Hi fly-fishermen

Next year in the first half of April some (non-fishing) friends and I will be visiting a friend of us in NYC. I agreed to join the group under the condition that I was "allowed" to go fishing for one day!

The trip to NYC seems like the ideal opportunity to try for my first striper, allthough I know the beginning of April is a bit early in the season.

I have been searching the internet for useful information about the best spots, but that seems to be difficult. From what I've read, Jamaica Bay seems like a good location, but this bay is quite big. I have checked out some fly-fishing guides (and their rates...), but they charge too much according to my standards! I'm not going to spend 600 USD for a few hours of fishing...

Does anyone on the forum have experience with this type of fishing at this time of year, or could anyone tell my where I could get useful information?

Here is a great video:
Tight lines

Mike the Pike

Call the guys at Urban Angler in NYC. You can get stripers off the docks at mid-town! Awesome video!

I caught schoolies off a mid town dock, in May, the light attract the bait fish and the stripers follow, the water was clearer than it sometimes is however.

I had fished the same area previously in August and caught nothing. Try the US side of the forum.

Regards,

Ed

__________________
www.Troutzilla.co.uk

www.Ilikesheds.com

Also asks your question at the stripersonline forum

I would play up the fact that you're a poor European visitor to these shores, and ask the great Striper Gurus to take pity on you. Also mention that you have a terrible sense of direction and memory, such that you could never reveal the location of any prime fishing places that were shown to you.

East Coast striper fishing is very competititive. Good information on quality places to fish is hardly ever revealed on the internet. Your best chance is to hope some of the knowlegeable anglers will take take you under their wing.

Be very careful if you do go out alone.

Good luck.

Grouse

Thanks a lot for the replies, guys! I'll try to be the poor European on some American forums...

I'm definitely going to visit the Urban Anglers store. Thanks for recommending it, Steve. I had already sent them an e-mail before posting here and they recommended an expensive guide to me, but I'll try to get information from the staff members in the shop.

Grouse, why do you think it is dangerous to go out on my own? Is the competition between striper anglers comparable to European carp fishermen?

I'll let you guys know afterwards how I got on in NYC...

Tight lines

As a matter of interest, who did Urban Angler recommend, and how do you know they are expensive???.....By which I mean expensive compared to the average price of the guides in the New York/Long Island area??...I say that as you are not going to get a top boat & guide for anything less than $600 per day, mind you with a guide in the Long Island/New York area, you will also not need to bring any tackle.....They will have everything, and it will be top quality stuff, so no need to worry on that score.

Don't think you will get a lot of info re specific locations from US forums, although pointing out that you live over this side of the pond, might prompt a couple of pm's.

As Steve said, Stripersonline is probably the best of the forums to try, and you should make your request both in the Fly Fishing section of the Main Forum, and the Long Island/NewYork section of the Regional Forums

Another US forum well worth a try is the Reel-Time forum, and here again, it is advisable to put up your questions in a couple of the appropriate sections.

__________________
Brian G

Hi Genty

They recommended Bryan Goulart. I checked his website
Bryan Goulart New York Fly Fishing Guide, where I found his rates. I compared them to other rates by using this search function of Stripers Forever - Search For Shops/Guides

He may be normally priced compared to other guides, but to my standards $650 for 8 hours of fishing is just too much. I have my own quality tackle that is suitable for striper fishing (here in Belgium we have to use heavy gear for sea bass fly-fishing because of the strong current), so not using it would be a waste of money from my point of view.

Thanks for suggesting the forums, I'll have a look on them.

Tight lines

Hi Mike;

Grouse is just saying to be careful due to the nasty waves and tides in the area. I use to live in Stamford, CT off Long Island Sound and every year a few sea anglers would take a header off the rocks never to be seen again so it's a good idea to take it easy if the waves are building up. Sorry about no advice on sea fishing but except for the occasional blue fish I was always more interested in the nearby trout streams.

Take care

Terry

__________________
"He either fears his fate too much,
Or his desserts are small,
Who dares not put it to the touch,
To win or lose it all!"

Hi Terry

Thanks for your warning, I won't ignore it. The waves in the Vimeo movie about surf fly-fishing in NYC look quite impressive...

Interesting to hear that there is also trout fishing near NYC. But I prefer to try for an 'American' fish species since this will be my first travel outside Europe. So I'm interested in e.g. black bass too as a back-up plan if I can't get any useful information about striper fishing.