Long Island Fishing Report 8-14-14

North Shore Long Island Fishing Report

Captain Mark of the Celtic Quest out of Port Jefferson reported that the porgy fishing was a bit tough this week as the full moon was making for hard currents, but the bite was decent during the easy part of the tide. After Wednesday’s storm and wind, things should be back to normal by the weekend. Captain Stu of Northport Charters out of Northport said the boat has been hitting nice scup to 15 inches and sea bass from 3 to 4 pounds at Eatons Neck and the Brush Pile. He has also seen a decent showing of winter flounder and blowfish mixed in. Any of the artificial reefs, Callahans, and the rock piles off Cranes Neck are also good spots for sea bass and porgy, according to John at Terminal Tackle in Kings Park.

Phil from Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport said that the fluke are still around on the North Shore, but have been pretty spread around. This is the time of year where they usually see a spike in fluke action, so hopefully things will heat back up soon.

Stripers were a bit scarce on the North Shore this week, but Phil at Cow Harbor said anglers found a few of them deep in the Triangle early in the morning. As for bluefish, he added that there has been an increase in blitzes in the inner harbors during the first few hours of sunlight and cocktails up and down the beaches. John from Terminal Tackle reported that bigger blues have definitely become more abundant this week, and they are stacking up at Cranes and Eatons Neck. Captain Stu of Northport Charters said they have finally been able to jig up 4 to 8 pound blues from the boat now, and he has also seen an increase in the number of terns in the area. Snappers continue to increase in size and can be caught from most area docks.

 

South Shore Long Island Fishing Report

Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reported that anglers have been catching buckets of porgy in Jamaica Bay and on the Rockaway Reef.

Captain Joe of the Jib VI out of Captree reported that their daytime trips out to the Fire Island Reef have produced good catches of smaller sized keeper sea bass and fluke in the 6 to 7 pound range. He also said when the conditions allow it, the boat has done well on fluke inside the bay during the last of the outgoing and first of the incoming tide. The night catches are similar with blues added into the mix. Bill at Combs Bait & Tackle in Amityville said the ocean bite for fluke out at Cholera Banks in 80 to 90 feet of water is seeing fluke to 9 pounds on whole squid and peruvians. Anglers fishing the bay have caught summer flounder to 6 pounds as long as there is a moving tide, but they have had to deal with a lot of weed. Bill also reported consistent sea bass action at McAllister and Hempstead Reef.

The offshore bite continues to be solid this week with Bluefin and Yellowfin at Coimbra, according to Joe at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon. Bay Park also reported makos 20 miles south of Jones on fresh bunker and brown sharks in 65 feet of water feeding on bunker schools.

Metro Long Island Fishing Report

John at Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle reported stupendous porgy fishing at Execution Lighthouse, Huckleberry Island, and Pea Island. John at Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx also said his skiff rentals have been doing well with the scup off New Rochelle and Mamaroneck.

The fluke bite has been decent in the bay around the Marine Parkway Bridge and off Canarsie Pier, according to Vinny at Bernie’s Fishing Tackle in Brooklyn. Stretch at Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn said the Ambrose Channel and the area west of the Breezy Point Jetty were good spots for summer flounder this week, and John from Jack’s Bait said fluke to 10 pounds were caught at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse, Prospect and Sands Points, and Matinecock.

Bluefish were pretty abundant this week with some big ones pushing the snappers to the beaches, according to John at Hudson Park.  He said topwater poppers and bucktails are doing the trick on them. Anglers were also chasing the birds to pinpoint the bluefish schools.

Vinny at Bernie’s said that, while they haven’t come far inshore yet, a few of the party boats were catching bonito and albies this week. Yellowfins and Bigeyes are making a good appearance at the Canyons, according to Stretch at Stella Maris.

East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report

The Peconic saw nice sized porgy and weakfish to 28 inches this week at Rogers Rock, according to Bill at Jamesport Bait & Tackle in Mattituck. Tom from Gone Fishing Marina in Montauk also said scup are pretty plentiful at the Lighthouse.

David at Westlake Marina in Montauk said the fluke bite turned off a bit this week with the storm, but it’s back and possibly even better than before. Tom at Gone Fishing Marina said the summer flounder on the South side are there but not sticking to one spot so anglers had to search around to find the fish. Captain Bob of Rainbow Charters out of Orient said some quality fluke can be found east of Gardiners.

Bill at Jamesport Bait & Tackle reported that the sea bass fishing is heating up in the Sound at any structure, such as the barges and wrecks, and off the Motel and Hortons. Paul at Paulie’s Bait & Tackle in Montauk also said the sea bass bite is outrageous out at Frisbees.

Bob with Rainbow Charters said the Rips are holding nice stripers, and the action is best in the evening at sunset and early in the morning at daybreak. David at Westlake said there has been quality bass from 40 to 50 pounds caught all week for the guys drifting eels. Small bass are scattered from north of the Lighthouse down through Town with big blues to 14 pounds mixed in, according to Paul at Paulie’s.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Other than a chance of rain on Sunday, the rough weather we saw this week will finally be behind us as we move toward the weekend. With some dry weather for the next few days to get the boats out, you cannot go wrong with porgy fishing. There isn’t a place on the Island where you would have to travel far to catch a good haul of fish. Sea bass fishing is another good bet as they are hanging in many of the same locations as the scup. Clam will work on both, and chum definitely helps. Find some hard structure to drop your bait over and within no time the buckets should be filling.

Keeper fluke will be harder to come by as you will have to put some effort into finding them. The big fish are out there, but there is a good chance they will not be in the same spot they were in last weekend. The bodies of fish are moving around so you may have to scout out a few places before finding the one that works, but putting in the effort will pay off.  The South Shore and East End are holding the largest number of summer flounder, and squid/spearing combinations will work just fine once you find a body of keepers.

The summer doldrums seem to have finally hit the stripers. They are looking to be mostly nocturnal as the best bites are from sunrise to sunset, but there are plenty of fish out there to catch. Head out to the East End where there is the most consistent action, and the bass will bite on anything whether you want to troll, drift live eels, or jig for them. If the beach is more appealing to you, there is a chance of picking off a few stripers on bait.