Long Island – New York Fishing Report – October 24, 2019

Long Island Fishing Report

Boats are still catching lots and lots of huge bass south of Debs. The inshore bite in that area is excellent too, with big blitzes of schoolie stripers inside the bays. Big threshers are taking some of those bunker spoons intended for bass. The North Fork blackfish bite is red hot. Plenty of keepers. Albies are still around the North Fork. Good seabass out of Montauk.

The east end striper scene, which is usually peaking right about now, is absolutely dismal. Death rats (the very short bass you normally see in big numbers in December) have already been reported by many anglers.

Nassau County

Robert at LI Outdoorsman in Rockville Centre says the bass fishing is nuts right now. In 50-60 feet of water between Debs and Jones, fish up to 50 pounds are being caught regularly. Rob’s buddy Martin Wenk has been super dialed-in, putting a 41 on the deck one day, and a 45 the next. Many of the boats that are getting out there are doing similarly well. Two boats that were trolling bunker spoons even hooked thresher sharks. That’s the first time(s) Rob ever heard of that happening.

Boats staying inshore are catching the schoolies up big time. Diamond jigs have been a very useful tool in the bay spots. Rob Sr. was out this morning at first light and got into an incredible schoolie blitz in Reynolds Channel. He caught over ten bass on deadly dicks, and left them bit-ing. There were fish everywhere, as many as you want. These are especially great fishing cir-cumstances for bringing youngsters along.

There are bunker outside the inlet and guys have been doing okay with the snag-and-drop. Surf guys are doing well around the Jones beach parking lots, and off the jetties. Rob saw about ten guys flashing their lights consistently on the tips of the jetties.

Blackfish has been a little bit slow, but there’s been a pick of fish. One day they’ll bite, the next day they might not. It’s five bucks for a dozen crabs, so you’re best off just bringing some along with you.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin says the fishing effort is slowing down as the weather is getting colder. The fishing has only been okay. Anglers are catching bass at Jones Beach, but he’s only heard of small stripers for the most part. The albies haven’t showed back up since the storms, so that is disappointing as well.

In the sweet water, the LI Flyrodders had a trip to the Connetquot the other day. In the morning, the fishing was tough, but most anglers had 1 or 2 fish. That’s compared to their usual 5-10 fish. One positive thing though, is that all the fish were big.

Paul hit the Farmington River on Monday, but those fish were very spooky this time around. He’s hoping that will change by the time he makes his next trip there in a couple weeks.

Big threshers and stripers hit the docks at Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside this past weekend.

In 50-60 feet of water south of Debs, hundreds of boats plucked big stripers out of the sea by trolling big bunker spoons. Limits were had by many.

Vinny Gandino of “It’s About Time” was high hook for bass at the fishing station with a 41.75 pound bass.

Saturday produced bigger bass, and Sunday showed more fish to a smaller size. It sounds to me like they might be starting to move on.

The threshers that came in over the weekend went 250 and 280, caught by boats who were ac-tually trolling for bass.

Let’s take a look at the numbers from Captree’s Laura Lee real quick. Last Friday they caught 202 big stripers. Saturday, they caught 266 stripers to 46 pounds. Sunday produced 331 bass, even though they cancelled their evening trips.

Monday saw 397 stripers come over the rails to 28 pounds. Tuesday, they had 305 bass to 38 pounds hit the decks. Yesterday 311 stripers came over the rails of the Laura Lee. That’s 1,812 striped bass caught in six days. They sail four times a day and can accommodate up to eighty anglers. Wild!

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Suffolk County

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says the fall run is in full swing! Striped bass are running heavy along the beaches, in the bay and ocean. They’re crushing diamond jigs, SP minnows, swim shads, mojos, bunker spoons and topwater lures.

Jason Maltman had one at 32 pounds this week while fishing in the ocean. Eric Gangi landed a solid 33.8 pound bass earlier this week while jigging. Paula Rubino had a cow come up to greet her, weighing in at 43.5 pounds. Will Ganshaw had a great first time on the beach, catching strip-ers with Bill and Vinny Cagnina on Friday night into Saturday morning. They were on SP minnows all night, smashed poppers in the morning, and were blitzing on sand eels and eating diamond jigs as the morning went on.

Blackfish season is off to a great start, with lots of quality fish hanging out close. Opening day was a banger for Bill, Jake Farino, Jacob Minerva and Logan Schwartz. They had fish all day up to 20 inches on shop rigs and jigs.

Jacky the baitcaster bandit hit up the north shore and had a limit of keepers in no time, all on jigs. The shop is loaded with jigs, rigs and crabs.

Seabass action is incredible right now. Lots of big fish have been coming up from the depths. Fish 3-5 pounds are common, with some monster 7 pound knuckleheads coming up occasional-ly. Jigs and clams are the go-to choice for them.

Weakfish are still running here and there on the morning tides, smacking up pink bass assassins and jelly worms. Snappers are mostly gone but some solid kingfish are still around.

On the freshwater side, trout have been stocked and are hungry. Trout magnets, Kastmasters, and the good old-fashioned worm on a hook will do the trick. Bass are on the feed, and actively looking for a meal. Swim baits, spinners, crank baits, poppers, and frogs are the go-to lures this time of year. A Texas or wacky-rigged Senko is always a classic that produces as well. The shop is loaded with everything you’d need.

Will Ganshaw hooked into a monster 4.7 pound largemouth on a spinnerbait on Saturday.
Bluegill and perch are schooled up and eating jigs and worms like crazy. They are easy to catch and are tons of fun for the whole family.

Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle says the striped bass are here in excellent numbers and there were some great catches this week. Blackfish are making an impressive appearance at the Robert Moses Bridge and Democrat Point areas. False albacore and green bonito have been mixing in with the bass in 70 foot depths.

On Monday S.I.F.C. President Tom D’Angelo, Bobby Buddenhagen, and Mike Phillipone had a slow morning jig bite then switched tactics to bunker snagging. They caught their limit of stripers to 25.52 pounds.

Rich Pepa and Jeremy Kurtz joined Rich from the shop on the opening day of blackfish season on Tuesday. First they went outside Fire island Inlet in 55 feet where they jigged up thirty stripers up to 25 pounds. Then the crew anchored at the R.M. Bridge and caught three keeper blackfish to 3.86 pounds. Meanwhile Drew Maniscalco anchored a few pilings down and beat ’em up. He caught eight keepers, taking home four from 3.5-4.5 pounds.

The next day Harry Stolberg and Matt Z. tried the same area. They had three keeper togs including a 6 and 5.5 pounder on green crabs and fresh clams.

On Saturday Tom D’Angelo went out of Jones Inlet with a buddy aboard Tom’s boat “Reel Fun.” Tom located a school and the guys snagged and dropped live bunkers. Tom was rewarded with a quality bass weighing 37.82 pounds.

Early Saturday morning Rich from the shop and Scott Keicher hit 65 foot depths off of Gilgo Beach. There was a solid jig bite that ended with several bass to 26 pounds. Close by, the “Schaeffer City crew was also into fish. The guys had several stripers including a 18 pounder caught by Frank Haberstroh.

On Sunday the “Hi-Hook” crew of Billy Biscardi, Joe Biscardi, and Joe B. Jr. put time in at the R.M. Bridge. Joe Biscardi was high hook with eight keeper blacks, jigging and bait fishing with green crabs. Billy caught a healthy 4.62 pounder, proving that there’s still are a lot of decent blackfish around. That same day, Rich Pepa and son Gianni Giorgini-Pepa targeted bass outside Fire Island Inlet. Rich described a fierce morning jig bite with stripers to 20 pounds, and they also caught 2 false albacore of 7.5 and 12 pounds. It is the start of some really good fishing and it’s suggested that you make the time to get on both bites while they’re hot.

Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold says the fishing is red hot on the North Fork. In the LI Sound, the schoolie bass have been razing the shoreline. There are some serious albies in the mix as well, weighing into the teens.

Blackfish is the number one fishery right now on the NoFo. Anglers are catching some very nice-sized ones, and pretty easily acquiring their limits.

You can find them anywhere along the Sound. Check out the points, like Rocky or Horton’s. From the north side of Plum, and all the way east, you’d do just as well. There are some real nice seabass if you trek into the deeper waters.

The water is still warm, and the albies are still in. Get in on it while the getting’s good. Further east at Petty’s and Mulford’s Point, anglers are finding plenty of them, along with some nicer stripers.

Kenny at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor says there are bass around here and there. There were schools on the east side of Gardiners this past week. He saw some pics of albies this morning at the Gut. Yesterday, Kenny fished the outgoing at Shinnecock and not a single angler there brought in a fish.

Blackfish reports have been fantastic, although getting bait has been a real trouble due to the re-cent storms.

Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton says the fall migration is in full swing. Fish are mov-ing along the beach and some have already reached NYC. It seems like the bigger schools of larger striped bass are moving out of eastern LI waters by late October. This would be the third year in a row for that pattern.

That said, stripers are still up in the Peconics and Rick has seen a few good topwater sessions in our local backwaters. In addition, local sharpies are still hitting the surf zone with some decent results. He thinks there is still a very good chance for anglers to find a keeper striper or two.
Blackfishing has been solid, with decent numbers per trip. There aren’t many jumbos though.
Seabass and porgies are making their way to deeper reefs and structure; those will be the spots to hit if the weather permits it.

Chris at Westlake Marina in Montauk says the black fishing has been very good. The “Blood-line” just came in when I called, with a full boat limit of keepers for 5 guys. Those 20 fish only took a half day to catch.

There are lots of bass around, and they are pretty much all shorts. There are very few keepers that have been reported. There are lots of birds working around Shagwong, and under them is a fleet of small bass.

The albies are all gone, seemingly headed to the North Fork and west.
Porgies are still biting, and the seabass bite is excellent right now. There are lots of seabass along the southwest Ledge.

Surf fishing guide Bernie Bass had a good week in the surf. He had good numbers of bass, and even ran into a few decent ones during the day. The bite has been on both day and night. It was nice to see the return of the albies (his favorite fish), as that bite heated up again. There is a ton of bait in the water, and the dropping temperatures should provide for some great weeks ahead. Bernie says if you have the time, get out there because you won’t be disappointed.

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

Long Island Fishing Forecast

I am the eternal optimist. Every week this fall, I feel like the world will put some good fish on my doorstep. I can count on that at least once per fall, and it always happens by now, the end of October. When it happens, there is always a few days of it.

Not this year.

This past week we had a blitz that lasted only for the morning. I got some really amazing footage of a giant bass feeding during that blitz (see it on my YouTube or Instagram @SouthForkSalt).

That action should have been (a) longer-lived and (b) more widespread. There are near/onshore commercial nets to the east slaughtering so many of the bass that should have been attacking those bunker, though. I’m afraid these nets are going to soon render the blitz a thing of the past. The ocean-side fishing has been garbage out here as a direct result of them.

This is the worst October I’ve seen on the beach since I began fishing. Alas, I remain hopeful for the week ahead. Ain’t nothing to it but to do it. Throw your sandeel lures this week.

Release your fish. Use single hooks. Don’t keep them out of the water for long. Keep your pliers on you.

Striped bass are the greatest fish on earth. Show them the respect they deserve.
Tight lines.