North Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Captain Mark of the Celtic Quest reported that the fleet hit excellent bottom fishing numbers this week on the porgy and sea bass front as customers were filling buckets all around. They will begin targeting blackfish this upcoming Saturday, but will be sure to continue fishing for the other bottom fish as long as the slammer numbers continue. John at Terminal Tackle in Kings Park noticed that the scup and sea bass are not on the beaches as they once were, but are instead concentrated out in 30-40 feet at the Triangle, Cranes Neck, and the rocks off Sunken Meadow. He also added that the recent cold spell dropped the water temperature just enough to really start getting the tog more active. Anglers are still catching a good amount of shorts, but bigger fish are beginning to bite more frequently with Terminal Tackle weighing in fish up to 6 pounds this week. John said that you do not want to fish deeper than 35 to 40 feet as much of the action is in shallow water of no more than 25 feet. Clams and worms work best for scup and sea bass, according to Carmine from Campsite Sports Shop in Huntington Station, and tog are biting fiddler, green, or Asian crabs.
Captain Stu of Northport Charters out of Northport said that it seems like the hard north blow and recent cold snap this week accompanied by the multitude of peanut bunker really turned the stripers on. The boat caught upwards of 30 bass to 20 lbs on Wednesday’s trip with plenty of blues to 15 lbs in the mix. There were also loads of bluefish to 15 pounds along a good portion of the North Shore beaches, according to John at Terminal Tackle, and anglers found a sporadic appearance of nice sized stripers in the mix at night. The false albacore on the other hand have thinned out to the point where they are not worth looking around for, although anglers may find them popping up here and there chasing bait pods.
South Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside received reports of limits of blackfish at the local reefs this week with the shop weighing in a whopper of 10.6 lbs. The folks taking a ride out west to the Rockaway Reef were rewarded with limits of tog to 7 lbs, platter sized porgies to 3.5 lbs, and enough sea bass to keep everyone happy, all caught on white crabs. Shinnecock Reef to the east was another great spot for blackfish when the boats were actually able to sail in between the rough winds this week, according to Rich at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays.
Captain Joe of the Jib VI out of Captree said the boat is mainly targeting bass as of late, but the jigging bite dropped way off leaving them with chumming as the alternative. Captain Joe added that fishing seems to be best when conditions allow for a chop on the bar. Rich at White Water said that with the tough boating conditions recently, the beach is the best way to find action. Surfcasters fishing west to Moriches Inlet are being met with stripers, and those targeting east of Shinnecock are finding 8-10 lb bluefish. There are a few bass within the Inlet as well, but the largest fish seem to be just barely keepers. Live spot are enticing stripers during the day and eels are making them hit at night. When conditions allowed anglers to get offshore to the Hudson Canyon, Joe at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon said there was a daytime and nighttime chunk bite of longfin and yellowfin at the Hudson Canyon.
Metro Long Island Fishing Report
It is tog-galore in western Long Island, according to John at Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle with limits taken including behemoths to 13 lbs. There are an array of productive areas for blackfish, namely Mamaroneck, Captains Island, Huckleberry Island, and Execution Lighthouse. John at Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx added that tog are biting in full force off Rye Playland and David’s Island, and the shop has plenty of green crabs to go around in the midst of a shortage throughout the Island. Porgy are hanging out at these same pieces of structure, but anglers must switch their baits up from crabs to clams in order to target them.
Bass numbers are on the rise out west with Stretch from Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn saying that they can be caught on the birds, with jigs, or on the troll. There was also a night bite this week off the Breezy Point Jetty and the edges of the Ambrose channel on eels. Bluefish of monster sizes were also trolled and jigged wherever the balls of bait were, and a few false albacore do remain in the area.
East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report
Bill at Jamesport Bait & Tackle in Mattituck said action is pretty quiet in the Peconic other than the sporadic porgy, but the fishing in the Sound is much better with blackfish and sea bass holding steady from Horton’s to Orient. Mike from Star Island Marina in Montauk said Block Island is slammed with sea bass, although anglers are having to go deep out to 90-100 feet as the shallow water contains mostly small fish. On the tog front, Fisher’s Island is an excellent spot for fish up to 10 pounds with a solid number of 4- to 8-pound blackfish in the mix of keepers.
Mike also said that the bass fishing is on the tail end of things with up and down days. Some days boats will limit out on stripers while other days they struggle just to get two fish. You can say that the surfcasters are having a better go at it, but fishing is far from outstanding on that front either. Bill at Jamesport said the North Fork beaches, including Kenney’s and McCabe’s, are packed with anglers after the bass and false albies that frequent the shores during the day. The fly guys continue to have fun with little tunny off the Point.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Gusty north winds on Friday churn up the ocean seas to 3-4 feet and the Sound to 2 feet making for a bumpy ride on the boats. However, I don’t think it will be a washout, and anglers should be presented with good fishing as many species prefer when it is a bit snotty. Tog are the hot ticket item for bottom fish as they are biting really nice with the consistently cooler weather. Every corner of the Island has nice structure for them whether that be rock piles, reefs, or wrecks. Green crabs are preferable over Asian crabs, but the shortage of them is making for an added challenge to this fishery. The same pieces of structure are still holding plenty of porgy as well as some sea bass, but you will just need to drop clams instead to target them. Keep it shallow as the water is still warm enough to hold the fish close.
The choppy conditions should stir up the stripers also. Trolling outside of the South Shore inlets could yield you fish over 30 lbs this weekend along with some monster blues in the mix. Other Long Island shores are seeing spotty action at best, but things are picking up on the North Shore and to the west. On the East End you might have better chances fishing from the beach than heading out on a boat, but if you are looking for albies they could be just out of reach if you stick to dry land.