Before launching into yet another season of captivating, informative, outrageously funny columns, I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate the beginning of our third year together here with this little slice of the Angler Advantage. I have spoken to, emailed and met so many readers over the last couple of years that somehow I feel like we are almost buddies. Now let’s drop the April foolin’ around and get right into what April is really all about, striper fishing. 

 

Striper are warmin’ up

 

   The water is still darn cold just 2 feet below the surface and the marine life that makes up the food chain is just beginning to kick start their hearts for another round of ‘eat or be eaten’. It is a fact that the activity levels in the fish we target increase in warmer water. That means we need to find it, to find them.

   Cheaters with boats can head right to the outflows of the power plants (not that there is anything wrong with that!), but for the rest of us a few basic concepts will hold true.

   The first is that water warmed by the sun on dark mud flats runs off as the tide drops. The ends of channels that run through these flats are great spots to target since it is the flats that spawn the first grass shrimp and other small forage that makes up the striper’s early season food. Intersections where two or more of these flat-fed channels connect on an outgoing tide, are even better spots to target.

   Secondly, chumming makes a huge difference for those in a boat. I go two ways in April, chumming warmer water, depending on availability. My first choice is fresh herring, caught upriver with dip nets or cast nets on dropping tides. There is no question that fresh, live herring is the best early April bait for stripers. Big tides around full and new moons are the time to race upriver and catch this baitfish species. Unfortunately, for those who do not have the capability to catch their own, it can get really expensive.

   Dropping back a slick of tiny herring chunks to a major runoff intersection, while swimming a livie within the slick, is totally the “best case scenario”. A whole dead herring, or a big chunk, is also a great strategy. Be sure to read the New Jersey bait regulations very, very carefully before venturing on a bait catching trip up into the sweetwater. The odds of getting stopped and checked are good and the fines are steep. Also, there are new possession regulations this year pertaining to daily catch and bait pen storage. Be aware of them.

  Second choice, but by no means second best, is to start bustin’ clams. If one can get frozen buckets of clam bellies, and some nice juicy surf turkeys, they too have a winning combination. Defrost the bellies in a big container with bay water. I like to use a big Rubbermaid storage container with a lid to ease the sloshing when we change locations. Start ladling out the soup and chunks. Anglers can use the bellies themselves as baits, but I like the fresh turkeys as they still have plenty of scent and hold better on a big circle hook. Borrowing a little clam string from the surf bag will help with the bellies. One of the best things about fishing with clam is that a surprise appearance by a big black drum is always a possibility.

   Simple fish-finder rigs with 7/0 to 9/0 true circle hooks are the choice for us in these scenarios with the dead baits. For live herring, we either go weightless, or use a light, in-line, bead-chain weight. The weight is secured by a quality snap-swivel tied to braid to minimize twist, then attached to 3 feet of 30-pound test fluorocarbon with a 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook. If one wants to use a circle with the live bait they can, but we never put a rod in a rod holder when fishing a livie, so gut-hooking is rarely a problem. Drags on the dead baits should be locked down, and on the livie, the reel should be in free spool or bait-runner mode depending on the model.

   Anglers who are fishing from sod banks, which lay out over a big mudflat, like Graveling Point or Pebble Beach, can bring our finger-nailing little friends, the bloodworm, into play. There has been plenty written about these spots, so beyond watch where you step and be careful who you crowd, I’ll just add a couple of basic points.

   We have fished these areas in the snow and in short sleeves over the years, and in that time we have noticed that, the transitional times of the tide always seemed to be better. Therefore, it is best to fish during these transitional times.

   Even though the bloodworms are expensive as heck, keep fresh bait on the hook. Some guys do go with a double rig of clam and worm, but the bloodworms always seem to pull the fish in better. Bring a long surf rod or something that can chuck some lead a distance, along with a couple of good sod-spikes, something to sit on and some hot coffee. Catching fish in these locals is usually a waiting game. Don’t bother bringing any plugs. They are totally worthless unless one wants to do something just to keep warm.

   Taking the “Graveling Point” strategy to one’s local river mouth sod bank is something anglers should certainly give a shot this spring.

 

Beachfront appearances

 

   If we do happen to be lucky enough to have surf temperatures above 50 degrees this month, the beachfronts can be as productive as the backwaters. Many times we overlook the surf and jetties early because we are so conditioned to fish the backwater and upriver haunts early in the season. Last year’s inshore, coldwater upwelling took a long term lease and it seemed like it did not move out until mid-tuna season.

   A couple of rods with some juicy surf clam on the business end can make an April day truly memorable, provided the water temperature is right. We always like working the beaches or jetties closer to the inlets in these situations as the warmer water with all the backwater forage in it comes through the inlet and spreads to adjacent beaches.

   With the big menhaden recovery over the last few years, early warm water could also bring us early bunker schools to add to the big “where do I fish now?” dilemma. While this is usually a May event, it can happen in April. Even if the bunker doesn’t show, there will be some hickory shad in the zone, so keep an eye out for them.

 

Dual-purpose sweetwater excursions

 

   April and early May are really the only times I get any mileage out of my freshwater license, as it is prime big striper time in the rivers. With all that striper candy swimming around up there, it’s not hard to leave the boat keys at home and hop in the truck for an upriver ride. Even my bait trips upriver are always accompanied by a rod rigged to either soak some herring or toss some topwater plugs. The big girls are up there for the herring spawn, and it is totally worth the trip. Schools of herring run close to the surface and one can plainly see them rippling as the move along. Once herring are spotted, get to work. One may actually nail their biggest bass of the year from the bank of a river.

     If one sees the lunatics out in the bay who are double anchored while wielding plungers, chumming corn and cat food like it was a fulltime job, and looking sneaky while doing it, there is a good chance they have accidentally stumbled across a covey of winter flounder aficionados. April is actually mid-season for winter flounder although the fisheries themselves are very regional and limited in nature. It is a quirky soul that gets wrapped up in a heated debate if pink or yellow sinkers or beads work better. The odds are if you overhear a conversation that includes this, it will be between winter flounder anglers.  One can argue if they think the effort to catch them is worth it, but they cannot argue about how these fish get the most out of a hot skillet and butter.

 

Close-out tog

 

   There is little time left to jog for tog. The run to the bait stealing masters of the nearby wrecks and reefs is a great way to spend an April day while the limit is still up at 4 per angler at a 14-inch minimum size. It closes entirely at the end of the month. Get those green crab traps in early and have a blast testing your skill, to the maximum!

 

   Obviously, it is no fool who has his boat in and his gear ready by April 1 every year. Memories of those long winter months will vaporize with the first “zing” of the drag. I know there are a few options in March, but April is the beginning of my fishing year, and for some reason, I just know that this one is going to be the best one ever!

 

Welcome back - and Stay Tuna-ed!