I've had a  great Spring, fishwise.  I managed to get my first Hudson smallmouth in March, and my first New England striper in April. The past two springs have been worrisome, with signs of winter damage to every fishery I frequent , especially those that need estuaries to thrive. This year, after the incredible mild winter, not so. There may be hope for a return to health yet. It may only be my warped thinking, but I saw parallels in the state of affairs in striper migrations on the coast, with what was happening in the Big Lake and the tribs.  I can only hope what I'm seeing on the coast will continue to exhibit itself on the lake ,and by extension , the SR. I imagine HT will let us know what's happening out there. I took my first trip over to the North shore of Massachusetts this weekend and the results were better than any I've had in 6 or 7 years.  I fished 6 tide cycles, and landed 200 fish. Mostly small schoolies, but with a few dozen ranging from 20" to 32".  I almost got one in the mid-30's to eat a small fly off the bottom on a flat, but the sun was bright and it was skittish....  Next trip the bigger fish will have arrived in numbers, so I'm not disappointed. It was hugely heartening to see shoals of baitfish in the estuaries, and the bottom carpeted with small crabs . Guaranteed the bottom of the SR will have more life clinging to the  rocks  and in the mud in the frog water.  There'll be more  dragon flies and damsel flies. And the small stuff that eats them.  And maybe more of that phytoplankton that starts the ball rolling. I'm flashing a peace sign in one pic, take it as a gesture of goodwill, but I did it to remind me in years down the road that this was fish number 200 in the year the stripers made a bit of a comeback. By the way, I fished like a  maniac (so what else is new)  to reach that number and quit after I landed it.  Hope springs eternal, but Spring has given great hope, at least this year.

Good luck out there, guys.

Great report.
Nothing like Schoolies one after another for a GREAT day of GREAT tugs.

Good for you Fichy.

Fitchy,where is that fishing located? Looks like great fun and you don't need a boat.PM me if you don't want the world to know that location. Also,good to hear from you again as its been awhile and I was wondering if all was well with you.Also ,I hope you 're correct about the observation that MAYBE the fishing will be better on the SR this year as I am booked to be there last week of Sept and first week of Oct.

Good on ya!
Hope it continues to fall in place for you.

Jack, it's Cape Ann, Massachusetts and the  Parker National Wildlife Refuge south of the Merrimack River.  It's not as good a fishery as Cape Cod , Montauk, or RI, but I've been spending a lot of time there for the past 25 years. Nancy and I were married on the beach pictured with me fighting one at dawn. It's one of the few fisheries I KNOW .  I'd feel confident being a wade guide there, or from a boat, if I had one.  Not that I want to give up my spots. lol.
The best part , besides the fishery is the absolute beauty of Cape Ann. One of the jewels of the east coast. If you ever want to visit, just give me a call.  At times, all you need is an 8 wt. and an intermediate line, and you can have some real fun. I have spare rigs, stripping baskets, and plenty of time/fish proven flies.  Rich has a great fishery and the knowledge to do something with it in the Hudson, but it just ain't the same for me.  I'm too much of a stubborn, diehard fly flopper.  On a side note, a guy showed up  at one famous spot that's been mentioned in a few books and stood 10' from me. I ripped him, a new one, but relented on  continuing to be nasty to him. A mistake, as he reminded me of Chartist with a constant  blather about all his new rods and going here and there and $$$$$$$$  his azz off.  He tried to get my name and shake my hand when he left,  I just laughed.  Too many like him in the world, already, I sure ain't encouraging them.

Way to go Charlie enjoy life and the fishing.
 

Great pics. One of these times I'll going to have to take you up on a trip. Things are starting to really heat up. Been tearing up the trout and last night caught a bunch off the dock at my parents last night time to maybe start hitting the Hudson hard. Wish I could fish a couple places at once. All this fish and not enough time

I figured I'd throw this on here as it pertains to stripers. I needed some new tippet for the salt and decided to try Drennan fluoro instead of the usual expensive and not-so-great I've been using. I had a spool of 10 for salmon, so I used it in RI on my first trip this year. Worked great around the rocks and I noticed much less abrasion. I ordered some from FishUSA and the guy got it out to me immediately, late on a Sat. aft. so I could have it before I left for the next trip without forking out the overnight delivery. THANKS!  I got 12 lb. and have every confidence handling big stripers with it.  It's a little stiff, so I use a non-slip loop knot to tie on flies. As we all know, Drennan break strength is far beyond what they list, I'm guesstimating the 12# (same dia. as Rio and Orvis  16#)  as being around 18#. In bright, clear conditions I went back down to the 10# and picked up some finicky fish. I'll also carry some 8.  The SR is the only place that I've ever seen it, it really is peculiar to salmon fishing. Works for me. IMO, good stuff.