Long Island - New York Fishing Report - April 9, 2020

 

The first wave of migratory stripers have entered the surf and bays island-wide.

Weakfish are quietly making their way into the south shore bays.

Cod grounds have been productive.

Trout waters are saturated with stocked fish.

Big largemouth bass are voracious on the nicer days.

White Perch are biting and thick with eggs.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin says that guys are still getting out there. Trout and stripers are the main targets he’s hearing about. One of his customers, Tom, tied up some of his own flies and caught a bunch of trout at the Carlls River this weekend. Belmont Lake, which feeds the Carlls, has also been giving up plenty of fish.

The Connetquot is producing, as always, and the Carman’s River is doing especially well right now. All the waterbodies are stocked, so get yourself out there for some fishing. If there’s someone fishing a small hole, just move to the next one. Keep your distance, and stay safe!

Stripers are all over the western half of the island. Guys are catching them in the surf at near Robert Moses and Jones Beach. Paul’s assuming they’re in the back bays at this point as well. Another customer, Johnny, was fishing nearby Reynolds Channel and had some stripers up to 28 inches.

 

Kathy from Freeport Bait & Tackle heard of some guys going out for blackfish locally. The action was slow, but one group boated one tog, and the other group had a bunch of hits.

Local striper action has been productive as well. The surf seems to be the place.

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale says the stripers are in, and they’re getting bigger every week. We’ve caught them everywhere from the bay to the open beach. They have been crushing swimbaits, bucktails with a Fat Cow strip, 125 Mag Darters and SP minnows. There are lots of little guys around, with a few keepers being caught as well. Reports out West are of much bigger and much fatter fish, which means the migration is fully on. 

Tautog season has been very nice to those willing to give it a try. Good numbers of quality fish is always a good sign. Flounder are the same way: if you’re willing to go, you will do well. Bloodworms are the best right now, and don’t forget to chum! 

On the freshwater side of things, trout season is in full swing. The second stockings will be happening as you read this. Lots of little Rainbows and some really nice Browns in the mix this year. Rumor has it, next year we will start seeing much bigger and better quality fish in our stocking programs. As far as lures, little spoons will do very well, Trout Magnets and curly tails too. Bait wise, the classic worms or Power Bait. The flies have been doing big numbers as well: nymphs and dry flies for the smaller fish, and the big browns are absolutely demolishing wooly buggers. Please stay safe out there while you’re fishing on boats, beaches or banks. Keep at least one rod length between you and the next angler. We are a huge community on this island and we can help flatten the curve. 

Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle is loaded with bait! If you need sandworms, clam, bunker, spearing, squid, sardines, and any freshwater baits, look no further.

Anglers have reported bunker being pushed into the beach by schoolie stripers east of Robert Moses. Hans caught and released a few bass off the Sayville dock last week using sandworts.

Cod and small blackfish have been caught in good numbers off some of the 20 mile wrecks on fresh clams. 

Rich from the shop has scored consistently over the last few weeks with white perch to 2.25 pounds. 

Weakfish are in the Great South Bay near Ocean Beach feeding on spearing and grass shrimp.

The shop is providing curbside pickup and phone-in orders.

Dave Flanagan of “North Island Fly” guide service in Smithtown has spent some hours in the suds here and there, picking away at schoolie stripers. He’s been catching a few a day, anywhere from 12-26 inches long. He’s got his eyes on the bait situation, and has been noticing more and more spearing in the back bays. He’s awaiting a big grass shrimp hatch, but no sign of that yet.

Phil at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport says the striper bite has been fruitful and consistent. We’re seeing the same early spring patterns as usual. It all begins in Little Neck Bay, and then the stripers trickle into the local bays and creeks. There’s not so much action the further east you head, but there are a few productive places out there. Bigger fish are definitely to the west.

There are a few surfcasters catching schoolie bass locally. The biggest Phil’s heard is 15 pounds. He reckons they’re all migrators, as the water temps hit 52 the other day. 

The shop is open for service work, mainly. But if you need some gear, give them a call to arrange a curbside pickup. 

Jeff at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says there’s a bunch of schoolie bass around. He was fishing near “LI Flies Mike,” who has been getting a steady pick of back bay stripers riddled with sea lice. The sea lice indicate that these fish are migratory, having just arrived from the ocean. Furthermore, the holdover bass that resided locally this winter have been biting, so the opportunities abound

We’ve got Chris from Double D Charters in Montauk with the east end scuttlebutt. Kris from DeepLurable had some awesome trips this week, finding a variety of fish like cod, dogfish, sculpin, and even a jumbo fluke (released).

Montauk’s surfcasters are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the striped bass, which could occur any day now.

Large sandeels and spearing have been seen in the inlet.

Long Island Fishing Forecast

We’ve got some tough weather coming at us. Intense thunderstorms today will become strong gales that’ll persist throughout the weekend.

My tactic for this speedbump is finding shelter from the wind. I’m most likely going into heavily wooded freshwater areas, and fishing from the upwind bank. Either that, or I’m fishing skinny water that isn’t as affected by the winds. This can be done in both salt and freshwater spots. There’s ALWAYS somewhere you can fish.

I’m seeing a good number of whales and dolphins migrating along the coast. The dolphins have been moving within the outer bar, as close as 50 yards from the beach. There are so many of them. Great to see.

Whales are typically staying out a bit further, from ½ – 2 miles out. Scan the horizon diligently, and you’ll likely see some spouts pretty quickly on most days.

The show the gannets have been putting on is amazing. It seems like the windier the day, the more likely they’re going to be dive bombing in huge groups. The past few days, they have been more spread out, still dive bombing, but not in huge groups all at once. Check out my youtube page (SouthForkSalt) for some incredible drone footage of the dive bombing spectacle that occurred this week.

Now for the actual fishing.

I caught some yellow perch yesterday that JUST spawned. They were hungry for my fire-tiger clouser minnows. Another couple guys were out on the water, and they were just finishing up a 100-fish day of mostly largemouth. They had a couple big pickerel as well. I stuck it out into the night time and had some serious bucketmouths attack my topwater flies. I found that with a popper (crease fly), a few fast LOUD pops will garner attention after the sun goes down. If you let it sit for about 5-10 seconds, maybe twitch it a little bit, you will probably raise a big bass. It is so exhilarating.

I put away my boat around 8 p.m. last night and headed to another pond to implement my friend Chris’ nighttime wakebait tactics. I very slowly creeped a huge, squirmy fly along the glass calm surface, pausing often to let it sit. I raised about 15 largemouth bass doing this and landed three respectable ones. Some of those rising bass were enormous. 

Last year, I didn’t focus on the largemouth during this time of year, and opted for the schoolie stripers instead. I feel like that was a mistake, so I’m trying not to miss out again this year. If you remember my reports from this time last year, you might recall the stories from my friend EJ who was consistently catching huge largemouths. That’s gonna be the best game in town right now, and one I’m committed to.

I can never stray TOO far from the salt though. I went west and hit the central island surf for some schoolie bass earlier this week. There is a new class of fish rolling with our striped friends from this past fall. Alongside the 24-28 inch stripers now swims a plethora of 10-14 inch bass. It’s funny when you get them in and realize how dinky they are. Gotta love ‘em though! Cute as heck.

That being said, there’s no reason to use barbed or treble hooks on these fish. It’s easy fishing if you go at the right time. Throw a bucktail or a rubber shad and you’ll get them. Crush your barb. You stand zero chance of losing a monster fish right now because of a crushed barb (it’s primarily just shorts around), and keeping the barb will only put more strain on the fish. Crushing your barb also equals less strain for you, when you’re having a tough time removing a deep hook. Season ain’t even open yet. Crush your barbs please.

White Perch are chilling in the creeks with the holdovers, so get after them with small lures/flies. They’re readily attacking bigger artificials right now too, probably because of all the bait that’s been around.

Weakfish are being caught by commercials, so it’s time to start monitoring those spots. I’m trying to up my weakie game this year. I’ll be on the hunt this week.

Protect your spots and bites and fishery. Don’t upload pics and videos on social media the same day you catch a striper. It’s not a race or a contest. Everybody is itching to catch fish, right now more than ever, so posting about fresh arrivals will create crowds. That’s dangerous. Be a ghost, not a jabberjaw. Coming from a report guy, I know. I’m just saying.

DON’T FORGET THE NEW STRIPER REGULATIONS THIS YEAR. The season opens April 15 for Long Island, and the SLOT LIMIT is 28 to 35 inches. Anything that is 35.00 inches or greater must be released safely. Take good care of the little ones as well.

Tight lines, ladies and gents, ‘til next week.