’ Lane Open.The Bergen Bassmasters will be running the Bassin’ Lane Open buddy tournament on the Hudson River out of Catskill NY on Sunday, November 6th..The Bassin’ Lane Open will be held from 7AM to 3PM and registration plus boat check will be from 5 to 6:30AM. The entry fee will be $160 per boat and this includes lunker and an 80% payback. The boat limit will be FIVE bass at 15 inches minimum and you can fish alone if you like. There will be no advance registration and boat numbers will be given out as you step up to the plate on 11/6. It therefore pays to get to the ramp early. Please have a copy of your boat insurance on hand and everyone not a member of Bergen or the TBF must sign a liability waiver. We have the Dutchman’s Ramp reserved and the Village of Catskill will be leaving out the docks for us. If we get hit with a nor’easter or another big storm, check the www.bergenbassmasters.com website for a status report. Questions? call Nick on 917-217-9350.We are the only club running an open out of Catskill on 11-6. *************************************************************************************************** October 1, 2011 - Sorry to report this but the river is pretty much screwed up again - just too much rain. Last weekend was pretty good and it seemed that we were in for some great fall fishing coming up. Needless to say - it doesn't look too good with very muddy, debris filled water. If you go out on the river use lots of caution.       Tom G *********************************************************************************************** September 23, 2011 - We're still trying to catch up from all the after effects from our car accident (rehab, insurance forms, etc) but here's a little bit on the river anyhow. The Hudson itself is still off-color but as of early this morning was showing a see-thru visibility of approximately 1 foot. I'm not sure of the water temperature but would take a guess that it's somewhere around the 60 degree mark. The reports from the river are that although it is still fairly dirty there really is not that much hazzardous debris afloat. The water chestnut beds are still there. I'm going to try and get out this weekend and I'll let you know what I find out next week. ******************************************************************* . September 7, 2011 - As some of you are well aware the River Basin has been unexpectantly closed all this week and will probably only be open sporatically during the next few days. My wife and I were involved in a fairly serious auto accident on Monday. Linda received the worst of it breaking three ribs and also had to have surgery on both arms today. The early report is that the operations went well. I'll try to have things back on a more normal schedule this coming week. . ***************************************************************  .  Hudson River Fishing Report – Saturday, September 03, 2011 . Well, the river’s certainly going to be screwed up for another 2 – 3 weeks but the creeks should be back to being fishable by this next mid-week (hopefully). Not much else to report except that creek bottoms could have dramatically changed due to hurricane Irene’s intrusion, and the same will probably hold true in many sections of the main Hudson River itself. Most all marinas in the creeks suffered major damage from the event. . I rescued 2 sunfish, 1 white perch and 1 spot tail shiner from the pit of my cellar's sump pump during Irene's recovery mission. The water was 18 inches higher than I have ever seen it in the cellar (located on the lower Catskill Creek) during the past 35 years when we've had just 3 other events to flood the property. Silt / mud accumulated about 1/2 to 3/4 inch on the floor. Catskill Creek's water color is improving now and I would expect it to be just about fishable in another 3 or 4 days.   Tom G. .  ********************************************************* . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, August 25, 2011 . Sure looks like we’ve got a washout coming in starting this Sunday. Hurricanes in general don’t bode well for fishermen and, judging by present predictions, the one that’s on its way is going to be a real doozy. It’s a real shame since the river has been in a cool-down mode for the past week and a half and should be on the verge of coming on with some real strong fishing action. The water temperature out there has dropped down to 76 degrees and that’s usually just about where I start to get into some better fish. . I must admit that the past two weeks have been particularly difficult for me - the patterning I use has not been producing quality fish. The last tournament I took part in yielded a bare limit of keepers plus another 7 or 8 shorts – those 5 keepers weighed less than 11 pounds. Then I went out one morning this week and again caught 7 or 8 shorts… but only 1 keeper! To top all this off, I had to try again and went out for a couple of hours yet again and caught NO bass at all - just 2 channel cats. Man, those results are real tough on a fisherman’s ego! . So now comes this hurricane, the after-effects of which will hopefully transition the river into a better fall fishing pattern a couple of weeks in the future. The main Hudson River should still be fishable (but very uncomfotable) this Sunday even though the feeder creeks will probably be dumping in lots of muddy water. Depending on the amount of rain we get, it will probably take 1 ½ to 2 days to foul the river up COMPLETELY. Then, after the rain stops it will be just about a week before the creeks return to a normal fishable condition - but the river will take at least two weeks (or more) before we have see-thru visibility of more than a foot. . Even though the weekend coming up certainly doesn’t appear to be too good for fishing we may still find this Saturday, and perhaps the first half of Sunday, to be fishable. It all depends on the rain and wind. We’ll just have to sit back and wait to see what happens.    Tom G . ***************************************************************** . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, August 11, 2011 . Going into this weekend there is at least one aspect of the Hudson River fishing scene that appears to be favorable – the water temperature! Gone are the 83 degree days of three weeks ago. This past Sunday, a gorgeous cloudy day with a forecast of rain that didn’t arrive until late afternoon thereby keeping most pleasure boaters home, saw the water temp running just about all day long at the 79 degree mark. Even better, we’ve had several cooler nights since then and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this weekend’s water temp in the 77-78 degree range – this should help turn the bass on. . Presently the Catskill Creek is still flowing pretty muddy from Monday’s rain but the volume of water flow is not really great at all. Even though this lack of water volume translates into the creek being about back to normal by this weekend we still don’t like feeder creeks as fishing locations at this time – they’re too warm for the river fish to move in.  Of course, the area right around any creek’s junction with the Hudson is a different story – those locations have definite bass fishing potential at just about any time of the year. . The floating eelgrass in the river is still, and will so remain, a problem for anybody using a “cast and retrieve” lure (crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc.). Additionally, now we are getting chunks of lose chestnut weeds joining into that mess. Obvious solutions here are to use worms or jigs which will at least allow some fishing or else go to the leeward side of the river – the breeze tends to concentrate the floating detritus along the opposite shore. . Water see-thru visibility seems to have lessened a bit recently but you should still have about 3 feet of visibility in most areas during calm, high tide. . Judging by the results of last weekend’s tournaments your degree of bass fishing success out there will be very definitely decided by your choice of locations to fish. We’re aware of one group that had very mediocre results but yet another one, the Tiderunners bass fishing club, logged in results almost on a par with their excellent opening event of the year. One of the main revelations was the seasonal reappearance (coinciding with the cooler water temperature) of larger fish. That club’s average lunker weight during the earlier 83 degree days had been 2.34 lbs but now has jumped up almost a pound to 3.27. . Although the group remained quite close-mouthed about where they caught their fish some things did come to light. It appears that the largemouths (which made up the bulk of their catch) did not come directly out of the chestnut beds. Rather, the key appeared to be to concentrate on hard structures immediately adjacent to the chestnuts - casting jigs, Senkos/worms, tubes or spinnerbaits. That’s a good strategy but it often involves making a commitment to sitting and protecting one location for hours while waiting for bass to move in. And, if no bass show up after all that time – it’s a tactic you’ll curse at for the next couple of weeks. . The smallmouths last weekend were also a little bit off their form. In filling out our limit we found that the “suckholes” were working as usual… but that gravel drifts and sweeps were surprisingly lacking in their appeal to the smallies. Also surprisingly, even though we spotted a couple of smallies surface chasing minnows, we couldn’t tempt them to hit - we got no action at all on topwaters. Drifting Senkos in the current or swimming a drop shot rig were the two most productive methods in our boat and accounted for 16 smallies and a fun day. . This weekend’s most productive times for smallmouths in our Catskill area should be between 7 and 11 a.m. and largemouths should be most catchable from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Good Luck!                    Tom G . ************************************************************* . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, August 11, 2011 . This past week has seen very little change for us to report as far as the Hudson River’s fishing goes – basically you should read last week’s report so as to be up to date. The water temp is still in the 80 to 81 degree range but with the cooler trend that has arrived we’ll probably see the temperature dropping down into the upper 70’s for this weekend. Hopefully this will start to put the bass in a more positive state of mind so as to cooperate with the anglers on the river. . This weekend’s prime largemouth fishing time on the river (in the Catskill area) should occur between 8 and 11 a.m. and the best times for smallies should take place from 2 to 6 p.m. Now, if only the fish would pay attention to these simple guidelines we’d all have it made. Of course, the channel catfish bite is excellent all day long. . There’ll be lots of fishing taking place out there since we’re aware of at least three bass clubs holding tournaments in our area, and there should be plenty of other bass boats around due to anglers pre-fishing for the following weekend’s NY Federation bass tournament. The only stickler for Sunday may be the weather since the forecast is for thunderstorms and showers. Of course most bass guys welcome summer rain since it tends to keep the weekend pleasure boaters off the water. . Once more it seems that Randy Phelan of Germantown is the one guy doing real well out on the river at present. He won this mid-week’s Wednesday tournament with a 5 fish limit (3 largemouths and 2 smallies) with a weight of 16.16 pounds. The guy’s obviously found one or two locations that haven’t been molested by the rest of us yet. I’m not sure of what he’s using for bait at the present either, but in the past he’s been known for slowly dragging tubes. Just great – and I’ve got to fish against him this weekend. Oh well, second place isn’t too bad a spot to aim for.       Tom G .  ****************************************************    . Hudson River Fishing Report – Friday, August 05, 2011 . The Hudson’s summertime fishing continues – the water temp out there is still ranging between 80 and 82 depending on time of day or the location. The major problem for fishermen at present is the amount of lose floating eel grass which will foul your lure very quickly. See-through visibility ranges between 4 and 5 feet. . Last weekend saw the smallmouth bite continue to be difficult – at least for those fish measuring the river’s 15 inch minimum length or greater. Most reports were that fish which would be legal on other New York waters, those between 12 and 14 inches, were rather easily caught and plentiful. New York still, due to whatever mysterious logic they use as justification, prohibits these from being taken for tournament measurements. By imposing such a ban the “powers that be” have managed to wipe out 80% of the tournaments that used to be held on the Hudson. It is doubtful that the river’s recreational tournament fishery will ever recover from this, at least not in my lifetime. . Although the largemouth bite seemed to turn off this past week some good fish were still taken. One decent limit I saw belonged to Randy Phelan of Germantown – it pushed the scales to just about 15 pounds. Although most anglers weren’t lucky enough to take limits of largemouths the fish which I did see caught were real chunky – up around the 3+ lb. range. Kevin Clarke of Tannersville had three that went over 10 pounds in the Tiderunners club tournament. . Locations reportedly working best this past week for smallmouths were suckholes and gravel sweeps; largemouths appeared to be most abundant in the chestnut beds and around the entrances to the major tidewater tributary creeks. . I do believe that this Sunday is the date for the “Wacky Raft Race” from Athens to Catskill. This event generally transforms a usually calm river into a real zoo. Since Sunday will see a high tide at just about 10 a.m. that’s when the race will start. Seriously, I would avoid this area around that time.                          Tom G . **********************************************************************  .  Hudson River Fishing Report – Friday, July 29, 2011 . Last Sunday at first light we saw the Hudson’s water temperature start the day with an 82 degree reading. By the time mid-afternoon arrived it was hitting a blistering 83 degrees – not really ideal for either bass or bass fishermen. Most bass catches we heard of on the river were of 2 or 3 keepers with perhaps another 6 to 8 shorts adding to the thrill of the chase. . When we managed to get out on the water again early this Wednesday morning it was a pleasure to see the water temperature had dropped back down to a reasonable 79 degrees (even though it did creep back up to 80 by the time we had to come off the water). Water clarity that morning was fairly surprising – a good 5 feet of visibility at the Catskill launch ramp. I don’t remember seeing this much clarity anytime during the past two years. . Presently on some locations out there, at least on the windward side of the river, you’ll encounter quite a bit of loose floating eel grass - if you throw crankbaits you’ll do yourself a big favor to switch to the other side. As of yet there aren’t too many loose chestnuts but we do see a few of them starting to float. . Smallies are relatively active – at least those ranging from 10 to 14 inches. It’s the keepers, over 15 inches, that are hard to find. Largemouths are in chestnut beds but we’re finding that the fish have changed locations in some of those beds so you might have to do a little bit of exploring to locate them. Frogs have been working real well for us on the weed beds while Senkos and Gulp minnows have been producing the lion’s share of our smallmouths. For some reason two of our favorite lures out there have really been striking out so far this year – spinnerbaits and poppers. We’ll see how it goes this weekend.               Tom G . **************************************************************   . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, July 20, 2011 . Now, here we are in the REAL summer. At the beginning of this present week the water temperature on the Hudson was running at just about the 79 degree mark, this morning it was just a hair over 80, and by this weekend it will probably be bouncing around the 82 – 83 range. . Here at the River Basin Sports Shop we’ve been assiduously tracking the river’s temperature as part of our fishing log since the turn of the last century. Looking at the past 12 years we see that there have only been 2 wherein the water temp reached 83 degrees. One of those was last year, 2010, when the mercury tickled the 83 mark for several days in mid-July. The other was in 2007 when it happened all the way from mid-July through mid-August. It seems that 83 is probably about the highest it will get out there, at least without breaking any of our existing records. . As onerous as this heat may seem I suspect that it might be worse for the fishermen rather than for the bass. The fish are still out there and can be caught. Although one might be inclined to think that all the mid-summer smallmouths go deep and seemingly disappear, that is not the case. Actually is seems that the largemouths become much tougher to catch - the smallies remain very active. The trick to catching those fish at this time of year is to concentrate one’s efforts in the mornings before 10 o’clock, or go out on overcast days, preferably when it’s raining. . When I hit the river this morning I caught several legal size smallies (minimum 15” on the Hudson’s waters) in both deep and shallow locations. I fished drop-shot Senkos and Gulp Minnows. There were a few spots where I expected to have better luck but instead got skunked – that’s fishing! I’m pretty sure that the lack of action then might have been caused more by the fact that I was fishing around a dead-high slack tide period – smallies like a current. . Presently the river is in great shape. The water’s see-thru visibility this morning was a good 4 feet or more (caused by a lack of current since the tide was just about at a dead high). As far as floating debris goes there was nothing much to be seen other than some loose weeds. The chestnut beds are presently at their peak and are holding bass (see previous report on the chestnut beds). It appears we have a great weekend coming up on the river. I know that the local TIDERUNNERS bass fishing club will be out there for one of their tournaments this weekend and I wish them the best of luck.   Tom G . ***************************************** . Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, July 07, 2011. . For our bass fishermen 2011 seems to be the year that the Hudson finally behaves in a predictable manner.  The springtime transition of the larger largemouths and smallmouths from their creek spawning areas to the main river occurred right on schedule and was pretty much completed by the end of the first week of June. The smallies took up their river positions on rock and gravel bottom locations by the third week of June and, as the river’s water chestnut beds matured at June’s end, the largemouths transitioned therein as per nature’s plan. . Presently the river’s water temperature is holding at about the 74 degree level (just about where it’s been for the past several weeks) and its see-thru visibility ranges from 1 to 2 feet (depending upon time of day/tide and amount of  wave action). In the more sheltered bays where you’ll encounter heavier weed growth 3 to 4 feet of visibility can be encountered. . Early this past Wednesday morning we found the quantity of free-floating debris out there to be a little surprising. The scattered flotsam had not only the usual free-floating weed scraps and smaller sticks but also included more than the usual amount of hefty sticks, branches and logs. I have to assume that these were wash-ins from the thunderstorms that went through the area last Saturday – these certainly did bring the Catskill Creek up to almost flood level overnight (it’s OK now). . I’ve received quite a few inquiries from tournament anglers these past couple of weeks, all interested in a hint or two as to where to find the Hudson’s bigger bass. The answer to this question is invariably – “in the water chestnut beds.” For that reason I’ll relate a little bit about fishing the “’nuts.” . A very annoying river problem that bass fishermen will encounter at the present time is the growth of scattered water chestnut plants on many of the points and rip-rap edges, those locations where one is inclined to usually throw a crankbait. These ‘nuts can certainly make the use of plugs an exercise in futility. The easiest way to overcome this is through the use of spinnerbaits of course (although my spinnerbait bite has been rather slow this year). However, such scattered plants are not the place to seek the largest bass - you must check out the bigger, heavier growth chestnut beds. . Water chestnut beds can win you a tournament since they generally do produce the largest fish of any contest. The thing to remember is that the bass reside and concentrate in only a tiny portion of the acres and acres of weedbeds you’ll see out there. This is the reason you pre-fish out there… to discover just where those small productive pockets are. Complicating this already onerous task though is the fact that those gorgeous weed bass can usually be located only during periods of  LOWER tide. In the chestnut beds your prime fishing time is from an hour before low to an hour into the rise. It generally is completely worthless to look for chestnut bass any more than two hours either side of low tide since it’s far too easy to miss them completely. . Additionally, one must restrain one’s self and remember that pre-fishing is just meant to LOCATE the fish – not stick them. Because of this you should only be looking for reaction strikes which will give you the better weedbed locations. Pre-fish quickly to cover as much of the outer edge and any openings within the ‘nut bed – you’ve only got 2 to 3 hours per tide to do this. Drag spoons, tubes, worms or other creature baits quickly across the surface in order to elicit strikes… but hit those spots later when the money is on the line. Needless to say, if you find any hard structure relating to weedbeds those spots always necessitate a  little bit of extra investigation. . Finally, believe it or not, those chestnut beds and scattered shoreline chestnuts will actually start to break up towards the end of this month. The scattered plants will go first and then, little by little, the main beds will start to shrink until, by the end of September beginning of October, they’ll be just about all gone here in our neck of the woods. The lose clumps of chestnuts which we’ll begin to see floating in the river in a few scant weeds will be the proof of this occurrence. . The nice weather predicted for this weekend will bring out enough pleasure boaters so as to make afternoon boating on the river sort of a torturous undertaking. Just remember to take it easy out there and enjoy the experience.                 Tom G. . **********************************************************************. Hudson River Fishing Report – Thursday, June 30, 2011 . The river is really in great shape for this weekend with water clarity running about 2 feet in most locations. The water temp is in the normal range for this time of year, running at around 73 to 74 degrees. We are starting to see more lose floating plants now and expect that by the end of this 4th of July weekend the pleasure boaters will stir up enough of them to become considerably more of a problem for you fishermen. Floating debris is minimal. . What you can expect to see out there this weekend, other than pleasure boaters towing tubes, are bass fishermen “pre-fishing” for tournaments that are going to be held here out of Catskill during the next three weekends. Expectations are that the catch should be good – smallies are in their summer patterns and the largemouths have finally started to make a stronger appearance in the chestnut beds. Channel cats are aggressively feeding so if you have a young angler who just wants to catch something now is the time to get out there with a container of nightcrawlers and have a good time. . 2012 HERRING TRANSPORT LEGALIZED - . Here’s some good news for next year for you striper fishermen – you will be allowed to transport your herring from one location to another along the length of the river – an act which was forbidden for the past few years by the almighty ENCON administration. Read the following release for more detail: . DEC ANNOUNCES REVISED BAITFISH REGULATIONS . Allowance for Overland Transport Accommodating the Use of Baitfish on a Select Group of Waters . The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced changes to state regulations that formerly banned the overland transport of uncertified baitfish by anglers, including baitfish that were personally collected. The changes are contained in a Final Rule Making which was filed with the Department of State on June 14, 2011 and become effective June 29, 2011. The amended rules allow for the overland transport of personally-collected baitfish within three specified transportation corridors, provided the baitfish are used in the same water body from which they are collected. . The three transportation corridors include: the Lake Erie-Upper Niagara River; the Lower Niagara River-Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River; and the Hudson River from the Federal Dam at Troy downstream to the Tappan Zee Bridge. While overland transport is allowed within these defined areas, the use of uncertified baitfish is restricted to the same water body from which it is collected.  Only certified disease-free baitfish may be transported in motorized vehicles outside of the transportation corridors specified in the amended regulations. . “We are thankful for the comments provided by the public which helped DEC take a common sense approach to establishing overland transportation corridors,” said Commissioner Joe Martens. “However, where the ban is still in place, we are counting on cooperation from anglers to ensure compliance and protect our fisheries.” . New York’s current fish health regulations were established shortly after Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) was first confirmed in New York waters in May, 2006 in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. VHS is a disease that causes hemorrhaging of the fish's tissues, including internal organs. There is no known cure for VHS.  In June 2007, DEC finalized regulations to help prevent the spread of VHS and other fish diseases into New York's inland waters. . The introduction of infected fish, including baitfish, is a common pathway for the spread of fish pathogens. In 2007, a strict prohibition on overland (motorized) transport of uncertified baitfish was implemented to ensure that the use of uncertified baitfish was limited to the same body of water from which it was collected. Allowing transport within these defined corridors will still contain the movement of baitfish, including retaining the requirement that uncertified baitfish only be used in the same water body from which it has been collected. With strict compliance, the risk of spreading VHS and other fish pathogens into uninfected water bodies should not be increased. DEC’s regulations will: .  *Allow the overland motorized transport of uncertified baitfish that are collected for personal use within the identified transportation corridor. Such baitfish may only be used in the water body from which they were collected. ● Allow the overland motorized transport of uncertified baitfish by anglers purchasing the baitfish from licensed bait dealers located within one of the transportation corridors (provided the seller has obtained a permit from DEC to sell uncertified baitfish). The seller must provide the purchaser with a receipt that identifies the water body from which the bait was collected and can be used. That water body is the only place where the baitfish may be used. ● Impose no restrictions on the number of uncertified baitfish that may be collected or purchased for personal use in the water bodies associated with the transportation corridors. Also, such fish may be retained or preserved in any manner within the boundaries of the corridors. They may not be transported outside of the transportation corridors. ● Continue to subject any commercial sale of uncertified baitfish involving overland transport to a permit issued by the Department. . Anglers should be aware that a prohibition on transport of baitfish remains in effect outside the designated transportation corridors. The Department will monitor and evaluate the impact of the modifications to the regulations to ensure that the proposed transportation corridors do not compromise efforts to guard against the movement of uncertified baitfish beyond the water from which the baitfish were collected. Future regulatory amendments may be necessary based on those evaluations. . Sounds O.K. right now, let’s just wait and see if it works out this way next spring.    Tom G . ************************************************************** . Hudson River Fishing Report – Wednesday, June 22, 2011 . Last Sunday’s first tournament of the 2011 black bass season on the Hudson River didn’t produce the best results that the members of the NYTBF organization had ever seen. That was quite apparent right from the first moment that those anglers arrived at Catskill’s launch ramp when they were greeted by a surprisingly strong north wind blowing down river. And, true to usual form, the wind certainly put a damper on the day’s results - only two limits of bass were brought to the scales. Most of those anglers weighed in either two or three fish. . But although Sunday’s results didn’t show it the fact is that the river’s fishing right now is quite good… as long as you keep one main thing in mind – the spawn is over. The fish have already moved out of their spawning locations in the back bays and feeder creeks and are now starting to settle into their summertime locations on the main river. So, for your best shot on the main flow you should start to look for standard summertime spots such as “suck holes”, rock pile lighthouses, thicker chestnut edges, as well as any structure breaking up the main tidal flow (always remember that the areas around the mouths of feeder creeks can produce all year long). . As of this past Monday afternoon the conditions on the Hudson at Catskill were as follows – water temperature just shy of 74 degrees, a few larger pieces of floating debris but not many, some scattered lose floating chestnut tops (no roots attached), see-thru water clarity at most spots from 1 ½ to 2 feet, main chestnut beds still not fully developed but probably will be in a couple of weeks, scattered individual chestnut plants along many shoreline locations. . Catskill’s TIDERUNNERS fishing club will be holding their first tournament on the river this Sunday and the results of that event will give us a truer picture of just how the bass fishing on the river is going. As a side note – those same fellas usually have a small side bet on for the biggest catfish caught and that payback was not claimed in their last two contests of 2010. Going into this weekend’s event that catfish pot will be riding just around the $100 dollar mark – should be interesting to see just what’ll come out of that. . I’m not aware of any tournaments on the river during the Fourth of July weekend but the following Sunday (10th) will see the ABA of NJ and PA here. Then the next Saturday (16th) the Hudson Valley Bassmasters are on tap followed the next day (17th) by the NJ Bass Federation.   Tom G .   *********************************************** . Hudson River Fishing Report – Friday, June 10, 2011. . Heading out onto the Hudson’s water at the beginning of this past week we found the river to be in pretty good shape. The water temperature at daybreak was riding at just about the 72 degree mark on the main flow but was 69 in some of the back coves. At the same time the Catskill Creek was running at 65 degrees. All these temps could be a couple of degrees warmer this weekend since we had those record breaking days of heat. . The water color on the river was what we usually consider to be good for fishing – stained with a see-thru visibility of approximately 1 ½ feet. Although floating debris in the river was fairly minimal we did encounter a few “drift piles” that contained enough wood to be considered somewhat hazardous. . Mid-week boat traffic is extremely sparse but the weekend will probably see more activity… at least until the boaters realize how many gallons of $4.00 gasoline it takes just to go from Catskill to Athens and back.. . We enjoyed fishing minnows at some suckholes out there and caught several striped bass ranging in size from 15 to 26 inches. Additionally the channel catfish were extremely active and cooperative – we put several in the boat including a couple of two footers. Of course we were also constantly plagued by white perch as well as a few out-of-season smallies. Although we felt like we gave the walleyes a good try that effort ended as usual – not a one. . Fishing up the Catskill Creek caught us lots of catfish, yellow perch, white perch, and a sampling of smaller stripers. Some spawning smallmouths were also to be seen there as well as some late-run herring. . Even though the newly emerging water chestnut plants are starting to present a problem to the river fishermen they still are not that bad, except perhaps at low tides when they become exposed. Other than that the river is perfect for fishing right now and by the time the black bass season opens on June 18th it should be ideal for the bass fishermen.   Tom G. . *************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN FINAL STRIPED BASS CONTEST REPORT, Sunday, June 05, 2011. . What a year for stripers – I think that we saw more fish over 40 inches in length caught since the peak of the striper explosion back around 15 years ago. In addition, we had two giant fish measured in, Bill Walsh’s 48 ¼ and Tom Borchert’s 49 1/4 incher. Wow! . 2011 was actually kind of reminiscent of the previous year’s run when the decent size fish just seemed to diminish greatly in number the further upriver from Catskill one went. Last year the Ravena / Thruway Bridge area still had some good fishing but from thereon north the quality quickly diminished. This year the good fishing never quite reached that far, seemingly ending to the north at about the Coxsackie area. Sure, some decent fish were caught upriver from there but they were relatively few in number. . If you were one of the striper anglers in the Troy / Albany / Bethlehem sections you bore witness to the likely cause of lack of fish up there – cold, muddy, debris filled river water that at times approached flood stage. It truly was a cold spring with lots of rain that halted the initial upriver surge of stripers to below the Kingston area right from the get-go in mid-April. . Here at the River Basin Sports Shop our records indicate that the entire run was set back by 1 ½ to 2 weeks and the bulk of the fish actually never got further upriver than the Germantown / Malden area. Of course the delay in arrival time, due mostly to the water conditions, also extended the best striper fishing period right through the end of May, as is evidenced by the catch dates of our top 2 finishers – May 26 and June 1. . One of the big surprises to many of our striper fishermen, but not to the river’s “old timers,” was the preponderance of big stripers being caught on “chunk” (a.k.a. “cut”) herring bait. From our observations, especially this year, it was obvious that your odds of catching a BIG striper were much greater if you were using chunk bait. Out of our top five contest fish three were caught on chunk, and 9 out of the top 12 fish entered also came on chunk bait – that certainly shows you something. . And finally, our 24th annual striper event drew yet another record number of entrants for striper contests on the upper Hudson River – 698. The event also had the best payback of any river event – 100%... you really can’t expect more than that. . Our registration fee for this event has been $15, an amount which many of you have told us is too little since most other river contests cost in the range of $20 to $25 or more (and yet pay back far, far less). Suggestions have been made to jack up the entry fee a little bit so as to build the payback even higher. We’re somewhat reluctant to do so but would like to get your opinion. We’d appreciate your thoughts – just send us an e-mail to TOMGRIVER at YAHOO.COM and let us know how you feel. . We have waited until after noontime today June 5th before posting this final STRIPED BASS REPORT for 2011. At this time we declare our striped bass contest to be over and the standings as shown in the above “2011 LEADERBOARD” to be final. Congratulations to our top 5 finishers and our condolences to all of our other great also-rans – better luck next year. Now it’s on to a summer of great smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing on this great river known as the HUDSON – my favorite.     Tom G . *************************************************************  . RIVER BASIN STRIPER CONTEST REPORT, Saturday, June 04, 2011 . The end is near – tomorrow at noon our 24th Annual Striped Bass Contest WILL END! And it presently seems like a pretty good bet that the five contest entrants on the above leader board will retain their contest rankings. Of course there are a few others that will probably still be out there trying right until the very end to break into the top five (right, Wally?) but boy, that’s a long shot right now. . The contest paybacks are as listed above. The tie for third and fourth places pays back the combined monetary amount of the two spots, divided by two, to each of the tied contestants or $1,152.00 each. The winners are welcome to stop in at anytime to collect their rewards. . Hey, guess what – right now the river is gorgeous – it’s cleared up and there are no floating debris to be seen. Looks like a grand place to go fishing – and that’s where I’ll be tomorrow afternoon. And although our striper reports will now end remember that we still will be posting fishing reports for the Hudson River, right here, on a weekly basis.     Tom G .  ***************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER CONTEST REPORT, Wednesday, June 1, 2011 The final few days of this contest are the hardest. No, not really for the 99% of our entrants who have already resolved to try again next year but rather - for the 5 people now in the running for the top payback slots. Will their fish hold onto their present standing, or will someone sneak in a striper just a quarter inch longer and cost them what could be thousands of dollars?  This questioning all comes to an end this upcoming Sunday at 12 noon when our contest ends. . It appears that the greatest likely threat to the leaders would be from some angler down on the lower half of the tidal Hudson, say from Kingston south.  Oh, a few fish are still being caught all the way from Kingston up to Albany – I’m aware of several caught during the past couple of days just here in the Catskill area… but these were all sub-30 inch stripers, great eating but certainly not contest material. . The larger, mostly spawned out fish are now heading back to their saltwater summer haunts but they still have to pass a gauntlet of stalwart fishermen yet trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat by nailing a big striper. And… it could just happen since that’s what happened last week when Tom Borchert nailed his 49 ¼” hog and knocked Randy Brockett and Vince Maiuri  down a peg into a tie for second place. It’s not over yet! . Even though I am sure most of the record number 692 anglers entered in our contest already know, we do have the following reminders for anyone still out there fishing in this, our 24th annual striped bass event.  It all comes to an end at 12 noon this Sunday (June 5) but due to this year’s prolonged striper arrival times there still are fish in the river and the contest standings are liable to change right up to the last minute. If you do catch a big fish on Sunday just remember the following part of the rules – “Any fish brought in after 12 noon Sunday, June 5, 2011 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. . SURPRISE, SURPRISE – A CONTEST CHANGE!. . JUST NOW, as we were trying to finish up this web report we had the unexpected happen - a standings change! . Bill Walsh of Rock Tavern, N.Y. (close to Stewart Airport) just walked in and asked for a measurement on a fish he caught early this morning, sometime between 1 and 2 a.m. I figured it would just be another 40 to 43 inch fish such as I had been seeing all along this spring so I wasn’t overly enthused with the thought of measuring it. Still, I set up the measuring board and assorted paraphernalia and waited for him top pull it out of his cooler. . Wow! This one looked like a real goody – its tail dragged the ground on the way to the measuring board. It certainly looked like a contender for our top fish of the year. But no – although when placed on the official measuring board the tail of this huge fish overlapped the end by a good quarter inch this was not sufficient to bring it onto par with Tom Borchert’s leading 49 ¼ incher. Bill’s official length was logged at 48 ¼ inches, putting him into second place in our standings with barely 4 days to go. . The contest’s standings, of course, have now also changed. Larry Coddington’s 44 ¾ incher becomes an “also-ran” and Steve Sigler’s 45 inch beaut now drops down into the final payback position, #5. There now is a tie for spots number 3 and 4 between Randy Brockett and Vince Maiuri both of whom measured in 45 ½ inchers.  What a great event we had this year – we saw more 40+ inch fish than we’ve seen in years! . Here’s a couple of more details from Walsh about his catch: he was fishing a flat in about 10 feet of water to the south of Kingston and was out all night; he caught one other fish in the 20 pound range; he fished the end of the incoming tide, just about the same as that which gave Borchert his 49 ¼ inch fish in the same general area; he used a chunk piece (the head) as bait. As a basis of comparison in weight, Borchert’s fish weighed 53.1 pounds while Walsh’s spawned-out striper tipped the scales at just 40.7. . WHEN THE CONTEST ENDS ON SUNDAY. . The contest winners may stop through the River Basin Sports Shop any time after noon Sunday to collect their prizes. Remember that we will be closing at 1 p.m. this Sunday. Also, winners please remember that we will need your driver’s license and social security number before we can conclude the winning transaction. . At this time we’d also like to remind all our customers that the River Basin Sports Shop will be switching back to its normal summertime hours of operation after this Sunday. Yup, we’ve been open 7 days a week since the start of March but now will be closed on Sundays (my fishing day) and Mondays (my sweetheart’s day), opening Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. It’s been a great spring and it was great meeting all of you as you came through the shop. We hope to see you all next spring when we can go through this marvelous madness of striper season again.               Tom G. .  ******************************************************************* . RIVER BASIN STRIPER CONTEST UPDATE – Thursday, May 26, 2011. . For all those of you who have been thinking that the biggest fish of the year hadn’t arrived yet – it seems you were right! It’s been a weird year  - all that colder weather, all that rain… it certainly did disappoint many an angler who had really been looking forward to this 2011 striper run. All along it was obvious that weather conditions were delaying the progress of the run by about 1 ½ to 2 weeks. After all, the river’s water temperature 5 days ago was still reading only 57 degrees – ridiculous! . But that has changed now – the past couple of days we’ve finally reached the magical 62 – 63 degree range in the river, the temperature when the stripers appear to be at their peak of activity. Finally guys who haven’t caught a single fish all season long are now going out and banging 2, 3 or even more stripers in a single trip. It’s great fishing all the way from Poughkeepsie to Coxsackie. . But this burst of action we’re seeing is also a portent of a lessening of activity yet to come. Any fish that finish spawning, as some are doing now, will drift back downriver and then disappear for a few years. Fortunately there are still plenty of others around that have yet to spawn and they’ll be giving our striper fishermen action for a while yet. . So, we figure that the fishing right now is at a peak for this year. So did Tom Borchert of High Falls this morning at 5 a.m. when he took to the river’s water a little bit south of Kingston. He got into all kinds of striper action putting over 20 fish into the boat – it was a blast! Using chunk bait he anchored on the down current side of a shoal on a rising tide and had such a great day that, even after he caught a really giant striper, he didn’t want to leave. . That striper’s tail hit the River Basin Sports Shop’s contest official measuring board’s “extension” end at 49 ¼ inches, making Tom our new contest leader. We then hung the giant fish on our shop scale and found the weight to be 53.1 pounds. Additionally, the 49 ¼ inch length now marks a new River Basin Shop record, as well as a new striper contest record. Quite a fish and one that will be real hard to top for any of our other 697 contestants. . It should be quite a weekend on the river with good reports from everywhere except the Albany area.    Tom G . ********************************************************** . RIVER BASIN SPORTS STRIPER CONTEST BULLETIN - Thursday, May 26, 2011, noon We DO have a new contest leader - we're working on the details right now.     Tom G . *********************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER FISHING REPORT– Tuesday, May 24, 2011 . The quality striped bass bite on the Hudson continues here at Catskill. Each morning’s report lists multiple catches of the linesiders. Even the shore bound fishermen at Catskill’s two riverside parks are reporting better than usual results with fish ranging up to 40 inches and weighing 30 to 35 pounds. The annual spawn is taking place but so far has been spotty and occurring in differing locales at different times. Such spottiness should extend the total spawn period for another week or perhaps two. Ideal fishing depths can be anywhere from 6 to 28 feet. .  Here at Catskill the west side river drop-off edge extending up to a mile either north or south of the Rip VanWinkle Bridge has been real hot during the mornings. Additionally, the Malden – Cheviot – Germantown – Roe-Jan stretch has also been excellent during the past week. The Coxsackie – Stockport area has been reporting similar results. . Reports from the Kingston area and further south have been hard to come by during the past few days but the river’s east channel by the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge has been said to be producing. The Albany – Troy – Bethlehem section does not seem to have recovered from the miserable water conditions that have plagued it all season long. Any of the reports from up there have been of poor fishing… but that spawn up there is yet to come so things could improve. . The condition of the Hudson has improved considerably during the past few days. Sure, it might still be somewhat muddy but it’s definitely fishable. All the floating debris out there seems to have miraculously diminished (but you still have to be careful) and I’m even thinking of sneaking away from the store for a couple of hours to try for one of the big boys myself. This Memorial Day weekend seems to be set up as the prime time to go out and give it a try! We’ll be here at the shop should you need any equipment – open from 8:30 to 5 every day except Sunday when our hours are 9 to 1.             Tom G .  ******************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER CONTEST BULLETIN – Saturday, May 21, 2011. . Yes, the Hudson River is flowing awfully fast… and extremely muddy… and it’s filled with all kinds of hazardous junk (i.e. limbs, railroad ties, tires and trees)… but it’s still loaded with stripers… and lots of them big stripers! That’s what Vince Maiuri of Palenville discovered this morning when he headed out onto the big river to once more try for a big fish and a spot on our 2011 contest leader board. He accomplished just that. . Setting out onto our local, seemingly magical, triangle area which extends from Catskill to Germantown to Malden he secured his anchorage in about 6 feet of water and commenced fishing. During the morning, up until about 10 a.m., he put three nice stripers in the boat but not a one of them was a contest contender. Then with but one bait left (a giant herring that he almost cut into chunks because he wasn’t sure that a striper would dare to attack it) that he hooked up and flung over the side, he sat back to wait. . When the line started to zing of his reel, and then when he felt his pole bend after the hook set, he knew he was onto a big fish. The fight was good - his equipment stood up to the punishment and he finally landed his contest contender – a gorgeous 45 ½ incher that tied him for first place with Randy Brockett of Middletown. . Of course our striper run is just going into its peak time at present and our contest has almost two weeks yet to run. This means that the race is not yet over - any of our 698 contestants is yet liable to latch onto an even larger fish since 45 ½ inches is very definitely beatable. In the next two weeks we’ll see if anyone can accomplish that task.         Tom G. . ******************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER CONTEST BULLETIN – Saturday, May 21, 2011 . Quick contest update – we just measured in a tie for 1st place in the River Basin Sports Striped Bass contest. This knocks Pete Longo out of 5th place in the above standings. We’ll post the new standings later today.       Tom G. .  ********************************************************** .  RIVER BASIN STRIPER RUN UPDATE – Thursday, May 19, 2011 . The river’s water temperature here at Catskill read about 58 degrees this morning, the Catskill Creek was about 4 degrees cooler. Both were running extremely muddy with lots of floating debris making for a far from ideal fishing situation. Still, one of the local stalwart anglers sat out the morning’s rain and put a three footer in his boat and a local netter went out and hauled in a goodly catch of herring baits. . At present the sun is shining outside the River Basin Sports Shop… but we know that Mother Nature is just trying to fake us out. Sure, if we go on out fishing it’s inevitable that the heavens will open up with yet an additional deluge of rain. . Still, if you want to catch those striped bass that are now in the Hudson River this is the time to give it a try. The run, whether we like it or not, is presently at its peak here in the middle part of our tidewater Hudson and we’ve just received our first report of the 2011 spawn having started. Striper fishermen plying the river’s water by the Mid-Hudson Bridge at Poughkeepsie last night bore witness to frenzied stripers surface spawning all around their craft – an amazing sight that many anglers will never witness. . As the spawn takes place both up and down the river and groupings of fish are spotted at the surface care should be taken not to run through them in a boat with the propeller turning. Carnage is sure to ensue since such stripers are just about oblivious to anything else that is going on. . These surfacing fish aren’t interested in biting, but usually there are lots of other stripers holding beneath that surface action – and those fish will definitely hit. Care should be taken not to snag any surfacing fish. . Predictions as to where and when such spawns will take place are rather hard to make as they can occur just about anywhere. However, most often we see them crop up in shallower side areas with slightly reduced flow of water. Such will be happening between Newburgh and Coeymans throughout this ensuing week and possibly even later than that in the Albany Troy area. The colder water temperature this year can, and probably will, extend the spawn over a longer period of time than we normally see. . Many of the spawned out fish will head right back to their summer haunts in Long Island sound or off Massachusetts and the coast of New Jersey - yet others will seemingly linger in the Hudson for a while. Additionally, there will even continue to be decent fishing after the main spawn since we always have late arriving stripers with immature eggs entering the waterway and those are fair game right until the end of our striper tournament at noon on June 5. . But anyway you look at it – now is the time to get out there, regardless of the conditions, if you wish to partake in what would ordinarily be the best part of the striper run.    Tom G . *************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Tuesday, May 17, 2011 . Just a quick condition report – most feeder creeks are now either flowing muddy and fast, or will be doing so very shortly. The main river itself is picking up color but how bad it will get depends entirely on the amount of rainfall here in the next two days. . During the past 4 -5 days the striper fishing has been good to excellent at most locations from Poughkeepsie to Coeymans. Even the Albany area had started to produce some better fishing… but now it seems that might get wiped out by the excess water we’re getting. Reports are of female stripers up to about 42 inches in our area and a slew of smaller schoolie bass ranging in size from 22 to 34 inches. Many anglers during the past four days are reporting the best fishing they’ve had in years, some boating 8, 9 or more fish per trip. . From the quality and quantity of the striper run that we’re seeing right now we get the feeling that we’re in an immediate pre-spawn period, even though the river’s water temperature remains right around the 56 – 57 degree mark. The number of stripers has increased dramatically during the past week and should increase even more until the spawn starts. We have not yet received any reports of spawning activity and hope that we won’t for at least a week or more. Let’s hope the rain doesn’t screw things up too badly.   Tom G . *********************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Monday, May 16, 2011. . I was talking to one of our striper regulars this morning – you know, one of those guys whose second home during this time of year is either in a boat sitting under some bridge or else camped out on some desolate piece of shoreline on the Hudson River. This particular angler has been taking part in our striper contest for years… and has won some money and recognition in the past. So far this year he is still out of the money. . Each morning during the run he’s out launching his boat before the crack of dawn. Then he’ll motor out to his favorite river nook and lay out his gill net for herring – no, he doesn’t stretch it out as you might visualize, just kind of dumps it over the side and lets it sit. After about 10 minutes, sometimes less, he pulls it up and removes the herring that have managed to entangle themselves – and then he goes fishing! . And he does this just about every morning for four weeks straight!. . And he catches stripers. . No, he doesn’t crock them every time he goes out, but often enough. One fish boated is considered a successful trip; two over the side is good while three is great; four is a really excellent day, especially if it includes a quality fish or two measuring up to 42 inches. That’s the kind of year this guy’s had… but now he’s anticipating even more, the approach of spawn. This is a time when it becomes possible to land a dozen or more stripers during a single day’s outing and it’s just around the corner. . The start of the 2011 year run wasn’t that hot – there were several strings of days when this guy got skunked, or just landed a runt or two. But NOW things have changed – it seems that every day for the past week and a half would have to be rated, at a minimum, “good.” And – he just KNOWS that there is a one four-foot-long striper out there looking for the bait at the end of HIS line. . The above story is called “paying one’s dues”… it’s also called fishing.. . This past weekend’s action here in the Catskill area was very good. When the afternoon reports started to come it and we had a clearer picture of just what was happening, even though the weather kept many anglers off the water, all seemed right. The reports were of multiple landings from those boats that happened to be at the right locations as schools of stripers worked in those areas. . Similar reports came in from the Malden / Cheviot area, 4 Mile Point, Coxsackie, New Baltimore and Bethlehem. These fish ranged in size from about 24 to 40 inches. The Albany Troy area fishing was reportedly slow but at least some stripers were now being caught up there, including some in the three foot range. Both chunk bait and live herring were working well. . The present persistent rains will be muddying the feeder creeks into the main Hudson whose temperature remains at just about the 57 degree range here. We’ve had our first reports of herring starting to “beat the shore” signifying the start of their spawn. Generally we figure the striper spawn to start in the low 60 degree range but if the cooler water lasts longer those eggs will still continue to mature and be distributed – even if the optimum spawning temperature is yet to be reached. Should this be the case, as it appears it will be this year, our experience indicates that the spawn will extend over a greater span of time and can last right into the start of June. . Last year the warmer temperatures had us log-in our start of spawn around May 5; the year before it was approximately May 12 while the year before that it occurred around May 23, As you can see – it can be extremely variable! Generally the spawn works its way upriver with our first reports of it occurring around the Newburgh area and the final ones up to two weeks later from Albany. Fish with “green” eggs will still be caught up to a few weeks after the main spawns have occurred. . We’re approaching the best action of the run now – don’t give up the fight.      Tom G .  **************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Friday, May 13, 2011 . A good bite has continued each morning here in the Catskill area with many anglers reporting multiple fish being boated. The area to the north of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge seems to be getting the bulk of the action but there are fish all around. At the present time it seems that the live herring bite has caught up to that of the chunk bait even though the vast majority of biggest fish brought in have been taken on chunk. Of course we have fresh dead herring for sale here at the River Basin as well as all the assorted gear it takes to go out on our big water to grab that four-foot-long fish. . The river, at 57 degrees, is still running off color with plenty of debris floating down – gotta be careful out there! Additionally, there will be plenty of boat traffic this weekend with all of the 698 entrants in our River Basin Striper Contest fishing as well as those in three other events of which we are aware – but I’ll bet that no other event will pay back the amount that we’ll be giving our winners. . Latest fishing reports we’ve received show the Kingston area to be on the slow side; Glasco flats, just to the south of Saugerties, has been good; Malden to Cheviot has been good; Germantown very good; upper Catskill Creek (head of tidewater) excellent; Stockport very good; 4 Mile Point to Coxsackie excellent; New Baltimore to Coeymans fair; Bethlehem spotty but improving; Albany to Troy poor but with water conditions improving and herring abundant. . With the water temp running about 5 degrees below the optimum for spawning it looks like we should get another two weeks or more of good fishing before the run starts to dwindle away. The time to delay is over – get on out there!  -  P.S. – Don’t forget to register for your Marine Species tag – it’s free but is mandatory.          Tom G . ********************************************************************* . RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Wednesday, May 11, 2011 . Last weekend was a good one for most of our striped bass fishermen. Saturday was top-notch and Sunday, although definitely not as good as the previous day, had to be rated good also… at least at most locations. . Further down the Hudson there seem to be plenty of stripers to be caught but most are running under the 25 pound mark – lots of 10 to 15 pounders. The Kingston area hadn’t been showing us much as far as size goes during the past week… that is until Al Lasher brought in his 44 ¼ incher this afternoon and moved into 4th place in our standings. Al was fishing in the vicinity of the Kingston Rhinecliff bridge with live herring when the big fish hit. . We’ve been getting lots of reports and seeing decent fish from the Malden area north to the Coxsackie cliffs. From Cheviot to Germantown the fellas fishing from shore along the railroad tracks have been, for the main part, having a great time – lots of stripers ranging from 30 to 41 inches. . In the vicinity of Catskill the area just to the north of the Rip VanWinkle Bridge seems to produce a few stripers in the 39 – 40 inch range each morning to the regulars at that location - but patience has definitely been needed. Meanwhile, the Catskill Creek at the head of tidewater has bee real hot for the early morning anglers who have been throwing Bomber size 17 plugs. No contest winners there but lots of fish ranging in size from 22 to 36 inches. . To the north of Athens – Four Mile Point, Stockport Creek, Coxsackie cliffs and the Coxsackie boat launch area –  all been producing good action. . And finally it seems that some larger fish are moving further upriver. Lesa Rendo showed us a gorgeous 39 ½ inch striper she caught at New Baltimore this afternoon. Lets hope that more of those fish move upriver since the anglers up there have been having a real tough time. .  The fishing derby that went out of Bethlehem this past weekend  had about 110 participants signed up but only 7 fish were caught, the largest weighing 21 pounds but things seem to be improving up there. The water is cleaner, herring are easier to get, and other reports lead us to believe that the Troy derby and the Castelton events scheduled for this weekend should have more success. . All in all it looks like a great weekend for striper fishing coming up. Don’t miss out.   Tom G .  ***************************************************************************** RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Sunday, May 08, 2011. . Yesterday’s excellent striper fishing on the river continued into today with many reports of multiple fish being boated, including quite a few in the 40 to 42 inch range. Steve Sigler moved into second place in our striped bass standings with a 45 incher which he caught fishing a live herring to the north of Catskill’s Rip Van Winkle Bridge. . I talked to a charter boat captain who had been fishing that same bridge area earlier this morning and his comment was “you’d almost have to try to not do well out here at the present time. He had scored with several stripers while using chunk bait.        Tom G . *************************************************************** RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Saturday, May 07, 2011 . There was excellent action reported today all the way from Poughkeepsie to Bethlehem. Some of yesterday’s reports were for improving conditions up in Albany itself so we have to believe that today’s results were similar. This is the time to be out there fishing. . It was a real busy day here at the River Basin Sports Shop. It seemed as though stripers were being brought in for our tournament measurement on a conveyor belt. The standings switched several times throughout the day and when we finally managed to lock the door (5 minutes ago) it was Randy Brockett of Middletown that stood as today’s king of the hill. Randy was fishing chunk bait in the vicinity of the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge when he hooked into his contest leading 45 ½ inch striped bass. Sandra Tuczynski ended the day tied with Steve Hopf for 5th place in the standings. Sandra caught her 43” fish to the north of the Rip VanWinkle Bridge. . Although live herring seemed to be working just fine as striper bait it was still the chunk bait that seemed to produce the best results in the river’s dirty flow. I’m aware of a 100 man striper derby that went out of Bethlehem today – the results from that event should give us a real good picture of what’s happening up Albany way. I’m going home now.      Tom G . ****************************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Friday, May 06, 2011. .  As we had figured, a main grouping of striped bass has moved upriver. Even with the water temperature at a cool 52 degrees the action at Catskill’s Rip VanWinkle Bridge was pretty good this morning - many anglers reported multiple catches. . The river itself is still running muddy with of all kinds of floating debris - boaters should take extra care out there. . Fifth place position in our contest standings did change once more this afternoon. It was Germantown’s Joe Pertilla who was responsible for the change as he shoved Ryan Kastner’s 40 ½ inch fish out of the competition, replacing it with his own 40 ¾ incher. Joe was fishing a live herring from shore in the Germantown area when he caught his striper. . If you’ve been putting off your striper fishing trip this year now is the time to think about changing your mind, at least in the area from New Baltimore to the south. The fish are in this region now and odds are that the river conditions, as bad as they might seem, are not going to get much better for at least a couple of weeks. Good luck.        Tom G  .  ********************************************************* . RIVER BASIN STRIPER UPDATE – Thursday, May 5, 2011 . Just a quick note to confirm that a larger grouping of striped bass has indeed moved up here into our section of the Hudson River valley. There were reports of multiple catches this morning from out by the Rip VanWinkle Bridge, in the Catskill Creek, at 4 Mile Point and at Germantown. . Although I kind of figured that this would be a slow fishing day due to the passage of a cold front yesterday I was certainly mistaken. These fish should also be moving further upriver and I would expect the action in New Baltimore and Bethlehem to show some improvement by this weekend.     Tom G . .***************************************************** .RIVER BASIN STRIPER / HUDSON RIVER REPORT – Thursday, May 4, 2011 . Yup, the river is still muddy and off color, although somewhat improved over what it was last Sunday. We can’t yet be sure what it will look like tomorrow or this weekend when we’ll see if today’s rainstorm actually might have worsened things. . Still, the good news is that larger fish are now moving into our section of the river. Even with the lack of boats on the waterway this week we have been receiving good news reports about the striper run. . Though we do not usually hear too much from the Newburgh area we have at this time - the reports are of good fishing. Schoolies were being taken by trollers in the main river while the shallower flats, particularly in the area around Denning Point, were yielding some fish in the 40 inch class to drift fishermen. If you want to fish shallow concentrate on areas where you have inflow streams of some type or other. . Further upriver from there to the south of Kingston, around the Esopus Meadows and Vandenburgh Cove section, we don’t have any reports but expect that there should be fish there – usually that fishing is decent at this time of year. To the north of Kingston, both up and downriver of the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge, the fish are to be found along the drop-off edges of the mid-river Flat and the Hogs Back. Some hefty fish come from this area each year and we’ve already seen a couple of them. The Tivoli area, across from Saugerties, has also produced some decent fish. . Our “Golden Triangle” section which extends from Malden to Germantown to Catskill seems to be getting an influx of 40+ inch fish at the present time. The shore bound anglers have been hitting some beauts as have the boaters. The shoreline extending from Cheviot to Germantown is a favorite area as is the Greendale section right across from Catskill. Of course, at Catskill, the “Point Park” with its easy access to deeper shoreline water is a magical draw for shore bound striped bass anglers. .  Boaters are having best luck in the 3 to 10 foot depths over the mid-river flats in the “triangle” area, particularly using chunk herring for bait. The muddy water just calls out for the use of this cut bait. Seven out of the top ten fish we’ve seen so far this year have been caught on chunk. . As the fish move further upriver to Hudson, Four Mile Point, Stockport, and Coxsackie in the next few days that action should improve dramatically. Up until now it had been somewhat disappointing. Further north past Coxsackie it still remains to be seen what will happen. Up to now it had been so slow that some charter boat captains up there were even cancelling booked trips. . Herring seem to be abundant at most creek locations although just today we heard some grumblings about a lack at the Roe-Jan. “Stoolying” them in appears to be the most effective way to obtain your supply of bait… unless you come to our shop and buy a bag or two of our refrigerated stuff.  . I'm sure that you've noticed the standings change on our leader board today - Steve Hopf and Ryan Kastner brought their two beauties today. Those two fish along with Coddington's  44 3/4 incher, which was caught yesterday, are a sure portent that we'll be seeing even more lunkers this coming week.            Tom G . *************************************************************************************************************   . RIVER BASIN STRIPER CONTEST UPDATE - Tuesday, May 3, 2011 .  Yes, we have a new leader. Larry Coddington caught the above pictured bruiser down around the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge around 9:15 this morning. His bait? you guessed it - chunk herring. Congratulations Larry!        Tom G .  ************************************************************************ . RIVER BASIN STRIPER REPORT – Monday, May 02, 2011 .  Even though the Hudson continues flowing muddy and debris laden there are anglers out there catching striped bass. The two areas we’ve been hearing most about are Stockport and  Germantown/ Malden. . It was in the Germantown area that Josh Hanlon of Niverville caught a fish that moved him into third place on the River Basin Sports Striped Bass Contest Leaderboard overnight – a 40 incher. Josh was fishing from shore with chunk herring when the large striper nailed his bait. Chunk bait seems to have been the way to go with the Hudson running as muddy as it has been lately and that’s just what another boat found out by the RoeJan yesterday – a pack of stripers were surface feeding on herring and just loved the live and chunk bait that the guys flung at them – they nailed several up to 33 inches. . Most of the larger feeder creeks into the Hudson are running clear right now and are much nicer to fish. However, when the boating and recreational activity on such waters picks up… the fish turn off! This was exactly what seemed to happen in the Catskill Creek on Saturday morning – 9 or 10 stripers were caught during the first two hours of the morning and then the creek just shut down for the rest of the day. . Garry and Dennis from up Bethlehem way report the water conditions up there have slightly improved but there still is a lack of fish there. The weather forecast for the remainder of this week certainly does not lend much hope to the thoughts of the river clearing up. Still, as we all know – the fish are there, somewhere, all we have to do is figure out where and how to catch them.   Tom G . ****************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPER REPORT - Saturday, April 30, 2011 . Even with the Hudson flowing as muddy and debris laden as it is at present there are stripers being caught. Greg Zifchak of Port Ewen proved that by bringing in a new 2nd place fish for our striped bass contest, a 41 ½ inch beauty. Greg caught the fish late yesterday afternoon while fishing a chunk of herring (head) in the Port Ewen section of the river. . And, just downriver from Catskill, in the Germantown / Cheviot region, some trollers have also been having a ball with smaller schoolie stripers… and catching quite a few. I don’t know how they are managing to manipulate around the floating trees and brush but they certainly are accomplishing that feat. . Herring, from all reports, are plentiful around the area. Even with the muddy water guys are “stoolying” them in or hooking them using Sabiki rigs, particularly in the creeks which have been cleaning up quickly. They are definitely more fishable today than they were yesterday. So, even though the fishing is tough at the present time - there are fish out there and some people are catching them. The stripers will come in on the bait scent trail so do consider using “chunk” bait or sandworms.       Tom G . **************************************************  RIVER BASIN UPDATE – NOON, Friday, April 29, 2011. .  Quote from an NYDEC news release a month ago: “The new law establishes a no-fee registry to take the place of the marine license. DEC is currently developing the registry, and expects to have the new no-fee registry in place in early June. In the interim, saltwater anglers may fish without a marine license and without registering with DEC.” . . Today’s quote from DEC, after sneaking the new “registry” item onto the DECALS license issuing menu today and also confirming our phone inquiry that you must NOW register: “Customers wanting to fish for salt water species MUST be registered.” What a way to run a railroad.    Tom G . ***************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN UPDATE – Friday, April 29, 2011 . Checking out the flowage waters in our area this morning we find some pretty miserable conditions. The Catskill Creek has deteriorated even further from what was apparent yesterday and is really looking quite muddy – the after effect of three separate rounds of heavy rainstorms that passed through our region this past week. The main Hudson River is also very ratty looking – muddy with some debris, and we are expecting more of the same to be arriving from the upriver section. Fishing conditions will probably be tough for the next few days.    Tom G. . ******************************************************************************* . RIVER NOTE - Thursday P.M., April 28, 2011 We just received notification that the Coeymans ramp docks were put in on Tuesday. The water coming down from there is supposedly real muddy and filled with debris. Does not sound good - larger creeks might be a good fishing option for the coming weekend'    Another report we had said that the herring were thick in the Postenkill today.   Tom G . ********************************************************* RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Thursday, April 28, 2011 . Striper action on the river seems to have shifted a little bit now with the main river fishing at Catskill having slowed. Even so, we find that the activity in the Catskill Creek has definitely been picking up. This morning we found the water temperature at our Dutchmen’s Landing launch ramp to be around the 53 degree mark while around the corner the creek measured in at about 5 degrees warmer – this could account for the better action in the creek. In addition, even though the water in the creek is somewhat muddy, it still appears to be cleaner than the water out in the main river. Stripers up to about 36 inches are being caught in the creek by shore bound fishermen. . But even though the action here might be slow at present, what is happening further upriver appears downright pitiful. North from Catskill to the Stockport Creek everything still appears fine but to the north there is a definite lack of herring from Coxsackie to Albany, and along with that there is a definite lack of striped bass to be had. Some of our regular reporting anglers from that upriver area tell us of absolutely terrible results (like zip) from their fishing trips up there – no herring, no stripers. We heard of just one fish being caught up there in the past few days. The water is dirty and the water temp has been around 46 – 47 degrees. As another guy put it – “Over 7 hours with a dummy on both ends of the rod and not one herring spotted…”. . .  To add to the difficulties up there we hear that the launch ramp floats at the Coeymans launch ramp still have not been installed. Too bad – that’s a prime striper fishing area there. That’s a good way to drive the fishermen to Bethlehem or Coxsackie – but then, maybe whoever is in charge dislikes striper fishermen.. From Catskill to the south the action starts to improve. For guys in the right place at the right time the chances of landing multiple fish are a definite possibility. The day before he took the lead in our striped bass contest Pete Longo reported having what he said could possibly have been his best day ever on the river – he boated 9 stripers, all in the 38 – 39 inch range. Local charter boat captains are reporting similar results, particularly in the Malden area. The Esopus Creek at Saugerties is still a waste of time as the powers-that-be found that they still hadn’t killed ALL the living creatures in that waterway and therefore seem to have renewed their efforts to accomplish that by continuing their siltification project. .  A little further south, in the Tivoli Bays and Hogs Back region, the fishing has also been good although as of this time there have been relatively few anglers sampling those waters. I’m sure that this will change by this weekend (as long as the weather co-operates) since the fish are there. Additionally, the deeper edges of the mid-river flat to the south of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge have been holding fish. . . The Rondout Creek at Kingston has both herring and stripers being caught but some of the best action in that region appears to be occurring a little bit further downriver. There the anglers are scoring in 4 to 8 feet of water around the section known as Vanderbilt Cove and the Esopus Meadows.. Our present contest leader Pete Longo seems to sum up the varying reports we’ve been receiving from anglers scoring with larger bass during the past few days (as contrasted to what we said in the preceding paragraph) – if you’re not getting shallow water action (10 – 20 feet) drop down and try the 30 foot level. Yesterday when Pete caught his 44 incher he also caught 7 or 8 additional fish in that 40+ inch size group – all in deeper water than what he traditionally fishes. . Additionally, what most successful anglers have been reporting, right along with Pete, is that - with the present water conditions (off-color or muddy) chunk (cut) bait is the way to go. Just be sure to change that chunk every 10 minutes or so – you must keep fresh smell in the water. Another alternative might be to try sandworms on a separate rig – stripers really zone in on that smell.                Tom G. . . *************************************************************************************************** .  RIVER BASIN BRIEF - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2011. . Just in case you hadn't noticed the most recent contest standings, take a gander at the leader board above. Pete Longo, our 2009 winner, has now jumped into first place with a fish that could also vie for a paying position in our contest's final standings. We'll try to get a picture up first thing in the morning and tell a little bit more about it. The reports for the past day and a half are of great fishing but the trick has been to use chunk bait... and to hang it down in 30 to 35 feet of water. Tom G. . ****************************************************************  . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Tuesday, April 26, 2011. . Yesterday afternoon saw our striper action bumped up a notch or two. Lots of stripers ranging in size from 22 to 39 inches were landed between Malden and Catskill, as well as all the way up past 4 Mile Point to the Coxsackie cliffs. The action, which continued this morning, had to be rated as “very good” but, unfortunately, the real big fish still have not made their appearance in our region. . Herring, which had been scarce for 4 or 5 days, likewise seem to have returned to the area. Commercial netters reported capturing a bonanza of this striper bait during the last day and a half. .   Along with the warmer weather which we are now enjoying we should be seeing the arrival of the 30+ pound stripers at any time. Having 698 anglers registered in our striper contest and spread out all the way from West Point to the Troy Dam we are confident that as soon as those fish make their appearance we’ll hear about it. This is the traditional week that those fish start to be taken. . Presently we have plenty of fresh and frozen legal herring in supply at the River Basin. Unfortunately we are sold out of salt water worms but expect a new shipment of bloods or sands this Thursday.        Tom G.  .  ***************************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Monday, April 25, 2011. .   The new listing on the leader board of Josh Skelly’s 38 ¼” striper is rather indicative of the action that’s been occurring on the Hudson during the past few days – action but no real BIG fish as of yet. It seems that nobody is just slaying them at any one location out there but we can say that there are stripers being caught. Probably 60% of the fishermen we’ve talked to report having caught some fish in the 24 to 35 inch range. Most guys are throwing out one rod rigged with live herring (if available) and the other with a piece of chunk. Skelly was anchored on the Catskill Bridge Run late Sunday afternoon when he caught his fish. .   We just talked with Captain Chuck Graham who had a great time out on the river this morning and might just be the one fisherman who has been having a great week. He reported lots of action with stripers up to about 36 inches in length this morning - the majority of the fish came on cut bait. Chuck had set up a few miles downriver from Catskill and scored best during the first couple of hours of falling tide. Such has been the story from Coxsackie to Kingston. We’ve had no reports from up in the Albany Troy area.          Tom G . *******************************************************************. . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Sunday, April 24, 2011   We received some clarification regarding those large fish down Newburgh way. The huge fish, approx. 61 lbs, was caught in a net along with other fish in the 40 pound range. These stripers were released, however the large one did not survive the encounter. Thanks for the reporting guys. .   Today’s action in the Catskill area was slow; herring extremely scarce. -  Tom G . **************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Saturday, April 23, 2011. . As it turns out - the striper bite from Kingston upriver all the way north to Albany seemed vastly improved yesterday afternoon. This trend continued throughout most of this Saturday and we’ve received a slew of reports of fish ranging from 24 to 40 inches being caught, on live as well as chunk herring. Our present contest leader Jan MacDonald caught his 39 inch fish late yesterday afternoon while fishing from shore in the vicinity of the City of Hudson. . Unfortunately, bait has been rather hard to come by. Since earlier this week these “almost kippers” seem to have made themselves very scarce, but that’s a condition that seems to manifest itself each and every year. It just lasts until the next school of herring arrives in the area. . Additionally, we’ve gotten a couple of reports of some real big stripers moving north from the Newburgh area… fish in the 50 pound class… or even bigger. One of the reports was that there was a possibility that the state striper record had been broken with a linesider somewhere around the 61 pound mark. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this in the next few days, if true. In the meantime we’ll just sit back here and wait for those giant bass to make their way up here to Catskill.     Tom G . ************************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Friday, April 22, 2011. . . The cold spring continues! We were quite shocked when we found the water temperature at the Catskill launch ramp this morning to be holding at 44 degrees. That’s pretty chilly. Last year at this same time the water temperature at Catskill was running between 52 and 53 degrees. Hopefully we’ll see a little improvement this coming week, a week that traditionally sees bigger stripers moving into our mid-Hudson area. .  . The present cold spell we’re under seems to have been responsible for the sudden lack of herring. Monday, and even Tuesday, the herring seemed to abound in the local feeder creeks and then – BOOM - colder weather set in and the herring disappeared. The opinion of local river men is that they have gone deeper, holding in the main shipping channel – at least that’s what their sonar readings seem to indicate. . .  Most launch ramps in the upper half of the tidal river are set to bear the onslaught of the hoards of striper fishermen expected for this year’s run. We’ve heard that the ramps at Germantown, Catskill, Athens, Bethlehem, Schodack Island, and Hudson are all set but as of a couple of days ago Coeymans still was not ready. Coxsackie should be set but we’ve received no confirmation on that site. . .  Most assuredly there are stripers being caught both to the north and south of our Catskill striper tournament headquarters. The fish seem to be scattered and the catches sporadic. There appears to be no concentration anywhere, as far as our reports go. The sizes of fish caught mostly range between 22 and 36 inches. There are no contest entries as of yet - last year at this time we already had two, each of which was over 38 inches long. . .  Anybody that was in the shop last week looking for a Shimano Baitrunner and had to go away disappointed should be glad to hear that we again have them in stock. We just received our 4th 2011 shipment of these great reels (we consider them to be the best baitrunners on the market… but they’re rather pricey – each of the 4 sizes running between $150 and $195), along with the favorite Ugly Stick striped bass rods which were also running very low. Our square herring scap nets presently are only available on a day by day basis, as quickly as we can get them altered to our specifications. The fully equipped herring bait tanks are also again in stock – these are the ones with two pumps and inlet and overflow hoses. . . The top of this page shows two anglers who were fishing the Catskill Bridge Run this morning – Jerry Rowell Sr. and Mike Pavlovich. Their two stripers measured 36 ½ and 28 inches, one being caught on chunk bait and the other on a live herring. The action came at the end of the flood tide, at about 6 a.m. Good luck this weekend!         Tom G .  .  **********************************************************************************************  RIVER UPDATE - 12:30 p.m., Tuesday April 19, 2011 . Reports are that the boat ramp docks at Bethlehem / Henry Hudson Park are being installed as we write this.      Tom G .  ********************************************************************************. .RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Tuesday, April 19, 2011. . No contest entries yet as of noon today. . .Not surprisingly, our local waters turned high and muddy from this past Saturday night’s rain and also, not surprisingly, there were stalwart striper fishermen who were not about to be turned back by such adverse conditions. Most certainly some just went to check out their equipment and make sure everything was functional after a long winter but yet others went out to do some serious fishing… and did score. . We had a multitude of reports of stripers being caught all the way from Albany to Kingston. Probably the nicest fish we’re aware of appeared to be in the 40 inch range (cell phone screen) and that was caught on Saturday up in the Troy area. We’ve also had reports of fish up to 34 inches being taken from the Coeymans area below the Thruway Bridge, and then further down at the Coxsackie cliffs section. Four Mile Point has produced for several anglers on a daily basis, as has the area around Stockport Creek. Additional fish were reported having been taken by shore fishermen along the railroad tracks to the north of the city of Hudson. Just about all of these fish were in the 22 to 32 inch range. . The Catskill area was slow but we are aware of a couple of linesiders being taken from the Catskill Creek. Similar reports came in from the Germantown - Cheviot area. One charter boat captain we know scored a couple of smaller stripers down in the Saugerties – Malden area. The water down in the Rondout Creek was roaring and was even over the stone pier in the middle of the creek at Eddyville – it should be more normal for this weekend. . .All the condition reports we received were of high, muddy and debris-laden water – but yet fishing, and catching, did take place all over. Anglers were able to get some bait by using “stoolies” or buying herring - the chocolate waters were not conducive for the successful use of Sabiki rigs. A lot of the floating debris we are seeing at present is the result of an unusually high springtime tide this year which has dislodged stuff normally above the high-tide mark but the 3-4 inches of rain we had also shares the responsibility. . .We did receive word that the Schodack Island State Park launch is open and “fully operational” but as of this past weekend the Henry Hudson Park, Coeymans, and city of Hudson floats had not been installed. As we have previously noted the Germantown ramp is set and the Catskill ramp has one stringer of floats in for launching..The best condition report we had was from up in Menands where Fred  said the water see-thru visibility was 8 to 10 inches and the cormorants and ospreys  were doing their thing. . .Our River Basin Sports Shop 24th Annual Striped Bass Contest went off with a record number of entrants this year – 698. Be sure to keep checking back here to our River Basin Sports Leader Board at the top of this page where we’ll post the contest standings as they change throughout the course of the event. The 100% payback figures are also listed there at the bottom of the page.       Tom G. . **************************************************************************** . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Sunday, April 17, 2011 . Just a quick note:.All local waters are high and muddy from last night‘s rain. Creeks will take a few days to improve but the river could be fouled up for a week or two – depends on what kind of water comes in from the upper reaches. . The unofficial striped bass tournament payback figures are as follows: . .1)                  $5,759.00 .2)                  $1,780.00 .3)                  $1,361.00 .4)                  $   942.00 .5)                  $    628.00 .  ************************************************** RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Friday, April 15, 2011 .  The Hudson’s water temperature at Catskill has been hovering right around the 47 degree mark all this week. The result has been the arrival and gathering of striped bass into our area. The herring made their appearance here on Monday and the stripers were but a day or two behind. They made a very good first push upriver which resulted in some good early-run action, particularly in the Stockport and Coxsackie areas. This morning’s reports also included some stripers being caught at 4 Mile Point but no real big fish (over 40 inches) have been reported from anyplace. Somewhat surprisingly… the action right around Catskill has been slow.  . We’ve also received reports from further upriver - the Albany-Troy area has seen goodly amounts of herring arriving up there, particularly in the Postenkill creek. To the south of us, where the Esopus Creek enters the Hudson at Saugerties, the reports are of the New York City Reservoir system still trying to wipe out all the fish life in the Esopus Creek with their releases of ultra-dirty water and the resulting siltation. Needless to say the Hudson’s water immediately to the south of Saugerties, particularly on the Glasco flats / Saddlebags area can be pretty foul also, depending on the direction of the tide flow. I hope that the herring scappers in the Esopus won’t be completely knocked out of the game by this unbelievable act, ordinarily punishable by the taking of one’s first-born-child.  . We know that the stripers and herring are also down in the Rondout Creek / Kingston area but have not as of late received many reports from down there.  . The state launch ramps, both up and down the river, were being readied this week by crews working from south to north. The ramp at Germantown had its floating docks installed this past Monday and I figure that Athens should also be done by now. If you know the situation at Hudson, Coxsackie, Coeymans, Stuyvesant, Bethlehem or Rensselaer you could let us know at TOMGRIVER at YAHOO .COM. Don’t bother to tell us about Albany – we really don’t care how the scullers are doing there - that ramp is perhaps the most fisherman unfriendly on the entire river. The Catskill ramp’s floats were scheduled to be installed (at least partially) today.  . We just received word that SHADY HARBOR marina in New Baltimore will be open this spring to accept striper boats for the early season. The place was just sold to new owners. This was much to the relief of the striper guys who had found refuge there during the past few years.  . Here at the shop we have just received a shipment of sandworms for striper fishing and we are stocked up with local fresh dead, as well as frozen, herring. These fish have been commercially prepared for sale as per ENCON rules and have no transport restrictions on them. If you purchase some just be sure to hold on to the package label which will act as a receipt for their origin.  . This SUNDAY (April 17) is your final day to enter our 24th ANNUAL STRIPED BASS CONTEST. Our official Sunday closing time is 1 p.m. but, as has been our tradition for years, we will extend the closing time for registration and will have the shop open until 5 p.m. At the time of this writing the contest payback amounts were as follows – but of course they will be higher than this by the time registration ends: 1st - $4,331.25; 2nd – $1,338.75; 3rd – $1,023.75; $4th – 708.75; $5th – 472.50. The contest officially starts on Monday, April 18.      Tom G.  *************************************************************************8 . RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS UPDATE – Tuesday, April 12, 2011  Here’s the news you’ve all been waiting to hear – the striped bass are now not only in our Catskill section of the river but have already passed by Coxsackie and are on their way to the Troy dam. . Yesterday, Monday, some huge schools of herring pushed past Catskill, Hudson and Stockport - and close behind, on their tails, were the stripers. Today the reports were of plentiful herring at Stockport as well as up past Coxsackie. At the River Basin Sports Shop we presently have this year’s herring now available, either frozen or fresh (not alive) as required by ENCON dictate. These herring come three in a bag, are salt enhanced and work well for fishing either as chunk or whole bait. . Our area’s first reported stripers were from the Stockport section of the river and we are aware of several fish in the 28 to 35 inch range that were taken there. A little bit further upriver in the Coxsackie area stripers up to 38 inches have been taken… and a few purportedly even larger than that were lost. . This has been the first push of stripers up past our area this year and bodes well for the arrival of many more of these fish during the time leading up the start of our 24th ANNUAL STRIPED BASS CONTEST. The final time to get your $15 registration in for this year’s event is Sunday (April 17th) at 1 p.m. (closing time). The contest, which presently has 431 entrants, officially starts the next day.       Tom G . *********************************************************************** .   RIVER BASIN STRIPER REPORT UPDATE - Saturday, April 08, 2011 .        Reports from the Saugerties Esopus Creek area were of a few smaller schoolie stripers being taken there at the mouth of the creek. No reports of anything in the Catskill, Hudson or Stockport areas as of yet, although the odds are good that some stripers are  in these locations now. . Presently we have over 350 entries in our striper contest. Registration ends Sunday, April 17. . The River Basin Sports Shop will have fresh prepared legal Hudson River herring baits available tomorrow morning. These were swimming around just two hours ago. No bloodworms until this coming Thursday afternoon . NOW... it begins!       Tom G . ************************************************************8  RIVER BASIN STRIPER REPORT UPDATE – Friday, April 08, 2011 .        We assume that you’ve already read the latest update to the “Marine License” boondoggle which we’ve posted up above. It’s pretty much clear cut and doesn’t really need any more explanation. Here’s the good news – the first of the river herring showed up at Catskill this morning. We have also heard of a few being spotted as far upriver as Albany. True, there were very few of t hem caught but from now on their numbers will be increasing each day. Generally we do not consider this first arrival to be large enough for you to go out and pursue… unless you have a gill net. That is how those herring were caught this morning – the nets soaked out there for 2 hours before yielding a total of 5 herring. .        Here at the River Basin Sports Shop we are expecting to have our first shipment of Hudson River fresh, commercially prepared (required by law) herring available for sale late this weekend, probably Sunday. The first of the stripers should be here any day now and, of course, the question for all striper anglers becomes where and how to obtain bait. Obviously the easiest way is to buy it. Sometimes this can be accomplished right at the launch ramp if there are some young entrepreneurs hanging around hawking those they have caught right there. Here at the River Basin Sports Shop we are only allowed to sell commercially prepared stuff, which is actually pretty good. If you want bloodworms you will have to buy them at a bait shop such as ours (we won’t have any until the weekend after the present one).   .        Another alternative is artificial baits – lures such as Bomber 26A and 17A are local favorites, as are the offerings in the Rebel DJ30 series and the Rapala sizes 13 and larger. Bucktail jigs also work well but generally tend to catch smaller fish. One of my favorites is the vibrating blade style such as a Hedon Sonar. This lure can either be cast and reeled in, or just vertically jigged under the boat (I drop down to either 14 lb. test mono or up to 50 lb. braid when fishing any artificials for stripers).   .        Of course, you can always try to catch your own bait. There’s no question that the gill nets are the easiest way to catch your own herring. Usually all it takes is to set the net out for 20 to 30 minutes and you’ll have enough bait to start your fishing day. At this stage what many anglers do, if they need more bait, is to set the net out again while they go and fish in the immediate vicinity. Just remember that you can’t set out the net and then leave it unattended.  .        There is one problem with herring that are gill netted and that is the damage they sustain when you gather them from the net. There is no question that they are pretty well beat up and have a shorter life-span than herring obtained by other means. We have several different sizes of herring gill nets in stock.  .        The best (liveliest) herring are usually obtained by “scap” netting. A scap net is just a large umbrella net (aka “lift” net) such as you probably used at one time or another at some stage of your fishing career to gather smaller bait. Basically, with a scap net the herring are just “lifted” out of the water and sustain no real damage unless dumped on the ground or otherwise handled roughly.  .        Unlike gill nets, which require you to obtain a special license, the scap nets we sell here at the shop are specially tied for us and their dimensions are such that you do not need a special license to use them - as long as the herring you are netting are for your own use. They come with the central lifting block and eye, and 4 arms that have hooks on their ends to which the net is attached. All of this stuff is individually built to our specifications and, as with all specialty nets, the supply is limited so if you decide you want one don’t delay.        Of course you shouldn’t forget to try the ever popular “Sabiki” style herring rigs, nor should you forget the use of “stoolies” to lure the herring in so they can be netted. We’ve got all that stuff here as well as herring “pens” and “live well tanks” in which to keep the captured fish. .        If you do decide to come through the shop be sure to also check out our selection of “baitrunner” style reels for striped bass fishing. Shimano, Okuma, Penn, Daiwa, Tica – presently we have more than TWO DOZEN different models in all sizes and price ranges to choose from including the four new top-of-the-line Shimano BTR models and the Penn live-liner SLAMMER series – at prices better than the big box stores. .        For anybody that hasn’t done so yet the next week is all that remains to sign up for our 24th annual striped bass contest. 100% of the entry monies are paid back to the winners and first place has a guaranteed minimum payback of $3,000. As of the time of this writing there was over $4,000 dollars in the pot. Usually this final week of registration sees hundreds more sign-ups come in so we won’t know the final payback totals until next Sunday.        Now, as the first full week of April passes, we appear to be in good shape as far as the striper run goes. Don’t hop in the boat and expect to catch a striper yet – the odds are immensely against you, but as we get into this upcoming week the odds do improve and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the first striper of the year brought in to the River Basin in the next week or week and a half. .  PROPOSAL TO END ONEROUS BAIT TRANSPORT REG ALONG THE HUDSON   . DEC will be looking to remove the herring bait transport restriction in corridors along both sides of the tidal Hudson River. This is NOT in effect yet but rather is proposed – there are hearings scheduled in this regard. Following are some parts of ENCON’s news release: DEC’s proposed regulations will: ·         Allow the overland motorized transport of uncertified baitfish that are collected for personal use within the identified transportation corridor.  Such baitfish may only be used in the water from which they were collected. ·         Allow the overland motorized transport of uncertified baitfish by anglers purchasing the baitfish from licensed bait dealers located within one of the transportation corridors (provided the seller has obtained a permit from DEC to sell uncertified baitfish).  The seller must provide the purchaser with a receipt that identifies the waterbody from which the bait was collected.  That waterbody is the only place where the baitfish may be used. ·         Impose no restrictions on the number of uncertified baitfish that may be collected or purchased for personal use in the waterbodies associated with the transportation corridors. Also, such fish may be retained or preserved in any manner within the boundaries of the corridors.  They may not be transported outside of the transportation corridors. ·         Continue to subject any commercial sale of uncertified baitfish to a permit issued by the Department. .             Anglers and other interested persons can provide comments on the proposed rule making during a 45-day public comment period which begins April 6, 2011. Comments on proposed rule making being submitted by e-mail should be forwarded to fishregs@gw.dec.state.ny.us or mailed to Shaun Keeler, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of Fisheries, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4753. Hope you can make more sense out of all this “in and out” regulation making than I can. I guess we’ll just have to sit back and see which way the wind is blowing today.    Tom G ****************************************************************  RIVER BASIN SPORTS UPDATE – Monday, April 04, 2011 .        This past weekend turned out to be quite pleasant and it was real nice to greet many of you once more, here at the shop. All of us, me included, are just itching to get out there on the river once more to take on the striped bass of the Hudson. Quite a challenge! .        April is progressing. For the past week or so we’ve been receiving word of a smattering of stripers and herring in the river about 25 miles south of us, but that really wasn’t too much to get excited about since that is to be expected each year. What we want to hear is that some giant schools of herring and alewives have entered our waterway and are starting their run upriver – then we know that the stripers will be right behind them. .        Well, we received our first report of larger schools of herring having arrived in the lower section of the river this past weekend and want to thank Walt down in the Wappingers / Fishkill area for this early netting report. These fish should be making their way upriver fairly quickly but there is a question as to how far upriver they’ll advance in this first push. The past three years the herring have arrived in the Catskill area during the first week of April… but the water temp at Catskill during that period those same three years, ranged from the mid 40’s to 50 degrees. This morning the Hudson’s water temperature at the Catskill launch ramp was only 41. Back in 2007 the water temperature during the first week of April was approximately the same as this – and then the stripers and herring didn’t get here until the end of the second week of April. .        It’ll be interesting to see just what’s in store for us this year. The colder water temperature might hold the stripers back in the lower section of the river for a while. Most certainly this morning’s flood warnings for the Mohawk River do not bode us down here very well. Any heavy rains and Adirondack snow-melt will probably result in a wash-down of dirty water which could further delay the arrival of our stripers. We’ll just play it by ear and see what happens. .        By the way, the web special on the Okuma Epixor EB65 reel is all sold out. We do still have some of the “Okuma ABF65/ Sea Striker 25 lb. rated, 8 foot 2 piece rod” baitrunner combos left which are priced at $89.97 but, judging from the way they have been selling, those won’t be available much longer either. .         Don’t forget that the registration deadline for our River Basin Sports 24th ANNUAL STRIPED BASS CONTEST is April 17th and that the event starts the following day, the 18th. Last year we had a record number 604 entries in this event which pays back 100% of the entry monies to the largest (length) 5 stripers brought in, and guarantees at least $3,000 to the first place fish. Entry forms are only available at the River Basin Sports Shop so be sure to stop through and pick one up. Time is starting to get short.        Tom G
*************************************************************    RIVER BASIN MARINE LICENSE UPDATE – Friday, April 01, 2011 .  We have now been officially notified by the state regarding the status of New York’s marine license. Their message is as follows: “Here's an update on the status of the Marine License.  You probably know that the budget was approved last night. As soon as it is signed by the Governor, Marine licenses will no longer be necessary and should not be sold.  We are working with Verizon to remove all associated licenses from the catalog.  Customers must register through DECALS however and we will be adding a registry item to the catalog.  It will take some time before the registry is available via DECALS.  There will be no charge for the registry.”  . What this means is that you will still need to possess the marine license, however it appears they will not be calling it a license, just some type of registration. There will be no monetary charge for it. It will be some days before they can get the change programmed into their computers – just keep in mind that you are still required to possess such an item. . We realize that this might seem like an April fool’s joke to some of you – but it is true.  The real April fool's joke was the weather service's prediction for today. The big snowstorm they predicted certaily fizzled out here in the Catskill area of the Hudson Valley.      Tom G       ****************************************************************   RIVER BASIN REPORT – Thursday, March 31, 2011 The final day of March… we’re sitting here anticipating tonight’s “nor’easter” which is supposed to dump anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of fresh snow on us… just in time for the first day of New York’s trout season tomorrow, April 1st… April Fool’s Day… but it’s no joke… just absolutely ridiculous! Good luck to any trouter who ventures out tomorrow. . In all likelihood this forthcoming snowstorm will also have a deleterious effect on the start of our 2011 striped bass run here in the Catskill section of the Hudson Valley. It’s always been obvious that there can be no valid prediction as to when the stripers will arrive here, at least not until just about the final week of March and that time is now. So, in all likelihood they won’t be arriving here in any number until the very end of the second week of April, and more likely not until sometime in the third week. . By this time each year we know that the stripers are already in the river, generally the first of them having made it up as far north as the Kingston area. The rain/snow storm we’re expecting tomorrow will result in increased cold water runoff. This will more than likely muddy up the river’s water.  Cold + heavy runoff + muddy river = a NOT early striper run. On the brighter side of things – when those fish finally do make the run upriver it will likely be in a big burst and the fishing will get good very fast..   TIME TO CHECK YOUR GEAR Looking back at the results of our last year’s striper poll we see a myriad of reasons given as to the reason why an angler’s last hooked striper was lost. “Hook turned into bait” was the second most common reason, but the most consistent answer was “line broke.” However, a closer examination of the answers (i.e. straightened hook, fish got off, knot let go etc.)  actually reveals a more likely culprit causing this to happen – the drag. . All too often when a decent fish is hooked and is running a bolt of fear strikes the fisherman. The fish is stripping line off the spool and the drag is just about smoking – AGHHHH!  How do you stop him – you’ve got to stop him – TIGHTEN THE DRAG!! NOT!!! . I think most of us have been guilty of this almost unforgiveable “no-no.” I know that I have and that most of the other anglers I’ve talked to have. You’ve got to set that drag properly before you throw the line into the water. You DON’T play with it after the fish is hooked – tighten it and you’re asking for either a broken line or having the hook pull out of the fish. This happens all too often, especially to those anglers using non-baitrunner style reels. What many of them do while bait fishing is to set the rod down with a closed bail. Then they loosen the drag to a point where a biting striper can take out line and run, but it’s still set tight enough so that the current can’t take out line. The disadvantage here is when the time does come to set the hook - properly setting it and then quickly tightening the drag to play the fish can be a task. That’s why we sell so many baitrunners to striper guys..   My personal method for setting the drag is to step on the end of the line while rearing back on the rod. I impart enough pressure on the rod until I’m satisfied with the amount of tension and then set the drag at that point. I know that there are more precise ways to accomplish the same thing but this method gives me the best feel for the equipment I’m using. You’ve just got to remember to leave the drag alone after you hook the fish – do NOT tighten it..   How long do you wait before setting the hook on a run and seeing if your drag has been set properly?  39% of the respondents in last year’s survey favored a 10 to 15 second wait before tightening the line. The next favorite time was about 5 seconds (31%) followed, surprisingly, by times ranging from 30 seconds to 1 minute. At both extreme ends were “as soon as possible” and “second run.” Remember not to “set” if you’re using a circle hook, rather just let the fish tighten the line and hook itself. . Now, before I go back and do some real work at the store I’ll give you an internet special for this week. It is an OKUMA EPIXOR EB65 baitrunner reel – perfect for stripers. This reel comes with an extra graphite spool, has 10 ball bearings, 4.5:1 gearing, and claims to have a spool capacity of 310 yards of 20 lb. test monofilament (I don’t know where they ever got that measurement from, someplace from 230 to 250 yards is more like it). Anyhow, Cabela’s sells this reel for 109.99 and our regular price at the store is $99.97. Our special price, only through April 9 - is $89.97, as long as our supply holds out. This is a non-advertised special so you must ask if you want to take advantage of it.      Tom G   ****************************************************    RIVER BASIN REPORT UPDATE – Friday, March 25, 2011 The news is out that the “saltwater license” which our Hudson River striped bass fishermen have been mandated to buy… is dead! Seems that a law suit brought on by certain townships on Long Island has been decided in their favor and the state will likely be dropping this requirement very soon. . Since no specific details were to be found anywhere as to this reversal of policy on part of ENCON we at the River Basin Sports Shop went right to the top of this chain and there we found… scant additional information. Assemblyman Robert Sweeney is the chairman of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee so we queried his office and, despite receiving confirmation of this decision, we still found… scant additional information. It seems that as of the present time it doesn’t exist. . The reply we received from Sweeney’s office on Thursday, March 24, 2011 was – “The language to accomplish this will be part of the budget which has not as yet passed – in fact it is not even in print.” . So, as of right now we are advising our customers to hold off as long as possible from purchasing their saltwater license and seeing what will shake out during the next few weeks. I don’t know what to tell those of you who already paid this additional tax except that the state now has your money and, thanks to the state’s new licensing system, they also have your address should they decide to refund it.       Tom G     ******************************************************   RIVER BASIN REPORT – Wednesday, March 23, 2011 As I sit here looking out at the falling snowflakes and hear the weatherman tell me that we’ll get 3 to 6 inches of snow tonight my thoughts drift back to March 2006.   Yup, the second half of that month was beautiful, much warmer than usual, and the first of that year’s stripers arrived in the Catskill area on March 31, right along with our first sightings of local herring. The water temperature in the Catskill Creek hit 47 degrees that Friday…but believe me it ain’t even gonna be close this year. Presently the creek is still flowing at just about the 39 degree mark. . That was a great start to a year which saw the second longest striper I’d ever seen brought in the River Basin Sports Shop – a 48 ¼ incher caught by James Provoncha of Stockport – he used cut shad for bait (actually, the fish tied for the second largest ever with a monster taken by John Repko of Germantown in 2004).  Of course, the largest fish of all, a 48 1/2 incher, was taken the following year, 2007, by Jeremy Phillips of Saugerties. Man, those were great fish. . Hopefully, something in the 48 inch range will be caught this year but in the 33 years we’ve been in business we’ve only had occasion to measure a total of 6 striped bass that large. The other three 48 inchers were taken by Bob Koziol (Pleasant Valley), Charles Graham (Palenville), and Dean Krissler (Alburg, Vt.). . It’s kind of interesting to note here that three of those giant fish were taken on dead bait, not live herring as is used by, and insisted on, probably 85% of our striper anglers. The fourth was taken on a Mann’s Stretch 25 plug while the two remaining were caught on live herring. It’s also interesting to see that of the top 4 fish brought in to our striped bass contest last year (2010) none were taken on live herring – two were taken on chunk bait, one on a live eel, and yet another on a Rapala. It just might be interesting and worth while for you to remember this. . From a survey we took of 20 striper fishermen last year we also learned a few other things which might be of interest to you. One of these regards which type of hooks most anglers are using. Of course, the big push during the past 5 years or so has been to get fishermen to use “circle” hooks rather than the standard style “J” hooks, the ones we’ve all been reared on. According to studies, the circle hooks are less likely to deep hook a fish – definitely preferable if you’re going to be releasing the fish anyway. Our survey showed that 30% of the fishermen had made the switch to circle hooks while 50 percent were still using the J style. Of the rest, 10% were using treble hooks and the remainder used artificials. The most popular hook size used was 6/0 or larger – only 15% used smaller. The most popular sinker size was 3 ounces (in the main river), and 30 pound test line was the one most in use, preferred by 35% of the anglers. . 15% of the striper fishermen used “level wind” baitcasting style reels and another 15% used standard style spinning reels, but 70% used the newer “baitrunner” style equipment. Here in the shop, during the past 10 years or so,  I think that we’ve only sold a total of 3 or 4 of the older style spinning reels for stripers – and have sold hundreds of the baitrunners. It really is the only way to go if you’re in the market for a new reel for bait fishing, and that is the reason we stock over two dozen different at this time of the year, ranging in price from $49 to $200 – tell me what other retail store gives you such a selection. . Of course the best way to buy one of these reels is to make the purchase as a combo – rod and reel. At present we’ve set up some great striper combos at rock bottom prices – an 8 foot two-piece striper rod along with the most-popular Okuma ABF65 reel for only $89.97. The supply of these won’t last forever so take advantage of it while you can. In the meantime, sit back and dream of 45+ degree water that just swarms with herring bait being chased by four foot long stripers.      Tom G.     ************************************************************************    RIVER BASIN REPORT – Wednesday, March 16, 2011 ICE OUT Here today, gone tomorrow – that was the story of the ice cover on the lower Catskill Creek this year. On Saturday, March 5, the ice shield on the lower Catskill Creek seemed to be holding strong and steady as the daylight came to an end. But, surprise, surprise – when dawn broke the next morning the snow melt, caused by 50 degree temperatures and abetted by several inches of heavy rain, had brought the waterway to a springtime flood stage and sent the ice packing to wherever it goes to each spring. The ice went out with the change of tide on Sunday morning, March 6. . WALLEYE Some walleye fishermen were chomping at the bit, anticipating getting in a little early March angling before the season for that species closed on March 15th - but the high, muddy water put a real damper on that right from the git-go. Then a few days later, just as the water was calming down, we had an additional deluge that brought the creek up to flood level once more and negated the possibility of walleye fishing for at least several more days. Finally, the day before the season close, we saw a walleye boat on the creek… but there was no report of any walleye being caught. WAITING ON THE STRIPERS We’re just about a month away from the start of our 2011 striped bass contest and things are rapidly improving insofar as the environmental conditions. Sure there’s still snow in the mountains and some additional patches here in the valley but these are now swiftly diminishing. Presently it appears that the start of the striped bass run is going to be right on schedule this year. We expect the very first of the stripers (we call them “scouts”) to arrive in our area right about the start of April but these fish are so few in number that they are only rarely caught by anglers. By mid-April the number of stripers in our area will be swelling but usually it’s still too early to actually go out and expect to catch any. At just about this same time, perhaps a few days earlier, maybe a few days later, we expect to see the first of the herring arrive here in the Catskill area. Our water temperature should be at just about the 42 – 43 degree range at this time. Up until then the stripers will generally tend to mill and build up in numbers further south in the river. When the river temperature is just right larger schools of HERRING will start to make their run upriver, seemingly followed a day or three later by greater numbers of stripers. You’ve got to remember that the herring are the prime forage for the stripers at this time of year and, since the stripers follow their food supply, you can’t have many stripers without lots of herring. If, at this time, the upper tidal river is running muddy and cold the stripers will tend to hold back, usually below Kingston, until conditions improve. But they seemingly can only hold back for just so long before nature forces a further upriver movement. This main migration can occur anytime from mid to the end of April, and THAT’S when the best action up here starts. Captain R.E. Booth of REEL HAPPY CHARTERS, (518) 622-8670, who charters out of Catskill, tells us that this same time period up through the first two weeks of May provides the best action for his clients. If you call him tell him “HI!” from us. STRIPER TACKLE The best selling striper gear here at the shop so far this year has been the Okuma ABF series of reels. The popular, economically priced ABF65 model, which has been our BEST SELLING REEL for the past 6 years, is still holding on to that position but the model 50 is running a close second.  Of the two brands considered to be the “cream of the crop,” the Penn Slammer and the Shimano BTR series, the Shimanos have really been impressing the fishermen with their smoothness. The most preferred rods for stripers this year so far have been the heavier action Ugly Stick BWS models in the 7, 8 and 9 foot lengths. Even though we’ve already had to reorder a few items the store is still all stocked up with striper stuff. Gill and scap nets abound here, as do herring pens and tanks. However these items can, and usually do, sell out in quick order once striper fever strikes. Anyway, we’ve got all the tackle that you might need to catch them - right now! Come on over and stop in for a look, and while here you can sign up for the striper contest. It’s a $15 entry fee and 100% of it is paid back in prizes to the top 5 fish brought in, plus - we guarantee at least a $3,000 payback for first place.     Tom G   ******************************************************************   RIVER BASIN REPORT – Saturday, March 05, 2011 A NEW YEAR AND BUT ONE CHANGE  Ahh, March! This is the month that usually signals the end of winter and starts the blood pumping in the hearts of all fishermen. Here at the River Basin Sports Shop we’ve been busy getting all our striped bass gear ready for the upcoming season. As you may or may not have heard, there have been no changes this year in the regulations governing either the use of baitfish (with one exception) or the rules for catching striped bass in our Hudson River waters. The daily limit for stripers remains one fish measuring 18 inches or longer. Of course this minimum size is rather a joke to river fishermen, many of whom are as likely to look at a fish of this size as bait rather than as their catch. The only change this year is in the total prohibition on the use of American Shad – not only are you not allowed to fish for them but even their mere possession is now illegal. This closes a previous loophole in the regulations which, even though fishing for and keeping a shad was illegal, seemed to allow the purchase the species for use as bait. Of course, all this pertains only to this year, 2011.   Who knows what someone will come up with for next year to harass the angler. Already the winds of change are blowing in the direction of limiting the use of herring starting in 2012. Reportedly some employees of ENCON are chortling about the number of baitfish any angler will be allowed to possess, and some remarks have also been made that the fishermen had better get ready and learn to use lures only in the future. To many old-time river anglers this makes as much sense as retaining the present 15 inch size limit on black bass in the river. Gosh, this limitation has probably really hurt the dozen or so anglers along our 120 mile stretch of waterway who used to keep a few bass each year. Just kidding! But who it does really hurt are the small sports shops like ours as well as those tournament bass anglers who USED TO enjoy fishing our waters, returning ALL their bass. Now they can’t even weigh in any of the 80% of fish which had been legally weighable. This ruling has wiped out 75% of our river tournaments so there obviously aren’t that many anglers around anymore to be affected. The whole point is that the number of fish that were being kept previously was miniscule and raising the limit was for naught. As far as harassment of fishermen goes please keep in mind that the herring transport law is still in effect out there. This prohibits the transport of herring, for fishing use, overland by any motorized vehicle from one location to another. However, you are allowed to transport them to your home – you just are not allowed to bring them back to the river (or any other water) again. No further comment on this stricture is necessary. SEASON OPENER GETS CLOSER BUT THE ICE IS HOLDING The Hudson’s striped bass season opens on March 16th this year but, of course, the stripers in our mid-river section will be nowhere to be found so early. This is a fact that seems to be particularly true this year. Even though I have received reports of small schoolie stripers already having entered the Connecticut River, fully two weeks earlier than normal, it certainly appears there will not be an early arrival here. The Hudson River at Catskill is still ice-bound and the stripers are still at least 4 to 5 weeks away from us. Even though the Catskill Creek is still locked up with ice the longer days are starting to have an effect on this waterway. During the past week here in Catskill I have observed the amount of open water expand from the railroad bridge all the way to the walking bridge (Black Bridge). Yesterday an open swath of water could be seen in the middle of the creek extending several hundred feet downstream from the 9W Bridge, while just upstream a line of open water could be seen at the landmark Pointy Rock location. This melting is just fine but rarely will the ice in the creek disappear from just melting – it takes a good flushing-out to accomplish this and that’s not about to happen as long as the Hudson at the mouth of the Catskill Creek is still locked up with solid ice. Last year (2010) the ice left the Catskill Creek on February 26th. The latest ice-out date in our 33 years of record keeping was back in 1993 when it did actually “melt out” on March 28. There is no earliest date we have for ice-out since, on a couple of occasions, we have classified the creek to not have frozen over (not enough ice to support an ice fisherman) – those years were 1998 and 2008. Generally a few days of steady March rains bring about the cleansing of ice from our waterways, sometimes accompanied by minor flooding. The flooding is a definite possibility this year since we have lots of snow-cover throughout our region. It doesn’t appear that we’ll get in much open-water walleye fishing this year. Since the walleye season closes on March 15th the odds are that we’ll still be either ice bound or the creek will be running at flood stage with solid mud at that time. HUDSON LICENSE FEES STILL IN EFFECT I don’t want to forget to remind you that the state still wants your money for the special “marine species” license. This $10 (resident) fee entitles you to catch any salt water species (i.e.: stripers, herring, etc.) from ANY water in the state. Do keep in mind that a standard NYS license is now also required to fish for “warm water” species in the Hudson. We sell all New York sporting licenses here at the River Basin Sports shop. TACKLE REPORT Last year’s River Basin Sports striped bass contest winning 47 inch fish was taken by Eric Borchert using cut bait. It takes hefty tackle to handle fish of this size with bait. Here at the shop we recommend either a medium-heavy or heavy action salt water rod rated for 30 pound test or stronger line. We have several different ones to choose from, depending on your style of fishing. Your line should be a very abrasion resistant 20 pound or heavier test and the reel a well-built one with a capacity of at least 100 yards of 20 lb. test. We generally have at least 8 or more BAITRUNNER COMBOS on display that fill such requirements, ranging in price from about $100 to $175. For anyone just wanting to give it a one-shot try we have some weekend warrior combos starting around the $50 range. However, should you want the best stuff you can make up your own outfit. At the time of this writing we have two dozen DIFFERENT reels with the BAITRUNNER feature in stock (this feature really is ideal for striper fishing), including the superb top of the line Penn (560L & 760L) or Shimano (4000D, 6000D, 8000D, 12000D) models. The displayed combos and reels at the shop are already discounted but if you want to make up your own striper combo we’ll knock off 10% of the final cost on that outfit if you mention you saw it here on our web site. And while you’re here at the shop, have your striper reels filled with premium Trilene Big Game line, 20, 25 or 30 pound test for only $9.00 for up to 200 yards (3 cents for each yard for over 200 yards). This is a great bargain. Ice fishing is presently in its waning days for this winter. The next two weeks will see it come to an end in our area so if that’s your thing – hit it hard now. The number of ice fishermen coming through the shop is now being overshadowed by striper fishermen itching for their season to start. The 2011 RIVER BASIN STRIPED BASS CONTEST entry forms are here on the counter and most everyone is filling out their application for this year’s event. Lots of time left for that but if you’re coming through you might as well do it – every year we have to turn away anglers who want to sign up after the deadline. Remember that we pay back 100% of the entry monies to the top 5 fish brought in and that we guarantee at least $3,000 payback for first place.     Tom G   ****************************************************************************    RIVER BASIN REPORT – Friday, February 11, 2011     We’re back again after spending January preparing for spring, in particular for the trout and striped bass seasons. We attended several sporting goods shows all along the East coast last month and have ordered gobs of new fishing tackle for the upcoming year. The merchandise has been arriving for a couple of weeks now and will continue to do so for a few more weeks. Unfortunately, THAT was the fun part of the spring, the next couple of months is a real grind as we have to log-in, price and hang all the stuff. It’s been a mean winter. Lots of snow and lots of cold (it was minus 6 at my house this morning) but it appears that the worse might be over and we might even get into the high 40’s this coming week. Our ice fishermen appear to be having somewhat a tough time indulging in their wintertime hobby. It seems the heavy snowfall has weighted down the ice and there is a layer of slush-water under the snow. This makes it real sloppy and uncomfortable, even requiring the use of rubber boots at some locations. Of course, here at the River Basin Sports Shop we are really anticipating the upcoming striped bass season. It was kind of a weird run last year (2010) with the fish seemingly becoming smaller and less in number the further upriver from Catskill one ventured. Actually, this seemed to be a continuation of a trend that was set during the preceding two years (2008 and 2009) when we observed the success ratio in the section from New Baltimore to Albany to slightly deteriorate each year. It certainly was in great contrast to the 4 years prior when that upper tidewater section seemingly just teemed with lots of decent fish. Still, even though it was slower fishing to the north, it certainly appeared that the over-all catch reported to us was better than the year before. From the Stockport area south to Norrie Point it appeared the 2010 take of linesiders over the 40 inch mark was real good. However, what were lacking were the heavier weights. Of the top 7 stripers that were brought in to the shop only 3 went over the 40 pound mark, the heaviest being our contest winner, a 47 inch giant caught by Eric Borchert – it tipped the scale at 47 pounds 1 ounce. It’ll be interesting to see if any such trends continue or fall apart this year. From the latest reports we’ve received it appears that there will be no changes in either the striped bass or the herring baitfish regulations for this year. For those of you considering netting your own herring baitfish keep in mind that scap nets larger than 36 square feet require a special license. However, a net of that size is strictly a commercial thing - way to large and bulky for any individual to easily use. From many years of experience we can tell you that a four foot square herring scap is the best bet for you… and it requires no special license for non-commercial use. Anybody contemplating using a gill net to catch their herring bait MUST obtain a commercial license before setting it in the water. There are specific regulations as far as construction, dates of employment, locations of use, as well as specific closure days (escapement periods). The license fee for these nets is actually somewhat minimal and the licenses can be handily obtained from ENCON, but the process can take a couple of weeks so don’t put it off. You are better off to purchase your net first so you will know its dimensions - these are needed on the license application. Yes, we do sell both types of nets here at the River Basin Sports Shop. Even though we’re just starting to get this year’s striped bass gear out for sale we already have the 2011 STRIPED BASS CONTEST applications available here at the shop. We’ll be discussing the contest rules and regulations here in future updates to this fishing report site. The registration period for the event ends at 5 p.m. on April 17, 2011, the event starts at 12:01 a.m. on April 18, ending at 12 noon on June 5th. Approximately 1 month to go until ice-out on the lower Catskill Creek - unless mother-nature decides to “flood-wash” it out earlier. We’re waiting… the earlier the better so maybe we can get in some walleye fishing there before the season closes.    Tom G    ************************************************************************************************************** BE SURE TO GO TO THE "PICTURES" PAGE TO SEE ADDITIONAL SHOTS OF GREAT FISH!
2011 RIVER BASIN CONTEST WINNER - $5758.00	Kevin Clarke with 2 nice Hudson River smallmouths
2011 STRIPER CONTEST 2nd PLACE - $1,780.00
Russ Burton with a couple of nice bass