Pictured here is Miguel R. Figueroa. He was fishing on the Hudson River south of Albany in early May of 2009. He arrived at his favorite spot to find about 5 or 6 people packing up their stuff and calling it a day, very little or no herring were swimming through, so bait was gonna be hard to get.

  This didn’t discourrage Miguel though, they wished him luck and off they went. Only 20 minutes later he finally caught a herring rigged it up and casted it out. It was about 20 minutes later when the drag screamed. Fish On. It was a monster striped bass that was 43 inches long and over 40 pounds, but without a question it is the largest fish he has have ever caught.

  The Hudson River is 315 miles long and starts in the Adirondack Mountains and flows into the New York City Harbor. The Hudson River is tidal river and the tides can rise and fall 5 feet with the oceans tides. The New York State Barge Canal connects the Hudson with the Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain, and the St. Lawrence River.

   The Hudson River was once a severely polluted river and almost devoid of life, but has had an amazing recovery over the last 30 years. The Hudson River is home to over 200 species of fish including the various anadromous fish. The following species of fish American shad, river herring, and striped bass are anadromous and will migrate up the Hudson River every year to spawn. These fish can go as far as the Federal Dam located in Troy. After spawning they will return to the Atlantic Ocean. The first year of shads, herrings, and striped bass lives are spent in the river before returning to the ocean. The outlook for the Hudson River is now very bright and is another American success story.

  The Striped Bass is the largest member of the sea bass family. Striped Bass can live up to 40 years and can reach weights greater than 100 pounds. The Striped Bass is anadromous and may ascend streams and travel as much as 100 miles inland to spawn. The native range is along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains from New Brunswick south to Florida. The Striped Bass is a very important sport and commercial fish throughout its range.

   Striped Bass feed most actively at dusk to dawn, although some feeding occurs throughout the day. During the summer they tend to become more nocturnal feeding mostly at night. Striped Bass eat a variety of foods, including fish such as alewives,flounder, sea herring, menhaden, silver hake, smelt, sea robins, porgies, and eels. They will also feed on lobsters, crabs, soft clams, small mussels, sea worms, and squid. They have a voracious appetite and will eat almost anything that moves. Stripers are particularly active with tidal and current flows and in the wash of breaking waves along the shore. As the surf pounds the shoreline small fish, crabs, and clams become easy prey as they are tossed about in turbulence of the breaking surf.

   The following links break down the best fishing options according to the month of the year. Certain times of the year present excellent fishing opportunities for differnt species and can help make the best of your limited free time.