Long Island – New York Fishing Report – October 17, 2019

“The finest gift you can give to any fisherman is to put a good fish back, and who knows if the fish you caught isn’t someone else’s gift to you?”
-Lee Wulff

Long Island Fishing Report

It seems the school of big bass hanging SW of Block Island has finally moved (very quickly) along the south shore. 50+ pound stripers are now holding south of Debs, and west. Please practice catch and release with these big breeders.

Some bass to the mid-thirties were intercepted on the south fork on Saturday. Bluefin tuna have been spotted and hooked within a half-mile of the Montauk coast. They found the endless bunker pods there, as did whales and some monster thresher sharks. Blackfishing is red hot on the North Fork, as are the bonito, albie and striper bites. There are lots of tog along the south shore, but it’s mostly smaller fish (with some keepers mixed in). Big sea bass are located on the reefs and wrecks outside of the GSB. Some big bluefish were caught in Montauk this week. This could be wonderful news for the blitz scene. Trout fishing is hot all over New York these days!

Nassau County

Robert at LI Outdoorsman in Rockville Centre says if you can’t catch a striper now, sell your gear and pick up golf!

Diamond jigs, mojos, and bunker spoons are accounting for many big bass from both boat and shore. Some of the surf guys have gotten fish into the forties! Robert says take off from work and go fishing. He is ditching early today, and the next three days, to do a marathon hunt for the big girls. Tog fishing is good too; guys are getting keepers and limits. SO, once again, GO FISH!

Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside saw some heavy traffic this holiday weekend, with lots of people catching huge stripers. South of Debs is once again red hot with stripers up to 54.65 pounds. That fish was caught by Anthony LaRocco of “DilliGaff.” It ate a 32oz white Mojo in about 60 feet of water southwest of Debs. This is the largest striped bass ever weighed into Bay Park.

Bay Park reported another 20+ bass, most of which were upwards of 30 pounds, that got weighed in at the dock. It looks like every one of them was caught on a trolled bunker spoon. That’s the hot method for the area, and probably the most efficient big fish catching method there is. I only wish there were more troll fishermen willing to C&R!

Captain Hans Coflesh, Mike and the crew of Fatima C started off their blackfish season this Tuesday with a bang! They fished the AB Reef with green crabs on opening day, nailing 12 keeper togs up to seven pounds. Trolling Mojos on the way out produced a couple high-20s stripers.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin says the saltwater anglers he’s in touch with have been catching this week when the weather permits, whether you’re in Montauk or Baldwin. Some short stripers were reported in Paul’s area this Monday, and they were biting pretty good. There is still a lot of bait over there, and clearly some fish sticking around to feed on them. Captain Tim O’Rourke was finding the albies out in Montauk right before the blow.

Paul guided a group of guys from Manhattan on the Connetquot River recently. They did very well. Everybody had fish on, and they were pretty much all big fish. They had the whole park to themselves too, which provides for an awesome fishing experience.

Elwood Flies Bill fished Friday with the Friends of the Connetquot and got a triple play: a brown, brookie and rainbow trout. He also made it out to the Caleb Smith and happened upon a caddis hatch. He says it was one of those days you couldn’t do anything wrong. Lots of rises and fish boiling on top provided some excellent fishing.

Move off of the island and you’ll still find some good trout fishing. Anglers are doing well on the Housatonic especially. The water was low (before the storm at least), and the blue winged olives were rising consistently. The leaves are falling as often as the bugs are rising, so that can be a bit of a hindrance. Paul says get up there while you can!

Kathy at Freeport Bait & Tackle says lots of stripers came in this week, and some of them are very large.

Rigo Bonilla fished the early morning incoming tide at Jones Inlet with a couple umbrella rigs. He caught fish on both the red and green rigs. He had one bass that went 37 inches, right before a bluefish bit off his rig.

People are starting to use Mojos and bunker spoons and are getting into some heavy fish. The guys are opting for the heavier ones at 24 and 32 ounces, because the big girls are being caught in deep water.

Diamond jigs are also producing quality fish. Danny Hassett got a forty pounder while jigging one from his boat. The white-tube jigs are flying off Kathy’s shelves right now.

She’s also selling a ton of Z-man plastics, which are a good, resilient lure to use when the blue-fish are in town. Stripers are being taken around the Rockaways on those soft plastics paired with 2-3 ounce jig heads.

Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Long Island!

Suffolk County

Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle says most of the week was filled with very heavy winds making fishing difficult. When the wind laid down, loads of striped bass had already entered the Great South Bay. Water temperatures are down in the low sixties which has triggered several species to move. The striper action started on Saturday night when Scott Keicher boated a 44-inch bass in the State Boat Channel. Scott noted that slack tide was key. Meanwhile Gary Nankervis and Joe Gregg drifted eels close by. They caught several stripers up to 42 inches.

On Sunday Joe Biscardi and Joe Jr. went with Billy Biscardi for Squaw Island’s Weekend Striped Bass Contest. The guys got on with the troll and pulled umbrella rigs. Joe boated a quality 31.5-pound bass and Joe Jr. got himself a 26.22 pounder.

S.I.F.C. members Al Gano and Al Ciambriello jigged some bass in 55-foot depths East of Fire Island Inlet. Al Gano weighed in a 26 pounder and Al C. caught a decent 18 pounder.

S.I.F.C. members Chris Halko and Joe Tyminski also had solid action outside Fire Island Inlet while trolling Mojos. Joe had a 27-pound bass and Chris managed an 18 pounder. It looks like we are beginning the Fall striped bass run with plenty of quality fish.

Keeper blackfish have also been caught and released in the last two weeks at the Robert Moses Bridge and Atlantic Beach Reef. These fish are in thick and willing to chew on hooked clams.

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says striper fever is spreading quickly. Bass have been spotted all along the south shore and have even started making their way into the bays. We got a great season of that a few years ago, and we are hoping for the same luck. Bass are hungry and hitting pretty much everything. SP Minnows, swim shads, poppers, bucktails and diamond jigs are all getting crushed. Most of the bass are in the schoolie to keeper range, with a few brutes hanging in the mix. The recent storm blew another hole in Fire Island and brought us a lot of bass and bait.

Blues are around as well, but way more spotty. Weakfish are still in the bay but have mostly moved from where they were staging. They’re now in the more traditional spots. Pink jigs and plastics are still the go-to for the tide runners.

The wrecks and reefs are loaded up with big sea bass, taking jigs and clams. Fish up to six pounds have been reported consistently.

Blackfish season opened Tuesday, and the shop is fully stocked with rigs, jigs and crabs. Those fish will hang in close for a while before they move off, so get them while they’re hot!

Albies have shown back up, hungry for resin jigs. The bonito and Spanish mackerel are holding ground as well.

The freshwater bass are on the feed, actively looking for meals. Swim baits, spinners, crank baits, poppers and frogs are the go-to lures this time of year. A Texas or wacky-rigged Senko is a classic that will often produce as well. The shop is loaded with everything you’ll need for some fall PB largies.

Bluegill and perch are schooled up and eating jigs and worms like crazy. They provide good fun for the whole family. Trout stocking is occurring in the middle of this month, so look forward to that!
Give the shop a follow on social media (@chasingtailsbait) to see what’s happening in the water during the week.

Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport says there’s a hot local bite going on, with a diverse array of fish. He encourages anglers to mix it up, as one fish can be biting hard one day, and the next day they’re gone. That doesn’t mean another species isn’t biting even better at an-other spot. No matter what, you can usually always find a good bite if you’re willing to search and mix it up.

The back side of the full moon saw a lot of Blackfish come in, as well as some gigantic seabass and lots of blowfish.

Anglers are still jigging bluefish and stripers are coming on just about everything. Worms, plugs, jigs and trolling lures are all producing numbers of bass.

It’s a great time of year to get the kids out and on to some exciting bites. Now is the time to take off from work and get yourself and your family outdoors!

Give them a call at 1-631-239-1631 if you need any help getting on the fish, or stop into the shop to chat with some of the nicest guys in the business!

Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold says the surf is red hot right now. Bonito, albies and bass are running the beaches in big numbers, providing a great time for shore-bound anglers. Blackfish from the surf is a fantastic option right now as well.

There are still porgies and sea bass around. The Gut and Race are providing good bass fishing.
Blackfish is definitely the number one fishery right now though, with good reports coming from the Sound and the north side of Plum by Fishers.

Bryce at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says there are a ton of little bass around, although we’ve been seeing some waves of bigger fish pushing through the inlets and back bay. There are some quality fish in the bay, and live bait is the best method for targeting them. Plugs will also produce some nice bay bass.

In the ocean, jigging and casting lures around the birds has produced a lot of fish. The deeper water is holding the better fish, with the smaller bass very willing to feed on top. There are some fish locally to about 35 pounds. Bryce believes these big girls hail from the body of large that has been camped out by Block Island and left during the storm.

There are blackfish on the south side here, and some on the jetties. It isn’t prime time just yet, as the better quality and numbers of togs are holding to the east and the north. It is early, so we should see a marked improvement in the shallow water tog fishery in the coming weeks.
There are some bluefish mixed in with the bass schools in the ocean.

There are a lot of thresher sharks on the bunker pods, to about 250 pounds. Anglers have been hooking them by accident while targeting bass, and also intentionally. Bluefins are supposedly moving near the beach as well. Most of the tuna reports are coming from anglers who got schooled on their bass gear and never saw the fish, so it may just be those large threshers haunting them.

Albies on the south side have been hit-or-miss. There are still a lot of hardtails to the north and east of us though. Provided clean water, these fish should eventually hit our inlet once again. Currently they are running a bit deeper in the ocean, so bass anglers should definitely bring a rod rigged for albies when they head out to sea.

Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters is still catching nice porgies up to 3 pounds. One charter this past weekend consisted of dads and their 4-6 year old sons, and they got into some really nice porgies and seabass.

Stu is still jigging blues in the Sound, and they are feeding on herring and bay anchovies.
He had blackfish over the weekend to six pounds. Call Stu at 631-707-3266, or check his web-site, www.NorthportCharters.com to get in on the bite.

Rick Drew from Harbor Marina of East Hampton says we are well underway with the fall sea-son and migration. A couple of good shots of fish have already moved down our ocean beaches, and bait is congregated at the usual mid-fall locations like Plum Gut; our favorite pelagic preda-tors are on the move.

After the big nor’easter last week, it took a couple of days for things to settle down, but by Sun-day it was game on across the Fishers Island chain and Gardiners Bay. Loads of small to mid-sized bluefish, schoolie stripers and occasional keepers were in the mix. False albacore remain somewhat skittish, with great reports one day and nothing the next. Be prepared to move around if you are going with light tackle. Montauk was somewhat quiet last weekend, but Rick expects that to chance after this big blow.

Blackfish garnered a good deal of attention on the opener and many boats were observed an-chored up on their favorite rock pile or reef ridge. The entire eastern Long Island region is now open, and we should see some quality fishing once this next storm blows through tomorrow.

Seabass are still fairly abundant in our local waters, but we should start to see some movement to deeper more open water soon. Water temps are starting to drop, and nearshore/offshore bot-tom fishing should start to heat up.

With the right weather forecast, boat fishing should be quite good for the next few weeks. Never rule out hitting the surf zone on the more inclement days!

Surf fishing guide Bernie Bass did well in the surf this week, as he does every week. He had very good numbers of bass before the storm. The water got real muddied up once the wind picked up so he had to cancel a few trips. He ended the holiday weekend on a high note, though, getting back into those good numbers of bass. He’ll be seeking out the big bass this week.

Captain Chris Albronda, first mate of Double D Charters in Montauk, says the striper fishing is red hot, with fish of all sizes keeping anglers rods bent.

The false albacore disappeared after the blow and recently reappeared down the beach on the south side. Mixed in with them are green bonito and bluefin tuna. The Double D was set up for some light tackle action chasing birds and blitzes, and ran into an 80-100 pound class blitz of bluefin tuna… They got one to eat a 3-inch epoxy jig!

There are some very large bluefish around as well, honed in on the jumbo sandeels that have moved in. The blues have therefore been taking diamond jigs.

Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Long Island!

Long Island Fishing Forecast

There’s a ton of bait here on the south fork. Bunker and sand eels abound in the surf, with abso-lutely no predators on them (yet). I’ve been hunting the beaches very hard, to no avail.
I’m hoping fish will start showing more on the beaches this week. Maybe they’ll be migrators from the northeast, maybe they will be big locals who are finally ready to exit the bays.

I’ve been running the beach looking for good soft structure. There aren’t too many spots right now that look promising, and I’ve never seen a more ridiculous looking sandbar. Every storm in the past couple months has significantly altered the structure of the beach, and right now is probably the worst I’ve ever seen it. So I’m hoping this huge blow we’re experiencing right now will change it up once again. I’m always happy to do the required post-storm recon.

Until the sea settles down, though, I’ll be hitting my favorite bay spots. I’ve been getting skunked ohhhh-so regularly on the sand beaches, so time to switch it up.

I saw albies out by Shagwong yesterday, and experienced some nat-geo quality whale watching as the wind rose out of the southeast. To me, whale-watching is even more fun than fishing, and I get to see them almost every single day on the south fork. Keep your eyes peeled to witness nature’s majesty!

I think there will be an insane albie bite this week for those who are in the right place at the right time. You gotta be lucky to get on that.

I also believe it’s about time for the bunker to start getting shredded up by bass. Word is most of the predators in my area are hanging a ways out from the beach. Normally, bluefish would push the bait into shore, and the nice stripers would follow. The lack of bluefish this year had me feel-ing down, because that essentially means fewer blitzes. BUT with the recent reports of nice blue-fish to the east and west, my hope has been restored.

If there’s any week out of the year to fish hard THIS IS IT! Get the heck out there! Tight lines.