By Eddy Gonzalez—

PERTH AMBOY —Hey all! ‘’inarguably the best striper fishing in years!’’ Perth Amboy has seen its share of striped bass but this year is going be one to remember due to the unseasonably cold weather and low water temps. The beachside has seen some amazing catches on chunked bunker. It’s been the bait of choice, followed by fresh clams. The night crew has reported most of the action. Due to local shallow waters, the bass feel safer feeding at night and are being landed in the 18 lb to 30 lb range.

Bluefish action still remains heavy to the South but are slowly coming in the Bay, River, and Kill as they follow the bunker. As warmer weather makes its way more blues will follow. Chunked bunker and large hooks with steel leader will do the trick.

Bunker have been doing there dance up and down the shoreline, at times close enough to snag. Snagging bunker can be productive, if done right. One must be very careful. Many people have gotten hurt by carelessness. Keep in mind to only snag what you need. I have seen many people get caught up in the snagging action and before they know it end up needlessly wasting the fish. A negative side affect? Scaring off the schools with the striped bass and bluefish underneath them. They stand in the middle of a pile of bait without a fish for miles because they were scared off. They wait and once again for the bunker to show up and proceed to do it all over again. My suggestion: try throwing a metal or a plug to catch the fish underneath! The waste of a day, effort, and bait does not make sense to me.

On Saturday, May 18th fluke season opened. The shop is looking forward to its first weigh-in. We have received reports of nice fluke that were released early this year.

The pre-season fluke were nice sizes. It looks like the fish are here.

The shop is fully stocked with XL spearing, Peruvian yellow tails, and pre cut squid strips, and a large selection of Gulp. Live killies are expected any day now just need

the weather to settle. Come by the shop and I’ll set you up before your fishing trip.

This week I had a guest say: “Eddy, why do you bother carrying tackle when there are big box stores all around you? Some people might think they get a better deal there.”

I laughed and asked him, do you go there? He replied: No way! I said, see not everyone goes there. What people that go to big box stores don’t know, is that they can’t get EVERYTHING there. They need the little shops to be open and profitable. Go to any of the Mart stores and ask if you may have a fresh bunker?, Live eels?, Killies? Or fresh clams? At least half of the staff will have no clue as to what you’re asking for, much less tell you what hooks you need, or setups to try, should you be be short a few cents or a dollar?

Let me know what they say to you. Everything that I have just said is a fact. I’ve had people come into the shop with all the wrong equipment and say to me “ Well, the kid at the store said I needed this” or “ I couldn’t find anyone to help me.”

In time as people learn about our shop they will see that our prices are spot on. No one leaves my shop uncertain about their purchase, how to use it, or with extra stuff they don’t need. So many outfitters tend to oversell a beginner. They say “ you need this and that” they won’t be a beginner for long and they’ll remember what they did. I have faith in that every day more customers will realize this, so no I’m not threatened by the big stores. It just confirms our belief in customer service. I will continue to bring quality items in our shop. Like Penn, Shimano, and Suffix and so on and service our guests to the best of our abilities.

Please, don’t forget to come check us out American Pride Bait and Tackle 211 Front Street, Perth Amboy (732)826-3705 we are open 7 days on Friday is our late night till 10 p.m.

Next week on tasty fish recipes bluefish Eddy style