Long Island Fishing Report
Inclement weather kept most anglers off the saltwater this week. Those who made it out got into some decent blackfish.
The schoolie striper bite is island-wide. Even the party boats are stopping to get in on the striper jig bite on the way to the sea bass grounds. One of those pit stops produced a 43 pound bass.
Black sea bass are still on the menu.
Some bluefish are being caught by the boat guys.
Nassau County
Robert at LI Outdoorsman in Rockville Centre says that there are LOTS of stripers on the beach that are keeping anglers happy. They’re mostly shorts, but every once in a while, you’ll hook into something around 28-30 inches. That’s dinner right there! Those guys are mainly fish-ing with lighter tackle now, tossing slim-profile lures like diamond jigs with teasers, hoping for the double-up. Hit it at sunrise and you could catch twenty fish before work. Not a bad way to start the day. Robert reckons this bite will continue right up until the end of the open season. Thank God for sandeels!
The troll guys have been doing well up until this week. That bite of bigger bass seems to be ta-pering off. Guys who are putting in the time are still picking a few better bass. One of the captree boats that was sailing for black sea bass on Monday stopped to crank up some bass on dia-mond jigs. One lucky angler hooked into a 43 pounder on a gold jig. The bass action is so good that a quick pit stop for a striper bite has become routine for ships en route to the sea bass grounds.
There are still some bass on the inside, by the bridges, as well. It is a great time to bring a kid out fishing, or someone who is new to the sport.
Robert says the blackfish bite has held up pretty well. People are catching when the weather lets them get out. As it gets colder, the bite gets better. Sea bass is still good as well. Robert men-tioned that even some blues are still getting caught. All wonderful news.
Kathy from Freeport Bait & Tackle said the weather kept most anglers in this week. It sounds like the schoolie striper bite was probably the best action anyone found. Kathy had guys coming in this week to buy clams, green crabs and topwater plugs. A number of them are going for blackfish by the Jones Beach fishing pier.
With today’s beautiful weather, and some nicer, albeit windy days in the forecast this coming week, Kathy expects some reports of cod to start coming in from the offshore grounds. She be-lieves people may already be on them, but no reports just yet.
Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin shot me a note from upstate NY this morning, regarding the lake-run trout bite. He and 18 others embarked on a journey to catch some of these over-sized rainbows and browns the other day. Today is the last day, and Paul said the fishing has been tough.
Kenny netted himself a brown trout the other day, and Paul had one as well. Peter D caught a nice steelhead, and the Conner brothers were high-hook with about five steelhead to-hand. The water was low, and the weather was nice.
Just before the trip upstate, Paul tossed streamers to some trout in one of LI’s freshly stocked ponds. He knows the end of the season is approaching quickly, so he’s getting as much time in on the water as possible.
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Suffolk County
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says the bass bite along the beaches is still going very strong. During the day, most anglers have had their best luck on diamond jigs. Tie a teaser rig for a good chance at a double header! Schoolies are even more fun when you’re fighting two at once. The sunrise and sunset popper bite is going very well, with some bigger fish in the 28-32 inch range taking topwater. Mag darters and SP minnows are the keys for the night bite.
Big seabass are getting caught on the outside reefs and wrecks, with five pound fish coming up pretty regularly.
Blackfish are hungry and moving off to the rock piles and wrecks. There are a lot of 4-6 pound-ers running around, and more than a few in the double-digits as well. Cod have begun moving in, in good numbers. Not much size there yet though.
On the freshwater side, the bass action is slowing down a bit due to the cold snap. You can still find a bite if you’ve got patience and finesse. Small jigs, small plastics, jerk baits, and blade baits are killer this time of year. Slow and steady is the name of the game for coldwater bass.
The sunfish and perch are active, chewing on jigs and nightcrawlers.
Trout are all stocked for the fall and winter, and they are active. Kastmasters, phoebes, power-bait and nightcrawlers will all do the trick for the trout. Fly guys might want to try throwing nymphs, wooly buggers and other streamers.
The shop will be open all winter, and is loaded with everything you’ll need for winter fishing. Give them a follow on social media (@ChasingTailsBait & @fishlongisland) to see pics and get up-dates during the week.
Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle reports that striped bass are still on the move. Jeremy Kurtz, Gary Nankervis and Kevin fished west and got into a bunch of bass. Jeremy managed three keepers to 25 pounds snagging and live-lining bunker. Sean Ackerson says there are tons of small striped bass in close to the beaches. Sean’s rig is a Tsunami holographic sand eel teaser fished above a diamond jig, or a Runoff sandeel jig.
Blackfish have settled into the Great South Bay, as well as ocean reefs, wrecks, and rubble piles. Keith Sheppard and Nicky Gagliano dunked some green crabs at the Kismet and Fisher-man’s Reef; they had twelve keepers to 18 inches at the bottom of the incoming tide two days straight.
Manny and Chris Capone fished tight to the State Park Police dock, hooking loads of short black-fish and one keeper each on live green crabs.
The best seabass fishing will be going on until December 31. Rich and a lot of shop regulars will be jumping on the Captree Princess for some giant biscuits and hope to see you on board.
Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold says that there have been some bass along McCabe’s in the Sound.
Blackfishing is okay; anglers are still picking away at them. There are still some charter boats that are running regularly. Steven says it’s just about “Rhode Island season” now though, mean-ing you’re gonna want to take the trip across the pond to warmer waters. He did just that the oth-er day and had a good pick of tog. The shore-based blackfish bite has died off for the most part.
Some guys are starting to look for good seabass and cod bites around Block Island.
Surf fishing guide Bernie Bass did well in the surf this past week, catching a ton of small bass. The great numbers of these smaller fish has Bernie optimistic about the fishery’s future. There were a few slightly better fish mixed into his catches. It has been all about the bucktail during the daylight hours; at night, try throwing soft plastics, mag darters and needlefish.
Jake at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says the bottom fishing out of Shinnecock has been awesome the past few days. When the weather cooperates, anglers have gotten out to do a number on the blackfish and Black Sea bass. Go with green crabs for the tog. The sea bass are all in deeper water, at about 180 feet.
Bass are still around but have been a bit more elusive during this cold, erratic week. No word on any bigger bass. “When you find ‘em you find ‘em, when you don’t, you don’t.”
Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton says the surf fishing continues to offer opportuni-ties to put a bend in the rod with schoolie bass as they continue to move along the south shore beaches.
The local nearshore/offshore bottom fishing is the main event. Hardy anglers are earning nice catches of Black Sea bass, blackfish, and the occasional cod fish east of Block Island. Rumors of fish starting to trickle down to the Cartwright Grounds are circulating.
This is the year to definitely consider a charter boat out of Montauk for a great late season bot-tom fishing trip.
Tanya at Westlake Marina in Montauk said a few guys made it out yesterday and today on the hunt for blackfish. She said they’re still catching them up, but the fishing reports this week have been few and far between due to the inclement weather.
Some nice sea bass were being caught earlier in the week, just prior to the hard winds.
On the striper front, there are still lots of small fish around. Most of their customers are going for blackfish, but word on the street is the schoolie bite is still pretty hot.
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Long Island Fishing Forecast
This week’s erratic weather made for tough fishing on the saltwater side. Strong winds from all directions turned the sea violent; giant shorebreak moved massive amounts of sand, rearranging the shoreline and dirtying up the water. It was not worth fishing the surf for a few days there.
The healing combination of north winds and precipitation has flattened the ocean’s surface once again, and today feels like it harbors high potential. As I mentioned, though, your soft structure was most likely rearranged, so get out there while the sun shines so you can find your spots
Strengthening overnight winds from the south will rebuild the surf by morning. Then we’ll have a relatively moderate week. The wind and waves will be there, but not as intense as last week’s.
When the salt is unfishable, I go brackish for white perch. Usually you can find a spot to hide from the wind and fish flat water. I did a lot of that this week, and had some solid fish up to 2.25 pounds on light tackle. They’re so scrappy and fun. Live killies and kastmasters caught me all of my fish.
Since today is so flat and gorgeous on the ocean, I’m going to get back in the salt. With the cuts closed by the big surf, my area has probably lost much of its potential, but I assume the sandeels have kept most of the stripers stationary. The masses of gannets that were moving through have thinned out. There isn’t any obvious sign of bait, except for those black ducks sig-nifying the presence of sandeels. Besides that, it looks like a pretty deserted ocean. A barren appearance is enticing to me, though, for that is when I’ve hooked into some of my biggest late season bass.
I’ll be out fishing a lot this week. There’s only oh-so-much time before the stripers are hundreds of miles south. Gotta get it while you can. Tight lines!
If you’d like to contact the author, please email Tim at tkregan12@gmail.com