Long Island Fishing Report – September 12, 2019

Pictured Above: A nice Mahi caught out of Montauk aboard Double D Charters.

Long Island Fishing Report

A select few spots have been producing false albacore along the south shore. Some big albies were reported in Montauk this morning.

There are big bass in Montauk. Montauk anglers are seeing a good amount of blitzes as well, both from shore and boat. Some 30-inch bass are running the south shore beaches.

There are still some big fluke around. Seabass and porgies are also holding strong. Bluefish are prevalent, but they’re mostly cocktails, good eats!

Offshore scene is pretty great. Apparently, you don’t even have to go very far to get some of those larger pelagics. There are still a good number of Spanish mackerel and bonito hanging out around the south shore inlets and rips.

Nassau County

Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside saw some awesome catches this week. On Saturday, Kris Mott of Uncle Eddy fished the AB Bridge in 25 feet of water. He dropped down a blackfish jig with an asian crab and pulled up a 10.75-pound sheepshead!

Roy and Bradley fished aboard the Whiskey Chaser and had fluke up to seven pounds. The duo were using BP spearing and Gulp on the Northwest corner of the AB Reef. Roy says that 5-ounce Spro bucktails with nuclear chicken Gulp did the trick. Tom and Jay of Never Say Never fished the AB Reef with clams on Sunday and nailed a 7.3 pound fluke.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin went snapper fishing with his wife the other night and came upon an uplifting scene. The bays are loaded with 12 to 14-inch snappers and they are hanging around absolutely massive pods of peanut bunker. There are a lot of 2 to 3-pound blues around as well, which is a nice change from the past number of years.

There are some nice stripers being taken on the sod banks, which is also a bit strange. The water is a bit warm, and usually these caliber fish will hunt in the night. The bait situation is just so solid that the fish are holding there.

Paul’s heard reports of blitzes out in Montauk. It is shaping up to be a good year for fishing.
The sweet water has been a tough game for a while because it has been dry. The tailwaters are fishing well though.

Pete and Pete of Trout Unlimited went up to Westchester to fish the streams and they did well on the trout. Paul and I are looking forward to Castoberfest, which takes place at Montauk Lake Club on September 29 & 30. It is a day of fly fishing demos, barbecue and Montauk beers. Can’t beat that!

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Suffolk County

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says schoolie bass are running the beaches, some being keeper size. They’re taking jigs and plugs. Jake Farino had over a dozen on Monday using bucktails. James Czerw had a keeper striper on Saturday morning while fishing a pink bucktail tipped with a Gulp Nemesis.

A few albies have made the reports as well! When they’re around, they’re taking resin jigs and surf candy flies. Jake Farino had an impressive albie on a pink Joe Baggs resin jig. Weakfish have been running the tides as well, taking bass assassins and small bucktails.

The bay is still loaded with short fluke, and amongst them are plenty of keeper fish in the 4-6 pound range. Bucktails tipped with Gulp, or the classic squid/spearing combo on a rig will do the trick for the big ones.

Spanish mackerel and bonitos are crushing the resin and epoxy jigs, diamond jigs, and kastmasters off the jetties. Seabass action on the reef and wrecks is on fire, with some nice fish taking clams and jigs. Ling and some big fluke are hanging out in the area as well.

The town docks are still holding a ton of snappers, which can be taken on snapper poppers, kastmasters, or a plain old hooked spearing. Put the kids on them when you can!

In the freshwater, bass are becoming more active in the daylight hours searching out big meals. Swimbaits, jigs, jerk baits, and crank baits are excellent choices. The topwater bite is still viable, so make sure you have a couple frogs on you. Will Ganshaw had a nice 3.6 pounder take his crank bait on Sunday while fishing submerged branches.

Pickerel are lurking, waiting for something to swim in their vicinity. They’ll usually take anything a bass will, and more. If they’re acting finicky, throw something flashy like a spoon or spinner.
Yellow perch and sunfish are out in big schools and are tons of fun for the kiddos. All you need to catch them is a hooked worm under a bobber.

Captain Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly Guide in Smithtown had some excellent action after the east blow. He’s been getting into lots of bass and blues, with some awesome bycatch of large seabass and keeper fluke. He still has some good dates available.

Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters is still seeing some solid porgies to three pounds. Young Luke nailed one of these three pounders as his first fish ever; he even held the rod and set the hook like an old pro! Stu has also been jigging blues up, to about 4-6 pounds. He’s been finding some seabass in the rock piles. There is still a ton of bait in the Northport/Huntington area.

Chris from Bluewater Lures in Southold tells me it has been slow on the North Fork. There’s a bunch of small fish around, including blues, bass, porgies, and tons of blowfish. Besides that, there’s only bait. There’s butterfish and a ton of small spearing. People have apparently been seeing albies, but nobody has caught any up there.

Jeff at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says the striper fishing has been decent. There are some local blitzes popping up here and there. Spanish mackerel are still being caught, and a few albies have hit the rocks. They are few and far between, but even one is enough to get the fly anglers loco. Jeff says that Montauk has been seeing a bunch of blitzes lately.

Surfcasting guide Bernie Bass had a good week in the surf, getting good numbers of small stripers. There have been a few better bass in the mix as well, mostly found during the night tides. There is still a ton of bait in the water. Some spanish mackerel are still hanging around the south shore inlets, but he is more excited about the albies’ arrival.

Rick Drew from Harbor Marina of East Hampton says that Dorian’s effects have sparked some fish movement. Rick considers it the reset button that officially took us out of summer and into the early fall stage of the migration.

Seabass and porgies are back on the feed at the better spots along the eastern Sound and Fishers Island chain. These areas are producing nice catches of both species. Weather conditions have lessened the number of fishable days along the south side of Montauk, so he hasn’t gotten many reports from there. If we get a stretch of nice weather soon, Rick recommends getting down there for one more shot at a nice fluke. Seabass are now seven fish per angler, and the fluke season runs to September 30.

Reports of schoolie bass have come in from light tackle anglers along both forks, but there has not been a lot of keeper-sized bass in the mix to date. Bluefish are feeding alongside the schoolies, making for some fun local action. Albies have been sporadic so far, but Rick expects that bite to turn on any minute. Rumors of bluefin tuna near shore and offshore have been spreading, and all eyes are on the weather looking for that favorable marine forecast.

Captain Chris Albronda, first mate of Double D Charters in Montauk, says that bass fishing is as good as it gets. It took less than thirty minutes to catch a boat limit of bass up to 48 pounds. Lots of fish are being caught from the boat and in the surf. Pods of fish are blitzing on the surface, and in them are a mix of Spanish mackerel, bonito, stripers and bluefish.

Offshore (but not very far), bluefin tuna are biting on the troll, chunk, and jigs during the day.
Fluke fishing has recovered with double-digits being reported. Chris hit me up this morning to inform me that some big false albacore had just showed up this morning and are on the feed.

Long Island Fishing Forecast

I always end up with regrets every season. I’ve lost/missed big fish because I didn’t change out old braid, prioritized work over a big fish bite, or agreed to attend a far-away wedding during the height of the run. There’s always something.

Last year, my greatest regret was not fishing a specific pattern once in the month of September. I fished a lot, but didn’t catch anything over 15 pounds. When sandeels finally started to wash up on my beach in early October, I knew what to do. I started throwing sandeel lures, and started catching nice fish. Apparently those fish were there most of September and I didn’t catch a single one because I hadn’t fed them the right bait.

This year I’ve got all my bases covered. Sandeel runs typically occur in cycles that last a few years. I’m expecting to see a lot of them again this year. I’ll be tossing sandeel lures all month, looking for my big girls. If that’s not working, the mullet patterns will definitely come out. Teasers at night are going to be another very effective method.
The bunker pods are all over the beaches, and I’ve seen some crazy stuff going on with them this week. There are clearly some bigger fish hanging out underneath them.

The albies made a quick, early appearance, but they have been very sparse. When they DO come in again, it should be hot and heavy.
The biggest bass I’ve caught so far have been feeding actively on the small bait. One came on Labor day, at about 30 inches, feeding on a ball of spearing. I had another 30 incher three nights ago in similar conditions. The shad and stripers seem to be working together out here to corral that smaller bait right against the shoreline. I had a bunch of stripers from 20-27 inches while fly fishing near some inlets this past week. There are big shad targeting the real small bait fish, so I’ve targeted the bass instead by throwing 4-7 inch flies. I’m still hooking some huge shad, but far more stripers.
I think we’re all hoping the albies will show this week. Keep your fingers crossed.
Good luck everyone.

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