Long Island Fishing Report - April 13, 2017

Things are beginning to stir in the waters across Long Island this week. Migrating stripers are starting to be noticed as they become more numerous and slightly bigger in some places, and the fresh water bite has turned on with the last few days of sunshine and warm air. Even the always elusive flounder has been temporarily located and locked in for the anglers that were willing to give it a try.

Metro Area

At Stella Maris, Stretch reports that the bass have begun to show up. They aren’t big as of yet, as the first arrivals of the year generally are, but it’s a good sign of the season to come and just the moral boost that most anglers need this time of year. There have been a few wandering bait schools seen in these Brooklyn waters as well over the last two weeks and things seem to be, although still early, setting up well for the season to come.

South Shore

In Freeport, at Sea Isle Custom Rod Builders, Robert has also seen the start of the striper run showing its face. Wednesday morning, a couple anglers were finding success throwing some soft grubs. The stripers were bigger than the winter hold overs that have been around and it seems there are noticeably more fish around as this week’s warm weather may have enticed them into these waters. Reports have come in to Robert that there are a good amount of bass south of them in New Jersey and they seem to be making their way past.

At Captree Bait Station, Brendan has seen some schoolies hitting the docks lately but along with them have been some flounder. There hasn’t been a ton to go around but the State Channel and Captree Pier have surrendered enough to make a trip over well worth it. The overall effort for these springtime flatties has been low since the bite has been inconsistent, but that makes the chances for those that do go of setting a couple hooks all the better.

Paul from River Bay Outfitters reports that the back bays and Little Neck Bay have come to life much more this week. Bass are around, bait has been seen meandering, and it’s Paul’s thoughts that things are going to break into action this weekend. The timing and weather seem to be setting up nicely together and may present the perfect early season opportunity. On the freshwater side, trout fishing has been great as all the rivers and lakes have been stocked. In most ponds and lakes the pickerel, perch and largemouth bass have been hitting better each week.

North Shore

In Kings Park at Terminal Tackle, John Sr. didn’t have any news on the flounder front but saw a few stripers to be had in the local waters over the last weekend. Backing up the other reports, these fish didn’t seem to be winter hold overs and although the water isn’t bubbling over from them yet, it is good to see the first signs of the summer action after a long winter of waiting.

East End

Bryce from White Water Outfitters was happy to report that there is plenty of white bait and bunker in the bay. Here anglers continue to pick away at the local bass in the back bays and creeks but even among these, the bite has improved and has sparked the interest of more anglers to break out a pole and wet a few lines. The flounder have been located in this area in the Quogue Canal as a number of anglers were able to land some using worms and clam. You can still count your catch on one hand but compared to the fishing most elsewhere, this may be a top spot for the time being.

Lots of of 10-20lb fish roaming about. Hopefully bigger girls by next week! Soft worked best today but we had tons of rises on topwater. Totally off the feed. #fishing #saltlife #catchandrelease #stripedbass #kayakfishing #kastkingusa #bass #bassfishing #stripers

A post shared by Elias Vaisberg (@eliasvfishing) on Apr 12, 2017 at 2:26pm PDT

Fishing Forecast for Long Island

As the warm air begins to take over, keep a close eye out for the first schools of stripers moving in this week. The weekend forecast looks fishing friendly coming up so look to fill an afternoon or morning dropping some soft plastics or bait to grab the years first offerings. With the bass beginning to show up, the blues shouldn’t be too far behind so make sure all reels are free of nicks and tangles. On the freshwater side, continue to pound away with golden spinners, crank baits and fake worms as the bite has come alive and should only improve from here.