Calling around the shops this week the one constant, no matter where you fish, has been the porgies. The action has been great for the last few weeks and still remains hot. Fluke fishing seems to be getting better in parts of the island, but has been hit or miss in some areas. Bluefish are still along the South Shore and have not shown yet on most of the North Shore, which is surprising for this late in the season.
John at Hudson Park Bait and Tackle said, the striped bass action has picked up in the middle of the sound. Closer to the shop around the stepping stones and the Throggs Neck the striped bass action remains hot with anglers still catching bass on the troll and with cut baits. Bluefish are also still around, John said there seems to be two big schools of blues in the area. One of them is of bigger blues in the 10-15 pound range while the other school is smaller cocktail size. Fluke fishing he said has been getting better by the day and the porgy fishing has been outstanding.
In Brooklyn at Stella Maris, porgy fishing has been great in the area. They have seen an invasion of cocktail blues all over the place. The fluke fishing has been decent of late with some nice fish hitting the deck. There striped bas tournament this weekend had at 48.1 pound bass take first place. The fish was caught on the Morning Star.
At Bay Park Fishing Station said on Sunday Junior and Alex on the Fish Tracker, trolled south of Rockaway Reef, Junior and Alex ended their late afternoon shot with 2 keeper Striped Bass! With the largest tipping the scale at 32.15 pounds, the smaller Bass weighed in at a healthy 27.25 pounds. Both were caught at a depth of about 50 feet to 58 feet of water on green and white TGT spoons. Also on Sunday Karen fishing Reynolds Channel angled a 3.10-pound Fluke! The Fluke was caught in approximately 15 feet of water on spearing.
Talked to Paul at River Bay Outfitters he said both blues and striped bass are still in the back bays and being caught on the fly rod. One of his customers names Jeff fished the front of Jones Beach and had a ball with cocktail blues with the fly rod. On the freshwater side of things the action has been pretty good. The local ponds are loaded with carp but are tough to get to hook up with since they are on the spawn. Paul fished the Amawalk Outlet this past week and said he had a great night catching four nice brown trout and lost count of all the bluegills he landed.
At White Water Outfitters, I received the first offshore report of the season. They said the bluefin action has been good inshore, while in the canyons the yellow eye and big eye tuna bite has been off to a great start. Locally in Shinnecock the fluke fishing has been decent, but in the ocean it has been hit or miss. Striped bass action from both shore and boat in the Peconic has been good as well as the bluefish.
At Harbor Marina of East Hampton Rick said, with water temperatures in the mid to high 50’s in Montauk, many anglers are finding warmer and more productive waters in the Peconics and Gardiners bay. East winds and wet weather are keeper water temps lower than normal for this time of year.Reports of keeper fluke being caught around Shelter Island are supporting his warm water=better fishing theory. Quality Striped Bass are to be found along the Fishers Island Chain and deeper pockets of the bay, and the occasional weakfish is being caught by guys targeting porgies and fluke throughout the Peconics. Porgy fishing remains strong and is a great way to spend time with the family over Fathers day.
In Montauk at Gone Fishing Marina, things have been somewhat slow during the week. They did have a nice 7.2-pound fluke caught yesterday on the Jahreel by Mike Donavan. Porgy action seems to be the only consistent bite.
At West Lake Marine they said the fluke action has been spotty, but a lot of the fish being caught have been big. The striped bass fishing has been finally picking up as of late. The one strange thing is that there have been almost no bluefish which is weird for this time of year.
Terminal Tackle in Kings Park said, your best bet for the weekend is the porgies. They seem to be everywhere. The fluke fishing has been pretty dependable with many fish being between 4 to 8 pounds. There have been a few bluefish around, but nothing too crazy. They report anglers are catching striped bass around buoy 15 and the triangle. The bass seem to be holding on the structure even though there is a lot of bunker around. They think these bass might be feeding on the sand eels.
Talked to Jim at Miller Place Bait and Tackle he said, when it comes to the fluke there have been a ton of shorts to keepers recently. Porgies still seem to be all over the place as they have been for week. They have heard of some more striped bass being caught and had a 15.2-pound striped bass weighed in yesterday.
On the Celtic Quest, the fluke fishing has been ok, but the fish they have been catching have been really nice size. The main attraction still remains the porgy fishing which has been fantastic and to quote the Celtic Quest, they have been “ killing it” when it comes to porgies. Make sure you check out their Facebook page to see their most recent catches.
Captain Stu of Northport Charters told me, there has been a nice fluke bite with the biggest fish hitting the deck weighing 5 pounds. He said the sand eels are all over the sound and this is what the fluke are feeding on. He had good action with the striped bass this week and said the blue showed up and were a ton of fun.
Fishing Forecast for Long Island
As you can tell by everyone I have talked to your most reliable bet for the weekend remains the porgies. As Rick mentioned this is a great way to spend a Father’s Day with non stop action. It seems along the south shore there are still a good amount of bluefish around from both boat and shore. Fluke fishing though spotty in places also is a good bet for this weekend. While the action might not be as hot as the porgies the fish that have been caught have been really nice sized fish. As far as targeting striped bass this weekend it all depends on who you talk to. It seems the fish are still along the north shore for the most part and are starting to show up in Montauk. From the surf and back bays there seem to be a good amount of schoolies covering most of the island. The weather looks to be great this weekend and what better way to spend it out on the water with your father. Pretty much any Water way from freshwater to salt there is some species to target to make the day one to remember. Happy Father’s Day to all you dad out there, enjoy you day!