Oh, Oh, Oh, it's an Osprey!

Mike Dean

With one of the colder winters in recent years winding down, it won't be long before the first stripers of the season start biting. The surest sign of this is spotting the first osprey of the year. If they're here, so is the bait and the bass will soon follow. Just last week I spotted one, and it was glorious.

I haven't wet a line since Thanksgiving. The closest thing to fishing for me was taking in a winter sunset on the beach, or walking the back bay shoreline with my dlr camera and trusty Kind Pen vaporizer looking for seals. I hypothesized on what beach replenishments and channel dredgings would do to structure, water flow, and ambush spots for stripers. It just doesn't scratch the itch though for that first bent rod.

The grunt work of the off season is exactly that. Swapping out split rings and hooks holding battle scars from last year's spring bluefish run, trips to my local shop for new line and reel checkups that were more like a wellness check for myself, it still itches. I'll be ready to scratch the itch away when the time comes though.

I haven't set the opening lineup yet but the typical stars of spring won't be sitting on the bench. Paddle tails, bass assasins, other soft plastics along with Joe Baggs swarters and small mag darters have always delivered in matching the hatch in the marshy bay areas.

Until the blues show up in May, the rod rack can stay in the garage. My 6'10 TFO Tactical Inshore rod fast action with a 1/4 -3/4 rating paired with a Van Staal VR50 and 20 pound test braid will suffice just fine before the big guns get brought out.

Get ready for a wild ride, this season is going to be a great one.