North Shore Long Island Fishing Report
This was one tough week for fishing. Ridiculous winds and seas kept most anglers at the docks over the weekend, but despite that, there were a few fishable days. The bottom fishing on the North Shore remains solid with blackfishing picking up in deeper water on green and Asian crabs, plenty of sea bass as a bycatch, and a few huge porgy in the mix, according to Carmine at Campsite Sports Shop in Huntington Station. Captain Mark of the Celtic Quest out of Port Jefferson said they were killed by the hard north winds over the weekend, but the fishing for blackfish and sea bass was decent when they were able to actually get out. He added that they will have to contend with the full moon coming up, which will make things tough again as they already have 9 foot tides right now. John from Terminal Tackle in Kings Park said the tog bite picked up big time as of Tuesday, and limits of fish in the 6-8 lb range were very easy to come by at the usual spots from Smithtown Reef to the Triangle. Captain Stu of Northport Charters out of Northport also reported awesome fishing at Eatons Neck with an increase in blackfish catches, sea bass to 4 lbs, and scup to 1.5 lbs.
Phil of Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport said jigging at Buoy 11B as resulted in nice blues to 7 lbs in the early morning, but the bite switches to cocktails a little later on. He has also heard of a few bass caught locally, but nothing crazy. Phil hopes things pick up with the oncoming of the full moon. The only solid bass action, according to John from Terminal Tackle, has been for the boat guys trolling on the east side of Smithtown Bay off Stony Brook. Roughly half of the stripers caught are keeper size. Otherwise, the bite has been spotty at best.
South Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Most anglers were interested in the striped bass on the South Shore this week, but a few did go out for some bottom fish. Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reported incredible blackfish action during the change of tide at the AB Reef with a ton of shorts, but also a number of keepers in the mix. Moriches and Shinnecock Reefs are also giving up a decent amount of tog and sea bass, according to Mike at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays.
Bill from Combs Bait & Tackle in Amityville said there are bunker in the ocean from Jones Beach all the way out to the Rockaway Reef with plenty of 20 lb bass and big bluefish underneath them. Over by Fire Island, Bill added that Cedar Bar had stripers to 23 lbs caught on clam and chum on the outgoing tide, and eels were the go-to in the evenings at that location. West of Jones Inlet off Lido Beach saw bass hitting bunker schools, according to Joe at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon, and Bay Park Fishing Station reported that anglers trolling bunker spoons in 35-50 feet of water off Point Lookout and south of the ER Buoy landed stripers to 30 lbs. Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale reported a customer weighing in a bass of almost 35 lbs that he caught in front of Fire Island Inlet. The eastern South Shore saw small bunker pods being pushed up onto the beaches, and anglers were hammering the bass and blues that were feeding on them, according to Mike at White Water.
We haven’t heard much in the way of offshore action as of late, but Mike at White Water said he got reports of bigeyes, yellowfin, swordfish, mahi, and makos out at the Hudson Canyon. This time last year we saw the bluefin show up out there, so he is hoping for a repeat performance this year.
Metro Long Island Fishing Report
Josh from Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx said that although the porgy are definitely making their way out of the area, the tog bite is picking up nicely at the Stamford Reef and Matinecock in 30-40 feet of water on green crabs and Asian crabs. John at Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle reported a lot of short blackfish off the Execution Lighthouse and Rye Playland, but a number of double digit fish were also weighed in. John said that the fish are starting to head to deeper water so don’t hesitate to set up at the wrecks.
Stretch at Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn reported stripers outside of the Breezy Point Jetty caught while trolling and jigging under the birds. Chunks from the surf off Fort Tilden and live eels at the Marine Parkway Bridge and Verrazano Bridge are also getting the job done. Birds also started working in Hempstead Bay with a few bass under them caught on diamond jigs, according to John at Hudson Park.
East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report
Captain Mike of the Prime Time 3 out of Orient reported that the blackfish bite is in full swing on the East End with pool fish in the 7-10 lb range on his boat. Captain Bob of Rainbow Charters out of Orient said that Plum Island and Fishers Island are the spots to be for good tog fishing.
Bill from Jamesport Bait & Tackle in Mattituck said the wind made conditions pretty tough to get out this week, but there are plenty of bluefish at the Gut and you can find the bunker schools with bass concentrated in the ocean. The hard north winds over the weekend made surf fishing a blowout, according to Paul at Paulie’s Bait & Tackle in Montauk, but as of Tuesday the winds turned to southwest and few small bass showed up with big blues. The big full moon coming will hopefully help the action pick up heading into the weekend.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The forecast is looking much brighter for this weekend than it was for last week. The seas will cooperate and the wind will not be nearly as bad so boats should definitely be sailing. Blackfishing is pretty fantastic right now, despite not having as many porgy to help fill the buckets. Easy limits of tog and plenty of sea bass will make for an awesome day, and virtually every common wreck and rock pile known for tog is holding fish so you can’t miss.
Bass fishing is a bit trickier. The South Shore bunker pods will hopefully continue to stick around through the weekend, and trolling and jigging will work for the fish under them. The surf fishing is tough to call, but the action should improve with the full moon coming up. The southwest winds might push the bait and stripers close to the beaches on the South Shore and out at Montauk. Other than those options, live eels at any of the jetties or bridges at night have a chance to produce fish, and jigging in deep water will pull up blues and possibly a few bass in the mix.