The Wait is Over
By Jared Wood
The trout trucks are rolling, herring are beginning to make their way into the runs, and the first schoolies are starting to arrive joining the holdover bass. The springtime is some of the best time for consistent action for the surfcaster plying his or her craft. The first striper of the year reminds you of how much you miss them during the winter.
This month I am looking for the first migrants of the year. The fresh fish covered in sea lice letting me know these are not the holdovers I had been catching last month. These fish have a little more vigor and show more aggression when on the feed. When targeting the holdovers it was a low and slow approach with a calculated cast, presentation, and lure selection. The migrants allow you to be a little more aggressive with your presentation. They also allow you to knock the rust off after a long winter.
My spring time plug bag is a mixture of soft plastics, swimming plugs, and surface plugs. When targeting stripers this month vary your offerings. Bucktails tipped with short curly tails like Berkley Gulp swimming mullets provide a small profile and scent for the bass to key in on when they are on small baits which tend to be around early in the spring. Swimming plugs (sp minnows, Bombers, Red Fins) make a great tool for locating schools of fish that are chasing herring or mackerel. Small pencils and spooks offer you the ability to cover a lot of water trying to elicit a strike from below. Even if a fish doesn’t commit to your surface plug, but swirls behind it or smacks it into the air. This lets you know that the fish are actively feeding but your offering was not what they were looking for or your presentation was off. Paddle tail shads are great all year round but I find they really shine in the spring. Some fish are better at a faster retrieve, others fish well with a slow steady retrieve. During the course of the spring bait changes constantly with the tides. It could be mackerel one day and bunker the next. Carry a plug bag that will cover your bases with lures you have confidence in.
Choosing where to target your first fish of the year can be a difficult decision. There are many factors to take into play albeit tide, wind, moon, water temp, and weather. When making your first trips of the year have a few spots in mind to try. Being mobile will allow you to find the first migrants making their way into our waters. If the first spot you start out at does not produce, make your way to the next one and so on.
Rivers are a great starting point to focus your efforts in the spring. They are the highways from the ocean to the estuaries. Bait gets flushed in and out with the tides and the bass will use these to stage and feed as they move in and out of the estuaries. Anywhere you can find a bridge along a river is a good place to dedicate some time. The bridge provides bass a place to set up a structure out of the current allowing them to feed expending minimal energy. Spending your efforts at night around the shadow lines and abutments on the bridge can pay big dividends. Along the rivers and estuaries there are smaller channels and feeder creeks. These tend to have darker bottoms and warm up faster than other areas. The bass will seek out the warmer water which tends to hold bait. Other areas of springtime focus would be mud flats. Stripers on the flats tend to be very aggressive. Targeting them with weightless soft plastics is my favorite option on the flats. It makes a subtle impact on the surface not spooking the fish but puts off enough noise and vibration to get the fish’s attention.
If you’re looking for bigger fish this spring, focus your efforts around the herring runs. The herring that are beginning to trickle into the runs tend to draw in the larger migrating bass and holdovers looking for a big meal. Focus your efforts on the incoming tide in areas that you know from past experience or you have scouted and seen herring making their way into the runs. Gulls and osprey will be a tell tale sign there are fish in the run. Large soft plastics, metal lips, and magic swimmers tend to fool these bass on herring.
The first trips of the year do come with the occasional skunking. When you do find the fish it will be from the hard work you have put into action. The satisfaction of catching the first migratory bass of the season is euphoric.
Jared Wood is a surfcaster who fishes from Maine to Connecticut. Targeting Striped Bass, Bluefish, Albies, and Bonito in the surf. He can befound on Instagram assurfcaster_jared. For any questions he can be reached at jaredwood25@gmail.com.