Bass Blitzes Moving West
Water temperatures off Long Island’s south shore plummeted this week, dipping into the high 50s in some places. Fish are on the move all around Long Island, but they’re definitely stopping to eat on favorable tides. Stripers are still feeding aggressively over a wide area, but there’s been a significant shift to the west over the past week. Bass fishing has taken off for the Captree fleet and for those fishing the ocean beaches of the western south shore. Tog fishing continues to be hot just about everywhere around Long Island, and shallow water is still the key to finding good numbers of keeper fish. Offshore sea bass fishing is producing limits of 2- to 6-pound knuckleheads, and there’s already a few keeper cod being caught on some pieces. Now’s the time to scratch the itch, because it won’t be long before 2012 is in the books. Here’s the breakdown.
East End
Montauk continues producing plenty of keeper-size bass overall, but recent new moon tides and an overall unsettled weather pattern have definitely triggered a movement west for many bass. Scott from Star Island Yacht Club has noticed the bass fishing slacking off a bit overall, and “good fishing” by Montauk standards has been more of a day-to-day thing. Big swells off the point have added to the problem. Blackfishing off Fishers Island has remains good though, and should only get better over the coming week. Fishing from the surf as the southern migration continues. “Fishing was really good up until two days ago,” was the word from Paulie at Paulie’s Tackle of Montauk although he added “there’s definitely some fish around.” Pencil poppers have been drawing strikes in low-light conditions, and white bucktails with a red and white Uncle Josh pork rind remains your best bet during the day. A 1 ½ ounce bucktail is a typical weight used around the lighthouse though it’s a good option to carry a several backups from anywhere from 1 to 3 ounces. I also like the black and purple Bluefrog bucktails at night with a black Uncle Josh sea strip.
Shinnecock and Peconic Bay
As the striper fishing begins to level off to the east, the bite has only continued to improve in the Shinnecock area. “Fishing’s been very, very good overall,” reports Ken from Tight Lines Bait and Tackle in Sag Harbor. Bass are being caught in the wash on the sand beaches around Shinnecock Inlet, and also from the jetties on the incoming tide. “Matching the hatch” is always a good idea when surfcasting, but it’s especially important this time of year when fish are keyed-in on large schools of a specific baitfish. Ken also mentioned that blackfishing season gotten off to a great start in the area, he tog into the high single digits have been caught on the local rock piles in the Peconic. Fishing shallow, and working a rock pile which hasn’t recently been picked over is key to finding a few nice fish.
South Shore
The migrating bass have now shown up in force just about everywhere off the south shore sand beaches. The fish are spread out from one end of the island to the other. It’s a good time of year to plan on checking out several locations during a single outing. The word from Captain Ed at Jones Beach Fishing Station at Field 10 is that the stripers have show up in the area and are being caught inside the inlet on bucktails. The first full week of togging was “superb.” Some local sharpies have even been able to limit out on keeper tog from the local piers. Ed has been selling an equal amount of green and asian crabs so it isn’t a bad idea to bring both.
North Shore
Although the water temperature remains significantly warmer on the Long Island Sound than down on the south shore, the fish are still getting the message that it’s time to move. “The false albacore have been everywhere” was the report from Stan at Rocky Point Fishing Stop. The fish have been pushing bait tight inshore at times, and are showing up in big numbers from Cranes Beach to Mount Sinai. If you’re never tided into an albie from shore, now’s the time to spend a few hours glass the north shore beaches. Look for three things — birds, bait and the silver flash of hardtails on the feed. The albies are feeding on the rainbait and peanut bunker beginning to flush out of local harbors and estuaries. Small sleek metals like the 1 ½-ounce Deadly Dick in green and small unweighted soft plastics when the wind allows are both good options. A traditional surfcasting outfit will work fine on the ablies, but the classic setup is a 7- to 8-foot medium action spinning outfit with a real filled to the brim with a thirty-pound-test superbraid and a long fluorocarbon leader. Just be prepared to chase the big ones down the beach a little, like a Key West bonefish. Stan also mentioned the striper fishing has been picking up locally from shore, and decent numbers of 32- to 40-inch fish being caught during the overnight session. This time of year, black and chicken-scratch bombers worked slow are classing options for drawing the attention of linesiders hunting the inlets, beaches and rocky outcroppings along the north shore. Porgy fishing has also remained strong in the area, with big numbers of 2- to 3-pound scup still being caught from a variety of depths – anywhere from off the local jetties and piers to rock piles in 60 feet of water in the mid sound. Blackfishing has remained very productive on the local shallow-water structure, with white chins pushing into the double digits showing up at the shop this week. Although Stan did mention the beginning of a shift toward the bite pushing into deeper-water, the bite remains in the neighborhood of 20 feet for the time being. Consider heading out to a piece in slightly deeper water if no keeper-size fish are coming up between the short fish.
Metro New York
Bass are once again being caught by anglers in and around the city. Stretch at Stella Maris Bait and Tackle in Brooklin reported blues and some bass being caught locally. Even some albies were caught from shore on Coney Island this week with deadly dicks. Blackfishing has also been hot recently, and even shore-bound anglers have been getting in on the action. Keeper size tog have been showing up anywhere there’s a decent piece of structure. Stretch has also heard reports of good numbers of yellowfin still hunting the east and west walls of Hudson Canyon. The local headboat fleet continues to target the sea bass and porgies still hanging on the local inshore wrecks.
Upstate New York
Fishing up on Lake Ontario has been hot, and the crew at Narby’s Superette and Tackle in Kent have been getting reports of salmon, steelhead and big browns set up in all the local streams. The salmon have been showing up in good numbers at times. Drifting egg sacs and even single eggs on spinning gear has been the go-to option. For those on the fly, egg-sucking leech patterns and stone flies in black and purple have been producing best. Cool mornings have also activated the largemouth on the lakes small farm ponds across the region. It’s a good time of year to keep an ultralight setup in the back of the truck with a box of small topwater plugs. A little topwater action is always a good way to ease into the work day.
Best Bets
Striper fishing off Long Island’s south shore remains as good as it’s been since spring in many places, and it’s to the point where blitz bass can appear just about anywhere. Don’t be afraid to make a move if you haven’t raised a fish after an hour of casting, fishing the next productive stretch of beach to miles to the east or west can make all the difference. Focusing on the inlets is also a good idea. Casting eels up current off the Shinnecock jetties at night is a good option for tying into some larger fish. I use a 6/0 Gamakatsu live bait hook with the eel hooked from the bottom jaw to the top. I use five-foot section of 60-pound-test piece of fluorocarbon tied direct to my Power Pro. Some people prefer to use a barrel swivel to reduce line twist, but I’ve never had an issue tying direct. Either way, the key to this style of fishing is casting three-quarters up current and letting the eel drift through a rip or over a piece of structure that’s likely to be holding fish. The pace of the retrieve is key, slow enough for the eel to swim naturally in the water but quick enough to feel the bite and prevent the eel from tangling. Getting out on your local headboat for tog is a good backup option for the weekend, fishing has been good-to-great all around to the island so it’s a good chance to support your local caption. Tight lines.