Saltwater Fishing Discussion Board Including Inshore Fishing, Offshore Fishing, Saltwater Fly Fishing and Kayak Fishing

Since I live 2 blocks away from the east river (51st), I've decided to give it shot at fishing it. My only experience is bottom fishing from a boat. My question is what kind of tackle do i need? Do i need a long surf rod or a regular boat rod will do? Lure or bait? what kind? What time does the bass run through the river? Thanks for all the help in advance.

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/08/2007 01:03 PM

Hi, not familiar with the best spot around 52st, but generally speaking there are 2 methods for catching stripers in the East River that I know of.

1) Fishing bait for big fish. I suck at this, but some friends and aquaintances are pretty good. Because the current rips like crazy in the East river you need heavy sinkers, therefore the best bait rod is heavy surf rod set up with MINIMUM 30 lb mono but more realistically 65-80 braid, spinning or conventional, whatever you prefer. Fish BIG baits (half or whole bunker, whole clams, live eels, etc) on fishfinder rigs with as much lead as it takes to hold (anywhere from 2 to 8+ oz). You can scale back the bait size for better action on smaller fish, but if you're looking for quantity over quality I highly recommend you fish lures rather than bait. Fishing big baits takes patience, but it can be worth it as some really quality bass and blues get caught from the shores of the East River every year.

2) Fishing lures for schoolies, blues, and the occasional keeper. This is what I'm good at. Fish a 7'-8' fairly tough spinning rod with 50-65 lb braid, or 20-30 lb mono (but if you go with mono you will lose more lures and fish) - picking out a rod is difficult because you want to be able to throw small 1/4-1/4 oz jigs, but also lift and swing a decent fish too. I'm still struggling with rod selection. Focus on SMALL plasitcs, 3"-5" with 1/4 oz - 1.5 oz leadheads, depending on the current (have the full range ready as tides go from dead still to insane raging river in the matter of an hour and a half). I prefer fin-s style (no paddle tail) plastics and get MUCH better results using scented plastics like Berkley Powerbait. Rainbow Trout is my favorite color but most any color will work most of the time. Fish jigs SLOWLY just off the bottom, and vertically around structure. If you find the right spots you can catch at least a dozen bass and blues in an hour or two on a consistant basis. Sometimes tins, plugs, and rat-l-trap type lures will work too, especially during the daytime.

When and where to fish: Nighttime is almost always more productive than daytime. Tide is also key. Slack tide, and just before and just after slack, often produce brief but wild bites. For the most part Outgoing is better than incoming, and the very begging of outgoing, just when the water starts to barely move, is my favorite time. You will do best around structure. Bridges, pylons, collapsed piers, elbows in the seawall, etc. The other thing, besides structure, is light - any light shining on the water is a great spot at night, specially places where the lights are close enough and bright enough to create a real shadowline.

Other things to fish for: besides bass and blues you'll sometimes get a chance to catch other fish in the East River, but not as consistantly and only in small, concentrated locations. I used to get winter flounder consistantly in one place in early-mid spring. I know guys who have blackfish spots. Sometimes we get shad and herring runs. I've heard about some fluke spots, and weakfish show up here and there once in a while. There are also places where you can sometimes get tommycod, whiting, juvenile seabass and porgies, and I've even heard it said that false albacore show up some years. So experiment and have fun!

By the way... a guess from your name - are you a trader?

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/08/2007 01:06 PM

oh sorry, in answer to your last question, schoolie bass are here year round but best in april-june and oct-dec, blues show up late may or june and get thick in the summer, not really sure about ther rest though.

FlashTrader

Joined: 12/21/2006
Posts: 47

posted 03/08/2007 01:21 PM

Thank you very much quick response, lots of helpful info. Yes, i am a trader. Market not doing much right now as you can see.

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/08/2007 01:58 PM

check your PM's.

FlashTrader

Joined: 12/21/2006
Posts: 47

posted 03/14/2007 11:48 AM

do I need a license to fish the piers? where can I get one in the city?

raregroove

Joined: 08/17/2001
Posts: 1127
Location: jackson heights

posted 03/14/2007 11:52 AM

You don't need a license.

You don't live far from Styuvesant Cove(@22nd St) a good East River spot.

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/14/2007 12:49 PM

actually, he's closer to a reportedly better area though I haven't fished it myself. The Queens side of the 59th st bridge is supposed to be very productive. Not sure what access is like on the manhattan side but I would wager there are some good holes near the bridge if you can get to them.

This post edited by jtzannes 12:49 PM 03/14/2007

EC NEWELL MAN

Joined: 04/16/2002
Posts: 2582
Location: SHEEPSHEAD BAY

posted 03/14/2007 02:11 PM

Sometime this spring i am going to get out there with Captain Anthony from the Barbara Ann from Staten Island and do a article on East River fishing spots, with pictures of the bottom, areas to fish from land and locations to fish on certain tides and other little tid-bits about fishing one of the best striper areas in the northeast...and i will give you a location where we actually watch striped bass jump out of the water chasing bait for a few months out of the year!

Keep a eye in the WHEELHOUSE WITH EC AND TOGMASTER on this article, coming within next few months.

EC NEWELL MAN><

As of 0900hrs - 5/2/08-

I NO LONGER ACCEPT PMs.

Contact me at:

mb1143f@gmail.com

FlashTrader

Joined: 12/21/2006
Posts: 47

posted 03/14/2007 02:31 PM

that would be awesome ec

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/14/2007 03:22 PM

one of my clients had a 52# striper on Rocket Charters in the East River last summer... also had all-out blitz action on diamond jigs in front of the UN on the same boat, easily landed 40+ fish in about as many minutes.

Looking forward to the article EC.

Flash, in the mean time if you're willing to dig through old posts & reports here you will find many impressive reports and some great locations for fishing from shore, there are a lot of very, very productive areas to fish in Manhattan if you're willing to put in the effort, but it takes as much effort as fishing anywhere else - no free lunch! Milt Rosko has also written articles about fishing the East River for many many years, you can probably find some of them if you look around enough.

EC NEWELL MAN

Joined: 04/16/2002
Posts: 2582
Location: SHEEPSHEAD BAY

posted 03/14/2007 03:51 PM

Thanks Flash and jtzannes...

Yes i know Tony DeLernia from Rocket Charters who was a professor of mine at Kingsborough years ago, had a trophy fish in the river, and a few years back on the Long Island City Pier, a angler caught a 55lb there!

The U.N. area is one of the many unique places in the East River, where you had some of the craggiest bottom on one side, and then the 'flats' on the other...then you have the dropoff in the 23rd st Skyport Marina area.

The great thing about the East River, is that there is always some place to hide when their is bad weather, and you can fish one place with bait, then go to another location, and bucktail, and then off another place cast lures.

The article though we give you a good look (pictures from the bottom machine) at some of the unique bottom in the river where we fish, and where i have seen some of the charter boats fishing over the years.

I know Milt Rosko has written a few articles over a period of time for SWS and other publications, but hes never gone as in depth as far as locations to fish from Mill Rock south to Diamond Shoals reef.

One of the unknown secrets about the river is that if you know where to fish, you can literally catch striped bass their 12 months out of the year!

EC NEWELL MAN<>

As of 0900hrs - 5/2/08-

I NO LONGER ACCEPT PMs.

Contact me at:

mb1143f@gmail.com

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/14/2007 03:55 PM

heck i have some time on my hands & this is one of my favorite subjects

Old One

Oldie but goodie - Words from a master (Sam)

Sam teases us soem more

Me Rambling

Good One

Not as good - a lot of me rambling again

Chas's Page

Rocket Charters

Manhattan Cup

NYC Fishing

GhettoFisherman

On The Bite

Gotham Fish Tales

That should keep you busy for a while! If I get out of work eary enough to catch the tide I might just wet a line tonight.

jtzannes

Joined: 05/09/2002
Posts: 2117
Location: Kythera

posted 03/14/2007 04:12 PM

EC, your article sounds awesome, nobody's ever done anything like that before, at least as far as I know. Some of the most impressive catches from the East River I have ever heard about are ones that will never be reported on the Internet, or featured in a magazine becuase they're made by diehard fishermen who mostly live in bad neighborhoods and fish in areas you can only get to by crawling through holes in fances or over climbing over trash heaps or walking many blocks in deserted neighborhoods in the wee hours of the night... but those guys are out there and if you talk to them enough they will tell you stories that will make your head spin, and show you the pictures to prove it! One day I'll get to the level where I'm pulling up the mosters from the East River too. So far it's still a lot of small fish for me. I had one enounter with something LARGE last year, but she broke me off wihout much effort, I just wasn't ready for her when she decided to bite.