Hurricane Katia has the North Atlantic stirred-up once again, and NOAA has issued a small craft advisory for the south shore through Friday. Good news for the surfers in the Quicksilver Pro happening on Long Beach this week, but bad news for the anglers still itchy to get off the dock. The seas should lay-down enough to navigate the south shore inlets by Saturday.
Even though there’s still some “muddy water” showing up from Irene’s runoff as far east as Montauk, most fisheries have recovered from the poor water conditions. The bass bite in Montauk continues building, as the first signs of a southward migration are beginning to appear. The fluke bite, which took the longest to recover after the storm, has picked-up with some nice keepers taken around the island in the first part of the week. Things should start to get exciting as we move through this month, especially as stripers begin to appear in places they haven’t been since spring.
East End
The good bass fishing continues in Montauk, and now that we’re a week into September, there’s little doubt things will only get better as we move toward fall. Despite Captain Anthony titling last Saturday night’s bass trip the “mud chaser” trip instead of “flood chaser,” due to pockets of bad water from leftover from Irene, as soon as they found some clean water, the cow bass were ready to feed. The anglers aboard managed keeper-bass to 35 pounds while fishing with live eels on 3-ways rigs. The bottom fishing trips continue to produce some nice black sea bass, in the 3- to 4-pound range, along with plenty of big porgies and even a few trigger fish. Fluke fishing is still struggling a little from the combination of poor water clarity and the persistent groundswell, but the half-day trips this week have produced keepers to 7 pounds. The Viking Fleet also managed to get out on their first offshore trip of the season in between Irene and Katia. The 2-day tuna trip got back yesterday, and saw good numbers of yellowfin tuna in the 30- to 50-pound class, a 125-pound mako, plenty of mahi-mahi and a keeper swordfish.
South Shore
It has been another summer of “exotics,” and the cobia caught by Glen Hoyer on Magnolia Pier in Long Beach last week solidifies that point. It can be easy to write-off large portions of the western south shore during the so-called “summer doldrums,” however, catches like this remind me why it’s never a bad idea to wet a line, regardless of where you are. A fish-finder or high-low rig baited with cut clam will produce a wide variety of species right now in places like Long Beach and Jamaica Bay. Although you’re not likely to run into another cobia, porgies, weakfish, kingfish and triggerfish are all strong possibilities.
Bass are beginning to show up in bigger numbers in the Moriches area once again, as water temperatures start slowly retreating. There will be a lot of white water along the ocean beaches from Hurricane Katia this weekend as she passes to our east, enticing stripers inshore. Darters and swimming plugs are good choices if you’ll be working the beach at night, but consider throwing tins and white bucktails during the day.
Long Island Sound
The “monsoon-like rains over the last few days,” as Captain Chris put it, have kept several of the Island Current Fleet’s trips at the dock this week. The trips that have sailed, however, were all successful and showed continued signs of improvement in the wake of Irene. Porgy fishing continues to be successful on every trip for the Fleet, and a few minor adjustments have kept them in good fishing. Right now, the best action has been in depth anywhere from 45 to 75 feet of water, with solid structure like wrecks and rock piles being the common target. Captain Chris also mentioned that the nighttime bluefish trips have seen improving conditions and even a few striped bass in the mix. Captain Chris said the bulk of the catch is still bluefish, largely due to water temperatures still being on the warm side, but the water is finally starting to cool off a bit.
Metro New York
I talked to Jonathan from the Tackle Depot in College Point, Queens this morning to see how the fishing has been around the City. Irene did “pump the brakes” on the good bluefish bite that was happening around the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges, but those who put in the time this week through the rain did manage some nice fish. Jonathan also mentioned that some stripers are beginning to mix in with the blues. He said the fish are on the small side, but some of the resident sharpies are picking away at bass to keeper size. Heading out under the cover of darkness is still a good idea if you’re looking for bass, especially from the surf, but the linesiders are now hitting tins during the day as they start feeding more aggressively in anticipation of fall.
Swimming plugs like chicken-scratch Bombers are a good choice if you’ll be looking for bass at night.
Upstate
Up on Lake Ontario, “they’re catching all kinds of fish,” according to Sharon at Narby’s Superette and Tackle in Kent. Bass, pike, bullhead and even a few steelhead have been caught in recent days from shore. I asked Sharon if she thought this meant the salmonoids were getting ready to push inshore, and she told me that “as soon as the weather changes they should start to move in.” For the time being, it makes sense to get in on this inshore bite taking place right now. Either with a pail of shiners and a float, or throwing some small metals or swimming plugs from the fishing piers.
Best Bets
Rough seas will make it all but impossible to get outside of most south shore inlets until at least Saturday, however, the rolling surf will likely bringing some bass and blues into the range of those surfcasting the sand beaches. We’re still at the point in the season where the more miles you steam east on Sunrise Highway, the better your chances are for finding some quality bass. An east wind in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday night makes Montauk a tempting possibility, especially since it’s still too early for huge “fall-run” crowds, and the bass are already showing up underneath the Lighthouse. It’s also the rescheduled WICC Bluefish Tournament this weekend, so if you’re already signed up or want to (you can until 7pm Friday), consider trailering your boat up to the sound. There have been some big “choppers” caught in the western sound over the past week, and weather conditions won’t be an issue with only 1- to 2-foot seas in the forecast. Getting out at night is important if you’re determined to place in the money, and I’d definitely recommend fishing with cut-bait and using as much chum as you can get your hands on. Tight lines.