The Boat:

25' Steiger Craft Chesapeake powered by Suzuki. Loads of fishing room and an incredibly dry and smooth ride!

The Crew:

Capt. Rich Tenreiro, host of the hit TV show Northeast Angling. He specializes in fishing the protected western Long Island Sound waters from City Island and Little Neck all the way to Connecticut and Oyster Bay. He will teach you how to sharpen your skills and learn about the techniques, tactics and gear necessary to catch the trophy fish. The greatest part is, he is extremely friendly and encouraging. He is also great with beginners; no prior fishing or boating experience is necessary!

We had one mate, Nick, aboard with us. He did a wonderful job on the water – baiting, rigging, chumming, and filleting. He is also a pro with the cast net when it came time to net live bunker!!!

The Report:
Victor, Milton, Jimmy F., Marcus and his son, and I went out on with R&G Charters for striped bass in our local NYC waters. This was a wonderful experience for many of us aboard mostly because we didn’t think bass of this size ever roamed our local waters. Of the countless new memories from the day, it was especially an eye-opener to see a 30lber almost break surface while chasing one of our baits.

The day began with a calm sea conditions. We stopped off at a spot near Hempstead Harbor and drifted chunks. Soon, we were all hooked up to 10-15lb bass. We must have landed over 20 fish, releasing almost all of them except ones some folks wanted to take home for table fare. After playing catch-n-release for a while, the tide slacked and the bite died.

Our next plan of action was to net live bunker (Atlantic Menhaden).

With bait in the well, we headed over to a hairy rock piled beach. After about 10 minutes of live-lining, we saw the first frightened bunker skip on the surface. It ran straight towards the boat and then we saw the un-thinkable…. An enormous bass was just below it and swallowed the bait whole, and we saw it all take place before our own eyes as it happened only 3 ft below the surface! Unfortunately, the wily bass knew something was the matter and it spit the bait before the hook could be set. After that, we saw a few more bass harass a bunker or two but none were landed. As the tide picked up and became strong incoming, the winds also started to blow and the bass stopped coming around. Some of us thought that this would kill the bite because now the wind was against tide-  the boat was spinning around in circles and making it really hard to fish.

We moved to another locale where we could drift bunker chunks again. The captain then told us, “Watch now, this is the tide where we’ve been getting the big ones.” Despite the prevailing winds, he was still very optimistic and determined. At first the bite was slow. Experienced anglers began meddling with their terminal tackle to make their baits more presentable to the bass. Soon enough Jimmy F. hit a fish while drifting with a ¼ oz. pinch-on sinker. Next, others put on some sort of weight to fight off the wind and to allow the chunked baits to sink to the bottom quicker.

After that, it was bass-o-mania! Victor soon became high hook. Not too far behind was Marcus’ son (his first time striped bass fishing ever!)! Soon we started to see some twenty pounders, which made for a perfect ending to a great morning of fishing in our very own local NYC waters. The striped bass fishery is truly a remarkable one, and we are very fortunate to have this species roam our local haunts this time of year.

Depths Fished:
5-30 ft.

GEAR USED:
- Rods and Reels:
6-7ft medium/heavy conventional boat rod and comparable reel capable of handling 30lb mono. Lighter line is not recommended. Shallow locations will have a lot of structure. Deeper locations may require up to 8oz of lead.

- Lines:
When chunking, braided line is not recommended.

- Terminal Tackle:
8/0-9/0 size J Hooks

Filleting Services:
Filleting included in fare and done by first mate.