Backbay Report

[mcquade outdoors]

per usual i was in the back bay dredging the bottom looking for bonefish. Its mostly turned into a joke at this point since i haven't even stumbled on 1. Decided to up the chances and got the gulp ghost shrimp and fished the main back flat on the super high tide.
Im guessing its a mating thing, but there were loads of string rays (not sure the actual kind, tan and round) flopping around on the surface, some solo and some in groups??
All in all, 0.000000 bonefish caught, but did land 2 yellowfin croaker which have eluded my all winter and plenty of average spotties. Also got some of the calmest water ive had back there in months!

[Midnightpass]

Nice fish.. Sorry about the absentee bones..
Butch

[mcquade outdoors]

Nice fish.. Sorry about the absentee bones..
Butch

Cant win them all

[risentidefishing]

Try the bottom half of an outgoing tide on the flats just south of the Emory Channel. 6-9ft of water depending on the tide. Had a few there today and usually good for 1 or 2 a trip this time of year. Outgoing tide pulls the warm water out of the back bay and gets the bonefish fired up. Unfortunately our bonefish don’t really hang out on the flats because of all the Ospreys

[Rattus]

The stingrays were acting like that about a month ago outside ACH off Shelter Island. Groups of about 4 or 5 chasing each other and breaching the surface, it looked like a bait fish boil from a distance. You're probably right, some sort of mating behavior.

[bendopolo 44+]

Seriously, live Ghost Shrimp and a split shot drifted along with the tide around the flats next to a channel on light line. Warm days fire them up as does the Spring Spawning Period. You can’t really fish for a broad spectrum of fish and hope you get one. You have to target them and live with the bycatch of Rays, Jacksmelt, Corvina and small Spotties.

[mcquade outdoors]

Try the bottom half of an outgoing tide on the flats just south of the Emory Channel. 6-9ft of water depending on the tide. Had a few there today and usually good for 1 or 2 a trip this time of year. Outgoing tide pulls the warm water out of the back bay and gets the bonefish fired up. Unfortunately our bonefish don’t really hang out on the flats because of all the Ospreys

Used to fish that section of flat a lot but havent in the past year. Ill have to make the paddle back that way again before im off to FL.