A dramatic rise in water temperature, however, tricks bass into thinking it s spring again and it jolts them into feeding, not matter what the calendar says. A power plant outflow, and one of the hottest winter hot spots in the northeast is the Keyspan Northport Power Station on Long Islands North Shore. Here, water temperatures are consistently 10 to 20 degrees higher than the surrounding seawater, depending on the plant s output, and weather conditions. As hot water used to cools the plants fossil fuel generators exits to the Long Island Sound, it forms a warm bay at the mouth of the flow with springtime temperatures. If a breeze is out of the northwest, a warm water plume will extend along the beach, making this a prime area for winter surfcasters.
Wind direction can be critical because there is no beach access west of the power station.
Surfcaster must park their car at Huntington Township s Crab Meadow Beach and trek west. A northwest wind pushes the flow against the beach and bass are likely to be active all along the hike. Boating anglers from Long Island and Connecticut don t have to be as concerned about wind direction, but they must be aware that the beach should be considered treacherously shallow, no matter how high the tide. The best boating drop, in fact, is well off the power station at the foot of the bay where there s better chance of running into a school of migrating bass. Several 30-pound class stripers have been caught in the Northport Flow over the years, but most of the action comes from the bass under 30 inches.