North Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport reported a definite increase in water temperature this week, but the harbors remain relatively quiet. The recent worm hatch should get things cranking, and hopefully next week we will be hearing about more life in the North Shore waters. As of now, there is a miniscule population of flounder hanging around the bays and in the Nissequogue, and a very small handful of anglers were able to entice a few off the bottom with mussels and sandworms. According to John at Terminal Tackle in Kings Park, there are still no reports of bass locally, but he heard that the Delaware and Chesapeake are loaded with them so they are making their way up here.
Trout is the hot ticket item right now with stocked locations providing a number of opportunities. White’s Pool, Blydenburgh, and Twin Ponds are doing especially well for North Shore anglers.
South Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Bill at Combs Bait & Tackle in Amityville noted a slight increase in water temperature with the bay reading 43 degrees and ocean temperatures around 41 degrees this week. It seems like the bunker decided to show up with the nice weather as schools have been spotted along the western South Shore. Even further to the west, bass are being caught under the bunker pods in Raritan Bay. Locally, however, stripers continue to be scarce. Bryce from White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays did hear of more solid reports of small resident bass in the eastern South Shore tidal creeks this week with a few larger ones in the mix, The little guys were all caught on soft plastics while the better quality fish were caught on live bait. With a few respectable sizes around, there was hope to catch a keeper on the season opener. Hopefully, I will have some statistics of opening day to share next week.
The Jib VI out of Captree was finally put back in the water last week after a long, idle winter, and Saturday marked their first outing for flounder on the Great South Bay. It was slim pickings, but they did manage to boat a few flatties. Quogue Canal also saw literally just a handful of flounder picked up. Joe at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon said that cod fishing was way more productive with fish to 35 pounds caught on boats that sailed from all major harbors across the South Shore.
Metro Long Island Fishing Report
John at Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle reported a few guys catching 2-3 flounder during an outing. The fishing is not great, but at least there are catches to talk about. The bigger news is the first bass reports came in a few days ago, and they seemed to show up in force. Ralphie of Bernie’s Fishing Tackle in Brooklyn said Midland Beach on Staten Island saw thirty or more fish caught between nine anglers. Again, the fishing is not spectacular, but it’s something to really start getting excited about.
Richie at Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn said that the cod boats finally began sailing again from western Long Island, and they have had some really good success so far. The Brooklyn and Marilyn Jean party boats managed a number of nice sized cod to 35 lbs over the weekend.
East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report
Ben at Star Island Marina in Montauk finally had a little news to tell us after quite a few dry weeks; however, it is only just minor information. With conditions that finally cooperated, a handful of private boats sailed out of Montauk and came up with a few cod. The Viking will also attempt a trip this weekend if things work out in their favor. If the boat goes out, it will be the first time they leave the dock in a number of weeks.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Winds and seas are looking good for the weekend so there is nothing that should stop the cod boats from sailing. If you are in need of some big fish, then that would be your ticket to get it done. Western Long Island and the South Shore are the better bets, but the East End might just have some steam left that we have yet to see this season. Flounder is also an option, but the lack of reports is disheartening. It is not surprising as we have not seen a killer fishing year in quite some time, but I always remain hopeful. Find some shallow, warm water, and dunk mussels and worms for your chance at a flattie. Do not forget about the freshwater opportunities this time of year either. Stocked trout can definitely keep you occupied for an afternoon, and the bass and pickerel are starting to get really hungry.
This week marked the beginning of the striped bass season, although it was not a slammer first day. I only heard of a small number of keepers caught, but there was a decent amount of schoolie action. Western Long Island will see the first schools of larger fish moving in. Despite the long winter and , do not get discouraged if you don’t see what you are used to. Temperature-wise, we are not even close to where we were this time last year.
I used to fish quogue canal in the 70’s and eighties and we used to catch a bucket full of flounders. What happened I hear if you catch a half a dozen its a good day? Is it commercial fisherman or the water that has kept the population down.