With a break from all the rain we had last week, more anglers were able to head out fishing this week. Many shops had a lot to say about what has been happening. Here is the latest report from your local shops.
Long Island Fishing Report
Hudson Park Bait and Tackle reports, the porgy fishing is still red hot in the area and doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. Anglers are still picking away a keeper sized striped bass at night on chunked bait. The fluke action has been OK, with the biggest fish weighed in the week being 6lbs. The area is absolutely loaded with bunker schools which will hopefully stay around until fall, when the bass start making their move down south.
Stella Maris Bait and Tackle reports, the thresher and mako sharks have started to show up all over the offshore waters. Locally, they have still heard of striped bass being taken in the area at night. Anglers report, cownoes string rays have moved into the area and are being caught by accident while anglers fish for other species. While last week they reported good action with the snapper bluefish, they have started to see some bigger cocktail blues as well. The fluke fishing has slowly been getting better and should improve.
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports, on Tuesday, Captain Alex ‘FV FAREAST’ with his son Willy, Shane, Bill, Joe Mole and the crew headed offshore for another successful trip to the canyons. Beautiful ocean greeting them with a triple bigeye bite landing 2 and pulling the hook on the third at the boat. On the chunk greeted with jumbo squid stacked up and went 2 for 2 on nice yellowfin. Before they were able to put the lines back out they got a big bite on the inside flat which was a beautiful Blue Marlin in the # 250 -300 class which put on quite a show! On Wednesday, Lloyd Malsin on the Nansea II, fished the incoming tide with perfect timing as they wailed on the porgies to get an easy 6 man limit and it was done in 2.5 hours.The size was great and they left them biting as the wind came up and the tide slacked off. All west of Rock reef.
River Bay Outfitters reports, anglers during the day have been having a lot of fun the last two days in the surf with short fluke and sea robins on the fly. On the freshwater side of things locally the carp fishing has been doing well on the fly. The fish are very weary so making the right cast is key to not scare them away. The ponds are also doing well with other species on top water plugs in the early morning or at dusk.
Captree Bait and Tackle reports, fluke fishing has been good on the last of the incoming tide in the area. Though there are a lot of throw backs, some decent size fish have been coming up as of late. On the Fire Island Reef seabass, porgy, and hake have been keeping anglers busy. At the local docks snapper bluefish action is still great and the blueclaw crab action has picked up.
White Water Outfitters reports, locally there have been a good amount of striped bass around and the best time to catch these fish have been at night. Also keeping it to the local waters the fluke fishing has been OK, but the porgy bite is still really good. They have heard some solid reports of Thresher sharks a little bit further offshore.
Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton reports, tackle busting bluefish in the 15 to 20lb range have moved into the Race and other deeper sections of eastern Long Island. Break out the 80lb leaders and 10oz. Diamond Jigs if you want to have some fun. Striped Bass fishing has become mostly a night-time thing for most serious East End anglers. Although, some of the Montauk wireline crews are continuing to put fish in the boat during daylight hours. Fluking remains a hit or miss proposition, with deeper water holding nice size fish, but you have to work for them. Jumbo porgies are everywhere and if you can find some structure with Jurassic sized scup you will be rewarded with some pretty darn good Sea Bassin. Water temperatures are near there peak and finding the cooler water is key to good fishing. Tropical storm season is upon so pick your dates carefully and maximize the dog days of summer.
Gone Fishing Marina reports, they had their first thresher shark weighed in at the dock this week by John Aldanese weighing in at 158lbs. They heard of a good bluefin bite in the Coimbra with one of their anglers getting into two bluefin on top water lures. The big striped bass are still around with Glenn Itzkowitz weighing in a 35lb bass he caught on light tackle on the boat the Lady K.
West Lake Marina reports, the fluke fishing has really improved and has been very good the last few days. They said the seabass and porgy fishing remains phenomenal. Striped bass fishing is still good and there has been a big push of big bluefish. Offshore one of the boats reported catching 6 big eye tuna earlier in the week. West Lake simply put it, if you are looking to catch fish head out to Montauk.
Miller Place Bait And Tackle reports, anglers headed out to the middle grounds for striped bass around the full moon and were rewarded with some really nice bass. All of the fish they heard of were caught on live eels. Fluke fishing has been decent around buoy 11. Porgies and seabass have been good in areas like cranes neck. Locally in the harbor the cocktail blues have started to show up and are a lot of fun on light action set ups.
Terminal Tackle reports, the porgies are still your best bet and seem to be all over the place. Inshore the fluke fishing has slowed, but if you head into deeper water there have been some better action with the fluke.
Northport Charters reports, schoolie blues showed up last Friday in the Sound on bay anchovies & peanut bunker. Porgies are still going strong to 3 lbs. Bunker schools all over the bay!
The Celtic Quest reports, really good fishing for both seabass and porgies on all of their trips this past week. The action has been good for awhile now so make sure to book a trip and get into the action.
Fishing Forecast for Long Island
If the weather cooperates and you are able to get out there do so. As for most of July, the action inshore to offshore has been great for a variety of species. It seems like if you had to pick one place and one place only to fish this weekend, Montauk looks like your best bet. From fluke to striped bass everything seems to be on out on the east end. Locally though there are still a ton of options no matter what kind of fishing you are into. Make sure to keep sending your photos in to On The Water and comment below with any action you might get into this weekend. Good luck everyone and tight lines!