Long Island Fishing Report - June 13, 2019

Long Island Fishing Report

The story of the week, and probably the year, is the epic tuna bite. It is being referred to as one of the greatest tuna bites in a long time. The bluefin are being caught as close as five miles from shore, and the canyons are producing great catches of yellowfin, bluefin, and bigeye tuna, as well as wahoo.

Mako sharks have begun making an appearance. Huge stripers continue eastward, stalking pods of adult bunker. Within the past few days they’ve been encountered at Fire Island and points east. The plethora of bait on the east end bodes well for the south fork this week.
For double digit fluke, head out to Montauk. Fluking has been pretty spotty elsewhere on Long Island this week. Bluefish are abundant, as are big black sea bass. Plenty of blowfish and porgies are still on the menu as well.

Nassau County

Bay Park Fishing Station in Wantagh reports some big stripers still south of Debs Inlet. Marty and Martin Wenk of “MJ” caught two bass weighing 42.3-pounds and 37.1-pounds. They caught the fish on a green Mojo and a white bunker spoon. Jim and Tim of “Isle Breeze” weighed a 42.45-pound striper using a green tandem Mojo. The Point Lookout Shark Tournament was won by Captain TJ Montilli and the “Lady Maureen” crew last weekend, with a 310-pound Thresher.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin took the 2.5-hour trip to the Catskills this weekend, as did many other local fly anglers. That was a great choice, as the bug life up there is insane right now. The same can be said for our local waters, such the Carmans, Connetquot, and Carlls Rivers. The hatches consist mainly of drakes and sulphurs (mayflies). Paul recommends the rivers in the Catskills for the serenity found there, as well as the big trout. He himself caught a 17-inch brown trout this past week.

Also worthy of mention is the carp fly fishing. In many bodies of water, you’ll see them spawning. It can be frustrating having dozens of carp completely ignore your fly as they spawn, but Paul assures me that there should always be at least one “golden bonefish” that will eat.
On the saltwater side, Paul has been receiving very positive reports from local fishing guides. These guides are fishing all sorts of water, from deep inshore rips, to foot-deep flats. From Northport to Montauk, it’s all good.

Kathy at Freeport Bait and Tackle had some names and numbers for me this week. Dominic Patrizi caught a 25-pound striped bass at Magnolia Pier in Long Beach, using clams at the top of the outgoing tide at 3:00 a.m. Kathy says that is always a promising spot for nighttime stripers. Cynthia Fox had a 35-inch striper take a bunker chunk at Inwood Park at the top of the incoming tide. Sounds like the top of the tide will provide shore-bound anglers an opportunity at these bigger bass. A customer, Sal, caught a 5-pound fluke at Debs Inlet, during low water on squid and spearing. Lots of people are informing Kathy that the lower part of the tide is the ticket to good fluking right now.

Anglers trekking out to the canyons are experiencing very worthwhile trips, with catches of wahoo, yellowfin tuna, and bluefin tuna. She had one report come in as we spoke, from Jason Fosco of Team Cannonball Charters. Jason had encountered bluefin 20 miles offshore.
Also, offshore, Ray of Carolann P Fishing Charters formed a nice chum slick, effectively drawing the makos in for catching.

Porgy fishing has been great on the north shore. Kathy has customers buying her local bait and trying it from Glen Cove to Jamesport. All those anglers have been doing well on the porgies. Sunken Meadow, Glen Cove, Bayville, and Jamesport were all productive locations. Hudson Anglers’ 47th annual shark tournament is this Saturday. They also host their third annual fluke tournament on the same day. Weigh-in is at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Guy Lombardo Marina. They always have food trucks operating at the marina before the weigh-in, so it can be a fun place to spend a couple hours on Saturday afternoon. Beware, the weigh-in can be gory!

Suffolk County

Up on the central North shore, we’ve got a great report from Phil at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport. He says people are complaining about the slow fluking, as are many other Long Island anglers this week. He thinks many people are fishing too deep in the triangle.

Sandeels 2 to 6-inches long are abundant, so the fluking should be good. Phil recommends anglers give the morning a go, and fish closer to the beach. Sandeels have been the main source of forage for stripers between 22 and 28 inches long. The bunker up there isn’t very abundant, and not very thick, so it hasn’t been ideal for the live-bait fishermen. There just aren’t many opportunities to snag any live ones.

Despite that, people are still throwing chunks in the water, especially on the weekends. Local anglers are catching bass 12 to 20-pounds; anglers a short drive west in Cold Spring Harbor are getting into some bigger bass, 30 to 40-pounds. There have been 15-pounders taken on the troll in the Triangle. Your best bet for success in that fashion would be using an umbrella rig, considering the abundance of sandeels.

Porgies are good to go, with plenty of catches being made in the usual spots, such as target rock, caumsett, sand city, and fresh pile. The porgies aren’t as large now as the ones in May, but you can still get some nice-sized ones if you stick it out and chum.

A bunch of anglers have been catching hickory shad up to 16-inches east of Eaton’s Neck on the sandy beaches. Fly anglers are having a ton of fun with them, as are light-tackle fishermen casting diamond jigs and a teaser. These “poor man’s tarpon” are popping up sporadically and are very fun. If you up your tackle a bit after dark, you can chance into some high-quality stripers where the shad are found. One of the best 20+ pound striper bites I’ve encountered was that exact situation. Those bass were the strongest I’ve ever encountered, and some even surpassed the 30-pound mark. Big bass love shad.

Lindenhurst Bait and Tackle had several anglers catch large bass east of Fire Island Inlet. Some had success fishing live bunker while others had fish to 54.7-pounds trolling Mojos. Tom Kingman and J.D. caught two bass of 45 and 48-inches on Monday. On Tuesday Kyle and Larry Markowitz fished around the bunker pods in 15 to 20-foot depths. After several hours of snagging live bunker, Larry was rewarded with a quality striped bass. Fluke have been somewhat elusive for many skilled anglers. We look forward to better action once the fluke settle into the local reefs and edges of ocean wrecks. Dark green/chartreuse bucktails or large baits like Peruvian spearing and sardines have had good success. Chucky Ferris and his crew had 12 fluke near Captree on Thursday with only one 23.5-inch keeper. It was a tough wind battle for the Squaw Island Weekend Fluke Contest. Billy Biscardi weighed in a 3.12-pound fluke after a couple hours on Saturday morning. Jeremy Kurtz made a few casts off the Captree docks on Saturday and was able to jig up a 3.34-pound fluke. Joe Biscardi Jr. fished Sunday morning with Joe Sr. Each caught a keeper including Joe Sr.’s 3.5-pounder which currently leads. Dock anglers have been keeping busy catching a dozen or more blowfish each time they hit the pier. Fresh clam with a bag of clam chum has been making it worthwhile.

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale had just fished the Connetquot this Sunday and did extremely well on the brook and brown trouts. He caught over a dozen brookies, none under 13-inches. His buddy Vinny Cagnina did well on the pheasant tail nymphs and was rewarded with a 20-inch brown trout, with a heck of a kype. The largemouth scene is excellent, with bass supplying plenty of topwater action, and chewing heavily on Senkos. There are still lots of big bass in the ocean stalking the bunker pods. Charlie Crowley caught a nice 40-pound fish on a live bunker.

Lots of big bluefish are still causing havoc over there around the jetties, canals, and inlets.
There are lots of fluke in the bay and in the channels. Surf anglers are catching them on bucktail-teaser rigs in the breakers. It seems to be the same story every year, where lots of big fish of a certain species are caught just before their season is open. One of those fish is the black sea bass. People are catching huge ones right now but won’t be able to harvest any until June 23.

Striper surfcasting guide Bernie Bass had a good week in the surf. He had some decent numbers of stripers, albeit small ones. Bluefish kept him busy as well. During the nighttime, he found some better-quality stripers, but nothing huge just yet. The best numbers of fish came earlier in the week. He put his client Kenny S. on some weakfish, that right there would make my week. There is a looming concern amongst many hardcore anglers, such as Bernie, that there aren’t enough big stripers in the surf. All we can do is hope the ASMFC takes proper measures to protect the remainder of our resource and do our own part on an individual level.

Jeff at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays had the goods on the tuna bite. The owner of the store, Bryce Poyer, had just caught a 70+ pound bluefin on his 14-weight fly rod when I showed up. The canyons are producing good numbers of yellowfin and bigeye. On the striper side, it’s been a little slow. Jeff has been working hard to find them. There are a good amount of schoolies around, and you really have to work to find the big ones. Earlier in the week, my buddy Donny Frankenbach had one of those bigger ones in the surf on the night tide. He caught and released a 22-pound striper on the bay side. More consistent big-striper action can be found to the west, off of Fire Island. The big bunker pods have showed up there and the big stripers are on them. Fluking has been good for Whitewater customers, but it is mostly shorts those anglers are catching. There are bigger flat fish to the east in Montauk. the porgy bite is still good in the peconics.

Rick Drew at Harbor Marina of East Hampton tells me that boats continue to come from east and west to Cherry Harbor in order to get in on the great porgy fishing. Bass fishing is good along the Fishers Island chain, but I did have one trip this week that failed to lift off. I do think the wind and drift played a big part in our inability to get a good bite going. We were able to salvage the trip by moving around and waiting for the tide to change. Sometimes around the full moon you can get a night or two that just shuts down. Cocktail blues are settled into the bay, providing some fun light tackle action and I have heard reports of big bluefish tailing further west in the bay. These fish can be finicky but will slam top water plugs that are presented properly. Rigging some single hook poppers are a great way to responsibly catch and release these fun fish. Open eye Siwash single hooks are pretty easy to rig with a good pair of pliers. It is extremely gratifying to catch and release fish on tackle you have had a hand in. Don’t be surprised if you catch a bass or two during these top water sessions.

There are fish along the south shore ocean beaches, early and late in the day are best bets for a keeper. Bucktails low and slow are the ticket. Fluke are showing throughout the Gardiners Bay region and while the fishing is improving, it is still somewhat inconsistent. Serious fluke fisherman are making the run to Montauk with fish reported on both the North and South side. Once the sea bass season opens on the 23rd we should see more reports of fluke being caught locally and get some better reports. If we get a good weather window this weekend, jump on it as the June moon usually produces some trophy fish on the East End. If you get skunked on the forecast, don’t be afraid to get up early and hit the surf zone.

Captain Chris Albronda, first mate on Double D Charters in Montauk, is seeing what’s likely the best fluke fishing on the island. Those anglers who invest an entire day in the pursuit are seeing at least one double-digit fluke come over the rails. Large black sea bass continue to keep anglers busy as bycatch; once the season opens, there should be plenty for the table.
The plentiful smaller striped bass have been providing plenty of action for light tackle anglers. Some anglers are getting into some bigger fish in the 20 to 30-pound range. My friend Nico McMahon had a couple of those bigger fish just yesterday, jigging bucktails on his friend’s charter boat. Chris says the best lures for stripers right now are umbrella rigs and parachutes. The birds are up every day, signaling to anglers to cast their topwater plugs in a certain spot. Offshore, there have been sightings of bluefin tuna only ten miles to the south, and hookups in the butterfish hole.

Chris at Blue Water Lures in Southold gave me the skinny for the North Fork:
Porgies are still considerably larger than their late summer counterparts right now and show very little signs of slowing down. The most productive bait right now is kind of a toss-up between worms and clams. Worms are a bit more costly, but they are putting up the numbers, so it kind of lessens the sting of the cost. Local beaches or out on the boat, you cannot NOT catch porgies if you have a line in the water anywhere near the bottom.

Seabass are still very large and plentiful (although not in season). Hi-lo rigs that people are using for porgies are consistently being picked off by these spawning beauties. With a couple weeks left until their season opens, a lot of guys are wondering if they will still be around on the 23rd of this month.

Striped bass are around but not many larger fish are being caught. Bucktails, imitation eels and small, pearl-colored swim shads are responsible for the majority of what we are seeing and hearing about. Of course, your best bet location-wise is Jessup’s and “the gut”; if you are not seeing any bass at all, it is probably because the bluefish are grabbing your lures/baits first. There are more and more guys telling us that bluefish are arriving in bigger numbers every day. Some of the blues are in the 10 to 15-pound class and there are plenty of cocktail sized blues for all us smokers. If you wish to target the yellow eyed devils, most shiny lures should get the job done.

Weakfish up to 9-pounds have been picked outside Jessup’s and nearer to Noyack bay for the guys working the ridges with small “hook bait” sized squids. It seems to be the most productive natural bait, and with small pink jigs taking their fair share of fish as well it could add up to a nice mixed bag kind of day.

The biggest surprise this season so far is that blowfish, yes, I said blowfish, have made a really strong showing so far. Enough of a showing that I have actually sold out the three-dozen blowfish rigs we had in the shop! Squid is the absolute best producer for these tasty bay beauties.

There have also been a decent number of red hake, or ling if you prefer, caught while bottom fishing too, and they taste delicious so don’t overlook this species to add to your catch. I personally recommend cutting them the day you catch them to get the best quality fillet out of these tasty treats!

As far as fluking goes, everyone that has gone so far this season knows it is not a slam dunk that you are going to limit out on four 19-inch fish if you go out and give it a try. The most positive thing though is the fact that, although there isn’t a tremendous amount of fish that are legally sized, there have been what seems to be larger fish being caught in the bay. Rick T went fishing for them, and only had one fish: a 12.6-pound fluke! There have also been plenty of guys talking about 4 to 7-pounders as well so that’s positive. Strips, spearing, Gulp, and jigs with teasers are all the way to go when targeting one of our favorite summertime species. When fluking, you definitely have to put your time in and search them out cause they “be a movin” every day. If you’re on the North Fork, make Blue Water Lures a stop for your bait, tackle, and high quality local intel.

Long Island Fishing Forecast

The east end is a ticking time bomb. I took a stand-up paddle board into the ocean yesterday because I saw big schools of bunker on the south fork. There weren’t any fish under the bunker pods, but the water is extremely chummed up. While I was out there with my friend Orson, we saw all sorts of birds attacking the water as it suddenly changed in color and texture. Tiny blitzes occurred here and there, and the terns and seagulls were usually right above them. I hooked two bluefish from the SUP, and one spewed up a big white squid. Usually bluefish puke when you hook and fight them on a full belly, so the buffet must have been as bottomless as it appeared. The terns picked at small bait, which I believed to be spearing and peanut bunker. Orson and I snagged a couple of the thickest 12-inch bunker I’ve ever seen.

When the big, eastbound stripers discover this, it is going to be glorious. Last year the conditions were similar; the only difference was the stripers came through and blitzed on very calm days with glassy water. It could be tough this year if the big stripers come around the same time, because strong winds are forecasted almost every day.

Regardless, considering the amount and variety of bait, the June full moon approaching, and the reports from out west, I think the time bomb will explode this week. Be there. Have your gear ready to be tested to its full capacity. Last year I had a tight drag when I had my shot at a big fish, and the line popped. I won’t make that mistake again. Montauk is going to be extremely hot (it already is), and the inlets should offer some huge fish, of every kind. If you can get out on a boat, take that trip. You could experience some of the best fishing of your life.
Please release the big bass you catch!
Tight lines.