The spring run of blues hit the South Shore hard! Andrew Winter and his gang were right on them in the Smith Point Bridge area for three hours of nonstop action. Top lures of the day were SP Minnows, diamond jigs and Joe Baggs Swarters. The pictured fish was 31 inches.While fishing the Triangle area just north of Eatons Neck, Mike Epstein used trolling gear to get on some early May stripers with friends. You can go back to the April issue of the magazine to read his full feature on the techniques used.John Daly fished alongside Brian Miller in a South Shore bay location after dark for a series of 25 to 37-inch stripers. Joe Baggs Swarter was the lure of choice for John and he added “very slow retrieve did the trick.” All fish were also tagged with Gray FishTag Research spaghetti tags.Melissa Baumann made the trip to Moriches Bay for a shot at some of the first bluefish of the season and she did not walk away disappointed. This 35-1/2-incher fell for a Tactical Anglers White Bomb Popper.Longtime subscriber Alberto Hernandez started off his surfcasting season right with this first of the year 20-pound striper caught in the Far Rockaway area.Normally a New Jersey angler, Adam Aguiar came to Staten Island for some early season surfcasting and reported in with several fish throughout the night ranging from 27 to 32 inches.
