Ever since my first crack at a Striper in Nova Scotia I was intrigued by them. A fish that can get to 40 lbs with a bad attitude and a generally pretty predictable disposition, I’m in!
Seeing the odd TV show featuring the Hudson River in New York and then a few fellas on Facebook posting updates from the river last year really got me to thinking. I started working on the details of this trip over the winter.
After the debacle RJ Sr. and I had last fall on Lake St. Clair with terrible conditions and poor fishing I was leery about asking him on an exploratory mission. After careful consideration he was really the one who I wanted to take. We work so well together in the boat so it was a no brainer. He was game!
We left around 2 PM and arrived at 8 PM just in time to pick up our NY licenses. We were also required to get on the Marine Registry. Off to the hotel and some much needed rest as 5 am comes early.
Up and ready to take on the day we slid the Lund into the Mighty Hudson River.
Though we were allowed to run 2 rods each we stuck with two to keep it simple to start. We were working 30-40 feet of water. The river is very stained so we ran bright body baits off the riggers down 18 and 22 feet. Immediately the Humminbird was showing us some huge marks under us. We were in the right area.
20 minutes into our troll a rigger rod bounced hard and Dad insisted that I take the first fish.
We’re in business!
Dad was up next and landed his first ever Striper. Not a biggun at all but still pull good on the stick. We landed near a dozen like this one.
The Hudson is a beautiful spot. Surrounded by gorgeous vistas and huge riverside homes, it is quite the sight. This lighthouse was like nothing I’ve ever laid eyes on.
The barge traffic was cool to see as well. Tug boats pushing huge barges up river fairly regularly.
While we didn’t land a giant fish on this trip, we did put it together well enough to pick away at them and have a blast.
Dad took big fish honors with this brute. Quite the battle this one took us on!
We packed up around 2 and hit the road to head for home, we weren’t an hour on the road and we were already talking about next year.
Hudson River. See you again soon.
