North Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Throughout the Island bottom fishing is either slowing down or revving up depending on what you are targeting. John at Terminal Tackle in Kings Park said that it is that time of year where the porgy begin their migration out, and they are starting to do just that. While there are a number of scup still around, the jumbos we were used to seeing are virtually nonexistent. Blackfish on the other hand are thriving with the quantity of keepers improving daily, but the action is unpredictable. The fish are active on different tides each day, but there has consistently been windows where they turn on keeping anglers happy. 4-6 pounders have become the norm with plenty of 8 pound fish coming over the rails as well, and sea bass of 2-3 pounds are regularly mixing in. Carmine at Campsite Sports Shop in Huntington Station said that while the wind is currently making fishing pretty tough, another obstacle has been the lack of crab bait availability.
Bass fishing is improving, but is it almost exclusively a night bite with little action to be found while the sun is up. John from Terminal Tackle reported schoolie sized fish up to 20 pounds along many of the Smithtown Bay beaches. Some anglers prefer to use bait, but it is not necessary as bucktails and plugs are working just fine. Bluefish are very abundant on the North Shore and they do not appear to be leaving any time soon. Anglers found them chasing bunker in Huntington Harbor and wreaking havoc along the area beaches. Albies can still be found on occasion, but there are not enough to make it worth wasting gas looking around for them.
South Shore Long Island Fishing Report
Blackfishing is continuing to improve with many accounts of limits reported across the South Shore. Rich at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays said the boats are not blowing it out of the water, but guys are able to pick away to get their share. Fishing outside of Shinnecock Inlet in 120-130 feet of water has been productive for tog along with sea bass and porgy. To the west, anglers fishing at the wrecks and reefs outside of both Jones and Fire Island are filling buckets, according to Joe from Trophy Tackle in West Babylon, and Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reported limits for guys fishing at the Rockaway Reef consisting of huge tog to 12.90 pounds.
Robert of Sea Isle Tackle in Freeport told us of decent bass fishing while trolling the waters to the east and west of Jones Inlet. Jigging is also productive when fish are able to be marked, and clam bellies work great on the inside around the area bridges. To the east, Rich at White Water said the full moon this week did not have the desired effect they hoped for of increasing the striper bite as many surf anglers are just coming away with schoolie to teen sized fish. Fishing is not terrible, but it definitely could be better as there are not even many bluefish to be had in the area.
Metro Long Island Fishing Report
John at Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx said that tog are the number one species people are fishing for right now in western Long Island. Pea Island, Huckleberry Island, and the Hens & Chickens are all great places to drop crab for blackfish. Fishing consists of hitting both shallow and deeper waters, according to John from Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle, and the shop is seeing some really nice fish tipping the scales including one weighing in at 12 pounds. The Rockaway Reef a bit to the south is also another great spot for tog and sea bass. While green crabs have been difficult to find for the past several weeks, Stretch at Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn said the shop has plenty of crabs in stock for those needing bait. There was not much news on the porgy front other than a chunk of them stacked at the Fisherman Buoy indicating that they are indeed on their way out of the local waters.
A few bass are making their way through the western Sound, according to John at Jack’s Bait who reported fish taken this week on bunker at the Throgs Neck Bridge and Stepping Stone Lighthouse. Stretch from Stella Maris reported great striper action under the birds during the day where anglers are catching them on jigs and while trolling. At night, live eels are the better way to go. The areas from the Breezy Point Jetty to the Ambrose Channel are good places to target. Big blues are not limited just to the areas where the bass are, but are very widespread right now including some gorillas that are hanging out by the West Bank Lighthouse.
East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report
The full moon did not seem to have a positive effect on East End bass fishing as the reports were exceptionally slim this week. Ben at Star Island Marina in Montauk did say though that the snotty weather Wednesday morning did create a bit of an uptick in action for the surfcasters. Bottom fishing on the other hand resulted in a multitude of reports making it back to the shops. Chris from Westlake Marina in Montauk said most anglers fishing for tog are heading out to Fishers Island as it is still too early for their deeper hangouts at Cartwright and the Southwest Ledge. Cartwright is a great spot though if you are looking for sea bass and scup to fill your buckets. Chris also received a report from an angler that fished Block Island in anywhere from 40-150 feet of water and caught limits and beyond of sea bass to the point where the boat could not get away from them after their quota was filled. The waters to the south of Block Island are a good place for keeper cod for those that are interested.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The nasty weather and rough seas will begin to lay down as we head into the weekend making for decent conditions in the next few days which should allow you to get out on the water at least for a bit. Blackfishing is a hot ticket item so stock up on green crabs if you can find them and hit a nice piece of structure. Huge tog are popping up in every body of water, but you might have to do a decent amount of traveling depending on which shore you prefer to sail from. For the most part you can stay relatively shallow, although the best action on the South Shore structure is in over 100 feet of water. Sea bass continue to be readily available, but you have to act fast in order to get the last licks of scup before they move out to their winter grounds.
Bass fishing is tough as we have not seen a solid fall run of fish as of yet, but rather we are experiencing stragglers all around. East End fishing is sparse, and none of the other shores are seeing a huge population of stripers as of yet. However, opportunities do exist if you want to try hard enough for them. Night fishing seems to be a definite advantage at the moment so you may have to switch up your sleeping hours. Fishing during the day, especially on the South Shore or in western Long Island, can yield you nice sized bass on the troll. Try jigging if you are able to mark fish on the bottom, or dropping bait into the inlets and around bridges might just do the trick.