New York Fishing Report 5-10-2012

Stripers and Blues Spreading Out
Fluke Picking Up

With the rain finally moving out of the region by the end of the day, both the weather and fishing forecast are looking great for the upcoming weekend. The fishing continued at a strong clip this week on pretty much all fronts despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions, and the action has now spread to pretty much all corners of New York’s coastal waters. The striped bass and bluefish have shown up all over Long Island at this point, and they’re being caught with a variety of techniques. I spent my first “all nighter” surfcasting this week, and was quickly reminded why stripers are a fish I don’t mind losing sleep over. Bass into the mid 20-pound class were willing to hit a variety of plugs and other artificial lures, ranging from pencil poppers at dusk and dawn to darters, swim shads and stick shads at night. Fluke fishing has also picked up this week in most places, and some areas are starting to see tides with solid numbers of keeper flatfish coming over the rails. It’s going to be a great weekend for angling across the state, so make sure you get out there and enjoy these great springtime fisheries.

East End

Things are returning to form out in Montauk pretty fast. The stripers are already back in the rips off the Lighthouse, the fluke are biting again off the south side and offshore canyons are still producing big numbers of quality deepwater fish. As always, the Viking Fleet is in the middle of it — returning last Sunday from another great offshore trip targeting tilefish and wreckfish. After a Friday night departure, the Starship arrived on the grounds early Saturday and immediately found large wreckfish on the chew, boating 25 on the first few drifts. After making a move to deeper water, large tilefish and hake began coming over the rails. The trip had two more tilefish in the 40-pound class for the 2012 season, and a variety of other deepwater species. The inshore fluke fishing has also started to pick up this week for the Viking, and the weather looks good for the upcoming weekend. Although the springtime doormats have yet to make a showing, I wouldn’t be surprised if some big fish were waiting in the rips in time for this weekend.

The fishing in the Shinnecock area continued at a steady pace this week, was the word from Steve at East End Bait & Tackle in Hampton Bays. Adding, “There just hasn’t been as many people out fishing because of the weather.” When anglers return this weekend, they should still be able to find some striped bass around the Ponquogue Bridge at night will to take a clam belly, or a few keeper flounder in the Shinnecock Canal.

South Shore

There’s a lot going on off Long Island’s south shore right now, and things should only get more interesting as we move through the end of this week. The bunker are still being harassed in a variety of locations, and it’s all about putting in your time and finding a school. Getting off the dock in the predawn remains your best bet for snagging a livewell full of bunker. From shore, fishing with chunks of fresh bunker on a fish-finder rig at night should still produce a few quality fish. More bluefish are moving into the area, which has spread out the bass a little.

North Shore

Water temperatures in Long Island Sound are now climbing into the mid-50s over a wider area, and more striped bass and bluefish are moving into the central and eastern parts of the sound. The fluke fishing has also started picking up, and the marine forecast looks great for the upcoming weekend. NOAA has forecasted seas to be one-foot-or-less in Long Island Sound on both Saturday and Sunday. If your boat’s in the water and ready to go, make it a full day trip and some striped bass and fluke fishing. From shore, this is the time of year when north-shore surfcasters find large striped bass and bluefish at night in the boulder fields and patrolling shallow inner-harbor creek channels. Do some scouting in your area during the day, and return to the areas holding life at high tide that night.

Metro New York

There’s still plenty of striped bass moving through the metro New York area, and there’s a good chance some large fish will be moving through the area between now and the next new moon tides. Setting up a chunking rod will still do the trick, but the bass will also fall for large swim shads, darters and other artificals like Bombers. Pencil poppers should also raise some fish in low-light conditions. On the Marilyn Jean IV in Brooklyn, the mixed-bag daytime fishing continues going strong. Monday’s trip saw good numbers of ling, a few keeper-cod, bluefish and even some jumbo winter flounder. The nighttime trips are also catching plenty of “alligator” size bluefish on chunks. Fishing should be good on all fronts this weekend Marilyn Jean this weekend, with sunny skies and mild temperatures in the forecast.

Upstate

There’s quite a big going on upstate night now, and the weather looks good for most of the region over the weekend. Once place where it’s going to take a little more time for the weather to clear out is the St. Lawrence region, I talked to Steve from Northern Harness Bait & Tackle who told me the fishing’s been on the slow side and the forecast for the weekend is calling for more rain in their area. Although Steven had not heard much about last weekend’s walleye tournaments, he did know that the winning fish were in the 10-pound range and caught in shallow water.

Down in the Catskills, the trout fishing continues going strong. I talked to Evan at Beaverkill angler in Roscoe who told me fishing has held up for the most part despite the persistent rain in recent days. “Water levels came up a little,” Evan mentioned, “but we expect to see some dry fly fishing in the next 24 to 48 hours.” In the meantime, there’s still been some decent action with nymphs and streamers. For the upcoming weekend, Evan expects to see more caddis and March brown hatches and even possible some blue-wing olive hatches during the morning sessions. If you’re heading up the area this weekend, make sure to stop into the shop on the way to the river. The crew at Beaverkill Angler always has up-to-the-minute information on all the local fisheries, and will help point you in the right direction with a solid game plan.

Best Bets

Angling options continued expanding this week, and the weather forecast looks good for both Saturday and Sunday across most of the state. It’s definitely a “pick your poison” situation this weekend, with striped bass and bluefish still feeding in big numbers along off Long Island’s south shore, fluke fishing picked-up significantly this week, and a variety of freshwater fisheries are in full-swing upstate. For me, striped bass fishing still remains the best option for the time being, especially now that they’ve spread out over a wider area. It’s also the time of year when quality-size bass can show up almost anywhere on any given tide, so the ability to track down “fishy water” pays off big time. It’s also a good time to do some mixed-bag fishing on one of the South Shore headboats. Single trips are producing up to half-a-dozen species of quality fish. Overall, this weekend is less about what and where you’re fishing, and more about the simple fact that you’re fishing. Tight lines, everyone.