North Shore Long Island Fishing Report
It is business as usual for this time of year on the North Shore with porgy continuing to be the hot ticket. Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport said many of his customers are doing well on rock piles in the 30-50 foot depths, but fishing during a moving tide produces better catches. As in the past several weeks, black sea bass can be found mixing in on the deeper structure. Captain Mark of the Celtic Quest out of Port Jefferson reported hot and cold bottom fishing in his neck of the woods. The scup are all over the spectrum and can be found anywhere from 20 feet of water out to 100 feet. There are some days where the boat can stay right on top of them and bail fish all day, and then there are other days where the porgy do not seem to respond to chum and are much less active. Overall, the porgy and sea bass are keeping fares busy and happy on board. Anglers need to work a bit harder if they want to bring a summer flounder home for dinner. Most have moved out deep, and keepers are getting far and few between. However, John from Terminal Tackle in Kings Park said the Nissequogue is still seeing respectable action, and the large appearance of peanut bunker in Northport Bay made fluke more prevalent in that area also.
Captain Mark with the Celtic Quest said bigger numbers of bluefish are showing up, and the boat is able to get in some jigging when the conditions are good which adds a different element to the bottom fishing they have been used to seeing. Schools of cocktails are popping up sporadically throughout many of the North Shore harbors feeding on the droves of peanut bunker, but their activity is not very consistent to pinpoint a good time to search for them. Bass fishing is pretty slow at the moment with only a handful hitting the decks of those anglers putting in a tremendous amount of time, and John from Terminal Tackle said that most likely will not change until the first big cold front comes through bringing in a hard northwest blow to stir things up a bit.
South Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Fluke fishing is still alive and well on the South Shore in both the bays and out in the ocean. The Great South Bay, according to John at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon, is producing a respectable number of fish; however, anglers are switching to live baits, such as snapper and peanut bunker, or heavily scented artificials, such as Gulp, in order to entice them to bite. Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside received reports of all day fluke and sea bass action offshore out at Cholera Banks, and several miles to the east Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale reported limits of black sea bass on clam at the San Diego wreck. Captain Joe of the Jib VI out of Captree saw spectacular action on the incoming tides this week with sometimes hundreds of fluke caught in an outing. Some keepers are mixing in, and every so often a real nice one will be pulled off the bottom. Several 5-plus pound fish hit the rails this week as well as one weighing in close to 11 pounds earlier this month.
John at Trophy Tackle said the offshore fishing is the hot ticket on the South Shore with a nice mix of bluefin, yellowfin, and wahoo out at the 40 fathom line and bigeyes in the 100 square area of the Hudson Canyon. Anglers more interested in sharking do not have to go out as far to find good action as there were plenty caught between 5 and 15 miles this week. Our Naturalist Logbook columnist Chris Paparo was out about 10 miles south of Shinnecock Inlet tagging sharks with Reel Science Charters when a 10 pound mahi came cruising through the slick. Shortly after landing the mahi, the team hooked up with a small mako. After collecting data on the shark, it was tagged and released marking their 49th shark of the season.
Metro Long Island Fishing Report
Porgy fishing continues to be red hot, according to John at Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx, who said customers on their own boats as well as ones who rented skiffs from the shop did well at the Execution Lighthouse, all of the Points, and up through Mamaroneck. Vinny from Bernie’s Fishing Tackle in Brooklyn added that the Rockaway Reef continues to produce good catches of scup and sea bass, and a few fluke made an appearance off of Coney Island.
While we are not seeing great striper fishing, Stretch at Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn said live eels at night are producing a few bass under the Marine Parkway Bridge and in the rips by the Breezy Point Jetty. Anglers are also getting lucky with early morning cocktail action under the birds when they can find them.
East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report
Bottom fishing continues to be exceptional on the East End with a variety of locations to choose from. Peconic Bay saw a nice mix this week of porgy, weakfish, kingfish, and cocktail blues scattered throughout, according to Bill at Jamesport Bait and Tackle in Mattituck. In the Sound, scup and sea bass are plentiful on the areas of structure from Mattituck Inlet to Hortons Point. Captain Mike of the Prime Time 3 out of Orient told us that he has been sailing out to Fishers Island for sea bass and porgy galore with fish to 3 pounds. Anglers fishing the south side of Montauk are also hammering the structure for bucketloads of bottom fish. Tonya at Westlake Marina in Montauk did say, however, that fluke are hit or miss at this point, but the shops weighed in fish to 9 pounds this week for guys who put the time in.
Paul from Paulie’s Bait & Tackle in Montauk reported tons of bluefish on the north side beaches caught on poppers during the day and only a few bass in the south side surf. Boats are doing a bit better as they are able to travel to find the fish. Working eels in the evening and at night as well as trolling single tubes are still landing quality bass up to and over 50 pounds off the Point. Captain Mike of the Prime Time 3 said they have hit a mix of keepers and short bass with blues to 15 pounds at Plum Gut. The boat also did well on their offshore cod trip with 60 keepers to 15 pounds, 40 hake to 10 pounds, and a dozen mahi. Tonya at Westlake also added that the shop is seeing great offshore fish hitting the scales this week including a 225 pound bigeye, 85 pound swordfish, 47 pound mahi, and a 49 pound wahoo.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Inshore options are getting a bit harder to come by as the hotter weather recently has shut off fluke and bass in certain areas. However, with the right spot and a little know-how you can definitely have a bent rod and dinner this weekend. Porgy and sea bass remains status quo and is your best option when it comes to quality and quantity. Both species are migrating a bit deeper than you may have seen in past weeks, but they are definitely accessible. Hit your favorite pieces of structure for a steady pick of fish. You may have to go even deeper for fluke or find a new wave of bait where they are hanging out. If you are having a tough time with the traditional baits, try switching to live peanut bunker or snapper for some added attraction
Bass fishing is still best on the East End with the boats being more productive than the surf. Eels are the way to go, but trolling can get the job done also. Trying these methods at bridges around the Island could also reward you with a small striper. Bluefish are more prevalent in most areas with jigging starting to pick up and birds being a good indicator of moving schools. With a decent looking marine forecast for the weekend, plenty of anglers should be able to get out for some great offshore fishing also.