By WILLIAM SHANNON

It’s back to being one of the most exciting times of year on the Hudson River. Local anglers are beginning to report success in landing both herring and some Striped Bass in the area. Spend any time around the river in the coming weeks and you’re likely to see pickup trucks rumbling along the access path, fishing boats out on the water and lines extending from shore. For many in this area, the famous Hudson River Striped Bass runs is the time each year that everything else life demands nearly fades away and the first priority is getting out on the water, and often.

Local angler Dave Maneri with a Striped Bass he landed Saturday.

Catskill Outdoors’ Striper report from this past weekend explains the improving conditions:

“Friday, April 17, finally saw some larger schools of herring moving into our section of the Hudson River. Anglers in the Esopus, Roe-Jan, Catskill and Stockport creeks finally started seeing more than just one or two scattered fish to throw their Sabikis at. Then on Saturday, April 18 it became obvious that the first schools of stripers were right on the heels of the herring—we saw several phone pictures taken of stripers ranging in size up to 38.5 inches, all of which were illegal to keep this year, but there was a 24.5-incher from the Catskill Creek that was legal. We have not heard of any action north of Coxsackie as of yet but we’re sure that the herring are probably up to or past Bethlehem by this time (perhaps the stripers also).”

Catskill Outdoors offers day-to-day reporting from anglers on the changing conditions underneath the river’s surface. They can be found at www.facebook.com/catskilloutdoors