Long Island Fishing Report
Good numbers of jumbo porgies on the Block Island bound party boats. Big sea bass to 6.2 pounds, and a few cod to 19 pounds this week. One could potentially catch a dozen species of fish in a day on one party boat trip.
Small striped bass (death rats) are biting along the central/western south shore beaches, signaling that the end is nigh. Holdovers are possible to catch in the back bays.
Herring is present along the north and south shores, and squid has been spotted on the north shore.
Freshwater is a great option for the shorebound. Go slow and low in the freshwater with small lures/flies for white perch, crappie, bluegill and pickerel. You may even find some bass or carp, especially on the warmer days.
Upstate lake-run trout fishing is pretty hot, but the rain and snow made for high water levels and a fast flow. Anglers still managed to catch under those tougher conditions. Some awesome trout fishing can be found here winter-long on Long Island, at Connetquot.
BY LAND
Although the majority of migrating stripers have completed the Long Island section of their journey, the capability to catch fish from shore remains. More than a few species will be willing to provide rod-bending action all winter long. Let’s look at some of the possibilities and the people who have been capitalizing on them.
STRIPED BASS: Matt Broderick is a very accomplished surfcaster who makes moves to the brackish and freshwater once the winter settles in. We’re about there now, so Matt has been hitting the back bays and tidal creeks looking for the Striped Bass’ closest relative, the White Perch. Ironically, one might just CATCH a striped bass while pursuing perch. Matt did exactly that this week, landing a solid striper deep in an east end backbay.
Brian Spreckels is all over the island looking for ways to bend the rod. He started the week with some herring, catching a handful of big ones from a north shore pier. A day later he managed to find some decent white perch to keep his line tight. He ventured down to the south shore and caught a few “death rats,” small striped bass between 13-16 inches. As the week progressed, he must have hit a dozen different spots, without much luck. That’s how winter fishing goes sometimes. He returned to his north shore perch spot a couple days ago and got back on that good bite. He even spotted a pod of huge squid in the area, so they are still around if you want some gollamah.
WHITE PERCH: There is a high amount of potential for catching white perch in most of Long Island’s tidal creeks. Long Island’s big rivers probably have the highest potential for trophy fish. With forage from tiny bugs to sizeable schools of herring, the menus there are vast and varied. I’m certain a world record is lurking on Long Island. Those big rivers are also likely the most pressured spots, so one would be wise to check the smaller waters. True trophies at 3+ pounds are often taken from the narrower estuaries. My personal best, an absolute mammoth of a perch, came from one of those smaller estuaries. I mainly throw a variety of flies to them, but small artificials and bait can be used on spinning rods as well. The most effective bait is probably grass shrimp, which can often be scraped off of docks/bulkheads with a net. Worms and killies also have their place, and are very effective. Marabou jigs and soft plastics on 1/16-⅜ ounce jigheads are probably the most effective artificial lures. Sometimes, they only want tins though. You never know with these fish, which makes them a challenging species to pursue. When you find them, they’ll often be schooled up and you’ll stand a chance at catching fifty of them. Catching fifty perch that are all over two pounds on light tackle is taxing and extremely fun.
HERRING: Adam Sandler has been hitting the piers around Long Island looking for atlantic herring. They’re in thick right now, and Adam managed to catch a bunch of good ones just as it was getting dark one evening. He was dropping a size 8 green/glow sabiki rig with a three ounce sinker from a north shore pier. Multiple piers in the south shore bays are also producing substantial numbers of herring.
TROUT: The amount of awesome trout fishing in our state is mind-boggling. Commercial Fly tyer Mike Ozkaya traveled upstate with Whitewater Outfitters’ Jeff Lomonaco to target lake-run steelhead. Jeff had one this morning, and Mike caught his first two days ago. They fished the lower fly section of Altmar in the snow, high water and fast current. Not ideal conditions. They caught some “domestic browns,” which don’t run to the lake. The fish were taking egg-sucking leech flies, and other egg-related patterns.
One can also head to the Connetquot River on Long Island or some stellar trout fishing. Greg Scherer and I headed there this past Saturday and put a beating on the fish. There were a ton of small brook trout, and some in the mid-teens as well. Then there were a bunch of rainbows willing to eat swung streamers and drifted nymphs. I hooked one fish on a nymph that I fought for a minute and a half. It tried to jump on to the far bank twice, almost tangled my line in multiple tree branches, and then made a 25 yard sprint downcurrent, zig-zagging from side to side until it ultimately spit my hook. I was about to start chasing it downstream. What an exhilarating fight! I’ll be returning ASAP.
GENERAL FRESHWATER: I finally broke a 2-week skunk by targeting crappie last night. The fish wanted small flies like marabou jigs and clousers motionless on the bottom. It felt like there were no fish there until I just stopped my retrieve entirely. And then… fish on! If a fresh water body is not frozen, there is potential there. Just fish something small slow and low. You can catch the following species throughout the winter: white perch, carp, pickerel, yellow perch, crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, and walleye. Not all of those species will feed at all times, and some need specific conditions. It’s always worthwhile though!
BY SEA
On Sunday Montauk’s Viking Starship ran to the Nantucket wrecks to fish for cod, sea bass, hake and pollock. From the first drop to the last, every angler was kept busy. First place in the cod pool went to Martin Wellen Dowd with a 12 pounder. The sea bass pool was taken by Roman Stolyarchuk’s six pounder. Michael Bunch had a 10 pound pollock on the trip.
The Viking Starran to Block Island on the same day for porgies and sea bass. Jumbo porgies ate all day, the biggest being 3.8 pounds. Qing Yang won the edible pool with a 19 pound cod.
Captree’s Laura Lee has been sailing when the weather allows, so this weekend was prime. Anglers caught literally hundreds of big sea bass to 6.3 pounds. The cod fishing was slow, but they made it up to 14 pounds. Here are some numbers from one trip for the other species, just to paint a picture of what kind of fishing gets done on the boat: 336 sea bass, 15 haddock, 2 cod, 41 porgies, 211 cape sharks, 56 red hake, 8 big silver eels, 7 bluefish, 1 pinfish, 6 sculpin, 27 cunner, and 5 weakfish.
If you are looking for some meat to freeze, or some fresh fish for the week, hop aboard one of these party boats for the day. You’ve got the two aforementioned fleets, which sail multiple trips per day to different areas. Freeport has its Captain Lou fleet, Brooklyn has the Marilyn Jean IV. Most bays along the south shore have a fleet of ships that sail regularly once, twice, even three times a day during these winter months. Just google search your bay + “party boat” and you’ll be ready to sail in no time.
SHOP REPORTS
Kathy at Freeport Bait & Tackle tells me that boats cruising to the Coimbra wreck have been doing well on the sea bass. Local surf rats are catching short stripers these days.
Robert at LI Outdoorsman in Rockville Centre says there’s herring in the bay, and small stripers on the beach. Herring are being caught at the piers; Reynolds Channel would be a good bet if you’re looking for some. Stripers are being taken on the open beaches on diamond jig/teaser combos.
Bill from Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says there are still plenty of stripers hitting diamond jigs and SP minnows from the beach. Bill tells me the stripers are pretty keyed in on herring at this point too. Blackfish and seabass seem to be the primary catches on his local party boats.
Long Island Fishing Forecast
I sent my drone out over the clear, flat water of the surf zone the other day. There were bunker splashing outside one of the east end cuts, so I figured there should be some bass there, despite my inability to buy a hit. Sure enough, there were a bunch of striped bass swimming around slowly and unwilling to eat. I just gotta figure out the correct approach.
The surf today is very calm, having been pushed down by the north wind. It’s a bit murky after the surf got stirred up by those heavy winds the other day. The big waves moved a lot of life around, and I’m not seeing gannets anymore. I suspect there are herring though because the water looks very oily in the rip currents along shore. Clams were unearthed by the crashing waves, and that will often get fish willing to bite. If you can throw a clam or a herring chunk, or hit the right water at the right time with an artificial lure, you might just hook into your personal best fish of the year. The chances are slim, but the reward would make the effort extremely worthwhile. There’s only a few days left to try it, and the water is flat, so get to the beach for one last hoorah.
I have been getting skunked for over a week though. Awful weather and surf forced me to search deep in the bays and lakes for white perch, to no avail. I finally broke the skunk last night with a bunch of big crappie as the full moon rose. I went real small with my fly selection, and wouldn’t get hit unless the fly was sitting motionless on the bottom. It often pays to put yourself in the snag-zone, especially in the wintertime.
We have many fish on Long Island that can keep our rods bent throughout the winter. I mentioned a bunch here, but there are some other unsung heroes like carp and walleye that will bite readily in the correct winter conditions. Even if you get skunked, it’s better to be outside watching a colorful sunset on the water, rather than inside with your eyes glued to a screen.
I hope this week’s report gave you some hope and motivation to get out there in this cold. If you do, let me know how you do! Message me on instagram @SouthForkSalt, or email me at TKRegan12@gmail.com. Thanks as always for reading, and tight lines!
The Herring run in Magnolia is are full this year.
Great report. Thank you.