# Morning Report 07/23/04



## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

The good news is the bait and fish were in and in site the bad news is they were out of reach and never came close to the pier but it was fun watching the blues blitz the bunker and turn them into flying fish.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

Hi cocoflea,

I've been following your quest for some time now and admire your tenacity. You are without doubt THE Northern Member of the Fishing Warriors!
Seems like you've been getting some nice blues lately, which is better than most of us are doing in the upper and mid Chesapeake Bay. 

I grew up a couple miles north of Nyack, NY (Hudson River). My father often took me fishing in the lakes nearby and in the Hudson once in a while. During HS and college my friends and I fished the same lakes near home, as well as in the Catskills and the Adirondacks. We just did the basics, nothing fancy, but for some reason my friends and I never hit the Hudson.

What gets me now, as an adult, is how come nobody ever told us (or knew) about the rockfish runs that take place in the Hudson in the spring and fall? There must have been hordes of huge stripers running up and down the river in those days! (Those days being the late 50's thru early 70's.) I wish I could have been in on it. 

I don't expect you to have an answer to my rhetorical question. I don't know what decades you grew up in. But I was wondering, if you were raised in the CT/NY area, did you have the opportunity to fish the Long Island Sound or the Hudson, etc.? If so, what was it like?

Blue Heron


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Blue Heron

I've lived in Stamford CT all of my life and I can tell you fishing in the sound was awesome in September Bluefish were Blitzing EVERY MORNING and Catching Rockfish 30 Plus pounds was not uncommon I never did fish the Hudson because you didn't have to go there to get fish there where here all of the time and believe it or not it was that way up until 1984 that was the last year that I could go to the channel near where I live wait until 5AM start casting a popper and catch Bluefish for 12 to 16 pounds on almost ever cast and if you fished a diving plug you might pick up a Striper(Rockfish) feeding under the blues I just hope that one day it gets that way again I really miss those days but I'm sure all along the eastcoast similar stories can be told by others on this site.


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## sumsin4nutin2000 (Jul 20, 2004)

*cumming pier*

hey coco, i moved to stamford from brewster , ny,did alot of freshwater, know nutin about saltwater, tried fishing cove beach by the rocks got nutin , any advice would be helpful.see a bunckh a guys friday morning at cummings ,were you there?


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Hey sumsin4nutin2000

I return your email if you need more info please feel free to contact me


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

Cocoflea, sorry I took so long to respond, but I've been doing a lot of work around here as you have been doing on your yard and house.

That was a beautiful picture you painted of those awesome fishing days in the Sound prior to 1984. I had a feeling that it was like that up there back then. I only had one taste of that kind of abundant fishing. It was between mid Oct. and mid Nov. 2000. I believe it was the second year of a drought that we had here in MD. 

I was laid off and a few mornings each week I went to Rocky Point Park (on the Chesapeake about 10 miles north of Baltimore), at 6am when it opened. Sometimes there were 15-20 cars in line waiting for the gate to open. Then there'd be a mad dash to park and people would run down the hill (not me) to get the best fishing spots. It was common for many to catch their limit of two stripers within 30-45 minutes, put them in their coolers and drive straight to work. Initially I was using only frozen alewife (I think you may call it bunker) and frozen peelers (crabs) and was catching only dinks. Soon I realized that the overwhelming majority of the keepers were being caught on top water plugs and poppers. After I armed myself with a couple of 3" and 5" Atom Poppers I was able to join in the fray and partake in the feast. 

It was so great when you could see a striper come up behind your lure and hit it, sometimes knock it 3 feet in the air, and then hit it again to suck it in. That fall I caught about 20 keeper rockfish, between 18-25". All were caught within two hours of the first cast. They weren't huge by many peoples standards - but for me they were the best and most keepers I ever caught. 

Like I said, I had one taste of what you had in the Sound prior to '84. Aside from just the general love of fishing, that taste keeps me "pluggin away" at it even when the fishing is not as grand as it was that fall in 2000.

Blue Heron


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Blue Heron 

I have to thank you for asking about those days sometimes I get caught up in life and forget about days of old like that to keep me going my best memories was when I told my college to come fishing one morning he had never gone fishing so he wasn't sure what was going to happen well he got there late and he saw me bring in Bluefish on 1 lure one on the front treble and one on the back treble I gave him my extra rod and first cast he caught his first fish of his life and from that day on I have a real fishing buddy


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