As June slips into July, the bite seems to be finally making its way east for the big bass and blues. Fluke fishing has become steady or nearly so in just about all waters while scup, tuna and shark are worthy of a change of pace.
John from Hudson Park has seen a significant drop off from the firework action he was having on big fish for a large part of the early season. There are still fish to be caught in the waters around New Rochelle but the large schools of big bass and bluefish have begun to head east. Cocktail blues and some porgies continue to hold steady along with a pick of sea bass.
In Brooklyn at Stella Maris, the fluking has been active with a lot of throwbacks still mixed in. The bass bite has been decent but has cooled off from the early season frenzy they had. Good size bluefish are still around inside the bay; thick enough that you can catch all you can handle and more. Porgy have been a reliable pick, but sharks have shown up strong. This past weekend a 202-pound thresher took home first place in their annual shark tournament.
At Bay Park Fishing Station, Ashley continues to report a consistent catch of picture-worthy stripers taken by trolling. Both Mojo rigs and bunker spoons have done their share of damage as this week a 53.85-pound bass was weighed in. There was also a 46.1-pounder . Fluke are around although the majority are shorts, and sea bass averaging 15-inches are thick along structure. The shark bite has been hot as Ashley has seen 185- and 200-pound threshers brought dockside. Offshore tuna are active as a big eye was brought in. The guestimate on that fish was 170 pounds as it never did hit the scale.
Brenden from Captree Bait and Tackle reports fluke are “everywhere.” The local piers are producing flatties up to 6 pounds hitting on the usual spearing/squid combo as well as nuclear chicken/glow Gulp! Blues have been aggressive off the local South Shore beaches. The inlet and offshore waters have seen a productive sea bass bite continue around structure and rocky bottoms. Sharks have become active offshore out of Fire Island Inlet, as well, with fish up to 250 pounds falling to bunker chum and fresh bunker.
Robert from Sea Isle Tackle spoke of great fishing across the board this week. Trolling for stripers has yielded super results with plenty of action. Fluke have also been hot even with the large number of shorts; there has still been a steady pick of keepers making the effort worthwhile. Sea bass have also provided a healthy harvest for anglers as the earlier season has allowed for great action in most all waters. Robert has also seen good early shark action offshore of Jones Inlet.
At Cow Harbor in Northport, Mark continues to see solid action for anglers from boat or surf. Sunken Meadow and Crab Meadow have produced both cocktail blues and fluke as of late. The bite has been hot though the size is not there yet. Bass have been hooking up on both bunker chunks and trolling spoons/rigs; at this point it seems to be an even split on production. Sea bass have been holding ground in 30 to 40 feet of water with good size fish hitting Gulp! baits and bucktails while anglers search for fluke.
Jackson Hseih & Ashley Paradiso aboard the Canyon Runner landed this bigeye tuna down in the Southern Canyons. Jackson battled the fish for an hour before bringing it into gaffing range.
Carmine from The Campsite reports steady bass action near Eatons Neck and along the estuaries with fish up to 30 pounds on the morning tides. Fluke have been leaning more to the throwback side but are growing with passing each day. Scup are making themselves present along rocky bottoms or mussel beds while gobbling up clam baits.
John Sr. from Terminal Tackle sees improvement as the fish move from west to east along the Kings Park waters. There are still lots of mature bunker schools near buoy 15 drawing in big bass and bluefish. These fish have weighed up to high 40’s with a majority in the 20- to 30-pound class. Fluke are still present on the bay and porgies have improved.
At Warrens Bait and Tackle, Ed reports small bluefish and bass moving into the local beaches stretching out to Southold. These fish have not herded together just yet and seem to be moving around in smaller pods. They have been hot on sand eels hitting both tins and, occasionally, small poppers. The fluking has been improving on the sound side but there are still a large number of aggressive sea robins to cull through.
In Hampton Bays at White Water Outfitters, Brycehas reports good action for bass in the bay on clam chum and live lining eels at night. Fluke have been slow on the bay side; however, in the ocean at around 60 to – 80 feet there can be good action. It’s not a sure thing, it is but more reliable than the bay thus far. Sea bass have been hitting great off the reefs, and shark and bluefin are heating up offshore.
TJ from Gone Fishing Marina reports very few stripers to be found. On the other hand, fluke have been improving with a 9.3-pound fish being caught aboard a local boat. There were some big flatties taken in about 70 feet of water on the south side of Montauk. Sea bass were also hot as a local boat limited out with a 5-pound knucklehead topping the catch.
A number of impressive fluke came back to West Lake Marina this week. Gary Stevens recorded a 9.8-pound fluke and throughout the week there have been 20 fish over 8 pounds. Anglers looking for shark have also done well. A 220-pound thresher and a 147-pound mako were weighed in over the weekend.
The Staten Island Tuna Club is still hitting big fish as Joe reports. They have been running into keeper bass while live-lining, chunking and trolling spoons – the hard part is simply locating the fish. Fluke anglers have been lighting it up lately especially from boats and kayaks. From shore, Midland Pier has been red hot with bigger doormats holding in deeper water and in the channels. Bluefish have slowed down which to some is a relief as it opens the door for targeting bass.
At River Bay Outfitters, Paul reports good fishing out of Jones Inlet for blues, sea robins and a few fluke. There has been hot fluke action off of Green Island with a few nice keepers mixed in.
On the freshwater side Paul adds that after a clean-up on the Nissequogue River, the Long Island Flyrodders had great action on small flies for brook and rainbow trout. A large majority of the fish were 14-inches or above and the action was relatively steady all day long. The best bite was on Woolly Buggers along the banks and under over-hanging brush.
Fishing Forecast for Long Island
Bass and blues are running down the beaches working their way towards the North and South forks. Although they are not ripping it up yet, you never know when a pod of big fish will come through so it is always worth a check. Deeper water fishing also has gotten better as the shallows become too warm to hold the big fluke. On the sweet water side, continue to look for big largemouths, especially at night.