Above: Fishing in Long Island Sound has been very good for porgies and the occasional quality striper according to Stu of Northport Charters.
Bigger striped bass have made a push east from Morchies to Montauk, feeding on large pods of bunker. In the surf, a 50lb striped bass hit the beach today on a top water popper. The sea bass has gotten off to a great start with some shops saying the wrecks have been loaded with fish. The porgy and fluke action still seems to be going strong for if not all, most of the area. Here is what your local shops had to say for this week.
John at Hudson Park Bait and Tackle said, there are still some really large striped bass in the area. Fish weighing up to 52lbs have been caught at night on chunked bunker. Fluke action has been on the rise with more keepers being caught as of late. Sea bass since opening last Saturday has been off to a great start. John said anglers using his TidalTail jigs tipped with bait and gulp have been doing very well and bringing up many double headers. Just like the rest of this past month, the porgy action is still red hot.
In Brooklyn at Stella Maris Bait and Tackle, they had their annual shark tournament this past weekend. The winning shark was a monster thresher, weighing in at 472 pounds. Locally, anglers are still having a great time with porgies and cocktail bluefish.
At Causeway Bait and Tackle, they report your best bet for keeper fluke is still in the back bays. Areas like Merrick Bay and Massapequa Cove have been producing some nice fish. They said fluke fishing on the ocean side has been spotty, but should improve very soon. There are still bluefish around both in the bay and on the ocean front in the 5-8lb range. Schoolie bass have also been around with an occasional keeper mixed in.
At Bay Park Fishing Station, they report on Tuesday, Paul and Greg on the boat “Worth the Wait” caught a beautiful 9.20 fluke in the bar near west Atlantic beach on a Spro bucktail tipped with 4-inch Gulp. On Monday, Anthony Palizzotto caught a 9-pound fluke caught at Lindell, with a 6-inch nuclear chicken gulp grub purchased from Bay Park.
Paul from River Bay Outfitters said anglers from the fly fishing club fished the Connetquot this past week. While Paul said there were a lot of fish caught, he also mentioned you really had to work for them. Locally closer to the shop some anglers have been targeting carp and the fly rod and doing very well. Paul said some of these bodies of water you would think would not hold fish but they do. If you are interested on trying for carp make sure to give Paul and call and he can point you in the right direction.
Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton said, the light tackle scene continues to deliver action on the North Flats, harbors and creek mouths. Sand Eels have moved into the bay and can be found on the flats and also in deeper structure. They often congregate into bait balls and they can be great attraction for top water action. Often times terns will be working on these bait balls from above and are a great tell-tale indicator. Bunker remain plentiful and should not be overlooked when located. The general shortage of bigger bluefish and keeper bass is concerning for this time of year. Historically the June Moon is “game on” for both species. He said there are “Big Fish” to be caught locally but you have to be laser focused on tide, location and bait presentation. This situation should improve any day so do not hesitate to plan out a great Fourth of July fishing trip. The fluking has been ok with limits being possible if you are willing to put in a full tide. On his last outing, bucktails out-produced traditional skirted rigs. Sea Bass are abundant, with a ton of shorts in the mix so bring a lot of bait if you want to put together a limit (3 fish @ 15″ per angler). Diamond Jigging and bucktailing can be a fun way to target these tasty fish as well. Whether fluking or seabass fishing, you will have an opportunity to catch porgies which continue to be abundant through out the region.
At White Water Outfitters, large striped bass have moved into the area feeding on the bunker pods. If you check out WWO social media accounts you will see some nice 50-pound fish being caught and released to fight another day. They said the wrecks have been producing great action with the sea bass. Offshore the bluefin tuna bite remains hot, anglers fishing the NW of the Bacardi and Texas Tower have been getting into some really big fish.
Montauk Marine Basin said they have been getting some real nice reports of striped bass in the 20-30lb range on diamond jigs from the boats. For bottom fisherman the porgy and fluke action remains steady on the south side.
Westlake Marina said on Sunday the charter boat the DD was out and came back with a nice 11.4lb fluke. They said overall the fluke action has been decent and the sea bass has been great. They have heard of some larger striped bass starting to show up as well.
Captain Stu of Northport Charters said simply the bite is on! Great bite this week with charters and camp. Bass up to 20 pounds, that porgy was 4 pounds in the Sound, and seabass up to 5 pounds.
Jim from Miller Place Bait and Tackle was weighing in a 3-pound porgy when I called him today for the report. He said cranes neck is producing nice sized porgies and seabass. They have also started to see some bigger bluefish starting to show up. Striped bass have also been getting bigger with fish weighing up to 30 pounds hitting the scales this week. They said anglers fishing the middle grounds trolling mojo rigs have been doing very well.
Fishing Forecast for Long Island
We are finally going to get our first real heat wave of the summer and what a better way to spend it than out on the water. Boat anglers your options are pretty much endless right now for both inshore and off. With the great bluefin bite off shore to just about every kind of fish you can ask for inshore including sharks there is something for you. Surf guys you best bet for the weekend is to head out east. Reports of bigger fish have been coming of real nice size striped bass including the 50 caught today. There have also been reports of big sting rays being caught from the beach and would not be surprised if some brown sharks started to show up in greater numbers with this heat. The freshwater action is also something not to look over for this weekend. With the heat though it would be best to fish early morning and in the evening. Wishing everyone a great weekend and a wonderful 4th of July. Tight lines!