Long Island – New York Fishing Report – May 7, 2020

Tough week for stripers in the ocean. Find them in the bays when it gets turned up.

The fluke opener wasn’t spectacular for the most part. Sounds like most fish caught were found in western Nassau on the South Shore.

“Porgy Heaven!” Giant, hungry porgies abound on the North Fork.

Good flounder fishing was found on the South Shore.

Bluefish are entering the bays, and they’re either 1.5 pounds or 16 pounds; not much in between.

Good numbers of weakfish have moved into the Peconics.

Huge largemouth bass are attacking big baits. Everything else in the freshwater is biting as well.

It seems more people are fishing these days than ever before.

Vinny from CrossBay Bait and Tackle in Howard Beach says they’re still getting plenty of schoolie stripers in the area. Some guys started picking up some fluke just yesterday, and porgies are in.

Stripers have been hitting clams and rubber shads in white and bunker colors. Local guys have been buying bomber lures in a silvery spearing pattern.

Fluke have been hitting jigs in the lower Rockaways in the back channels. It’s been tough with the wind though.

Anglers have been catching some decent sized porgies by Canarsie Pier.

Crossbay is open for curbside pickup.

Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin spent 4 hours on Monday at the Connetquot River. It was his first time in two years, and it’s as good as he remembers. He had one fish at about 22 inches, among others. The trout were taking dry flies and streamers.

The fluke action has been pretty good around town. Guys are even targeting them with a fly rod. Spearing have been appearing in large numbers, which is a potential explanation for the great fluke fishing.

Striper action has also been good. Paul hit up the surf on Tuesday evening during the slack tide. The water was frigid and the fish weren’t biting, but his friend showed up a short while after and targeted the moving tide. That produced a couple solid bass to about 28 inches in the Jones Beach area.

The week ahead is going to be an interesting one, as they are forecasting snow for areas just a short drive north.

Kathy from Freeport Bait & Tackle says a lot of guys are bait fishing these days, with stripers, porgies and fluke on the menu. She’s been selling a lot of frozen spearing and squid for fluke, and then bloodworms clams and bunker for the stripers and porgies. Hi-lo clam rigs and porgy rigs have been doing damage. Topwater poppers have been picking some decent bass as well.

There haven’t been any tangible reports for fluke or weakfish yet, but rumors of their presence have spread. Not a lot of people have their boats in the water, which explains the lack of solid intel on these fish.

A few guys are catching bass near the Meadowbrook bridges. Hardcore guys are going at night and getting stripers to keeper-size from shore.

Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle reports that it’s been tough to fish with heavy winds. There has been some activity though. Loads of small stripers were caught from the docks, boat and beach. Ronnie Sciortino had a few 28-30 inch bass in the back of Tobay. Sandworms and small poppers worked best.

Hans and Joe anchored and clam chummed the Robert Moses Bridge on Saturday. They had six schoolies during the outgoing tide.

Chuck Weinscheimer had an outstanding catch on Saturday. He nailed a 3.02 pound flounder in West Channel.

Richie Kehoe and another caught three flounder to 2 pounds in the same area. Several other crews tried for flounder but the bite was slow.

We are open for take out orders, curbside delivery and phone orders. The shop is carrying sandworms, bloodworms, fresh clams, fresh bunker, squid strips, whole squid, XL local spearing, sardines, fresh mussels, clam belly and clam chum.

Surfcasting guide Bernie Bass found a productive bite of small stripers along the western sound this week. There’s plenty of bunker back there, and also between the two forks. There are a ton of schoolies in the south shore creeks, and also between the forks.

Hopefully we’ll be getting some warm weather in the next week, and the blues should come along with it.

Bernie’s guided trips are cancelled until June 1st, but you can book him through either his website berniebass.com or his instagram page @bernie_bass.

Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport says the local fishing has been good. There are plenty of bass around, and they’re mostly shorts. There have been some short fluke in the shallows, and no weakfish have been reported yet.

There are no bluefish either, just a ton of bass 12-30 inches. The fish are on all types of bait, and so a wide variety of offerings are taking them. Guys are catching on clams, worms and all sorts of lures.

To the west, the striper bite is considerably better. Fish up to and over 20 pounds are getting caught, but it’s mostly fish in the teen pound-class.

Porgies showed up in a couple areas for a couple days, then they just disappeared. Normally, with head boats running regularly, we’d be able to gauge where the porgies moved and why. Mark reckons it was the cold front that sent them running, and he thinks they might have just went deep.

Before that, they were hanging out along the mussel beds off the beach. The majority of fish were male spawners. The bigger porgies will be arriving soon, and behind them in hot pursuit, Mark expects to see larger bass and weakfish. They usually show up in Cold Spring Harbor first, and sit out on Center Island Reef.

Mark is seeing a similar situation on the north shore that we are experiencing on the south shore. Never have so many people been going out to fish. The popular spots get extremely crowded on a beautiful day. Mark has resorted to ghost tactics, making moves at night to the places where people don’t go. Same here.

Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold says there’s bass in the Sound, and some are quality. Up in the bays there is plenty of small stuff. Steve heard of three keepers caught in the peconics just yesterday. It’s getting better and better.

It’s porgy heaven up there right now. Steve said the porgy fishing is “out of control!” There’s a wealth of jumbos, all you can eat!

Lots of weakfish showed up in the bays as well. There are a lot of small fish. They won’t really put the chew on until after they spawn though.

The fluke fishing has been a bit erratic for the start, along with the water temps. The shallow waters have actually been more productive. Anglers are catching more flatties in warmer water.

Swimming plugs like mag darters, sp minnows, and Joe Baggs swimmers have been flying off the shelves. Anglers are also purchasing lots of storm shads.

Bryce at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says the fluke opener this week was less than spectacular. Anglers had fish in the typical early season spots though, in Shinnecock Bay and the Peconics.

The porgy fishing in the peconic has been decent thus far, and Bryce reckons by the time you read this, it will have graduated to “great.”

A couple weakfish have begun to pop up here and there along the south shore. No word on weaks from the picnic just yet, but that should change soon.

The big news has been the striped invasion of the bays. Tons of short bass are being caught all over the back waters, up to about keeper size. Bigger fish will move into those spots in the coming weeks.

The first bluefish have begun to show up, and they are either 1.5 pounds or 16 pounds. There is not much in-between.

Kenny at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor says there are a bunch of anglers to be found at the bay spots, and a potential pick of bass for the shorebound ones. He had a striper swipe at his popper last night in the rain. Just a few schoolies were landed along that long beach at the bottom of the outgoing.

Joel Fisher caught a nice 33-34 inch striper out of Jessups. He released it! Good work Joel.

Kenny spoke to someone who had a pair of 18 inch weakfish.

The fluke opener was very slow. Ken saw a couple pictures of short fish, but none of keepers. In a few more weeks, the keeper flatties should be plentiful.

The porgy action at Jessups has been improving. There are bigger fish moving in, but the majority of them right now are 12-14 inch fish.

One customer said he got into some bluefish.

Kenny is open every day except Wednesdays.

Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton reports tough conditions with the weather refusing to cooperate. Wind and cold have prevailed along the South Fork. The few windows of opportunity coincided with rather heavy boating and beachgoer traffic which is somewhat frustrating to someone who has spent 50 years fishing in relative isolation this time of year.

The fact is we are in a new era of social engagement, and it will impact how we fish and share our public spaces. Rick is in the process of formulating a new personal fishing strategy for 2020.

Porgies remain fairly abundant to commercial netters, although the bite has been fickle due to cold water temperatures. Schoolie stripers are around but, again, the bite has been slow in developing. The first fluke, weakfish and bluefish were reported by some of the local baymen. Rick has yet to hear of any keepers taken on rod and reel though. The one angling report for fluke came from Gardiners Bay regarding a few short fish.

Rick anticipates things breaking loose in the next week or so. Take advantage of fair weather windows and be prepared to share your favorite spring spots with your friends and fellow fishermen. Be patient and be kind, as we are all in this together.

Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball found some dink stripers in Sag Harbor on Saturday when the surf was up. Tough pickings in his other spots.

On Tuesday, he went west and hit the backwaters near Smith Point. He had a handful of fish on Storm shads as the evening settled in.

Other anglers in the SRB had luck out west. Jamaica Bay gave up a number of quality bass to just over 30 pounds one night.

Montauk also saw some action on Monday, with rain bait blitzes occurring on the north side. Those fish weren’t taking offerings, but the angler witnessing it managed a 20 inch bass on a mag darter on the outgoing tide.

Chris from Double D Charters in Montauk says bottom fishing is starting to heat up. While fluke fishing, there have been some very large bycatch of seabass. Toad had a good report of a few keeper fluke on his first trip of the year, and he’s looking forward to a great year of fluking.

Keeper-sized striped bass have invaded the south side surf. From boat, the north rip continues to produce small striped bass on diamond jigs.

Shad and herring are still being caught in the inlet, primarily around sunrise and sunset.

Porgies are biting at the hangar dock on sand worms and sand fleas.

Tanya at Westlake Marina in Montauk says there haven’t been any real reports yet, as there are only about a dozen boats in the water. One customer did go out in search of fluke, to no avail. He got a read on the water temps, which were about 47-49 degrees. That’s still a bit cold for fluke. In the weeks to come, we should be hearing a lot more from the Montauk marinas.

Long Island Fishing Forecast

If you fished the ocean this past week, odds are you had a tough time. The waves were massive this Saturday. The turbulence dirtied up the water, turning the fish off the feed.

I didn’t hear of any surf stripers until yesterday morning actually, when Matt Heckman was able to get back on them.

Despite the huge waves, the ocean calmed down real quick. By Sunday evening, there was fishable, fishy-looking water. Rips up front stayed extremely strong, which is normal for the first couple days after a huge swell, but the water just wasn’t clean. I threw the bag into the best looking rips in the area. I soaked crabs and chunked bunker. It was wasted effort. When we get a blow like that, your best bet is hitting the back bays.

So that’s what I did. I headed up into the peconics on the hunt for a weakfish. I went to my #1 spot. It was a beautiful night, and the crowd there was ridiculous. The point I desired to fish only has room for a handful of casters. Trucks were coming and going, and the beach was lined with casters.

So, I drove to my closest alternative. Again, I discovered a crowd of humans there. I didn’t even pull all the way up. On to bay spot #3. The sun had begun to set at this point, so I was racing against time. I made it to the spot with some light remaining. The spot was host to a local beach party, devoid of masks and all precaution, but there were only a few casters at the outflow. I posted up outside the choke with ample distance between me and the next guy. The four other fishermen had a few micro bass, and I landed some on the fly. Then 6 to 8 teenagers rolled up sharing a few rods between them, and all their gear.

It feels like a “you can’t tell me what to do” attitude. These huge beach gatherings are uncharacteristic for this time of year. The amount of anglers out is unprecedented compared to what I’ve witnessed in the past decade in early May. Being forced to remain cooped up will naturally provoke this response. Unfortunately many people are choosing to flaunt their “freedom” and do the opposite of what medical professionals are pleading.

I’ve gone ghost-mode, taking to the nights and untapped spots. Freshwater has been relatively quiet, so I hit the sweetwater for yellow perch, carp, pumpkinseed, pickerel, and bass. All those fish were biting extremely well. The bass were a bit tougher for me, so I tried them again in the night. Good move, as I landed my personal best largemouth at 7.5 pounds on the fly.

The next few days I poked around the bays, avoiding the popular points and checking flats areas. I wanted bluefish, but I only found stripers on topwater. Spooks worked darn well for me on that calm bay water.

In the week ahead, I’ll just try to go where the people won’t be. I’ve developed a decent feel for that. I recommend trying freshwater, the ocean beaches and bay flats.

I feel certain somebody is going to catch a bluefish out by me today. I want to be that person. The next seven days are the typical time frame during which the bluefish arrive on the East End every single spring. I’ve still got those dang weakfish on the mind.

It’s looking like another volatile week ahead, with unpredictable winds and weather patterns. It will probably be an improvement from this past week though. Go fishing when the weather lets you, as often as possible.

As more people get their boats into the water, we’ll be hearing a lot more reports, of a greater variety of fish as well.

Tight lines this week everybody!