Long Island - New York Fishing Report - June 29, 2017

With the opening of black sea bass season this week, the fishing scene on Long Island is now in full swing. Although only a few days into the season, sea bass seem to be off to a decent start with good numbers and a variety of sizes mixed together. Fluke, bass, blues and porgies all continued their usually course of action with widespread action however, better in some places than others. The offshore action has picked up with shark and tuna so it seems there’s plenty of action on all fronts.

Metro

At Hudson Park Bait and Tackle, Jon reports that the fluke bite has been picking up as a couple of 7-8 pounders were brought into the docks this week. There’s been a healthy mix of porgy, and sea bass mixed in with as well. The bluefish had been hitting well but the last couple of days have been nowhere in sight Jon says. Stripers on the other hand have been and are weighing in at about 25-30 pounds this week.

Over in Oceanside, at Bay Park Fishing Station, Ashley saw the sea bass season kickoff to a pretty decent start. A couple boats went out looking for the first fish of the season and managed to pull a few 18-20 inchers, the biggest hitting the scales at 2.85 pounds. These fish came off Rockaway Reef and had a couple fluke mixed in but these bottom dwellers haven’t been a consistent hit as of late. On the offshore scene, east of Chicken Canyon, there was an explosion of blue fin tuna this week as they boiled over on the surface chasing a school of sand eels. One boat was lucky enough to run across the feeding frenzy and went 10-13 on fish while keeping less than their limit and releasing several fish back unharmed.

Stretch from Stella Maris also heard of the blue fin action in Chicken Canyon and tells of good action on the troll. The fish haven’t been huge but the bite has been good. Inshore, there have been tons of scup around the Brooklyn waters. The Marine Park Bridge, Round House and off the beach at Floyd Bennett Field have all been hot spots to drop some clam or squid strips. Anglers looking for stripers have had kind of a tough go this week. The local party boats have been running night trips dropping live eels and getting their fair share but the bite hasn’t been red hot. Bluefish have been in mostly early in the morning off the jetty. Look for birds working the schools and you’ll be sure to find the fish. The shops shark tournament came to a close this weekend. There were plenty of impressive hauls but the top prize went to a 400-pound thresher.

South Shore

In Wantagh, at Causeway Bait and Tackle, the fluke action on the bay side has picked up this week. The summer flatties can still be found in the back bays as well especially over on the Massapequa side. Fluking on the ocean side however has been tough. Anglers are still picking a couple on clam chum but haven’t really been able to lock in on them.  With the opening of sea bass, there have been plenty of fish around. It’s about an even mix of shorts to keepers but more than enough hits to keeps anyone preoccupied for a few hours. Stripers on the other hand have not been as plentiful as many would like. You can rile up a few on the outside of the Inlet but there has definitely been a slow pick this week.

At Sea Isle Custom Rod Builders, Robert reports that the bay has picked up for stripers. There are still mostly schoolies on patrol but a couple legal fish have been mixed in here and there. The fluke bite has been decent in the bay as well. There aren’t a ton of fish hitting the decks but enough of a pick to keep anglers busy and lines tight. On the offshore, shark fishing has been great. As Robert relays, there are all the blue sharks you can handle out there and a couple other species mixed in as well. There haven’t been many threshers but a mako here and there to keep things interesting.

Aboard the Celtic Quest in Port Jeff, scup continue to dominate the fishing scene. They have been getting more and more shallow, this week holding bottom in as little as 14-feet of water. This has made for a good bite off the beach but not quite as hot as it is from the boat. The sizes have been varied but those dinner plate sizes porgies everyone looks for continue to pop in. The fluke bite has been great but there still seem to be far more shorts than keepers. With the help of the scup, everyone has been going home with dinner while releasing plenty more back into the waters.

Over at River Bay Outfitters, Paul has seen the sea bass season kick off to a great start. Lots of fish and pretty good size has been the norm over the first few days and will hopefully continue throughout the rest of the summer into fall. On the freshwater side, Paul went out with the Healing Waters Project Thai week, a group that help veterans get out and fish, and did very well with the fly rods on a local river. The local ponds have also been fishing well, especially for carp, even some of the ponds you wouldn’t think to hold any. As Paul puts it, “the poor mans bone fishing”, fly-rodders have been sight fishing for them and pulling out some impressive fish. The new location of the shop is now at 980 Church Street in Baldwin.

North Shore

In Kings Park, at Terminal Tackle, the bluefish bite has improved over the last week. They have been mixed in with the stripers but are much more active than the bass have been. A couple of 20-25 pound bass have been found around buoy 15 but the action has been so-so at best. Fluke on the other hand has been good out of Smith Town Bay. There are still lots of shorts as well as sea robins and now a few dog fish to work through but there have been enough keepers to keep anglers happy and plenty busy. Porgies have been getting better off the local rocky bottoms and mussel beds in about 20-30 feet of water. Sea bass are also fishing well here with a good mix of big fish working the bottoms as well.

Jim from Miller Place Bait and Tackle reports that the scup bite continues to hold strong off of Cranes Neck. The fluke action has slowed this week as the sea robins begin to dominate the bottom. There are still a few flatties here and there but they have been tough to lock into. Bass have been mainly schoolies with a couple keepers topping out around 10 pounds but there have been no to very few  blues to out compete them.

East End
In Hampton Bays, at White Water Outfitters, Bryce reports that the bass bite has picked up. Inshore in the bay and Inlet have been the best and with very little blues around, being cut off mid fight is not much of a worry at this point. On the offshore scene, there have been lots of makos around with some threshers mixed in as well. The Canyons have turned on also with lots of yellow fins and a decent number of blue fin mixed in.

In Montauk, at West Lake Marine, Tonya has been seeing some nice bass coming in. There haven’t been a lot of cows coming in but there is more than enough action to go around. Fluke have been picking up in size this week as a number of 9-pound flatties hit the decks. Sea bass also seem to be off on the right foot as one boat came back with a limit of theses and fluke, not a bad day. Offshore, they back up the reports of yellow fin and blue fin in the Canyons so it seems the time to get out is now.

At Montauk Marine Basin, sea bass have been decent but not “knock your socks off” as of yet. Fluking has been good on the south side but not as great as we would expect for this time of year. Stripers are also not red hot but can be found on eels at night either off the beaches or boats.
Over at Gone Fishing Marina, TJ reports that the fluke on the south side of Montauk have been weighing in at up to 7 pounds. The bite hasn’t been terrific but there are a few slabs still to be had. There was also a 10.3 pounder landed by Scott Wright. Sea bass have been decent but should only improve with the coming weeks.

Fishing Forecast
The saltwater and freshwater have really turned on by this point in the season so it seems you can’t go wrong on either Shore line. If you’re looking for a fight and plenty of action, try dropping some bait to the bottom dwellers or waiting on the birds to give you direction to the blues and bass. With plenty of bunker and sand eels around it shouldn’t take long. On the freshwater, there’s no better way to fill a quick lunch break or late afternoon than throwing on some waiters or dropping in the John boat to find a tight line and plenty of bites.