Long Island Fishing Report – July 18, 2019

Pictured Above: John Emmanouilidis with a bluefin tuna caught at Coimbra wreck.

Long Island Fishing Report

North and South Fork are the hotspots right now. Big fish of all species are hanging in those areas this week.
Big Stripers on the North and South Forks. 50 pounders are very present in Montauk. The big bass on bunker pods in the Long Island Sound have moved east towards Orient.
Bluefish have made a resurgence in many parts of the island. Gators seem to be focused out east. Snappers have made their way into a bunch of harbors on the north and south shore.

Weakfish bite is hot in the peconics, near Jessups. Tons of small bluefish are at Jessups as well. Tuna is STILL going strong offshore, so get out there if you can. My friend saw a tuna blitz from the beach on the south fork, about ¾ miles out.
Spanish Mackerel and Bonito have been getting caught in many of the south shore inlets this week, including those to the far east. Cobia are also being landed, but by boats a little farther out.

Still plenty of good seabass around the island. Porgy fishing is hot all around the island. Keep reading for the hotspots. Trout fishing is good in the early day and evening, when the light is low.

Nassau County

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin took his customers for his second Housatonic smallmouth trip this week. 13 people showed, and went wet wading in the 75 degree water. About 50 fish came to net, all of them quality smallmouths from 12 to 15 inches.
The LI Flyrodders had a reservation at the Connetquot River on Monday. Word is there are tons of trout there, but getting one to eat required some work.

LI Trout fishermen have a good amount of options close to home. The tailwaters of Westchester, Connecticut, and Delaware are all good options. Spring creeks on Long Island have colder water year round, which keeps the trout healthy and active. Try fishing early on in the day, or in the evening for the best bites. Stay away from the freestone rivers upstate, for they are too warm. If you were to fish there and catch a trout, that fish would surely die.

In the salt, there’s been chatter of many small fish. Bluefish are abundant in the bays, as is the bait upon which they feed. It’s a similar story with fluke: tons of fish, most of them shorts. You’ll likely have to bend the rod many times before you get your keeper.

Every Sunday, Paul has been taking fly anglers, both newcomers and veterans, to McDonald Pond in Hempstead Lake State Park (RVC) for “casting and catching” sessions. It’s a great way to learn how to trout fish, with plenty of open space to avoid the snags rookies often encounter in less friendly environments.

Kathy at Freeport Bait & Tackle weighed in some real good fish this week.
Jair Sanchez caught a 24 inch fluke on green gulp, while drifting in Jones Inlet during the top of the outgoing.

One customer, Geezer (pictured above), caught a 6.37 pound fluke out in Montauk. Another big fluke was taken by Patrick Siegler from West End 2 at Jones Beach jetty. His fluke measured out to 26.5 inches.

Robert Verity caught a big Mahi Mahi about thirty miles south of Slip. He had been shark fishing, using squid and bunker. The mahi came and took the squid, but got off when a blue shark approached. The shark harrassed the boat for a short while, and when it left, the Mahi came back in, this time to attack the bunker. Verity kept the fish on this time, and brought it to the shop for weigh-in: it went 41 inches and 15.4 pounds.
Charles McNulty took his “Northeaster” out to the Coimbra one morning this week, and had an eighty pound bluefin tuna hit at 9:30. The fish attacked a spreader bar rigged with green machines.

Billy of the “Southbound” made the same trip and also had a bluefin.
The porgies are reportedly still going strong in Bayville.
There are still lots of fluke around, and they’re still mostly shorts.

Bay Park Fishing Station in Wantagh reports that Lloyd Malsin of “Nansea II” had a banner day on the seabass grounds. In 80 feet of water south of Jones, he caught 17 keeper seabass, and released 200 shorts. He also caught buckets of tasty ling, with salted clams catching best. The strong wind and current made it tough to hold bottom, but he managed to stay in the strike zone by using ten ounces of lead. On his way in, he nailed one quick keeper fluke on the AB Reef.

Suffolk County

Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle reports that the local species seem to be behind schedule. Striped bass have been reported inside the Great South Bay, chasing squid. Fluke are finally showing up in spots that they should have been around two months ago.

Logan Yates and his daughter Melissa fished off the Capture Pier this Wednesday. The duo had no luck casting jigs and swim baits, so they switched to fresh clams. That change produced a dozen bass to 29 inches during the incoming tide.
Drew Maniscalco drifted just West of the Robert Moses Bridge this past Tuesday. Drew reported a tough pick with a lot of sea robins but was able to catch a seven pound fluke while jigging.

Meanwhile, Anthony Fazio and his son Noah had loads of action with a lot of shorts at the Fire Island Inlet. Noah was the high-hook, with two keeper fluke of 20 & 22 inches.
Bob Carniello and crew fished the Atlantic Beach Reef on the same day. They were able to take home four keeper fluke, up to 22 inches.

On Sunday Stella Metzger and her husband fished the Fire Island Coast Guard station for the outgoing tide. They had two keepers, including Stella’s 26-inch fluke. Others have reported a little more action this week, but still, it’s only been two or three keepers a trip.

Rich Pepa stopped by on Saturday with Gianni to weigh in a quality 4.55 pound fluke caught in the Great South Bay. There are plenty of sea bass to catch out on the Fire Island Reef and the San Diego wreck. Most of the bigger fish have been jumping on diamond jigs or fresh clams. Weakfish are still being caught in good numbers to the east, near Ocean Beach and Point O’ Woods.

Joe from Tennessee and his crew have been catching fluke consistently on hi-Lo rigs with soft plastics and XL local spearing. Snappers are starting to appear at the local docks and crabbing is taking off with most scoring 12-18 crabs per trip.

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale says there’s tons of fluke in the bay. Anglers are catching lots of shorts, but most are coming home with their limit of keepers. Bucktails and jigs tipped with gulp has been doing the trick for the bigger ones. The fluke are also in the ocean, on the reefs and wrecks, amidst the sea bass. Sea bass are plentiful, and big in size, taking clams and jigs. A few people have even found some cobra and bonito out there.

There are still some bluefish around eating poppers and diamond jigs. Most are small, from 2-4 pounds. Occasionally a fish between 6-8 pounds will come up.
Snappers have come around to the town docks. Kingfish and blowfish are also there.
Porgies and big bass are a distant memory at this point. There are still some schoolies lingering with the bluefish, but nothing big to speak of.

The trout bite is still going strong. Bill fished the Carmans River this morning, and hooked a few browns and brook trout using terrestrial dry flies such as beetles and ants. These Carmans River fish are wild, with incredible patterns and colors.

Phil at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport tells me that porgy fishing is the name of the game right now. They are all over the place. Clam chumming is the way to go.

Seabass are still around, and the bigger ones are closer to shore, in 15-20 feet of water. The fluke scene has been sparse, not many anglers have been taking home keepers. There are still sandeels around, but it sounds like there are less than in the prior weeks. Try deeper water for those bigger fluke.

Bluefish have moved in, mostly 2-3 pounders. They should be gradually increasing in size as the season goes on. People are getting them on bunker chunks, but Phil recommends you try out a diamond jig if these blues are your intended target. Also, snappers have moved into the area. Snapper fishing is great for the kids, and a popular summer fishery.

People have been trying bunker chunks for stripers, but are being pestered by those small blues. If you want to get a bigger striper (there are still some lingering around the area), you’ll want to liveline a bunker for your best shot at one.

The striped bass fishing has been slower overall, as the water warms. Like I said, some forties are still present in the area, but they’re lethargic and tough to find. There is a ton of bunker, in the harbors, bays, and out in the LI Sound. Your best bet for a big striper would be hunting these schools. June is usually the best month for big bass; come July, most have migrated east.

Chris at Blue Water Lures in Southold tells me that bigger bass have moved into his area of the LI Sound. North Fork surfcasters have been consistently producing some quality stripers.

The local porgy and sea bass fisheries are still very productive.
Weakfish have been the hot ticket as of late. Anglers fishing near Jessups and Noyack Bay have said it’s difficult to catch anything BUT weakfish… not a bad problem to have! Hi-lo rigs and half-ounce pink bucktails tipped with a whole baby squid have been great lures for these weakfish.

The bluefish bite has picked up in Gardiners, Jessups, and on the beach on the sound side.

Kenny at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor chatted with me about the whale stuck in the gill net in Southampton the other day. It was all over the news, but if you haven’t heard of it yet, see my recent video on my youtube page “SouthForkSalt;” I got drone footage of the poor whale fighting to stay alive. It’s a sad reality that these gill nets kill a staggering amount of bycatch including turtles, whales, dolphins, and fish. Luckily, with new technology, we can begin to hold them accountable.

To make the conversation more upbeat, Kenny mentioned his family excursion to Bullhead Bay in Southampton the other day. He’s been going there to swim and crab for 25 years, and this is the first time he’s seen Eelgrass there since the 80’s. Brown tide has decimated the eelgrass over the years, but it seems to be making a comeback. This is great news for the local ecosystem, as eelgrass is basically a safe haven for baby fish, crustaceans, etc. Kenny took home 5 nice size blue claw crabs for dinner, and saw some large porgies hanging in very shallow water.

On the fishing front, Montauk has been spectacula. Fluke from 6-11 pounds are being caught near Frisbees and Cartwright. More than a few personal bests were achieved this past week.

Deeper water is holding larger sea bass. Those anglers who are jigging are catching the big ones, compared to the bait guys who are catching large numbers of smaller seabass.
Striped bass fishing has been phenomenal out in Montauk as well. Hugh Chancey of “Chancey Charters” has been fishing the night tides on his boat, and had a 46 & 47 pounder this week. One commercial boat reeled in a 57.5 pound striper. Big blues are sometimes messing with the guys dropping eels into the rips for bass.

In Sag Harbor, there’s lots of bluefish. In fact, it seems like small bluefish have invaded most of the east end. From Orient to Greenport, around Shelter Island, and from Jessups to Gardiners, there is an extreme abundance of blues 1-4 pounds. There are still a good number of porgy reports coming in regularly. Snappers are biting at national, putting on a show, frothing up the water as they chase down tiny baitfish in huge numbers.

Kenny recommends heading to the east of Gardiners Island, where the water is a bit colder, if you have a bigger boat. The fish will be biting a bit more actively in that cooler water.

Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton reports the summer pattern of hot days and hotter nights has seemed to set in a little early this year. The day time bass bite in Montauk has cooled off, with some quality fish being taken on the troll. but most quality fish are going to be taken at night. Some of the local light tackle guys are playing the Fishers Island chain for schoolie stripers, with the occasional keeper in the mix. Dawn and dusk are the best times.

Acres of bunker can be found along the ocean beaches. There are some nice fish on these pods, but there is so much bait, it is not a sure thing. There are also a lot of smaller Makos and Threshers on these bunker pods.

Fluke fishing is pretty good all over Eastern Long Island, as is the Sea Bass fishing. Bring plenty of bait as you will have to cull through a lot of shorts to get to the keeper sized fish. Porgy fishing remains strong with good size and numbers.

Over the years Rick has always enjoyed planning out a special trip off shore or over to Block Island at this time of the year. These trips are special and do require some extra work but the rewards of great bottom fishing and/or the shot at a trophy Tuna or Shark are well worth the effort.

David at Westlake Marina in Montauk saw some awesome fish come in this week. We’ll start with six year old Bobby Maynes, who reeled in a 13.4 pound bluefish on his grandpa’s boat.

Next was an 18.9 pound bluefish, caught by Tommy Springman fishing off the “Top Hook.”
A five pound black sea bass was caught on the “Double D” charter, run by Captain Danny.
A 19.4 pound cod was caught recently by Gary Mausner, who was fishing on a local recreational boat called “Fish On.”

There are lots of 20-40 pound stripers coming in regularly. So many have been caught this year that David stopped taking pictures. The freediving spear fishermen have been pulling up fifty pounders regularly. If you ask me, those huge, old, smart, sporting fish shouldn’t be disgraced by getting shot by a spear. They’re meant to be taken on rod and reel. But I digress.

Sea bass fishing has been consistent, with some large ones in the mix.
Fluke fishing has been spotty as of late. Some guys come in with some really nice ones, some people get the skunk. The real big flatties aren’t being seen in the marina so much these days, but there are still a decent amount of 4’s and 5’s being weighed.
In short, the fishing has been excellent these past two weeks.

Matt Heckman ran his boat to Montauk for the full moon, and discovered clouds of sandeels being tormented by cocktail bluefish, and schools of spanish mackerel hot on their tails. Matt has also been getting nonstop offshore reports of bluefin tuna. One such report came from John Emmanouilidis, who fished the Coimbra on Sunday and couldn’t keep the bluefins out of the spread. Sounds like an awesome day!

James Nigro has been slamming big fluke out in Montauk with the good-ol’ bucktail/gulp combo. Two days this week, he took his kayak out and had a nine pound fluke, a six pounder, and then two limits of sea bass up to 2.6 pounds. His 2019 season has been awesome so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing more awesome kayak catches on his youtube page “YakinWithBigFoot.”

Long Island Fishing Forecast

I’m considering July “the month of crabs.” Last week, all the fish I caught from shore were spewing up baby calico crabs. Every fish. This week, the water has been crystal clear and pretty flat, so I’ve been sight fishing to stripers in the ocean. Many, many bass are cruising within ten feet of the shoreline, looking for sand fleas that have been dislodged from their burrows by waves and current. They’re an easy bait to find, and when you find one, keep digging in that spot, because there are more. You can stand on dry sand and watch great numbers of fish swimming laterally to the shoreline 5-10 feet in front of you. If you spot a bigger one, you should cast ten feet in front of it, in the direction it is swimming. You’ll watch it swim towards your bait, and they’ll always grab it. They’ll never say no to a sand flea in the month of crabs. Most fish cruise RIGHT on the beach lip, so many hits will come when you can see your leader; just let it hang there. Once in a while, you’ll get a fish to twenty pounds. You can hook the fleas to a hi-lo rig or a jighead. See my youtube video “sand fleas catch BIG stripers in the surf” for a quick tutorial and demonstration of this tactic’s effectiveness. I’ll be fishing like this for the week. I tried using my fly rod on them, but the small waves make it tough to hang on the bottom where the stripers want it. Furthermore, the hits are so light, and the stripers aren’t really interested in chasing them down, so you have to have an extremely slow, delicate presentation that doesn’t show any signs of “drag.” The fly rod just didn’t work out for me here. Tough luck. Light tackle is definitely the play though.

I’m going to try my hand out in Montauk today (my day off from work), see if I can get a nice bluefish from shore. That seems like my best bet, and I haven’t caught nearly enough blues this year.

The giant bunker pods that have been present on my beach these past couple weeks are finally dissipating, and the whales and sharks seem to be going with them. I still see at least one whale a day, but it’s nothing like the incredible feeding frenzies that have been going on. Again, see my youtube page SouthForkSalt for drone footage of these huge creatures feeding on enormous pods of bunker. Two of the videos were aired on News 12 Long Island…it’s cool footage! Unfortunately, one of the videos is of a small humpback that became entangled in a gill net and almost died. Luckily some watermen on the scene paddled out with knives and cut much of the net loose.

Luckily, also, for surfcasters, this incident prompted the gill net boats to pull in all of their nets (that I’ve seen for the past month). So I think for some time, we’re going to have some good fishing on the south fork, unimpeded by these roadblock nets that are placed only feet from the shore to interrupt the fish migrations. It’s a good time to be on the south fork! Get out there! Tight Lines.