Albies already?! Rumors of albies in Montauk abound. Awesome striper fishing off Block Island.
Ocean fluking is hot.
Forktail blitzes of bonito, Spanish mackerel, shad and bluefish have been entertaining anglers along the south shore beaches and inlets. Snappers are in THICK. Lots of porgies and blowfish around the forks.
Some bigger blues in Montauk and along the north shore.
Blacktip sharks have shown in numbers on Long Island’s shores.
Cow nose rays are breaking lines, rods and hearts all over the island.
Nassau County
Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin spent this Tuesday on the Housatonic chasing smallmouth on the fly. The group caught 30 to 40 fish, and they were all high quality; his friend had one that was three pounds.
Paul has heard of bonito out in Montauk and the Jones Beach area. There’s a lot of bunker out there, so lots of bluefish have been all over that. They’re small bluefish, but not quite snapper small. Montauk has the big chopper blues. Word on the street is the first albies were spotted in Montauk as well.
Kathy at Freeport Bait & Tackle has been hearing about some awesome fluking taking place. The big fish are out in the ocean. There are plenty of shorts, but the decent chance for a doormat makes the effort well worth it.
One customer, Chris, was fishing the construction dock by West End 2 Jones Beach with live snappers. He caught his limit around the high tide.
Robert Pena caught the pool fluke on the Island Princess out of Captree. It was a 29-inch, 8-pound seven-ounce fluke.
It sounds like the farther out you go, the bigger fluke you’ll find. Chris Ludwig fishes the surf for sharks and has been seeing blacktips near the beach at Robert Moses. They’ve been moving farther north with each year as the ocean temperatures rise. Just a PSA, it is illegal to shark fish from the beach; Chris participates in NOAA’s tagging program, though, which is the only legal route to surf fish for sharks. Chris says that he’s been seeing rays, Spanish mackerel, bonito, and albies off the beach as well, feeding on bay anchovies. I would be amazed if that’s a positive ID on the albies, but it seems that anything is possible this year.
Spanish mackerel have been taken by the construction dock near the Coast Guard station as well. Snappers and cocktail blues are in the bay, just up the creek from Kathy’s shop. Freeport Creek has been producing some action for those seeking small blues.
Billy Miller and Manuel Espigel fished the State Channel for fluke the other day and got a couple monstrous rays as bycatch. They rays towed them around for a while before breaking the line. Anglers are still catching porgies in Bayville. They’re using Freeport B&T spearing and bloodworms to catch them.
Lots of fluke were brought into Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside this week. Captain Lloyd Alan Berman, Paul Seiden and George Phillipou fished aboard the “Nansea II” on Saturday. They hit the AB Reef and caught seven keeper fluke, with two fish over six pounds. The squid/spearing combo did the best work for them.
Adam and Craig Romanek fished with Brian Manna aboard the “Jersey Girl” on Sunday and landed a 61.7-pound bluefin tuna at the Coimbra. The tuna took a grey RonZ lure.
On Monday, the “Fish On” crew went south of Jones for 9 miles to chum a special bunker brew. They got a 250-pound thresher on the line at around noon. An hour and a half later, they boated the six-foot fish.
Mike Redmond and Mike Cotter of “Lil Mist III” fished the tankers for fluke in about 73 feet of water this Monday. They caught at least thirty fish, keeping two that went 6.5 and 3.5 pounds. The guys caught the fish using 5-inch nuclear chicken & salmon Gulp grubs. Yesterday, Vinny Kingston of “Miss El” fished the AB Reef for a bunch of just-short fluke. He said the water is loaded with them.
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Suffolk County
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says there’s a lot of shorts in the bay, with an occasional keeper. Some of the keepers have been 4 to 6-pounds. Liam McManus had a solid 4 pounder while fishing with his dad on Wednesday. Jigging bucktails and Gulp grubs will seduce the larger fluke.
Spanish mackerel and bonito are all over the resin/epoxy jigs, diamond jigs and kastmasters. Inlets and jetties are keeping them well fed. Jacky has been lucky with pink and green resin jigs, picking up three bonito and two macks on Saturday.
Sea bass action on the reef and wrecks is very consistent, and there are a lot of bigger fish. Ling and fluke are hanging out in those areas also.
The town docks are saturated with snappers, which are growing daily. In the sweet water, bigmouths are going wild in the morning and evening on top water lures. During the heat of the day, senkos and jigs should do the trick. Bill pulled a solid three pounder from under a bush with a senko last week.
Pickerel are smashing anything that swims by. Yellow perch and sunfish are schooled up and can be easily taken with a worm and bobber.
Trout action has been great in the morning and evening, with bigger hatches going on in the evenings. On the dry side, caddis, tricos and terrestrials are all getting slurped up. Hare’s ear, pheasant tail and zebra midge nymphs are getting bit under the surface, as are wooly buggers and bonkers. Vin Cagnina had a monster 22-inch rainbow at the park on Saturday morning on an elk hair caddis.
Captain Stu Paterson of Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters is still cranking in the fish in the Huntington/Northport area. There is bait all over, such a peanut bunker, bay anchovies, and spearing. He is boating fluke to five pounds, and the porgy bite has been on fire with fish to 2.5 pounds. Keeper seabass are in the mix and the cocktail bluefish bite is on. With all this bait, Captain Stu has high hopes for an early, productive albie season. I think most of us are feeling the same way.
Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly guide service in Smithtown saw a good push of big blues with some surprise bass pods in the mix. He fished them for some good action with a lot of larger schoolies and blues in the same size range. Some of the blues were 15-16 pounds, making for killer action! The fishing took place tight to shore, up against the rocks. Dave’s got his eyes peeled for the hardballs, which should be here any minute.
Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold says they’re getting a lot of bass and blues around the Gut and Race areas. You’ll catch those fish on a moving tide; when it slacks out, you’ll get into the porgies and sea bass on the north side of Plum Island. Big Gull Island and the Sluiceway have been productive.
Check all your blackfish spots along the sound, and you’ll likely come across some blues and stripers as well.
Along the Sound, there’s a lot of bottom fishing opportunities. The porgies are biting like crazy. Lots of bait up there has Steven hopeful for albies any day.
Kids are catching blowfish, snappers, and porgies off the docks in Greenport.
Weakfish are biting in Noyack Bay and off the Lawns (around Shelter Island). Peconics are producing porgies, blowfish, kingfish, and weaks.
Offshore has been productive for shark fishermen, and the tuna bite is still going strong.
Head out to Montauk for some excellent fluking. Guys are coming home from there with some really awesome fluke these days.
Kenny at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor says the peconics are loaded with endless porgies, small blues, snappers and weakfish. The blues are concentrated at the tip of Jessups on the incoming tide. Weakfish are spread out in Noyack Bay, and through the Middle Grounds, west of Jessup.
There are a few small stripers getting caught in the bay. One customer, Frank Spadanuda, was catching small blues and bass by Clam Island Creek when he hooked into something that emptied his reel twenty times. When he finally got it to the beach, he saw it was a cow nose ray that had fought til the death. There was no reviving this creature, probably due to the insane fight and warm water. What a catch though.
We typically get a bunch of exotic species this time of year, and people are seeing them in the form of triggerfish in the peconics. Spanish mackerel have been getting caught in Bridgehampton this week by a couple customers, myself included. There are a bunch of bonito getting caught by Shinnecock as well. Brian Spreckels had a great day, catching a mixed bag of bonito and blues for dinner.
The fluke fishing in Montauk remains very strong. Kenny is getting reports of fish averaging 4-8 pounds, with much larger ones in the 10 to 12-pound class being caught.
Block Island is the place to be. Kenny left Montauk yesterday at 4:30am, watching the temperature gauge the whole trip out to Block. The temperature did not fluctuate, with the same numbers at Shagwong and Block. The fish finder lit up like crazy when he got there though. There was a school of bass 200 yards long, stacked fifteen feet high. The anglers were casting 1.5-ounce jig heads tipped with lime green Mega Shads and pulling up huge bass nonstop. Kenny released a fish that went near-forty pounds, and his daughter had some in the twenty-pound range. They released all the big breeders and took home one fish around fifteen pounds.
After the insane bass action, they jigged up some keeper seabass to bring home from the southwest ledge. The boat was Joe Alexander’s, the “Bloodline.” He’s got top of the line equipment and a fast boat.
The big blowfish from the spring are still in the peconics. There are also a ton of small ones, about the size of cherry tomatoes.
Rick Drew from Harbor Marina of East Hampton reports that the baitfish are abundant: baby butterfish, bay anchovies, and peanut bunker are attracting pelagic game fish throughout Gardiners Bay and the Fishers Island chain. When the weather cooperates, there has been some fun light tackle action on bluefish, schoolie stripers, mackerel and bonito.
Sea bass and porgies are on the better structural locations in Gardiners Bay. The porgies have been very aggressive on some recent outings, making it a little tough to get to the sea bass. Some nice fluke are still being caught locally as they get ready to head out to the ocean for their fall migration.
This year’s fluke season runs until September 30, and black sea bass goes to a 7-fish limit on September 1. If the stars align, there is still plenty of time for an awesome ocean bottom-fishing trip.
Bluefin tuna and shark fishing is another option ranging from south of the windmills off Block Island to the Coimbra. Snappers, cocktail blues and blowfish are being caught inside the local harbors providing access to some great fishing from the docks and shoreline.
David at Westlake Marina in Montauk says it’s been a fairly slow week, without a lot of change. There is still some very good night fishing taking place for striped bass, but that’s all happening over at Block. The inshore striper fishing has been slow, but there are a few anglers pulling some in here and there.
The sharp fluke fishermen have been boating some impressive catches, but it takes a lot of work. First of all, there’s not a ton of them around (although the diligent are catching their limits). For the amount of boats going out and targeting them, the number coming back with big fish is small. The sharpies are sitting on the small pods of big fluke and coming back with good fish. Another aspect of the “work” is picking through the numerous seabass. They are seemingly endless.
Nearshore reports have been a lot of fun. People are seeing mackerel, bonito, and big pods of bunker. Great Whites, Makos and threshers have all been within sight as well. One customer managed to get a big bass on near shore, only to have it halved by a hungry mako! David hasn’t heard of any albies yet but is expecting to soon.
Captain Chris Albronda, first mate of Double D Charters in Montauk3, fluke fishing is the best show in town right now. Sea bass and scup are also keeping the rods bent. Stripers are producing action during the night tides, for anglers using bait.
Chris confirmed that the first albies have been spotted off Montauk. With the amount of bait around, he thinks it’s going to be a very good fall season. There is a huge school of cow nose rays in Montauk right now that have been devouring this bait as of late. You can get the fight of your life on light tackle if you’re lucky enough to hook one.
Long Island Fishing Forecast
We are getting quick, random thunderstorms these days; they are indicative of a weather pattern transition. The nights and mornings are generally cooler. The fish I see in the ocean seem as tempestuous as the weather. Once the fog lifts in the morning, you can see numerous species of fish blitzing on the huge schools of small bait. The blitzing fish aren’t ones we see regularly; pelagics normally found to the south and offshore are making regular appearances right on the beach this year.
I’m fishing a deadly dick with a fast retrieve to catch these cool looking, amazing tasting visitors. I can only imagine what random fish are underneath those schools. Blacktips have made their way all the way north to our sand beaches. Tarpon were spotted a couple weeks ago in Shinnecock Bay. Who knows what else lurks in our waters right now.
The possibility of catching uncommon species is incredibly exciting to me, but it makes me uneasy for other reasons. Surely the high degree of volatility for what fish we’ll see and when we’ll see them is going to be mirrored by the weather. I’m expecting this incoming hurricane season to be intense. I live on the beach, so that freaks me out. As a fisherman, though, I’ve experienced some incredible fishing during volatile weather patterns. I think it will be an incredible season for blitzing, providing the gill netters don’t destroy that potential.
The blitzing could start this week. I’m going to be hitting the inlets and deep-water points with my fly rod this week, looking for the first sign of albies.
On The Water asked earlier this week “does the fall run start in August?” I thought it was a crazy notion at first, but when I consider the crisp mornings and nights, I can’t help but feel like some bait is starting to make moves out of the bays. That coupled with the movement of certain bodies of fish has me thinking twice about my certainty that the fall starts in September.
Time to start going hard.
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