Spring Striped Bass Secrets Brandon Weitz Talks Hots Spots & Tackle for 30lb Bass

This past weekend at the Ward Melville High School Fishing Club Expo, Captain Gaige caught up with Brandon Weitz from Causeway Bait & Tackle for a quick but action-packed podcast conversation right on the show floor. The annual expo continues to grow every year and brings together anglers, vendors, and fishing enthusiasts from all over the tri-state area — and this year’s turnout was incredible.

Brandon had a busy weekend working both sides of the industry. On Saturday he was running the Causeway Bait & Tackle booth, helping anglers gear up for the upcoming fishing season, and on Sunday he was representing Joe Baggs Tackle, one of the most well-known lure brands for striped bass and surf fishing. Between helping customers and talking tackle all weekend, Brandon still made time to sit down with Bay Rats and Buoys to talk about what anglers should be excited about as we head into the 2026 spring striped bass season.

In this quick episode, we dive into early spring fishing strategy around the Long Island Sound, including some of the types of areas and conditions we’ll be targeting when the bass start pushing into the region. Brandon and Captain Gaige talk about the kinds of structure, bait movements, and seasonal patterns that often produce some of the biggest bass of the early season.

We also break down some of the gear and tackle we discovered at the expo that we’re excited to put to work this season. From new lures to proven favorites, there’s a lot of great tackle hitting the water this spring and we can’t wait to see what produces when the season kicks off.

Brandon also talks about his appearance earlier this year on the Bay Rats and Buoys NY Boat Show Podcast Series, where he joined Kurt from Pursuit Boats to talk about boats, fishing, and the lifestyle around the Long Island fishing community. As a Pursuit Boats brand ambassador, Brandon brings a unique perspective to both the boating and fishing sides of the industry.

If you’re gearing up for the season and looking for insight on where the early 30-pound striped bass might start showing up, this is a fun conversation packed with local knowledge and fishing excitement.

Be sure to follow Brandon Weitz on Instagram and subscribe to Bay Rats and Buoys for more fishing reports, tackle talk, and updates as we get closer to opening day.

The spring bite is coming… and the Bay Rats are ready.

https://sandcitycharter.com/podcast/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everybody? Captain Gage here at the Ward Melville High School Fishing Club Expo and Fraiser. We got people walking around with dogs, there's German Shepherds. I got people with babies coming into the booth, loving the bougie rug, and uh I'm sitting here again with the man, the myth, the legend from Causeway Tackle. He's with Joe Baggs, he's with Pursuit. You see him everywhere. My man Brandon is in the house again. What's going on? Thanks for having me on the show again. Appreciate it. Love having you. Love being here. Yeah, no doubt. We always have fun. Listen, we can't wait for it to end because we've been here for two days. You know, so it's work. But at the same time, we love what we do. Exactly. Fishing's fun. I got the guys from uh Go Deep Mod Park sitting in here giving us merchandise that we love and try new stuff. So that's why you come to the show. You know, you got to meet the right people.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yep. You pick up products, you meet people, you know, it's it's it's a good show. If you fish on Long Island, this is a show to be at.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

So now, not only that, you just introduced me to the guy that runs the NYPD fishing club. So I'm gonna be able to tell everybody that you heard in one of my in one of the episodes recently, I said that we wanted to call out all the different clubs, and I called out, I went to Copeg excited to call out the NYPD fishing club, and then I told you I couldn't do that because they only fish from the beach. Well, that was a bunch of bullshit. Yep. I just met the guy that runs the whole club. Yep. Warren. Warren, and they fish from everywhere, and it's all over. So we are gonna challenge the uh NYPD fishing club. They accepted the challenge. Uh, we're highly outnumbered because we have 20 members in our club. He was like, well, you know, I'm like, dude, I just started in like December, you know, and uh so we we're excited that we even have a club, and it's an awesome. We got an awesome group of guys. Some of them were just here. I told them at our fishing club meeting about what I saw at Goose Hummock. Yep. Okay. I told them about the barbreakers, yep. And I told them I'm going to Edison strictly to get these secret weapons. And the secret weapons are here today.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

So they were exposed as some of the guys in my club saw it, and they were like, you know, it gets everybody's attention. You know, it's uh it's definitely a cool device. I can't wait to throw it.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

The bar breakers fish good. You can fish them like a diamond jig on top, they sink. So, I mean, there's so many ways you can fish them, and they cast incredibly far. They cast a country mine. Yeah, they really do. They're they're a good lore to have.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

And there's a ton of different ones. So, what I love about them is I preach about this on the show all the time, is a single BKK hook is my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Yep. That's all you need.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

That's all you need.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

You don't need treble hooks. It's such a pain, especially when you want to release fish safely. It's it's tough.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

I don't use treble hooks anymore on our boat. We try not to. Smart. Yeah, it's it's much better. Everything that we have. If we're throwing a dock, it's got a single BKK hook on it. We love it. It's easier to get the fish off. Me and Corey are big on tagging and releasing. So when we're out fishing for ourselves, everything gets tagged and released. Um, and in the tournament, everything was tagged and released. And on charters, people can keep a fish, you know what I mean? So uh, you know, we do a little bit of both. Yep. So you're here today with Joe Baggs.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Today, yes. I'm in Joe Baggs booth. Uh yesterday, Causeway's booth. So I'm all over, you know, talking to people, meeting people. Um it's like I said, this is a show to come to.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yeah, no doubt. And you know what's cool is Causeway's here because of you. I know they're here because of you, because they weren't here last year.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Nope. Our first this is our first show in probably 20 years now. And it's an epic show.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Not always an epic show to come to, but this year it grew. It's a two-day event.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Yes, this this was a good show, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

And it's packed here today. It's not like it's just uh, you know, there's a good Sunday crowd. It's uh it's second day, it's actually packed here.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

There's a lot of people here, and we're selling a lot of products. Joe Bags, Causeway, both. It's just we're moving product, and it's nice. People are excited. Fishing's gonna start soon, and this is a show to come to to buy everything right before Striped Bass opens.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Yeah, we're 37 or 38 days away from April 15th. Uh I I'm always looking at I type into Google how many days till April 15th, and I see, and uh Friday night it was 40 days away. So what is that? 39, 30. So today it's 38 days away until the opening day of Striped Bass. Um and we're feeding, you know, we're all chomping at the bit. It's finally 50 degrees out. Yep. Uh the last water temperature that I heard was 35 degrees. Wow, yeah. You know, so the water temp got down cold this year. Yeah, it was cold. It was a cold yeah. The waves in Montauk were frozen, you know, they they were coming in with slush.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yeah, that was crazy. Uh cool to see, but you know, it's uh we want the spring to happen.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

And historically, historically, when we have a colder winter like this and the water temperature is cold, the spawn has been incredible. We've had a good spawn. That's right. So let's hope that that's the case this year. And the water that we get these 50 degree nights that are happening now, and the water temperature starts to warm up, and it's right on time for 49 degrees on April 15th and 50 degrees, right in that frame. And uh once it hits 55, that's really the number I always tell people. Exactly. That's when they get unlethargic and they will eat anything you put out there for them. They are, and uh, I love it, man. So I'm super excited. So tell me a little bit more. What do we got planned coming into April? What do you got some more shows you're gonna go to?

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Uh, I think this is only show. I might stop at the uh Edison show, say what's up to a few uh different people, but um won't be working it.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

No, me, I'm not working it either, but me and Corey are going.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

But it's it's good to you know see people, connect with people, and you know, just check out different products, obviously. Um, you know, maybe even try some fishing up there. Bring a stir fry with me, and there you go. There's gotta be some bass in Jersey. I know the guys are catching up. I know they're catching them now. They're definitely catching them.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

They're definitely catching them now. Now, we're gonna be at the Edison show this year. Me and Corey just walk around, uh, meet the guys that run the show because next year we will get a boot there because we launched uh April 15th starts our first official fishing league here in the Long Island Sound. So the fishingleague.com starts on the North Shore this year for New York and Connecticut, from the Throgs Neck Bridge all the way out to the race. Yep. So covers the entire Long Island Sound. Next year, it's going to be on the South Shore of Long Island and it's going to be in New Jersey. Wow. So that's why I want to go to the Edison Jersey show this year, see that, get it acquainted with it, and be able to The Edison Show is a good show. It's the biggest show idea.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah, it really is. That's it's a good show to go to.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Yeah, I'm excited. Uh, we'll see Phil from Goose Hummock. Yep. I hear he brings the tank in there to cast into. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Oh, they bring the whole booth, they bring the whole store to this show. It's it's it's it's actually incredible.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

I can't wait to see it. I really am. I'm super excited to go. And I'm actually glad I don't have to set up my booth and sit down and watch a booth all day that I can go mobile with a GoPro and a microphone and just go meet some people and make some cool content. Yeah. You know? That's all it is, you know. And be mobile and see it. So I'm really excited about it. It's an easy. Now, when do you start to get out on the tuna? When is the uh when is the pursuit ambassador going to uh start hunting? Is it more towards July and June?

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Maybe beginning of June-ish. Okay. You know, it depends what's around, you know. I'm a striped bass guy. Yeah, me too. I mean, if if April 15th is nice, I'm gonna run to Raritan Bay. Ooh. That's that's my go-to spot.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

We'll see you there now. We will we're coming from a little further, you know, we're on the North Shore, but we're gonna make the run. This is so funny. Every year, right now, me and Corey are planning April 15th to make that way and go over to Raritan Bay. Because, you know, it slides out. It's like Jurassic Park over there. The amount of birds that you see and the shit that's going on. It's incredible. It's out of this world. It really is something to see. It's a spectacle. Yeah. Now, we say we're going. We leave my dock, and in five minutes, in eight minutes, we're at the lighthouse in Huntington, and in ten minutes, we're either seeing a seal in the bay, a big 300-pound seal, and we make a move then, and we know where to go when we see the seal. And we we we're on 20 and 30 pound pass, and we're like, where are we going? Yeah. Like, why are we gonna run to Raritan Bay when they're here? Because you know, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

I mean, you don't want to chase fish. You don't want to pass fish to go find fish. That's what it is. And you know, sometimes you come across them and it's just lights out. So, and that's what I like about the spring is that I'll run to Raritan, maybe it'll pass fish. If not, there's always fish in Rariton. Right. Right, right, right. Um big, big um metal lip guy in the spring. Nice flood of spoons. Yeah, flutter spoons are a ton of fun. Yeah, it's last year we did really good. I mean, it was just lights out every trip.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Yeah, we won't do any trolling. When me and Corey go out, we don't troll. Uh, a lot of times we'll try to put the clients on fish the right way, but there are days where you have people on the boat where you have to troll to put them on fish. So I understand from a captain's perspective that I gotta do that.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

I stopped trolling maybe like five years ago. Sometimes I'll bring mojos of Rariton Bay if you're running that far, but you're gonna find fish, you're gonna drop a jig down. That's right. Soft plastic. If you can't get them to bite, that's what yeah. It's all technique at this point. That's what it is. And we know they're there, so they're gonna eat.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

And you have you have your five favorite things you're gonna put out there for them. We have our five favorite top floors. Exactly. I brought my bag to the club. It was one of that all-pro bag, and I just opened it up and it's got all those sleeves, clear sleeves in it. I laid it on the table and I said, here you go, guys. I did not touch this. This came right off the boat. This is everything me and Corey have. We have the TA clips already on the rod. We pull the TA clip down, we clip one of these on, and we go out because we're prepared for battle the minute we leave the dock. Yeah. There's no getting out there and putting something on.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

No. The night before you rig up new mono leaders every trip, TA clips, and you gotta be ready.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

You gotta be prepared. Yep, exactly. And 100% you need to be prepared because you don't know what you're gonna have to throw at them. Exactly. So this is funny. Uh, we see birds, we see some seagulls sitting in the water in the bay, in Huntington Bay. And I go over there to check out, because usually birds to me, sitting in the water, they know there's fish there. Oh, and they're waiting for some, you know, push up some bait and do something, right? So I'll put a I'll put a screenshot up here. I'll put a picture up here on the screen right now and show you guys what the sonar looked like. And I had Kenny, who worked in field and stream for many, many years, and a lot of people know Kenny here on Long Island. I had him on the boat, he's an excellent fisherman. Uh, he fishes from the shore, he fishes from boats, but he's really, really good at this. Me and Corey are putting down floater spoons, and the two of us are hooked up. Yeah, right? And I'm yelling at Kenny, grab the goat, bro. I just want you to shoot some footage. And he's going, fuck you. He's like, give me the floor. He's like, What color flutter spoon are you guys using? And the two of us had gold on. He had a silver down and he wasn't getting touched.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Right?

SPEAKER_00 10:42

So he's yelling at us. Next thing you know, he puts a gold flutter spoon on and he's in on the fun, and we're all on 30-pound bass. We when you see the screen, and I'll show it to you. I love that. It was April 5th, it was April 16th because you heard about our trip on the 15th. April 16th, and I had him on 30-pound bass, and we would dying. We got fish thump, they're thumping on the deck while he's getting spooled that we can't get them off fast enough and into the water. And of course, you know, that's a big thing for me and Corey. When we catch them, releasing them is just as just as important. Yeah, you gotta swim them sometimes. We're not keeping them, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And hopefully, you you know, and that's what I love about the flutter spoon. It's so easy to grab it and get them out and get them back in.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

You almost don't even need a de-hooker. No, I I I love flutter spoons, one of my favorites. It produces big fish too, which is nice.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

How great is it when you get hit and they and you miss?

SPEAKER_01 11:36

And you swing and you miss, but you felt that hit and you're like, oh it is the best. That's what makes it addicting. Drop it down again, and then boom, you're on.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

I talked about it a few years ago, actually, on the you know, a year ago, last year on the podcast, that years prior, it didn't even exist. No, it became a fad, and you saw everybody out there doing this with the flutter spoon, lifting it and letting it back down.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

I exactly. I started with spinning rods, I switched all conventional now for flutter spoons. Yep. Game changer. Unbelievable. It's so much better.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Me too. We and we use very, very if you saw the rods that I'm handing to guys, and I'll give you other the smallest setup: a slim wave with a black max on it. Yeah. I got guys coming down from lakes up in Pennsylvania, catching 37, 37, 38, 39-inch bears on a little slim wave rod that kids use for snappers. Yeah. And he's playing the fish and having a ball and thought it was the greatest thing ever.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

That's what it is. It's a blast, you know? It's it's fun. Yeah. I love that kind of fishing.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

So I'll give you another uh lore that I'll share with people because here we are talking with somebody that runs a tackle shop. Yeah. Uh, another something else that I gave a shot that we were fishing one day that we were producing, and the boat next to us was catching nothing. And he yells over to us, what the hell are you guys using? And we're just I yell over, Jigs. I had on the Nomad Vibes. That was how you had it. I was using the bunker nomad vibe, and we were crushing it. Crushing it. And uh, we did have a uh we had diamond jigs on too that happened to just be crushing it. Yeah, we were in them in a good rip, and uh we had a girl on the boat and she's hooking up and they're watching four rods bend over and they're yelling over, what are you guys using? I said we were using jigs. Meanwhile, the nomad was crushing it every time he dropped it.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, those are nice. I'm a big uh swim chad too, guy in Rared. In early spring, they like those little swim chads.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

I've always uh and here too, here I'll go another my little one, the little one is the the the small white one with the red eye. Yep, exactly. To me, on the light tackle, you throw that out. And if I'm even in the back bay where it's a little like in uh let's just give an example, like a bird island in Northport, and there's uh less salinity back there, I'll even throw a half-inch bucktail over into something like that, you know, to give you an example of what I used to do off of my kayak. But off the boat, I love the swim shad.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

It's one of the most produce it produces. They work, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Wide change something that it works, and it's the perfect size for the springtime. Yeah. Because you've got to remember they're just getting out of that lethargic stage and that crushing, you know, a dull bunker that are 12 inches.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Exactly. Until the big bunker show up, the small baits, small presentations work perfect.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

And if you match the hatch and the presentation works, it always catches fish, which is why Brandon's saying it and I'm saying it, and we're just telling you so you do it. Yep, you know. That's why you tune in and listen, because we love to give you different perspectives from different captains that run stuff. Now, listen, me and Corey are happy to drive down to the South Shore and jump on the boat with you to go to Raritan Bay. It's a much quicker ride from where you are than where I am in Huntington to go to Raridon Bay. So we'll be happy to join you and you'll collaborate. We'll make some really cool videos. We'll plan a trip. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

I love Raridon. That's my spot.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

100%. And uh and you're you're always welcome to come join us in our area because we know the spots. We'll go out, we'll have some fun, we'll make some cool videos on the North Shore. Sounds good to me. And uh this way we can uh reciprocate with the crowds because uh, you know, I used to, I told you, I used to launch my boat at uh, you know, Wantaur Park. Yep, exactly, right by me. So we we even discussed this. That yellow building is an icon. You can't change the color of that building. It's gotta stay yellow forever. That's right. So you're here today, you're with Joe Baggs. Yesterday you're here with Causeway. Yep. You're still wearing the Causeway shirt. Yep, yep, which is good. Yesterday he had his fishing hat on, it was awesome. I saw him from a mile away. I heard Kurt is here today from Pursuit.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

Kurt, yeah, he stopped by. He uh he was here for a little bit with his son, and uh they left, but uh yeah, he's uh he's excited to fish too. So we'll get him on the boat. We'll do what we'll do some fishing, get some content.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Absolutely, because again, Brandon is also the ambassador for Pursuit. You saw him on the podcast at the boat show. That was a great episode. Yep. That got a lot of attention. Uh Kurt did fantastic. Yeah, I think he's better on the mic than he thought he was gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Yeah, he knows his stuff. He knows the boats, you know? It's easy.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

And when you can talk about something passionately, people want to hear it from the guy that's in charge, runs it, does it, knows it, sells it, knows what the buyer wants. You know, he's the whole package. He does so if you guys are in the market for a pursuit, you definitely want to reach out to Kurt. Um, we could always put a link to that information in the description here. We're always happy to include Kurt because Brandon is also an ambassador for Pursuit. And uh it was great having you two on at the boat show. It really was.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Oh, it was good, very happy.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

So, is there anything else you want to uh plug for the springtime here? We're a few days away, man. This is it.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

You know, just make sure you're ready to fish. Uh, you know, new braid, new mono, whatever you need. You guys stop by the shop. Um, we'll point you in the right direction and just get ready to fish. It's gonna turn on soon.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Now's the time to bring the reels in to get them fixed. Don't wait until May.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Exactly. Everyone waits. You need real service, bring it now, get new lines. That's right, get it all done now. Get them cleaned. You're gonna be sorry if you wait too long and they won't be ready.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Because then there's a waiting list, and he's like, Yeah, I can't get them done for a week or two. And it's a couple weeks. It's not like we tell you you come back in like three days, you'll get them. No, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Season's gonna start, so jump on it now.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Right, so there you go. Professional advice from a captain that knows his stuff. Love having you on. You're always welcome to come on payrats and value. Thank you, thank you. Absolutely. And uh, you want to plug any social media? Because I know you're the king of cause me over there on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah, Cause of Bait and Tackle. That's a shop Instagram. Uh B Whites One, that's my personal one. If you guys have any questions, you you can message me. I'm I'm happy to help. I love helping people fish, so you know, just catch them up. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Captain Gage, Captain Brandon, Bay Rats and Buoys, we are here live at the Ward Melville, fishing club expo, and fundraiser for the second day of this event, March 8th, closing and out, wishing everybody bent rods, tight lines, and I'll see you out on the water. Captain Gage and Brandon over and out.