Striper Fishing Breaks Open
Fall 2012 officially kicks-off this Saturday, but the Fall Run is already underway throughout most of the state’s coastal waters. Water temperatures dropped significantly across Long Island’s western south shore this week, paving the way for another good run of bass along Fire Island’s ocean beaches. Fish are pushing into Long Island Sound in larger numbers, and surfcasters on the north shore are in on the action. The false albacore are scattered from Brooklyn to Orient Point and even the bonito are making their first appearance in a few places. Here’s the breakdown.
East End
Montauk remains in classic form, with large amounts of bass, bluefish and false albacore busting bait on the surface. Striper fishing’s been good all season according to Captain Lou at Star Island Yacht Club, but the bite’s stepped up a notch recently and is now back to June/July levels with lots of 30-pound fish in the mix. Captain Lou released half-a-dozen 30-pounders on his last charter, keeping one 42-pounder that couldn’t be revived. The false albacore are also thick in the area, and are even appearing in the inlet of Montauk Harbor occasionally. There’s no new reports coming from the canyons due to the offshore swell, but the last trips which hit the dock before this recent blow went well according to the captain. The bigeye bite continues, but some big yellowfin in the 50- to 70-pound range have also shown up, and one captain Lou spoke with this week boated 11 albacore tuna alongside 4 yellows at the Tails. The next weather window approaching later this week should be interesting to say the least. Definitely worth getting some buddies together to charter an offshore 6-pack trip. Things from the surf picked up big time on the north side of the lighthouse with this swell. “Things have been pretty killer,” was the quote from Paulie of Paulie’s Tackle of Montauk. Lots of big fish pushed into the surf north of the Lighthouse with the recent northeast winds. There’s a ton of bait in the area right now and much of it’s being pushing into the wash. Mullet, snapper and even alwife are pushing through the area. Albies are also being caught from the surf on the northside of the Light. Small metals like Deadly Dicks are producing strikes from the hardtails that are periodically pushing within casting range.
Shinnecock and Peconic Bay
Jeff at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports the striper bite in the area continues moving in the right direction. Although no one is taking huge fish, a lot of surfcasters are finding keeper-size bass on the open beaches. There’s still a few keeper-size fluke being caught inside the inlet, alongside plenty of smaller fish. Jeff also mentioned that the false albacore have invaded the area in force recently and are even pushing inside the inlet occasionally within casting distance of the jetties. Ken from Tight Lines Bait and Tackle in Sag Harbor was also talking about the false albacore in Shinnecock Inlet. A green 1 ½- to 2-ounce Deadly Dick should do the trick on the albies, and Ken recommended adding a small epoxy fly as a teaser on your fluorocarbon leader. The bass are also stacking up in the inlet pretty thick according to Ken, especially in the early morning. One of the regulars at Tight Lines has been landing bass with “every other cast” consistency on white bucktails. In the Peconic, porgies kingfish and northern puffers have been supplying most of the action for anglers. Normally, this is the time of year some really big “gator” blues start showing up off Jessup’s Neck. Just under a week ago, some of Ken’s regulars got offshore and good tilefishing in between bigeye and yellowfin bites. The crew ended up with around 18 nice tiles topping out into the high 40-pound class.
South Shore
Water temperatures dropped pretty quickly along most of the south shore this week, and are now sitting in the upper 60s in most places. At Causeway Bait and Tackle on Merrick Road in Wantagh, Greg reports that the local bottom fishing from the piers has been hot recently. Porgies, sea bass kingfish and norther pufferfish are all big caught in big numbers. The fluke fishing in the bay is beginning to slow, but some keepers are still being taking in the deeper water channels close to the inlet. Outside, there still some nice fluke for the taking around the artificial reefs in the neighborhood of 50 feet of water. The bass bite is still slow in the area overall, although there has been some large bluefish working on the local bunker pods. It shouldn’t be long before the bass out in the Moriches and Shinnecock areas begin pushing into the area. The bigeye bite out in the Hudson Canyon has continued through the recent swell, and one of the regulars at Causeway who got out recently had 14 bigeyes on the chunk at night and on the troll during the day as well as some nice mahi and a 100-pound class swordfish.
North Shore
Water temperatures are still hovering around 70 degrees through much of the Long Island Sound, but pockets of cool water are starting to show. There’s some nice bass feeding off the north shore beaches, and Stan from Rocky Point Fishing Stop says it’s been the best run of bass along the shore that he’s seen in months. Fish from 32 to 40 inches are being caught consistently off the local beaches around Rocky Point. Chunking with fresh bunker or mackerel has been producing a good amount of fish, but darters thrown at night and pencil popper around sunup and sundown should also get some attention. The bluefish are still around pretty thick, and even the occasional weakfish is being caught — something Stan hasn’t seen in the area for some time. Porgy fishing also remains good across the entire area, and some large “hubcap” porgies are being caught from local jetties and docks. There’s also been reports of bonito popping up off the Old Field Lighthouse this week, something definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area. Mark from Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport also mentioned an increased amount of bass coming in from local beaches, but noted that the recent blow pushed a lot of the adult bunker in the area offshore. The recent storm did help drop the local water temperatures, so the bass should continue pushing in tight to the local beaches in search of other forage.
Metro New York
Fishing has improved significantly around the Five Boroughs this week due to cooler water temperatures in the New York Bight, and things should continue improving over the coming weeks. Vincent from Bernies Fishing Tackle in Brooklyn reports that the bass and blues have become more active and abundant in the area. Porgy fishing also remains productive even from shore, and there’s still a few kingfish in the mix. The weakfish bite has also been good, and some of the fish are nice-sized tiderunners some hitting double digits on the scale. False albacore are also showing up pretty thick at times, so make sure you’ve got a medium-light spinning setup at the ready rigged with a small metal.
Upstate
With nighttime temperatures now consistently dipping into the 40s upstate, many sweetwater fisheries are now becoming more active. Up at Narby’s Superette and Tackle on Lake Ontario in Kent, Sharon reports the steelhead and brown trout bite is picking up slowly but surely. The lake is still holding at about 70 degrees out to about 80 feet, and that’s where most of the fish seem to be holding. There are some fishing beginning to move inshore especially at night, but it’s going to take another couple weeks of cooler temperatures before the fishing really gets going. At Jim’s Bait Shop down in the southern foothills of the Catskills, the walleye bite is still going pretty strong on live bait in Lake Sacandaga and although the pike fishing has slowed a little there’s still some big fish being caught. The largemouth fishing picked up steam with the slightly cooler water temperatures in the big lake, though live shiners are still the best bait option.
Best Bets
It’s a “pick your poison” type situation this week. No matter where you end up fishing, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with this amount of activity in the state’s coastal fisheries. Montauk remains in classic form, with plenty of stripers, blues and false albacore around to satisfy the traveling angler. The stripers have also spread into the eastern Long Island Sound, along with rumors of bonito mixing in. The eastern south shore inlets like Shinnecock and Moriches are holding good amounts of keeper-size bass as well as the occasional school of albies. Porgy fishing remains consistent just about everywhere, and are available from shore in most places. Fluking is getting a little tough, but there’s still some nice fishing hanging around the artificial reefs off the western south shore. Getting offshore is great idea if you can swing it, and there should still be some bigeyes around if you can get out there. If not, bring the deepwater gear at target some tilefish which have been plentiful on the walls of the Hudson Canyons. Tight lines.