Pictured above: Family goals! Three generations of fishermen right there for the Vaccaro family.
From the reports this week, it seems the fall run is here. We have received reports of big blues, striped bass, and blackfish. The whole island and around NYC is reporting great blackish action both from shore and on the boats. The striped bass have really showed up on the south shore feeding on the abundance of sand eels. Mixed in with these bass have been some big bluefish up to 17 pounds. Here is what your local shops and marinas had to say for the week.
Fishing Trpoer for Long Island
Hudson Park Bait and Tackle reported, that the bass have finally showed up in big numbers. The fish are a variety of sizes, depending on which pod of fish you find. Some pods have fish in the 9- to 12-pound range, while other pods are holding bigger fish in the 20- to 30-pound range. Most of these fish are being taken on diamond jigs, but you can get into the action with top water as well. Blackfish continues to be going strong. There has been a ton of action with many shorts, but there are many big fish around too. The biggest fish at the dock this week weighed in at a little more then 13 pounds. They also had several 8 and 9 pounders weighed in the week also.
Stella Maris Bait and Tackle said, the striped bass action has been good from the Rockaway Reef to Jones Inlet on the boats. Closer to the shop, anglers have been fishing with live eels at night for bass and have been doing very good. Blackfishing remains hot on the local wrecks and reefs. Both the jigs and your standard blackfish rigs are doing the trick. Blackfish are also being reported from the shore at local piers and jetty’s.
River Bay Outfitters said, many anglers weren’t able to hit the surf this week with the fly rod due to the high winds. They were however, able to fish the local ponds and lakes that have been recently stocked. Paul said the freshwater has been good and is a great alternative when you can’t hit the beach.
Bay Park Fishing Station got a report today of striped bass from Lloyd Mason on the Nansea II. They said they outside the inlet, the Nansea II crew limited out with seven keeper bass and 10 keeper blackfish! Using yellow and white TGT bunker spoons in about 45 ft of water, the biggest bass topped off at 29.15 pounds; the 28.60 pounder and 26.95 pounder closely followed. On Tuesday No Time Charters reported, Bill,Chris,Stephan & Rob had a boat limit of stripers to 39 pounds the fish were caught on Mojos & Bunkerspoons They also had 8 keeper Blackfish to 5 pounds released many fish. Also on Tuesday, they received a report from the boat Total Chaos who fished later in the day in 55ft of water east of the Atlantic Beach Bridge and caught their limit of striped bass trolling green/white bunker spoons, largest fish 43 pounds!
Captree Bait and Tackle said, the main focus for all of their anglers has been the bass. They reported, very good action with the bass coming mostly on the diamond jigs. Big blues are mixed in, as big as 17 pounds have been reported. Anglers are also getting into the action from the surf both day and night. They said bottle plugs and different tins have been working best.
Westlake Marina reports, the blackfishing and seabass fishing are both very good right now. Many of the blackish have been in the 3- to 5-pound range, but they did have a 10-pounder hit the scales this week. The seabas seem to all be big right now which makes for some amazing bottom fishing, when you can target both species. There are still some bass around, while not big fish there are still fish to be caught. They also heard of albies still around as recent as yesterday.
Miller Place Bait and Tackle reported, the blackfishing is outstanding in their neck of the woods. Both from the boats and from shore. They had a customer head out yesterday and they caught their three man limit in just a couple of hours. They then switched over to striped bass and found them too. From the shore, there have been some really nice blackfish, weighing up to 7 pounds.
Terminal Tackle reports, the blackfishing and porgy fishing is doing well. Local wrecks and strived bottom are holding both species, with you occasional seabass mixed in. The striped bass fishing is improving on the boats. Both diamond jigging and trolling spoons and umbrellas rigs are catching fish.
White Water Outfitters reports, the striped bass fishing has been great. To the east of the shop the bass seem to be in the schoolie yo keeper size range. It seems the bigger fish they had close to home have moved a little west. All of these fish are feeding on sand eels and any sand eel imitation will catch you fish. Blackfishing has been very good locally, both from shore and on the boats. They have received reports of schoolie bass on the north shore from the beach being caught on a variety of plugs and flys.
Fishing Forecast for Long Island
It looks like the weather might be a little tough for the next couple of days. After that however, fishing should pick right back up. Seems the blackfishing all over the island no matter where you are has been great. Your beat bet for striped bass seems to be on the south shore with these big schools of fish feasting on sand eels. The fall run is in fill swing, so make sure you get out on the water as much possible so you can to get into the action before it is over. Hope everyone has a great weekend and good luck out there on the water.