It’s late April, and angling opportunities across state feel like they’re increasing by the hour. The spring run is on full-force across Long Island’s western south shore, and the bass and bluefish are showing no sign of letting up. The bigger fish are still working on the large schools of adult menhaden in the area, and are still feeding aggressively. This has provided the perfect conditions for great springtime bass fishing, letting anglers cash in with a variety of techniques. Live-lining and chunking with fresh bunker continues to be the go-to option for most, but more quality-size bass are falling to topwater plugs. The fish are spreading out to the north and west, but bigger fish are taking their place. It’s definitely going to be an interesting week.
East End
The stripers are back in Montauk, a statement that in-it-of-itself gets the endorphins flowing for surfcasters around the world. The bass have once again begun ambushing bait in the wash of the sand beaches in town and through the rocks at Ditch Plains. Now working their way back to their seasonal-residence in the rips and boulder fields that flank Montauk Lighthouse on three sides.
The Viking Fleet returned from another successful tilefish/northern grouper (wreckfish) trip this past weekend that saw more big numbers of this little-known member of the grouper family. The trip saw great conditions which allowed them to make precise deep-water drops on new structure recently discovered by the Viking Fleet’s captains. They were once again rewarded with big numbers of larger wreckfish. The trip also saw good numbers of quality tilefish, as well as a few deep-water cod and pollock. The grouper fishing has been so productive, Captain Steven Sr. has added another limited offshore trip to the spring schedule that leaves May 5. Titled the “32 Hour Limited Load Grouper Wreck Challenge!” on the Viking’s website, it promises to be another great opportunity to catch some of these awesome northern grouper.
South Shore
It’s spring-run bass fishing at its best along the western south shore of Long Island right now, and both shore-bound anglers and the boat crowd are enjoying good numbers of quality striped bass and bluefish. The flounder fishing also continues to produce easy limits of some of the biggest flounder seen in the area in a long time. The bass fishing has been better at night from the beach, and chunks of bunker are responsible for the bulk of the action. However, the bass are also hitting both hard- and soft-bodied artificals, so definitely throw the plug bag in the truck even if you’re planning on dead-sticking with fresh bunker. No matter where or how you’re fishing on the south shore, you should at least clip-on a pencil popper around sunset to see if there’s any extra aggressive bass in your vicinity. Flounder fishing also remains strong in a growing area of the south shore, and the action is spreading to the north and west pretty quickly. At this point, you should even be able to scratch-out a two-fish limit from shore in many places. It shouldn’t take more than soaking a few sandworms on a flounder rig in a 10- to 15-foot hole. Tossing a chum pot into the same hole while fishing will definitely speed-up the process and at least let you know if there’s any flatfish in the area.
North Shore
With water temperatures moving into the low 50s in the Long Island Sound, it now just a matter of days the great fishing now happening on the south shore moves into the sound. The micro bass and even a few small keepers have already moved into in the western sound and taken up residence in the western north shore harbors and bays. “There’s schoolie bass and even the occasional keeper in Cold Spring Harbor,” says Carmine at The Camp-Site Sports Shop in Huntington Station, “up in the flats.” Adding that, “small things like Bass Assassins will be working, but there’s adult bunker in the area which is what the bigger fish will be targeting.” It’s great news for the north-shore anglers who’ve needed to travel south up until this point to find any type of consistent action. Carmine mentioned T It won’t be long before the bunker and keeper-size bass follow
Metro New York
The stripers are stacking-up tight inside the New York Bight, and many city anglers are taking advantage of the great fishing in local waters. If you take a look at a recent sea-surface temperature chart, it’ll give you a good idea why the bass and blues have been stacking-up around the city. “The bass are here,” was the quote from Jonathan at the Fisherman’s Depot in College Point, Queens. The local surfcasting crew has been doing well tossing chunks of fresh bunker on fish-finder rigs, but those tossing artificals are also producing fish. “Pencil poppers” was the answer to the question when I asked Jonathan, “what artificial has been working best?” Causing me to grin and promise I’d be stopping by the shop in person soon. The popularity and notoriety of the surfcasting scene in New York City has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years, with an increasing amount of clubs, tackle shops, articles and even a documentary made about the long-existing but long-niche subculture fishing in the shadow of the city that never sleeps. I’m not sure about you, but I feel past-due to do some first-hand reporting from their local haunts. Especially when considering present conditions. Water temperatures around the city are significantly warmer than the rest of the region, and closer to the preferred temperature zone for feeding striped bass and bluefish. One of the local headboats cashing in on the good fishing in the area is the Marilyn Jean IV out of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The striped bass are biting both day and night right now, and some really quality bass into the high 20-pound class are being caught during the day on jigs.
Upstate
Despite a late April Nor’easter the dropped over than a foot of snow on some towns in western New York early this week, the spring angling season is going full force in most regions. Up on Lake Ontario, trophy brown trout into the high teens are being caught off the fishing piers. Those trolling out on the lake are also finding a wide variety of big trout and salmon pretty tight inshore.
Down on Lake Sacandaga in the southern foothills of the Adirondacks, fishing is pretty good already and should only get better in the coming weeks. Bill from Jim’s Bait Shop in Mayfield told me the pike fishing’s been hot in the area for some time now and there’s been some big browns and rainbows caught from shore out of the Sacandaga in recent days. Even some walleye are still hitting small shiners intended for the big hold-over trout patrolling the shores. The striped bass haven’t yet made it up the Hudson River as far as Jim’s neck of the woods, but some of the locals have already been out to give it a shot.
Best Bets
Although there’s an increasing amount of high-quality angling opportunities to be found across the state, the western south shore of Long Island definitely remains king for a second week in a row. The bluefish and striped bass continue pushing into in the area in large numbers, and the cooler nighttime temperatures in the forecast this week will only increase their density in that area. Fishing bunker, both by boat and from shore, continues to be the preferred method of most anglers. However, the fish are also hitting artificals, a trend that should continue as we move into the first week of May. Pencils poppers are raising fish in low-light conditions around New York City itself and in the New York Bight, signaling the beginning to one of my favorite top-water seasons of the year. No matter where or how you’re fishing this weekend, it you’re targeting striped bass make sure you’ve got a few pencils with you — tight lines.