North Shore Long Island Fishing Report
The weather expectedly put quite a damper on fishing for the better part of a week, but anglers started to venture back out there the past two days with good results. Captain Mark of the Celtic Quest said the boats were finally able to leave the dock and hit the grounds for excellent bottom fishing. Fares averaged 4 to 6 keeper sea bass each, and some of the best days filled buckets with 30 to 40 scup a piece. The fleet is fishing fairly local only running about 40 minutes or less to their spots, and all bites have been on clam baits. Overall, anglers fishing for porgy out at some of the deeper structure are knocking them dead, and it looks like sea bass even picked up as of late with the cooler water temperatures. Carmine at Campsite Sports Shop in Huntington Station heard some encouraging reports of blackfish catches on green and Asian crabs, but not enough have come into the shop to really gauge how the season is starting up.
John from Terminal Tackle in Kings Park reported that false albies are thicker than ever along the North Shore. Schools are heavy in the Nissequogue at the top of the tide, and anglers are even able to catch them off the beach at Sunken Meadow. Being that the fish are chasing peanut bunker, lures like Deadly Dicks are working well, but small swimming plugs are now becoming productive as the bait gets larger. John also said that daytime bass fishing is a lost cause, but you have a shot at them fishing at night from shore. However, the bite is very sporadic and unpredictable so anglers really have to be in the right place at the right time. On the bluefish front, with so many albies around they are almost getting shouldered out off the blitzes. Carmine at Campsite did say though that there were schools of blues crashing bait tight to the beaches of Sunken Meadow and Asharoken, and 1 to 12 pound fish were jigged from the Triangle and Cranes Neck with the occasional bass mixed in.
South Shore Long Island Fishing Report
The good bottom fishing spots were obviously shut down this past week, but Bryce at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays said that he is confident the fishing will be just as good as it was once the water cleans up a bit as it is still on the dirty side. The ocean structure as well as the inshore spots that were hot before the weather kicked up should be on for sea bass and scup this week. Although he did not hear of any blackfish bites on the outside, Joe at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon received reports of fish around the local bridges inside Jones and Fire Island. Captain Joe of the Jib VI out of Captree reported a good start to his blackfish season with solid action of fish to 6 pounds hitting the rails.
While the boats were tied to the dock this week, the surfcasters got to play with the bass. There were not too many sizable fish to note, but Bryce at White Water did say Shinnecock Inlet as well as the open beaches lit up with good numbers of stripers on bucktails and live bait. Clams were responsible for some schoolies around the area bridges inside of Jones Inlet, according to Robert from Sea Isle Tackle in Freeport, and Joe of Trophy Tackle also added that bass moved into Fire Island Inlet with the fresh bunker that were pushed in by the storm. Bluefish are beginning to make their move on the South Shore again as well.
Metro Long Island Fishing Report
John at Hudson Park Bait & Tackle in New Rochelle said the blackfishing is full steam ahead with plenty of fish hitting the decks. The catch is predominantly comprised of short fish, but enough keepers are in the mix to keep people interested. As of now the tally is about 10 small fish for every take home fish, but the bite will only continue to get better. Josh of Jack’s Bait & Tackle in the Bronx said shallow water off Rye is a good place to try for tog, as well as the Rockaway Reef further to the west, according to Stretch from Stella Maris Bait & Tackle in Brooklyn. Porgy and sea bass can be found in the same areas as the blackfish, but anglers can target specific species by using particular baits.
The bass fishing is slowing down a bit, but Vinny at Bernie’s Fishing Tackle in Brooklyn reported some caught on the oceanside during the early morning and late in the evening mixed with a few bluefish. Live eels were used at night in the rips off the Breezy Point Jetty as well as around the area bridges for a handful of decent stripers, according to Stretch at Stella Maris. Locally, the albies have been a bit on the scarce side, but John from Hudson Park did report schools of them to 12 pounds chasing bait around Captains Island off Greenwich.
East End/North Fork Long Island Fishing Report
Bottom fishing reports were tough to come by this week as the swell did not want to give up, but Maureen at Gone Fishing Marina in Montauk did say that sea bass and tog were stacked up at Cerebrus. The guys on the boats also saw decent numbers of both porgy and blackfish on structure in the Sound, according to Bill at Jamesport Bait & Tackle in Mattituck.
Stripers were the bigger news of this past weekend. Surfcasters saw a good bite beginning on Thursday when the winds and seas really started to pick up. Paul from Paulie’s Bait & Tackle in Montauk reported 20 to 30 pound fish caught late last week and fish over 40 pounds hauled in on Saturday with a mix of blues all on bucktails and pork rinds. Once the conditions started to die down so did the fishing. While bass are still being caught from shore, anglers are seeing just a few hitting the 20 pound mark. Beach fishing also picked up on the North Fork for both bass and blues, namely off McCabe’s and Kenny’s Beaches, according to Bill at Jamesport. Once the boats were able to get out earlier this week, fisherman trolled off the Point for a small sample of bass despite there still being a heave on the ocean. Aside from the inshore bite, Mark at Montauk Marine Basin in Montauk received reports of good cod action offshore.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Seas will not be flat calm this weekend, but anything is better than what we saw last weekend. With the good weather this week continuing through the next few days, we can guarantee plenty of anglers out on the water. For those who will be bottom fishing, you can most likely find your favorite structure holding plenty of porgy as well as some sea bass and tog if you are lucky. While much of the blackfishing consists of just shorts as of now, the bigger ones will be making an appearance very soon. As always, clam is good for porgy and sea bass, and tog love to chew on green or Asian crabs.
While bass are still hit and miss right now, their numbers are climbing as the always anticipated fall migration is commencing. We will not be seeing much in the way of daytime surf fishing just yet so your best bet is to hit the beaches, bridges, and jetties at night. Bounce bucktails along the bottom during a moving tide or work live eels when things slow down. Bait is the better way to go for fish during the day. You can also find bluefish and false albacore bubbling at the surface chasing after bait or by sitting on structure to jig for deeper fish. Overall, most anglers will have a much more productive weekend than what we have been seeing lately.
Great blue fishing in RYE NY …..