Thanksgiving came early this week for the western south shore anglers who’ve been patiently waiting for a push of fish worthy of calling a “fall run.” The bass have stacked up pretty good along the west bar of Jones Inlet, and although clam chumming has been the go-to option for most of the week, the jigging bite has also picked up significantly over the past few days. The fish have spread out a little as well, and some nice bass have been taken from the beach. Don’t forget to throw your pliers in the surf bag, because there’s been some big “gator” bluefish hanging with the bass. Access is a little bit of a problem if you don’t have your vehicle over-sand permit, but you can still park at Robert Moses Field 5 for free and hoof it from there. The herring bite out in Montauk is hitting on all cylinders right now, with both bait and bass easily accessible for the charter fleet. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and a late season bump in the fishing is totally the icing on the cake — get out there and enjoy it.
East End
I spent a little time out at the End this week, and although things have been slow-to-spotty from the wash, the herring run is on in full force, and the bass are out in the rips and chewing through the increasingly cold water. I’m sure there will be a few diehards out there fishing the north side of the Lighthouse tonight, trying to sling needlefish through a north wind that is forecasted to gust to 40 knots. There’s also a decent chance the southeast wind forecasted Saturday night into Sunday will pull some fish closer to the wash. Even if you strike out, there‘s always something enjoyable about making a pilgrimage to the End.
Over at the Viking Fleet dock, the Block Island porgy fishing continues to be strong and recent trips have produced quality by-catches of knot-head sea bass up to 6 pounds, and local cod into the mid-teens. The blackfish season has also settled into a nice consistent pace out east, and most of the Viking blackfish trips have been able to scratch-out boat limits. They’ve also been running some combo trips that have started scouting for local cod, and although the bite hasn’t been great they are finding some market-size cod southeast of Block Island. The Viking will also be running half-day trips for these late-fall bass that are hanging in the rips. The weather looks great once this storm pushes through, so heading out east this weekend is definitely a worthy option.
South Shore
I was driving east along the Ocean Parkway this week when I got my first look at the west bar of Jones Inlet, and it was immediately clear something pretty big was going on. The Captree Fleet was lined up along the bar, there were birds everywhere and about 30 private boats scattered in between. Needless to say, things looked pretty fishy. Most of the action has been out of range for surfcasters, but that’s started to change over the last few days. With the new moon high tides this week, it definitely worth a go from the sand beaches — day or night. Soaking bait might be the most productive option, but throwing tins or bucktails should also draw some strikes. I talked to Ed from Jones Beach Fishing Station, who’s finally getting some quality time on the water now that the shop’s closed for the season. Ed’s continued to find big blackfish in the bay, including one 7.6-pound bulldog he caught this week in just 18 feet of water. He’s still consistently finding keeper tog inside the bay by fishing over small obscure pieces. Ed has also been well aware of the ongoing bass bite taking place around the inlet, and our conversation quickly turned to the surprisingly calm forecast after this storm blows through. Ed plans to use the weather window to get outside the inlet and do some jigging for bass, “There should be some kind of sand eel migration moving through.” I agree, the gannets are out there diving on something about a mile off the beach. It’s a good idea to take advantages of the relatively calm seas over the next few days to find some bigger bass pushing baitfish a mile or two off the beach. The birds should make it pretty obvious where to start the search.
North Shore
There’s no doubt the Sound is playing “second fiddle” to the south shore this week, but the blackfish bite has remained pretty strong, although the amount anglers chasing the tog has decreased as more people pull their boats for the season. Also, the bite isn’t quite as savage as it’s been, so it’s a good idea to check out some smaller, “off the radar” pieces. The fish remain pretty scattered, but mid-depth locations seem to be the most productive right now. I talked to Richard from Camp-Site in Huntington Station who said that although bass fishing has slowed to a crawl on the north shore, the tog fishing remains pretty strong. Some nice fish are coming off the mid-depth pieces, including a few double-digit bulldogs this week. Definitely the time of year to put away the jigs and spinning gear and upgrade to some stockier conventional tackle.
Metro New York
Although there’s a few keeper bass falling to chunks in the Hudson River right now, most NYC anglers are still fishing tog. The Island Current Fleet is done with their nighttime chucking trips for the season, and is exclusively targeting blackfish until they begin sailing for cod on December 10 out of Snug Harbor. Captain Chris told me that although blackfish bite has, “slowed down a little,” he also mentioned that “they’re still finding plenty of life on all the pieces.” The problem has been keeping the shorts off the hook, “the short-to-keeper ratio has been about 10-to-1 recently,” but the pool fish is still averaging in the “5- to 9-pound range.” Captain Chris also told me that they’re still finding the tog in relatively shallow water, anywhere from 40 to 50 feet, which is a good sign for strong finish to the season. Also, the Island Current sails on their annual Thanksgiving Day blackfish trip tomorrow from 6am to 1pm, just in case you’re looking to help out with the holiday preparations by bringing home some fresh filets.
Upstate
Big brown trout and steelhead are still holding in good numbers in many of the creeks around Lake Ontario, especially Oak Orchard in Orleans County. Although there are still a few salmon to be found, it’s mostly browns and steelhead at this point. Tactics remain mostly the same as previous weeks. Drifting egg sacs remains the go-to option for anglers fishing with spinning gear, and egg patterns and black nymphs still are working best for the local fly fishing crew. I talked to Sharon from Narby’s Superette and Tackle who told me that the one change in recent days has been a lot of action on stone flies. Sharon also mentioned that, “even though fishing was a little slow yesterday, just about everyone fishing managed to land one or two fish.” The pattern has been changing from day-to-day, so be prepared to throw the bag at them.
Best Bets
It’s a pretty easy call this week: the striped bass bite going on around Jones Inlet is definitely worth checking out. Weather you jump on a headboat out of Captree or walking the sand beaches throwing tins, it’s definitely a good time to take a ride over the Causeway. The long-shot best bet would be a “hail mary” surfcasting trip to Montauk either tonight or Saturday night. The north wind might push some bass into the wash, all though that’s far from a guarantee. Waiting for the wind to go southeast on Saturday evening might be a better option because the fleet has been concentrated in the rips a little to the south. Heading out on the Viking for some half-day bass fishing or a Block Island mixed-bag isn’t a bad consolation prize if the fish don’t make it to the wash. There’s still a lot of angling options around the State, just a week away from December. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.