Long Island Fishing Report - September 3, 2015

North Shore Long Island Fishing Report

Captain Stu of Northport Charters out of Britannia Marina reported an excellent porgy bite with heavy buckets of 2.5 to 3 pound fish and a small showing of keeper fluke in the mix. Captain Mark with the Celtic Quest in Port Jefferson detailed similar results this week, but added that the fleet was battling the strong full moon currents. When they were able to anchor down through the changing of the tides the fishing was spot on. Scup seemed to be stacked a bit shallower than we have seen in recent weeks with the boats concentrating in 20 to 50 feet of water. With hordes of peanut bunker inside Northport Harbor, folks are finding handfuls of porgy and doormat fluke hungrily feeding, according to Mark from Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport. While the larger fish are a bit harder to come by, John at Terminal Tackle in Kings Park said the short action off the dock at the mouth of the Nissequogue continues full steam ahead. Anglers are also finding a number of keepers and smaller fish out in deeper water, and sea bass are stacked on structure of 60 feet or more.

With the surplus of bait fish around, Captain Stu’s fares were able to cast for the 1 to 8 pound blues gorging on them. Successful jigging was also accomplished for even larger blues at the end of the tides. Mark at Cow Harbor said most of the jigging is being done around Buoy 11B, and the occasional bass will find their way to the decks. While the snappers have been pretty elusive so far this summer, John of Terminal Tackle said anglers are seeing the first real signs of them in Kings Park, Northport Harbor, and in the Nissequogue.

South Shore Long Island Fishing Report

Bill from Combs Bait & Tackle in Amityville let us know that the fluke fishing on the South Shore remains status quo with quality catches coming from both inside the bays and outside in the ocean. While he said that the deeper you go the better out at places like Cholera Banks, the Middle Grounds, and Fire Island Reef, the shop did weigh in a sizable 9.75 pounder caught at the Meadowbrook State Parkway Bridge. He stressed that big baits get the job done, including whole squid, peruvians, and big bucktails. Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside received a report late last week of high caliber mixed bag action at the reef outside of Jones Inlet with sea bass, jumbo porgy, and keeper fluke on salted clams. There is also plenty of fluke activity to the east, according to Mike at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays, with plenty scattered throughout Shinnecock Bay and in the ocean. Anglers have to pick through about ten shorts for every keeper in the Bay, but the ocean fishing is seeing a better ratio of larger fish. While there are a wide range of depths where the fish are being found, 20 to 50 feet and over 80 feet seem to see the best action.

The bass bite at the Ponquogue Bridge and inside Shinnecock Inlet picked up a bit with the moon this week. Clam chum and live bait got the fish biting during the day and eels were the ticket at night. Big bluefish can also be found cruising throughout most South Shore bays and inlets. The offshore bite continues to be hot with John at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon reporting yellowfin and bigeye hitting chunks out at the Hudson Canyon and more yellowfin and wahoo at the 40 fathom curve. I had the opportunity to fish with Captain Greg Metzger of Reel Science Charters over the weekend out of Shinnecock. On the beautifully calm water, we headed out more than 20 miles to where he encountered monumental offshore life the day before, including whales, dolphins, shark, and tuna. Unfortunately, we had no such luck so instead came in to about 12 miles off the beach where we hooked up with a sizable dusky shark that we tagged and collected data from. The variety of life was incredible out there as we were also able to jig up a good amount of huge squid, catch a number of mackerel, and snag tons of bunker from the continuous immense schools that passed us by.

Metro Long Island Fishing Report

Anglers are finding that the best action in western Long Island continues to be porgy. The Rockaway Reef and East Reef are stacked with scup and a handful of sea bass to sort through, according to Stretch at Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn, and guys are even able to get them from the shore off Beach Channel Drive by the Marine Parkway Bridge. On the Sound side, John from Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx added that all of the usual locations, including Execution Lighthouse, Sands Point, and Prospect Point, are giving up bucket loads of scup. Fluke are less prevalent, but fishing for them is still worth it. To the north side, local structure in the middle of the channel is seeing a good number of summer flounder, and fishing is good inside Jamaica Bay and at the Mud Buoy on the south side.

While the striper fishing is not red hot at the moment, Vinny at Bernie’s Fishing Tackle in Brooklyn did receive reports of a few caught at night on eels and worms in the Ambrose Channel. Jack’s Bait also weighed in bass this week upwards of 31 pounds landed under the Throgsneck Bridge. Bluefish are popping up in schools under the birds throughout western Long Island, and Stretch at Stella Maris said they can also be jigged from the Rockaway Jetty to Debs Inlet.

East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report

Life in Peconic Bay continues to be diverse on the bottom fishing front. Bill at Jamesport Bait & Tackle in Mattituck reported porgy piled on the north side of Robins Island and kingfish and weakfish scattered from Robins to Jessups. In the Sound, the bottom bite consists of scup and sea bass off Hortons and Mattituck Inlet. On the South Fork, scup, black sea bass, and fluke are plentiful at Frisbees and Cartwright, according to Glen at Paulie’s Bait & Tackle in Montauk. The summer flounder bite has slowed slightly, but sea bass greatly make up for it. David from Westlake Marina in Montauk said that they are so thick at times that those fishing for fluke cannot get bait past them.

Courtney at Montauk Marine Basin in Montauk reported an uptick in bass activity with the full moon and acres of bunker this week resulting in a number of quality fish coming over the rails. Much of the action happened at night or just before dark, and eels and plugs accounted for many catches both from the boat and the surf. Captain Tony of the Fox Sea Lady out of Montauk also saw umbrella rigs with red tubes put a hurting on the schools. Boats sailing from the East End to the offshore grounds had a good amount of success this week depending on where they went. Captain Tony took a trip to the Coimbra for a number of mahi, and those that ventured out to the 100 square or Atlantis hooked up with yellowfins and bigeyes from 100 to 250 pounds.

Best Bets for the Weekend

The offshore scene looks like it might be on the rough end heading into the weekend with conditions lessening a bit through Sunday making for a tough go at the blue water species. However, inshore opportunities remain abundant. The same full moon last week that made the striper action so good also hindered the bottom fishing at times due to heavy currents and exceptionally fast drifts. Conditions will be much more favorable for those sailing into the Sound or staying inside the bays and harbors. The porgy bite should be top notch this weekend on a multitude of different pieces of structure in a wide range of depths. Sea bass will be mixing in at some of the deeper sections, but you may have to spend time picking through the shorts. Fluke season closes on September 21^st giving anglers a little over two weeks to get their last fix of these flatties. With continued solid quantities of respectable fish, the season may end this year before the action does. Deeper structure is always a good place to look this time of year, but do not forget about the massive peanut bunker schools in many Long Island harbors where doormats are heavily feeding. Big baits are the key to big fish.

The majority of the striper action can be found on the East End and eastern South Shore. While the numbers may not be where they were last week with the moon, bass should continue to be feeding at night, as well as early in the morning and late in the evening. Drifting eels, clam chum, tubes, bucktails, and plugs work depending on the area you intend to target. With the vast quantity of bait around, you may also come across schools of hungry bluefish that you can toss plugs and tins to.