Bass and Blues Continue Eastward March
With a nice stretch of weather approaching that’s forecasted to hold through the weekend, the table’s set again for another great week of springtime fishing in New York. Bass fishing continues to be strong along the bulk of Long Island’s south shore, and the massive schools of “cocktail” bluefish that moved in have been one of biggest obstacles to locating the bass this week. Fluke fishing could still best be described as up-and-down across the most of Long Island, although some larger flatfish – just shy of double-digits – were caught across the region this week. As we move into the final two weeks of May, look for the quality bass fishing to continue and the slow improvement in the fluke fisheries to accelerate slightly.
East End
More keeper-size stripers are moving into Montauk with each new flood tide, and diamond jigging in the rips off the Montauk Point is starting to produce a few decent-size linesiders, as well as plenty of small “smoker-size” bluefish. The bass are still on the small side for the most part, ranging from the mid to high teens. Fluke fishing saw marked improvement over last week in Montauk, and conditions look promising for the upcoming weekend. But beware, I’ve heard some of the half-day trips for fluke are already booked solid for the weekend, so make sure to call ahead to reserve your spot on the rail.
In Hampton Bays, I talked to Steve from East End Bait & Tackle to check on how the bite’s been around the Shinnecock area this week. There’s still couple of bass being caught from shore on clam bellies around the Ponquogue Bridge, as well as closer to the inlet, but 2- to 3-pound bluefish are making up most of the action and have scattered the bass a little. If you’re still looking for your winter flounder fix, Steve said there’s still a few being caught from the west side of the Shinnecock Canal. Porgy fishing has also been pretty strong in Peconic Bay. Fluke fishing, like in most of the region, is still on the slow side for the most part. The fluke bite should start picking up this week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a new body of striped bass moved into the inlet over the next week.
South Shore
Striper fishing continues going strong in many areas off the entire length of the south shore, and large schools of cocktail-size bluefish have now filled most gaps between areas holding bass. Overall, there’s definitely still bigger numbers of bass to the west, but there’s already significant amounts of small keeper-size bass hanging in the rips off Montauk Point, so the bass can show themselves anywhere along entire south shore at this point. This is also the time of year when larger bass are pushing far into the backwaters on the high tides. This situation provides some of my favorite springtime action for light-tackle striped bass on Long Island. Whether you prefer waders or a kayak, nighttime estuary fishing is a great opportunity for some serious close encounters with big linesiders. There’s a ton of lures and fishing styles that will work in this situation, especially when the fish are being aggressive, but I’ve whittled my arsenal for this type of fishing down to two preferred techniques. The first, and probably my favorite, is casting a swimming plug up current and retrieving it much slower than normal. At the almost-agonizingly slow pace of retrieving a darter. My two favorite plugs for this type of fishing is the Long A made by Bomber, in the “chicken scratch” and “Wonder Bread” patterns, and the Crystal Minnow manufactured by Yo-Zuri in the “blue herring” pattern. My other favorite technique to catch these skinny-water bass is large, unweighted soft plastics. This is always the first thing that comes out of my pack if I can’t draw a strike with swimming plugs. I’ll also switch over to an unweighted soft plastic if the fish are on edge and spooking easily. Soft plastic rigged with an oversized rubber worm hook also have an edge when weeds are a problem because there’s no exposed hook to collect weeds on the retrieve. Anglers are taking fish across the south shore by boat and from shore using a variety of methods. Chunking is still producing bass and bluefish at night from the sand beaches on Fire Island.
North Shore
With water temperatures now moving through the mid 50s, just about everywhere in Long Island Sound, the “spring push” of bluefish and striped bass is definitely underway, and spreading east fast. Fluke fishing is still a spotty along the north shore, although it should begin picking up significantly by the end of this week. Either way, it’s definitely worth bringing some squid and spearing along if you’re heading out on the boat this weekend. If you’re heading out surfcasting on the north shore, the harbors should be holding some keeper-size bass at high tide, and pencil poppers should draw some strikes at dawn and dusk.
Metro New York
There’s still a good amount of striped bass making their push through the city, and the new moon tides this weekend should help bring some of the larger bass into the area. Bunker chunking at night is still the preferred method of most fishing in the area, and for good reason. It’s definitely the most consistent option for landing a nice keeper-size bass right now, especially if you’re using a few pieces of bunker to chum with. If you’re not feeling the cut-bait route, but still want to do some nighttime bass fishing in the city this weekend, I’d stick to darters and fish around areas with significant structure. Also, don’t get too committed a single spot – even if it looks fishy. If you cast in an area for an hour without a getting a taker, make a quick move to a different piece of water.
Upstate
Spring fishing upstate continues plowing along, and many anglers and bait shop owners are looking forward to a weekend of nothing but sunny skies. Up in the Lake Ontario region, fishing on the lake has been great. According to the crew up at Narby’s Station in Kent, most of the charter fleet has been trolling anywhere from 30 to 75 feet down in 50 to 150 foot depths. The lure of choice right now is the humble spoon in small to medium size and in chrome, blue and green. The bite has been a quality mixed bag of coho, chinook, browns and steelhead. Jimmy Fee from OTW fished out of Lewiston, NY this past week, and had great fishing with a number of species. You can check out his report HERE.
Best Bets
I’d say striper fishing off the South Shore is still the best bet overall, but more fisheries are starting to come to life if you’re looking to take a short break from the linesiders and blues. Fluke fishing has shown some significant signs of life off the south shore this week, and there’s even some small doormats showing up in Montauk. Fluke fishing should continue this slow but steady improve this week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few double-digit doormats boated on the half-day trips by the end of the weekend. Upstate, trout fishing in the Catskills would be my go-to option this weekend. The blue-wing olives are hatching, making for some of the best dry fly fishing of the season.