There still remains a good tuna bite out in the canyons for a variety of species with some sword fish showing up as well. Inshore the fluke fishing seems to be getting better along the south shore and out east. The striped bass still are the big story out in Montauk however with great action continuing this past week. The striped bass have started to make themselves known more along the eastern north shore and north fork. On the rest of the north shore there porgies and seabass remain the go-to.
Long Island Fishing Report
Capitol Tackle in Manhattan reports, that they have heard of better fluke action as of late in the western sound. The areas most of their anglers have been fishing has been from Bayville west to the Throgs Neck Bridge. They also report that the porgy action is still great pretty much anywhere there is hard structure.
Stella Maris Bait and Tackle reports, there are plenty of porgies around in areas like Far Rockaway and the Roundhouse. Fluke action has been improving with many anglers targeting the Ambrose Channel and finding good numbers of fish. They also report, there are still some stripped bass around being caught at night on live eels in the channels. The snappers have shown up and is a great way to get the youth anglers into fishing.
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside, received a report from Mike Reynolds that fished past Saturday with his son Michael, Mike, and the Redmond girls (Ryan, Riley, Regan) landed over 25 fluke fishing Reynold’s Channel! The crew caught the fluke using Bay Park local spearing and squid. Nice job everyone. Also on Saturday fishing the Lindell School, John Winters topped off his early afternoon trip with a 9.45 lb Fluke! John used Spro bucktails and Bay Park spearing to angle in the doormat.
Causeway Bait and Tackle of Wantaghreports, there has been a decent fluke bite in the ocean in areas such as the Hempstead Reef. Mixed in with these fluke on the reefs have been keeper sized seabass. Closer to home in the bay the fluke action has been hot east of the Wantagh bridge and in the channel east of the fishing piers on jones beach. On the ocean side anglers are catching fluke as well and some are even being caught while anglers are chunking Bait trying for other species.
River Bay Outfitters reports, that the shop is back open after being closed last week because they did trip run by the shop out to fish the rivers in Montana. Paul said the fishing was amazing and everyone had a great time. He did hear of reports though over the past week of anglers still catching bass in the surf on the fly rods. Paul said on the freshwater side of things anglers fishing either dusk or dawn have been having the best results because during the day has just been too hot. He said the lure of choice has been poppers since many of the lakes and ponds have thick weeds fishing on top is your best bet.
Captain Stu of Northport Charters reports, he has had porgies to 3 lbs this week and Seabass to 4-5 lbs. He made it simple when he told me the bite is on!
White Water Outfitters reports, there is a very good striped bass bite out in Montauk right now. They heard that fluke fishing has been good in Montauk as well. The best action has been in deeper water from the 70-80 foot range. Offshore the canyons are still doing very good. This week Bryce and Jeff of White Water headed out to the tuna grounds and were rewarded with a really nice bluefin tuna.
Rick at Harbor Marina of East Hampton reports, while Montauk is the main event of Eastern Long Islands mid-summer fishing scene, solid angling opportunities remain availble in the Gardiners Bay area. Big Bass are set up in their mid-summer Eastern Long Island hang outs. Please exercise discrestion regarding targeting these fish. Some of Rick’s friends are setting personal limits of one fish per boat, or a personal boat slot limit. He said to remember, these breeders are the future of our striped bass Fishery. In addition to Montauk, the Fishers Island Chain is holding some nice striped bass, with most keeper sized fish being caught during the low light hours of the day or at night. Bottom fishing has turned on along the South Side of Montauk with nice catches of big keeper fluke being reported. It seems almost like clockwork that when the mid-summer fluking is good on the ocean, local spots in Gardiners Bay also come to life. Quality Sea Bass are available at most areas of rocky bottom and are mixed in at the better fluking locations. Lastly, jumbo porgies continue to bend rods and fill coolers from Shelter Island to Montauk. While a bit of a disapointment this season, Rich has heard rumors of a few summer sized weakfish caught in Noyac Bay. A recent trip off-shore brought back reports of solid bluefin tuna action from the area of the Coimbra and further East towards the Outer Butterfish Hole.
Montauk Marine Basin reports, the striped bass fishing has been off the hook. Anglers are catching these bass in the rips on mostly live eels. They had many fish come across the dock in the 35-45 pound range this week. Fluke fishing has been decent this past week. While their haven’t been many limits, there have been a lot of big fish weighed in. Offshore the tuna bite is on for big eye and yellow fin.
Westlake Marina in Montauk reports, the striped bass bite has been holding very well. The biggest bass to hit the scales this week weighed in at 52.05lbs caught by George Cooke. He caught the fish while drifting live eels. In the marinas youth tournament they have a new leader in the bluefish division. The bluefish was caught by Oscar on the boat the Double D and the fish weighed in at 8lbs. They said the bluefish have been hard to come by lately and most of the spring which has been strange. The seabass action has been very good and the porgy bite is still great. They got a report of three Mako sharks being caught this week, but they will all released since they did not make the size requirement.
Miller Place Bait and Tackle reports, an angler that stopped in yesterday to buy a new reel headed out to the middle grounds and was rewarded with a 32” striped bass and a 21” seabass. The striped bass action has been good in areas such as Cranesneck and buoy 11. The bait of choice has been chunked bunker and live eels. They have also heard of reports around buoy 7 if small bluefish in the 5-7lb range chasing bait.
Fishing Forecast for Long Island
If you are heading out on the boat this weekend tomorrow and Saturday look like your best bet. The marine forecast for Sunday does not look like a favorable one. There are a ton of options for everyone all over the area for this weekend and next week. Porgies are still your best bet for pretty much anywhere if you are looking to bend a rod and fill your cooler. Seabass in most areas that these porgies are should yield a great bite as well. Fluke fishing should remain good for the weekend in the areas that have been producing good catches. If you are targeting striped bass, the main place to head for the weekend is east. The other best bet for the weekend is just to head down to a local pier or dock and fish for some snappers and crabs. It is a great way to get the family out of the house and get some younger anglers into fishing.