Long Island Fishing Report - September 10, 2015

North Shore Long Island Fishing Report

With the extensive variety and quantity of bait fish around, including spearing, sandeels, and peanut bunker, North Shore fishing is quite good right now. We are seeing relatively the same story as the past few weeks on the scup and sea bass front with many of the popular pieces of structure holding fish. Captain Mark of the Celtic Quest of Port Jefferson said the recent half day bottom trips have seen decent action close by, but their full day trips just started in which they have more time to travel to better fertile grounds. While the deeper water will definitely yield fish, John at Terminal Tackle in Kings Park added that anglers fishing from the jetties and beaches are catching porgy very early in the morning and in the evening as they come in close in Northport Harbor, Huntington Harbor, and up inside the Nissequogue. The boat ramp at the mouth of the River is also a good place to set up for fluke, although John said that not as many people are chasing after them these days. The anglers that do target them tend to focus on deep water this time of year, and while Mark from Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport agreed that they can be successful, he also said not to discount the areas that rise up to shallower shoals where you might find a nice current pushing bait. While the number of shorts far outweighs the number of keepers right now, taking the time could land you a late season meal.

While bass are definitely on the quiet side, bluefish are keeping people occupied instead. John at Terminal Tackle reported dependable, albeit widely distributed, cocktail action off the beaches from one side of Smithtown Bay to the other. The schools seem to always be on the move, but as they are running just about all day, the fish will likely be back if you stick around long enough. Larger 5-7 lb blues are also being jigged out in deeper water, according to Mark from Cow Harbor. As for the snappers, the North Shore is finally starting to see good numbers in the past two weeks after a very uneventful season.

 

South Shore Long Island Fishing Report

Captain Joe of the Jib VI sailing out of Captree reported nice action on the bottom fishing despite keepers being tough to come by at times. They are fishing in both the ocean and inside the Great South Bay depending on conditions with mixed results. Many trips are seeing more than 200 fluke come over the rails with less than ten-percent large enough to take home. The same can be said for both sea bass and porgy with hundreds of fish caught, but mostly on the smaller side. Captain Joe summed the fishing up as decent with some nice surprises, including the 7.5 lb and 9 lb fluke that were caught recently. Anglers are finding similar results across the South Shore as Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside received reports from customers that fished a local reef for summer flounder and caught upwards of 40 fish with only 3 keepers.

The shops did not have much news on bass this week, but White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays reported the first early signs of false albacore making their way to our waters. While the numbers are not truly substantial yet, anglers fishing from both the boat and jetty have connected. While offshore action has slowed at many of the wrecks this week, Joe from Trophy Tackle in West Babylon said the 100 square area is still producing a mix of bigeye and yellows on the chunk.

 

Metro Long Island Fishing Report

Western Long Island is looking at some red hot porgy action at many of the local spots, including Pea Island, Huckleberry Island, and the Execution Lighthouse, according to John at Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx. However, John from Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle said these spots are good up until the party boats hit them hard at which point anglers have to pick up and find an unmolested area. Scup can also be found around the Marine Parkway Bridge stanchions as well as out at the Rockaway Reef with mixed sized sea bass. Stretch from Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn said it looks like the fluke are starting to head out as many of the recent catches came from the edge of the Ambrose Channel and out at the Fisherman’s Buoy. Over in the Sound anglers got lucky with a few keepers from the backside of Execution Lighthouse and in the middle of the channel.

Although the stripers are not particularly abundant at the moment, John from Hudson Park did report a few bass caught locally in the early morning and late in the evening on poppers. He also added that something is pushing the bunker around in his area, and though there have not been any confirmed reports, he is hoping that the albies are trickling in. Bluefish on the other hand have made their presence known and are hitting topwater underneath the birds throughout western Long Island.

 East End/North Shore Long Island Fishing Report

The activity inside Peconic Bay continues to chug along with porgy scattered throughout as well as a mix of blowfish, small weakfish, and kingfish, according to Bill at Jamesport Bait & Tackle in Mattituck. Scup and sea bass are widespread on the Sound side from Mattituck out to Orient Point with anglers doing especially well off East Marion. From the South Fork, the folks at Montauk Marine Basin in Montauk said sea bass are the best of the inshore bite right now. Boats are finding big numbers of them along with scup out at Cartwright’s. Paul at Paulie’s Bait & Tackle in Montauk said that the fluke bite was on and off the whole week, but when the fish were biting they were big and plentiful. Summer flounder are regularly hitting the rails from Cartwright’s to Frisbees and off of Gardiners.

Bill at Jamesport said that Plum Gut is quiet on the bass front, but big blues are keeping rods bent on the North Fork. The surf on the north side of Montauk saw consistent bluefish action with fish upwards of 19 lbs and enough stripers to keep surfcasters interested, according to Paul from Paulie’s. For those who want to try something different, Chris at Westlake Marina in Montauk said guys have been hitting some wrecks out in 150 feet of water for cod. Others are heading further offshore for some blue water action. Captain Tony of the Fox Sea Lady sailing out of Montauk said that with a break in the wind last Sunday he and his fares headed out to 30-40 fathoms in search of tuna. Despite there being a noticeable decrease of life compared to the previous week, the boat managed a few Mahi, triggers, and jacks to round out the trip.

 

 

Best Bets for the Weekend

Your best bets for this weekend are just about a carbon copy of the past several weeks. The South Shore is inundated with smaller fish, and despite the occurrence of something bigger every so often, your time might be better spent elsewhere. Porgy fishing is still dominating on the North Shore and in Western Long Island in the same spots using the same baits. Sea bass are mixing in at the deeper locations, but the East End is where their numbers and sizes really shine. The East End is also likely the best place for an end-of-season keeper, but every shore is holding a few if you really put the time in.

The on and off bass bite is a tough one to target, but you can have some fun finding bluefish schools. Larger fish can primarily be found on deep structure, but smaller guys are running around chasing bait all around the Island. The influx of false albacore is a nice change of pace and hopefully will come by in full force for some much needed entertainment. The South Shore is already seeing signs of them, and it shouldn’t be long before we are spotting them elsewhere.