Oh, this is a tough weekend if you are a striper fisherman. Just about everywhere you go along the Bay as well as the oceanfront there will be people and disruptions. It is not ideal for fishing. However, here's a few tips that might just get you some fish.Bay- If you fish from a boat, the Bay is loaded with menhaden and there are a few decent fish under them. My son, Matt, took a 36 inch bass yesterday livelining menhaden. There are also schools of fish popping up here and there after smaller bait. Matt and my brother Steve landed a half dozen stripers up to 34 inches while plugging with Storm Shads under breaking fish. If you are going out in a boat, the early morning bite has been the best. If you fish the shore, try to fish at and after dark. Things settle down after dark and the fish are now actively hitting at that time. I got out last night and had two decent fish on (lost them) at dark and I saw several fish break. Skinny plastic (Hogys or Slug Gos) have been hot.
Oceanfront- If you are fishing from a boat, try the salt ponds. Worm hatches are going on at this time and you should find numbers of breaking fish if the worms are hatching. Small three inch Slug Gos have been hot. Fish them with light tackle or off a float. Fly fishing is also good in the worn hatches. From shore I would target the breachways and the backwaters in early morning and at and after dark. Skinny plastic or small swimmers will be your best bet. There are good numbers of small keepers (28-34 inches) around, decent fish to catch on light tackle in the backwaters.Freshwater- If you want to avoid the drive to the ocean or Bay, why not try freshwater. I got out this week a couple of times with my son, Jon, to fish for largemouth bass and we got good numbers of them up to 5 lbs.(see photo). They are really hitting plastic worms right now. Jon loves that 5 inchYamamoto worm in a black color. You'd be surprised at how good freshwater is and how few people are doing it.
