Summer is officially here as we reach the Summer Solstice and look forward to the clear skies and tight lines ahead. Across Long Island, striped bass, blues, fluke and porgies have been finding the massive amounts of sand eels and bunker that have flooded the local waters. This has been leading to excellent fishing for all species and should only continue to grow as we move towards the second half.
Metro
At Stella Maris, Stretch reports that porgies can be found all over the Brooklyn waters. The Round House and Marine Park Bridge are two hot spots that have seen some true slabs being pulled off the structures bottom. Off Breezy Point Jets, big blues continue to be on patrol and are hitting on everything from top water plugs to diamond jigs. After dark, the bass bite has been good while live-lining eels. This Friday is the captains meeting for the shops annual shark tournament, which will take place on Saturday. Some threshers have been caught this week off of Rockaway Reef just in time for the action to get underway.
In Oceanside, at Bay Park Fishing Station, Ashley has been seeing some terrific striper action this week, along with an increasingly good fluke bite. In Reynolds Channel, there was a 7.35-pound flatties along with a 3.8 pounder. Another angler fishing the same area landed a 24 incher while jogging squid strips. A couple impressive bass were taken off of Rockaway Reef on a white bunker spoon as well. The same boat took a 49.7 and 40.9-pound fish. There was also a 31.8 and 27.3 pounder taken just south of Debs Inlet also while trolling a bunker spoon, this time chartreuse.
South Shore
At Causeway Bait and Tackle, there have been plenty of bass and blues on the bay side chasing the plentiful schools of bait. The fluke bite has been getting better as well. Just outside the Inlet on the ocean side there have been a number of keepers taken. Sometimes you don’t have to go far to fill the cooler.
Paul from River Bay Outfitters reports that fluke and a few weakfish can be found in the back bays of Long Beach as a friend of the shop went down and had a successful day this week using jigs. Bass and blues have been tearing up the waters right in front of the channel and fell victim to a few flies dropped by another friend of the shop. In Jamaica Bay, there have been a lot of big fish looking to crush some top water poppers. The action has been great and should hold for a while with some decent weather. On the freshwater side, Jimmy the Hat was at it again landing four carp and a few other fish on the fly rod. It seems this is the perfect time to go down and take a different approach on the freshwater game by wading in with a couple fly patterns and seeing whose looking for an easy meal.
North Shore
In Kings Park, at Terminal Tackle, cocktail blues have been all over just tearing up the schools of sand eels. Small diamond jigs and top water lures have been the key to success. If you’re looking for some bigger fish, bunker chunks and trolling have stirred up the lunkers more often. Scup has also been hot off most beaches up to about 40-feet of water.
At Miller Place Bait and Tackle, Jim reports that Ild Field is the place to be for scup this week. It’s been hot for the last few weeks and continues to carry the good vibes as we move forward. The fluke bite has been best around buoy 11 and 7 but hasn’t been that knock out action we are all looking for. Cocktail blues and schoolie bass are all over. You never know when a bigger fish will be mixed in however so keep the faith high and hooks sharp.
East End
In Southold, at Blue Water Ventures, the sound side has really come alive. Bass and fluke can be found in most waters however if looking to bottom fish, the number of sea robins is off the charts that can make for a lot of fun action but difficult to target the species you desire. Porgies are also aplenty off the beaches and there have even been a few blowfish mixed in. Bigger bass have been found in the Gut and the bite has been decent but not knock-your-socks-off as of yet. A couple weaks are still around in Jesop’s but seem to be slacking lately.
In Montauk, at Gone Fishing Marina, the best fluke bite has been right in front of the harbor this week. The results have been decent with a lot of shorts to work through but plenty of pool winners finding their way on board. Plenty of stripers have been around on diamond jigs and trolling parachute rigs. Blues have also been making their ever-growing presence know and scup are attacking seemingly every shoreline.
At West Lake Marine, Tanya reports that the bass pick has been steady this week. Sand eels are almost thick enough to walk across and have been luring the predators right in. Blues and bigger bass have been red hot in the deeper waters, hitting everything from diamond jigs to umbrella rigs and live eels at night. Fluke have picked up lately as Tanya noticed a good number of boats coming back with their fill of limits. Porgies have been all over and giant as anglers jigging for bass in the rips have been pulling scup instead, up to 3-4 pounds.
At Montauk Marine Basin, blues have been hitting hard around the point, best on the south side along with some smaller bass. The fluking has improved but remains decent at best and although not yet in season, sea bass have shown up and are putting up some good-looking sizes.
Fishing Forecast
As summer officially hits, things are setting up nicely along the shorelines and continue to impress by boat. With the amount of sand eels and bunker in, the top water is sure to be boiling in no time. The bottom fishing is also a great bet as you may have to do a lot of sorting through to find what you’re looking for but any fight on the line is better than none at all.
I don’t agree with your Long Island south shore report. The water is all brown in the bay and fire island inlet. I tried from the beach,on a boat,bunker,clams,jigs, and caught nothing
Your Jamaica Bay assessment is so far from what’s going on, it’s unbelievable. Most of the bigger blues have been gone for two weeks, fluke are mostly shorts, and stripers seem to be for boat fishers only. The bass action is dead and has been all season, same as spring 2016. I can’t speak to the porgy action. Don’t know.
Not sure what part of the Jamaica Bay you have been fishing or what techniques you have been using but the Bass bite this Spring was pretty solid. Yes the water has warmed and the fish have moved out as they always do. Now time to concentrate on Fluke which has actually been fishing quite well. Was an epic Spring for me on the Striped Bass front and looking forward to the Fall Run….
Agree with Joe and Rich, gator blues and schoolie bass disappeared early June.
Where are all the fish? When will the water clear up in the bay???