With only a week left in the 2011 striped bass season, it will definitely go down to the wire for most anglers on the Island this year. The western South Shore is still alive with bass and bluefish, and even a few bluefin tuna were caught close inshore this week. The tautog action remains strong in many places, as the fish start pushing off into slightly deeper water. More cod have shown up out east, and there are still plenty of porgies and sea bass around to round out a day’s catch. Looks like we might not see 60 degrees again until next spring, but there are still enough fish around to keep the blood working through the falling temperatures.
East End
Bottom fishing is still producing a quality mixed bag for the Viking Fleet southeast of Block Island. Keeper cod up to 25 pounds were caught this week alongside the porgies and sea bass that have been around all year. In fact, keeper cod were caught on all the Block Island mixed-bag trips this week, a good sign for the local cod season which is quickly approaching. The porgies are still of the “jumbo” variety, with 2- to 3-pounders making up the bulk of the daily catch. There are also some bluefish still hanging around Block Island, most in the 2- to 5-pound range, but there’s still a few “gators” in the mix to wreak havoc on ill-equipped porgy rigs. The Viking also sailed on their annual 2-day Georges Bank trip this week which returned to the dock with plenty of filets and happy anglers despite a tough start to the trip. “On day one we started off on the open bottom and found next to no life,” Captain Steven Jr. reported, so “we decided to stop wasting our time and take the ride out to the wrecks.” It was clearly the right decision. “From the first wreck to the last we had a good shot of cod on each one.” The cod stretched into the mid-20-pound class, and they also found some nice sea bass and hake on some of the drops.
The herring are still pretty thick out in Montauk, and the Viking Fleet sailed on a “Striped Bass Special” last Saturday. Despite picking away a few keeper-size bass and putting together “a decent day,” Captain Anthony officially reported that “the end has come to a great striper season.” There are also a few bluefish still in the area feeding on the herring. I talked to Sue at Paulie’s Tackle of Montauk to see if any of these final fish were making into the wash. “There’s been a couple on the sand beaches,” she told me, but small keeper-size bass and bluefish are being caught. Apparently the local crew, always fighting for bragging rights, has been tight-lipped on details. “You’re lucky you got ‘sand beaches’ out of me,” Sue replied to a question about whether bucktails or tins were working best.
South Shore
Bass are still being caught in the western South Shore with regularity from a variety of locations, but they’ve taken a backseat over the past few days to an unexpected inshore visitor – the bluefin tuna. For the past few weeks, I’d heard scattered reports of bluefin harassing bait out at Fire Island reef and beyond. This week, after hearing some pretty wild stories about bluefin working tight to the beach, I contacted fellow OTW contributor Jeff “Big Mahi” Yappalater to see what he’s been hearing. Unsurprisingly, Jeff knew exactly what I was talking about and told me there had been a bite on Sunday and Monday. He confirmed three separate reports, two of them from outside Jones Inlet. Two bluefin, both around 125 pounds, were caught on the troll on spreader bars in between 40 and 50 feet of water. The fish were on top of the water column working small bait, and there are plenty of gannets around to give away their location. There are several species of bait in the area including 4-inch butterfish, baby bunker and anchovies, so keep this in mind when picking out your spread. The third encounter Jeff could confirm is even more intense and unusual. The angler was trolling an umbrella rig on a wire setup outside of Fire Island near the Lighthouse. He was working in 30 feet of water trolling for stripers when the rig got whacked by a bluefin tuna. He fought it for almost two hours, chasing the fish out into 100 feet of water. He got the fish to boat but it made one last run when it saw the gaff and broke the line. He estimated the fish at over 200 pounds. Jeff commented, the angler is “experienced and knows tuna weights.”
Even if you aren’t prepared to battle a small giant, there are still a good amount of bass and bluefish in the area. Clam chumming should still draw in a few bass, and diamond jig should do the trick if you’re able to find a pocket of working fish. Just be prepared to have your drag reverse-engineered by a marauding bluefin. As always, live-lining with herring is great option if you can find them.
North Shore
Some small bass are still hanging around some of the western Sound harbors, and water temperatures are warm enough to keep around well part the end of the season. Water temperatures actually bumped-up slightly this week after several more days of air temperatures hitting the low 60s. Word from Richard at Camp-Site Sports Shop in Huntington Station is that, “fishing has slowed down a lot of the south shore.” Seems Richard’s prediction that last week’s bass bite was new moon-related was on the money.
If you’re looking for tog this week, you should still be able to scratch out a limit, it just might take a little more time and “anchor work” than other trips this season. I’m sure there’s still some nice fish hanging out along the shore, but I’d consider focusing in depths over 40 feet. However, it seems the bulk of the fishing-related talk in the shop this week has been about the tuna/striped bass/bluefish bite happening right now on the South Shore.
Metro New York
Tog fishing continues to be the focus for most NYC anglers, even though there’s some small bass hanging out in the lower Hudson. Given we’re into the final week of the bass season, it might be worth making once last trip around the city. The brief diamond-jigging bite that was happening in the Sound last week has died out almost completely and those fish will push through the area on their way south. There should also be some small bluefish around for a few more weeks. Soaking bait, either bunker or clams is your best shot at hooking one of the final migrating fish. That being said, there’s definitely a lot more life along the western south shore right now, so heading to south facing beach is a better option if you’re able to get there.
Upstate New York
Nighttime temperatures are slipping into low- to mid-20s this week, and the term “lake effect snow” has finally made it into the weather forecast for the Lake Ontario region. Half a foot of snow could be on the ground by Friday night and combined with the low temperatures, it will begin the process of icing-over the creeks. I talked to Sharon of Narby’s Superette and Tackle to hear her perspective on the remainder of the season. “They’ve still been doing good,” she said and mentioned “there’s a lot of steelhead coming in now.” It’s also been one of the best seasons in recent memory for big mature brown trout. I asked her if she though the snow in the forecast would hamper the fishing. “Well, we’ll see,” she said skeptically. “We haven’t gotten any yet.” Even if some snow does fall, daytime temperatures should be warm enough to melt the snow pretty quickly. Along with the brown and black nymphs that have been working well for weeks now, wooly buggers have also been taking a lot of nice fish recently.
Best Bests
Fishing the western south shore and starting with a livewell full of herring will be your best bet this weekend. Water temperatures are well below 55 degrees, making the remaining bass a little less prone to attacking artificials. A live herring is an easily digestible meal that’s hard for a migrating bass to pass up. Of course, trolling for tuna between Fire Island and Jones Inlet is a great option if you’re lucky enough to be equipped and prepared for the unexpected inshore bite. The Captree headboats should stay on the bass right until the final days of the season, making that a good option if your boat’s already shrink-wrapped. However, if you have the sickness like me, this week will be dedicated to walking the surf, looking for that one last fight before a long winter.