by Captain Steve Byrne

This fat bass was caught away from the schools of bunker.

Springtime is striped bass time in Raritan Bay. The pickings couldn't be any easier, and if you want to get in on the fun with a bunch of 20-plus-pound fish, May is the month for you.

As coastal waters warm, schools of menhaden, a.k.a. bunker, make their way up the coast, invading estuarine waters along the way. Menhaden can spawn year-round, and while they spawn offshore from December to March, spawning grows increasingly closer to coastal waters in the spring, eventually winding up in the many bays and harbors along the coast. The peak of the spring spawn occurs before June, and most menhaden will take up residence in our local waters well before then.

Jamaica Bay, New York Harbor, and Raritan Bay each get their fair share of the bunker population. But why does so much of the menhaden population wind up in Raritan Bay? A quick look at the chart reveals the reason. Menhaden migrate north and west at the same time. Once they reach the tip of Sandy Hook, the coast falls away to the west and the fish wind up in Raritan Bay. After arriving in the Bay, the fish will find their way into the various harbors that boaters use to access the Bay. Menhaden are filter-feeders, and these harbors are rich in plankton; the food source that menhaden need to survive. As a food source for stripers, bluefish, weakfish, king mackerel, bluefin tuna and sharks, menhaden serve as a direct link in the food chain between plankton and top predators.

Keyport Harbor, Great Kills Harbor, the sheltered waters of Union Beach, Laurence Harbor, Seguine Point, and Prince's Bay can all attract and hold good numbers of bunker in the spring. Once the schools of bunker come in, they will usually remain in the area for some time. It is not uncommon for a school to settle into the same harbor for weeks at a time.

Hot on the heels of our filter-feeding friends will be schools of striped bass and bluefish. In early spring, the vast majority of stripers will be small; almost the same size as the bunker. The best way to catch these early arrivals is with sandworms on incoming water. But those bass are not the bass we want to focus on. The stripers we are looking for are the next to arrive. By mid- to late-April, larger fish will appear on the scene. Worming stripers in spring is an effective and popular way to put fish on the end of your line. While the vast majority of these fish will be small, a few larger fish are caught on worms every spring.

Foggy mornings can be productive in the safety of your harbor.

Unfortunately, catching a fish over 20 pounds while worming in the spring is a little like hitting lotto. You have a shot at it, but it probably won't happen. If you are interested in

consistently catching bigger fish, your presentation needs to be big enough to grab the attention of a fish that is hell-bent on fattening up. When schools of adult bunker are in town, it is time to give your 4-inch shad jigs and bucktails a rest. It is time to think big. Whether you are bait fishing, plugging, or fly-fishing, a big offering is called for.

There is a great deal of confusion among anglers who are new to bunker-chunking. The most common question is, "How big should the chunk be?" You want big, fat hunks of meat on your hook - not little slices or cubes. One adult bunker should make four or five "chunks" of bait - including the head and tail. Pass a 7/0 or 8/0 hook through the meat at the top of the chunk ONE TIME, leaving the hook point out the other side, completely exposed. Please don't bury the hook inside the chunk. The head is the best part, so make sure you use it. When fishing chunks of bunker, check and change your bait every fifteen to twenty minutes. By that formula, one bunker is good for one hour of chunking with one rod.

Keep your reel in free spool with the clicker on. When you get a pick up, wait until the fish runs steady for several seconds. Next, put your reel in gear, wait for the line to come tight and set the hook. Bunker chunks are usually fished on the bottom, and fish-finder rigs work well. Sometimes it can be more productive to chunk without any weight, so don't be afraid to experiment if the fishing is slow.

The usual chunking setup is to anchor up-tide of some type of structure. A channel edge or deep hole can be productive, but you don't always need a dramatic piece of bottom to catch fish. A general change in depth is often enough to draw stripers, and the contour line west of Old Orchard Shoal where the water drops from sixteen feet to twenty feet draws loads of big bass every spring. Once anchored, I put two baits close to the stern, and two more baits further back. Once that's done, it's time to pour a cup of coffee, sit back and wait for the bass right? Wrong!

To draw bass to your boat, you'll need more than four chunks of bunker in the water. It's time to start chumming, and like everything else there is a logical way of getting the most response for your effort. For many anglers, chumming means cutting up bunker and haphazardly tossing the pieces in the water. While that might help, there is a better way. The number one rule is, don't feed the fish! You want to attract them - not feed them. That means cutting small - and I mean small - pieces of bunker. Usually, I fillet a bunker and slice the fillets into fingernail-size cubes. When you have cut up a bunker for chum, toss a handful of cubes toward the bow of the boat. The small pieces create a scent ball. Putting it in front of your boat gives it additional time to sink as it gets back behind your baits. Early into your trip, you want to put a scent ball out every few minutes. Once the bass come into your zone, you can chum less often. They will relate the area to bunker chunks, and the baits will be enough to keep them interested.

Live-lining bunker has got to be one of the most exciting ways to catch striped bass. Generally speaking, medium to heavy conventional gear is best for this type of fishing. I pass my hook through the back of the bunker's head and send him off to battle. Many anglers prefer a hook through the lips of the bunker, but I have found two problems with that method. First, when you "button his lip," you prevent your bait from breathing. Cons- equently, your bunker will not last as long. The second problem is that bass swallow their meals head-first. Hooks that are directly in front of your bunker have a way of driving themselves right into the bunker's gill-plate when you set the hook. If your hook is buried back into the bunker, it's going to be tough to hook your bass.

Once our live bunker has reached the strike zone, I leave the reel in free-spool, but engage the clicker. Keeping your thumb on the spool, maintain contact with the bunker while it is swimming. When a pick up is imminent, your bunker will become very active. There may be one or two short runs as the bass positions the bunker to be swallowed. The long, smooth run that follows is the bass swimming away with your bait. Point your rod in the direction of the fish, count to five and engage the reel. As the line comes tight, lift the rod with a solid, smooth motion. You don't have to go crazy setting the hook if the fish is swimming away from you. The swimming motion of the fish will help drive the hook home. An exaggerated setting motion greatly increases the risk of something breaking.

When fishing with live bunker around the schools, I put a slice or two in the tail of my bunker. Here's the logic. The bunker that I put on my line will rejoin the school for protection when he returns to the water. If I can slow my bunker down, it will not be able to keep up when the school tries to escape the stripers. My bunker will be the slowest in the school. That means it will be straggling behind the rest of the bunker as they escape the feeding bass.

Sometimes I'll put some bunker in the live well and head off to another location that is holding stripers, but no bunker. In that situation the bunker does not need to be slowed in any way. The simple fact that the bunker is alone in open water is enough of a handicap. If stripers are present, they will find your live bunker in a hurry. The striped bass that you find away from the main schools of bunker are often larger than the ones riding herd on the school. Before moving on to other methods, let's take a closer look at the equipment necessary for the above methods. The preferred rod for bunker fishing is a medium to heavy conventional stick, from six to seven feet in length for boat anglers, and eight to ten feet for surfcasters. This is not the time for fooling around with light gear, and I believe in using a minimum of 30-pound-test. I usually go with 40-pound-test line on the reel, and use a four-foot length of fifty-pound-test for leader material. Why so heavy? Fishing in and around schools of bunker is hell on monofilament. Bunker bump into your line, leaving nicks that compromise the strength of your line. Spinning gear will put twist in your line, and the heavier line will magnify the effect of the line twist.

There are of course other ways to put springtime bass on your line. If you're looking for more of a challenge, fast-sink lines can put big flies in front of feeding stripers. Some flies are even designed to look like bunker chunks. If trolling is your thing, bunker spoons are the number one choice, followed by big Mann's swimmers. Last of all, big swimmers like the Danny, and Creek Chub's Giant Pikie have been attracting stripers for years, and chances are they will continue to do so in the future.

The spring run in Raritan Bay can last well into June, but usually comes to an end by Memorial Day. If the weather is cool, you can expect the bass to stick around longer than usual. In 2002 we had great bass fishing until the third week of June because of unusually cool weather.

That brings us to our final topic on spring bass fishing. While fall fishing is often plagued by high winds, springtime anglers are forced to contend with fog. When warm, moist air masses move in from the south, and as they pass over cool water, advection fog is formed. The fog is often extremely thick, limiting visibility to as little as ten feet. Even with visibility that poor, anglers have options for fish.
Before leaving the dock on a foggy day, be sure you have a working radio, horn, and GPS unit. One word regarding GPS: While it's great to know where you are and where you're going, it is important to remember that yours is not the only boat on the water. You are required to maintain a speed that will allow you to stop within the limits of your visibility. GPS is not radar! If you want to play it safe but still get out for some fish, try working the calm waters of your home harbor. Big bass are caught under the sailboats in Keyport Harbor every spring, and in every other harbor around the bay as well.

Even if you are comfortable enough to navigate to your favorite bass spot in poor conditions, there are some extra hazards to consider. First, you must be aware of other boaters in your area. Listen closely for the sounds of other boats, and ask your passengers to do the same.
The second hazard is any of the many "fast ferries" that run across Raritan Bay on their way to Manhattan. Pay attention to their routes on clear days, and make a mental note of their general position. They are not required to remain in shipping channels, so they can pop up literally anywhere. My defense against the ferries is to fish in the safety of a lighthouse, or other navigational aid.

Editors Note:
The author runs First Cast Charters (www.firstcastfishing.com) out of Staten Island.