Long Island - New York Fishing Forecast – April 26, 2018

Finally, I can say what should be music to everyone’s ears, spring weather is finally here! Warmer temperatures have allowed more people to get out on the water this past week. We have got solid reports from both the fresh and saltwater. Bait has started to show up along the south shore and with that has come some larger sized striped bass. Here is your weekly report for Long Island and Metro NY.

In Brooklyn, at Stella Maris Bait and Tackle, they have been getting reports of bigger striped bass in their area on bunker. Anglers from both the boats and from shore have been having success as of late. They have also received reports of better catches of winter flounder as well.

At Bay Park Fishing Station, their anglers have also been getting into the striped bass action. They had fished weighed in as big as 29lbs this past week. Anglers have been catching these fish mostly on the troll. Mojos and bombers have been the ticket so far.

Causeway Bait and Tackle said, there has been bunker in both Jones Inlet and Fire Island Inlet. With these bunker have been striped bass feeding on them. Off of Fire Island have been whales feasting on the bunker as well. They have also heard of smaller striped bass being caught on the north shore in the local harbors.

Talked to Paul at River-Bay today, they were out on Tuesday night with a bunch of anglers from the shop. Though the surf looked like great conditions, they only were able to catch one fish. However, over the weekend, both the Long Island Flyrodders and the Long Island division of Trout Unlimited, headed up to the beaver kill over the weekend for a garbage cleanup. In about two hours they were able to pick up 280 pounds of garbage. It is great to have clubs like these out there cleaning up these areas to make fishing better for everyone. Paul said with the warmer weather coming for next week and with the fish with us to the west. That next week things should really heat up with the striped bass.

Captree Bait and Tackle told me there have been schoolie sized striped bass in their area. There has also been some winter flounder still being caught as well.

At Chasing Tails in Oakdale, Striped bass have been showing up in the back bays in the river and around the docks. They have not seen any bluefish yet but figure it will not be too long before they show up too. They have been also been getting good reports of winter flounder, with anglers using blood worms. They said the key has been using muscle chum to really get the bite going. On the freshwater side, anglers have been catching large mouth bass on a variety of lures from swim baits to spinnerbaits. There have also been good reports of pickerel and yellow perch.

At Smith Point Bait and Tackle, there have been a bunch of small striped bass in the bay. Bass were being caught on smaller lures. They also received a report of flounder being caught today. The anglers coming into the shop fishing for trout are still doing pretty well. They said the bite all depends on the weather.

Talked to Bryce at White Water Outfitters, he said the striped bass in the back bays have been getting bigger with an occasional keeper mixed in. The best report he said was actually from the surf. He said before the bad weather yesterday there was fishing from the beach with some anglers catching up to 30 striped bass in a trip. While many fish weren’t big, the big numbers of fish should really get people excited. Anglers were catching these bass on small white lures such as, small buck tails and SP minnows.

Rick from Harbor Marina in East Hampton told me, rumors of the first school bass along the ocean beaches hit the Harbor Marina ships store this week. Egrets and herons have been stalking killies and other small baits in the beautiful back waters of East Hampton. Unfortunately, early exploratory trips this week with fly and light tackle did not produce any hook ups.

It’s definitely been a slow start on the east end this year, but both air and water temps are starting to heat up. In spite of the colder conditions the guys putting their time in fishing the estuaries of the western Peconics are continuing to pick a few holdover schoolies.

Fluke season is around the corner and I am counting down the days until the Spring run in the Peconics.

At Miller Place Bait and Tackle they said things have still been pretty quiet in the area. They did have a customer catch a schoolie bass on the south shore this week. Warmer weather is coming, and it should be any day now before that area of the north shore heats up.

Fishing Forecast for Long Island

Though it looks like tomorrow and Saturday it might rain, Sunday and moving forward look beautiful. This warmer temperatures should finally warm up the water temps to where we need them for more striped bass and maybe even bluefish to show up. With these reports this week you have options for targeting these striped bass. From the back bays to ocean front there seems to be an influx of fish and there should only be more coming. Freshwater should remain hot as well with this nice weather. This is the time of year to go out and fish. It has been a long and very cold winter, get out there now and enjoy this beautiful weather. Things should only get better from here. Good luck everyone and have a great weekend!