Long Island - New York - Fishing Report May 5, 2016

Rainy, cold weather certainly did not play into the favor of spring fishing this week. With heavy rains come cloudy and colder waters that tend to turn off the bite in most cases. There has still been decent action for those who braved the elements or timed their trip with the few breaks of sun we saw with a mix of schoolie and bigger bass working their way on out to the east end of the Island. There has also been a hot start to porgy season this year with big fish in a few specific hot spots.  Weakfish and bluefish have also grown more aggressive and are being caught from both boat and beach. On the sweeter side, local ponds have been quite productive with trout and crappies leading the way.

On the western end of the Island, striper action is in full swing. With so much peanut bunker in the water the last few weeks there was a large die-off of the baitfish leading to easy pickings for gulls and bass, said John from Hudson Park Bait and Tackle. Stretch from Stella Maris Marina also reported big bluefish and a mix of small to keeper-size bass hitting well, with live-lining the tactic of most production. There has been decent numbers of bass being brought in on the beaches as well with small plugs or grubs bringing the best results in the Northport and Robert Moses areas according to Mark from Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle. Although he hasn’t heard of many bluefish being taken out of late, there was a report of a 14-pounder being landed in the vicinity. Carmine from The Campsite has heard of continually large amounts of baitfish followed closely by stripers in the waters of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor. It’s still mostly school bass at this point but with each passing day it seems the keeper-sized fish are moving in getting active. John from Terminal Tackle noted a similar pattern with plenty of bass between 28 and 30-inches being taken off rocky beaches and tight to shore inside Huntington Bay.

Porgy fishing has been red hot right since Opening Day. As most anglers realize, there has been impressive scup action over the past few years and the trend seems to be continuing with solid numbers being caught on the eastern end of Long Island and some fish pushing 3 pounds. Captain Des of the Celtic Quest says that the pool winners aboard this week have bested the 3-pound mark. The jumbos have been taken off of Jessups Neck, where you’ll also find all the stripers you can handle according to Steve from Wego and Bryce from White Water outfitters. There are still a large number of 24- to 26-inch bass mixed in but the larger stripers have begun to claim the territory. Bryce added that weakfish are now being pulled from both Peconic Bay and Quogue Canal. Although not yet in season, some fair sized sea bass and fluke are being caught and released. Robert from Sea Isle Tackle also has heard of some small fluke being caught inside Jones Inlet, although they weren’t targeted this early in the year. Jones, he added, seems like it is just a few warm days from exploding to life.

Dropping a line in the rivers and ponds has also been worthwhile this past week. Crappies and brook trout have been hitting well on dry flies as of late according to Paul from River Bay Outfitters. Fishing the Carmans River this week as part of the Wounded Warrior Project, participants enjoyed a full day of trout action. Although most fish were small, there were plenty to be had. There were some nice catches of trout made on the Nissequogue River as well.

Fishing Forecast for Long Island – New York

Striper action is in full swing in the western part of the Island. Bluefish are moving in, and will provide consistent action for surfcasters over the next several weeks.