Long Island - New York Fishing Report April 23, 2020

Above: Matt Heckman fights a striper in the surf on Thursday morning. 

All LI marinas are officially operable, under the social distancing protocol.

Surf Stripers are the hot item. There’s a good amount of keeper bass in the mix. Morning tides are the best.

Bay stripers are the best bet during inclement weather. Western waters will hold the biggest bass right now.

Quality fluke are in the bays (although out of season).

Porgies and blackfish are being caught from shore.

The first sea robin I’ve heard of was caught out east.

The amount of spearing and bunker around is great. Stripers are feeding pretty heavily on them in different areas. Clams are also accounting for lots of bites.

Freshwater has been productive at night when the wind calms down.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin says the local fishing has been picking up pretty good in the back bays. There are a good amount of stripers biting when the weather is cooperative. Cold weather this week definitely made the effort dwindle though.

Freshwater has been pretty good regardless. People aren’t traveling upstate much for the trout, as there’s nowhere to stay overnight. The rivers on Long Island are great alternatives though. Carman’s has been producing, and the Connetquot is always hot.

Paul did his podcast last night, and it should be posted tonight on the “Ask about fly fishing internet radio.”

Kathy from Freeport Bait & Tackle has the shop open for curbside pickup. The shop is extremely accommodating for those who need gear, so call/stop by if you’re in the market for bait, gear and/or tips.

Local anglers (and there are lots of them) are targeting stripers in the surf. Nothing giant has been caught yet, but there are plenty of bass to go around. 

There’s not much doing on the blackfish front yet, although Kathy did hear one report that tog were at the AB Reef last week.

Green crabs, bunker, bloodworms and clams are all available for pickup. Clams are going out the door like crazy, as are chicken scratch swimming plugs.

Frank at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says there’s a lot of quality bass around. The Great South Bay is loaded with them. They moved in pretty good from the inside of Fire Island recently. Fluke also showed up there. Frank caught a handful of them on the fly rod and jigs already. Although the season is a couple weeks away, Frank isn’t surprised to see the flatties this early. A huge amount of spearing is in the bay now, and the fluke are never too far behind them.

Frank said last week that bass were chowing on grass shrimp and mantis shrimp. Now they’re keyed in on the spearing, and their bellies are HUGE from it!

You can most likely find a variety of quality fish on the Fire Island beaches right now. Guys are also bucktailing some quality fluke off the local docks. There are plenty of schoolie bass around those docks too, up to 30 inches.

As for the white perch, Frank hasn’t been on them this week, but he said that fishery will only improve throughout the month of May.

Phil at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport says everybody has been catching schoolie bass this week. They’ve been catching them for weeks now, but now more customers are getting out on the water since the weather is improving. Despite the intense winds, even, anglers got out and got into a good pick of fish to 25 inches. Night shift anglers are finding better fish, to 35 inches. Bigger bass are moving in to the west, those prespawn Hudson fish that can grow to 40+ pounds. In the next couple weeks those bigger fish will head towards Cold Spring Harbor and Lloyd Harbor. By the end of May, the bigger fish will be in Northport Harbor and the Triangle.

Bait-wise, there has been some bunker moving in. Sunken Meadow and Nissequogue are seeing schools of adult bunker. Alewives are out east, which seems to be a pleasant surprise. Essentially, the large profile bait is here, so the potential is great for when bigger fish move in.

A few guys have been catching porgies off the beach recently. Some guys are going black fishing but they’re mostly catching shorts.

Dave Flanagan of “North Island Fly” guide service in Smithtown says the harbors just to his west had a big push in numbers of schoolies this week. There are even some fishing showing up along the Sound beaches. Dave aims to start running ruined trips on May 15. He’ll be doing wading trips for those that are interested. Wading is a good way to learn the water and find out how to identify productive water.

Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold says he’s waiting on the fish up there. There’s not much doing besides the schoolie bass biting in the creeks. He’s packing up fresh bunker and grinding chum in the meantime. He says the bait is pouring in, so if you need any give the shop a call.

Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball has been hitting the North Fork hard since opening day, and finding a few fish up there. The early morning tides have been his most productive. He’s been catching around 5 bass a day around first light. The fish are up to 30 inches. The bait situation hasn’t been anything to write home about. Check out Wetzel’s website, the Surf Rats Ball, for regular updates on the current fishing situation and a wealth of surfcasting information.

Jake at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says the local striper scene has been witnessing growth in both quality and quantity of fish. Guys are finding bass in the bays and ocean. He hasn’t heard much about blackfish; that may change next week, since it’ll be easier to get one’s boat on the water. There have been reports of weakfish caught in commercial nets in the bays.

Kenny at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor feels like we’re going backwards. This week the weather got colder and the fishing got slower. This morning it even snowed in a bunch of areas on the island.

Boat reports started making a comeback though. Some anglers found fish in the peconics. Guys hit Jessups for a couple keeper bass, but nothing over 29 inches. There are lots of fish stacked up there in deep water, about 50 to 60 feet down. A sea robin was caught there this week.

Some guys who are fishing the deep back bays are continually scaling down their tackle to accommodate the minuscule bass that are biting their jigs. They seem to keep getting smaller.

Kenny heard of a ridiculous blackfish bite this week from a LI jetty. The angler was hooking sand fleas and dropping them down on a tog jig. Kenny saw a picture of one solid tog, and about thirty others that were all caught/released in about an hour.

Tight Lines is chock full of inventory, and has orders coming in regularly. On Monday, Sag Harbor will start dropping boats back in the water. Give him a call if you need anything for your outings.

Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton filled me in on the updated regulations for recreational boating. Governor Cuomo has reopened marinas for recreational use. Marinas can launch boats, their staff may work on boats, receive boats from other marinas, and people are allowed to tie their boats up in slips. Those people wishing to go on a boat are required to continue instituting social distancing protocol. This means you should only go on a boat with the people you live with; you shouldn’t be taking anybody out if you have not been personally quarantined with them.

Marina workers are following Covid guidelines, wearing masks and gloves to ensure others’ safety. They want to show that opening up a business can be done safely and responsibly during this time. Do your part: cover your face if you’re going to a marina, and be mindful of the social distancing mandate.

Fish-wise, Rick has hit the ocean beaches for some stripers up to about 26 inches this week. It got tough with the wind, but the fishing is good when the water’s fishable.

Chris from Double D Charters in Montauk says the fishing season in Montauk is underway. The porgies are rolling through on their way to the spawning grounds. They’re biting clams from the boats, and sand worms from shore. Striped bass are getting larger, as a handful of reports indicated this week. Anglers found some keeper-sized fish in the schools, both from boat and surf. Codfish has not slowed down, and anglers are seeing a larger cull close to home.

Long Island Fishing Forecast

What a crazy week!

The weather was ridiculous. It sounds like effort waned a bit because of it. The ocean was often turned up with murky water and big waves. Smart anglers hit the bays instead. Matt Feldman hooked into a 36-inch bass in the bay the night before the new moon. Jimmy O’Brien and Donny Frankenbach also hammered some quality bass in the back. The fish were willing to bite Sebile plugs. 

It is a bit tougher to find ample room at the bay spots because not a lot of people are working, everyone wants to fish, and there is only so much room. The best times to go fishing, therefore, are during inclement weather, late at night and early in the morning. The most productive bites I’ve found and heard of have occurred at sunrise, and the bass have been biting well amidst the wind and rain.

Just this morning I lost a quality fish on a shad/teaser rig in the ocean. The surface was glassy and the swell was light; sand fleas began washing up, so I switched to a jig head and baited it with the small crabs. I caught six bass pretty quickly while fishing the pool adjacent to Matt Heckman’s pool. He experienced similar productivity with the same method. I’ll be back out there later today looking for more action.

With everything showing up early, all I can think about is bluefish. They usually show up in my neck of the woods in the first or second week of May, more likely the latter. Although the weather lately is a bit more dreary, it has been a warm year overall and many other species seem to be arriving well ahead of schedule. Nothing to me is more exciting than the arrival of the spring gators, so I’m hoping for an early, long run of them. More “wishful thinking” than a “forecast” but we’ll see.

At this point in the year, I don’t trust the weather forecasts more than two days away. This past week was supposed to be mid-50s every day with mild winds, according to the Weather Channel. That obviously didn’t happen.

They are actually calling for some stronger winds this week, so you’ll want to take advantage the calmer conditions in case the water gets turned up. Friday is supposed to see rain during the day, but that night and the following day are going to present great fishing conditions. As the week progresses, who knows what will happen. Fish should be biting though, if it goes anything like this past week. I think it will, so get out there!

Continue to stay safe, stay clean, and stay responsible. Wear a mask! Thanks.

Tight lines to ya.

If you’d like to be featured in these weekly reports, reach out to me on Instagram @SouthForkSalt.