Late-November Herring Bite
Tog Fishing Looking Good
The forecast is out a day early this week due to the holiday tomorrow. The bite is going strong across wide areas of the state despite the dropping temperatures. The herring are running in Montauk, and beginning to show up in large sections of the south shore and as well as parts of the Long Island Sound. As usual, the stripers are feeding on them aggressively. Although the average size if the fish is down to the low teens, the numbers remain good. Blackfishing remains productive just about everywhere around Long Island, and the bite is still focused on mid to deepwater pieces, in anywhere from 40 to 80 feet. With just over a week until we begin December, now’s the time to get out there and wet a line. Here’s the breakdown.
East End
The herring are running thick out in Montauk, and large numbers of teen to 20-pound class stripers are keyed in on the calorie-dense forage. Scott at Star Island Yacht Club reports the herring showing up is the biggest news to report this week. Charter boats are loading up on the live bait with sibiki rigs on the way out to the Point then seeing lock-and-load fishing on the fiesty linesiders. It seems like the larger fish have pushed offshore in favor of the warmer water, but it’s still possible some larger fish will push through on their way south. Scott also mentioned that the blackfish bite remains strong off Fisher’s Island and on the Southwest Ledge at Block Island. The Block Island fishery remains strong on a variety of fronts. Scup fishing is still great, with big numbers of large 2- to 3-pound fish in the mix. And, looking toward the wintertime and spring, there’s already a nice amount of keeper-size cod in the area.
Shinnecock and Peconic Bay
Water temperatures are still warm enough to hold some bass in the Shinnecock area, and the herring that have moved into the area are convincing some of linesiders to stick around. The word from the crew at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays is that the bass are congregating around Shinnecock Inlet toward the end of the outgoing tide. If you can manage to catch some live herring on Sabiki rigs, that’s just about a guarantee to catch some fish. If you can’t locate the herring, live eels should also get some attention.
South Shore
The stripers are still moving along the south shore in good numbers, and still showing up just about everywhere from time to time. Bob at Causeway Bait and Tackle reports the bass are still hanging around Fire Island Inlet in good numbers. It’s mostly schoolies inside the inlet at this point, but there’s some nice small keepers just outside. There’s a variety of ways to target these late-season fish. Live bait options like herring and eels will work, as will diamond jigs and trolling umbrella rigs. Causeway B & T will be open for a few hours tomorrow morning, so stop by the shop if you plan to sneak out for a few hours while the turkey cooks.
North Shore
Water temperatures are still pretty warm up on the Long Island Sound, and fishing remains strong as we move toward the final week of November. John from Terminal Tackle in Kings Park told me that tog fishing has been “dynamite” recently with a lot of huge whitechins being caught on the local pieces. Green and Asian crabs are working and the big tog are still being caught in a variety of depths. Overall, the bite has shifted to deeper water but there’s still some big fish on the shallower pieces. Also, fishing pressure has been light so there’s good amounts of keeper-size fish on just about any significant structure in 40 to 80 feet of water. If your boat’s already in the yard for the season it’s a good time to head out on your local headboat. With lots of fish and low boat traffic headboats captain’s favorite drops tend to produce some trophy-size tog. John also reports that the striper fishing in the area also remains very strong. Fish are stacked up over the local structure and taking diamond jigs just about anytime the tide is moving. There’s a lot of schoolies in the mix but also good numbers of small keepers.
Metro New York
The Island Current Fleet out of Island City continues doing well with blackfish on the local wrecks. Fishing had slowed slightly late last week, but the most recent trips once again saw good numbers of keeper tog. There’s also gobo numbers of stripers pushing south through the city. The fish are small, as is the case across just about the entire region but the numbers are good. On the Marilyn Jean Iv out of Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, Captain Tony reports the quality tog fishing has continued in the latter part of the month. Recent trips have seen some big fish. including many in the 8- to 10-pound range and once slob on yesterday’s trip which tipped the scales at 12.9 pound. The fish would have definitely crossed the 13-pound threshold if half its tail wasn’t eaten by bluefish.
Upstate
There’s still steelhead to be caught up on the creeks coming off lake Ontario in the Kent area. The crew at Narby’s Station reports good water in the local creeks and fishing willing to take a variety of patterns and bait options. Down in the Catskills, trout fishing is still open on large sections of the Delaware River system until then end of the month, even though the general season closed on the 15th. Just be careful when heading out to make sure you’re fishing an open stretch of water. Late fall patterns are still thick ticket with streamers are nymphs being the best bet, although the occasional afternoon hatch is still possible on warmer days.
Best Bets
Well, the herring are running. That’s typically the last shot of the season for a banner day of bass fishing. Where to go is a bit of a toss-up. Montauk is about as close to a sure thing as you’re going to get, especially if you’re fishing on a boat with a livewell full of herring. It’s also one of the few places around the Island still holding good numbers of bluefish, for those looking to fill up the smoker before winter. However, there are still good numbers of bass in the central and western Long Island Sound, as well as along just about the entire South Shore. Blackfishing also remains a good local option this week, and headboats just about everywhere producing good numbers of quality fish. Enjoy the holiday and get out there fishing if you can. Tight lines.