10-to-14 inch stripers are running the beaches of Long Island and there is a good chance of catching a keeper. Over-slot bass are still in the cards for surf and boat anglers. Fish to 30-pounds were caught this week, and could still be caught as we approach the full moon. Some gator bluefish popped up along the south shore in western Nassau. Bottom fishing has been excellent the past week. Squid are showing up in some areas. There are still some tuna running in about 70-to-100 feet of water.
Long Island Fishing Report
John McMurray of One More Cast Charter in Oceanside, says the weather windows to get out have been few and far between, but he’s witnessing the typical end of season stuff occurring in his area. Big bass have mostly moved on, leaving lots and lots of schoolies in their wake. Bluefish to 10-pounds have recently appeared. “Ghost” bluefin tuna have been hunting in 70-to-100 feet of water, as they have been at this time for some years prior. They’re very difficult to catch, but not impossible.
Josh, at Gypsea Charters in Rockaway, says the influx of striped bass in the area continues to provide each charter trip with consistent action throughout the day. Fish of all sizes are coming over the rails. Gator bluefish have invaded the area too, slamming jigs with force and providing anglers with lots of light tackle fun. Tautog fishing is up and down; some days have consistent action with shorts and keepers, other days are an absolute grind. There are a few openings on the Gypsea Star Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The Capt. Lou Fleet in Freeport, says they finished up their striper season strong, with some full boat limits leading up to their final day on Sunday. The winds and big seas made for some difficult fishing as their closing day approached, but they still got on the fish. Plenty of shorts kept the fishing rods bent. They’re running one more whale watching tour on Black Friday, Nov. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Moving on to tautog, the fishing has improved over the past few trips, and they’ll be heading out for tog every day from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2. Keep Dec. 10 open on your calendar if you’re interested in competing in the “King of Tog” pool.
Captree’s Laura Lee in Babylon, says they’re still putting up good numbers of stripers and blues, among other species. Bass have been prevalent the past couple trips, with anglers catching over 100 per person on some trips. Thursday produced 75 bluefish. However, since then they’ve only had about 10-to-20 bluefish landed per trip. Sea robins are biting pretty good as well, as are dogfish.
Mark, at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport, says the past week has been very fun. Saturday was red hot when the wind laid down a bit and the sun came out. Mark hit the back bays from 8-to-10:30 a.m. and caught a bunch of short stripers. There’s a ton of bait, specifically adult bunker, which poured in the past couple days. Squid came through as well, providing another target for light tackle anglers. Bigger stripers are shadowing the squid, so there is still hope for a large fish. Most of the fish Mark has caught and heard of are short bass. The tautog bite has been going really well, and some cod have moved in. Someone came in to weigh a nice cod the other day. Guys were tossing tins near the Nissequogue this week and numerous winter flounder were following their lures to the beach.
The Viking Fleet of Montauk, says they got into some good fishing over the weekend. Giant black sea bass were coming up all day Saturday, and cod came up on almost every drop. The cod were also large, with many thick fish in the teens. Renato Zabata from the Bronx won the pool with a 20-pounder. Mark Song from Pearl River took the black sea bass pool with a 4.5-pounder. Pollock and porgies provided some other notable catches. Lots of tautog were biting for anglers aboard the Starlite. They had about 100 keepers and 150 throwbacks. Dwayne Sherard from Baldwin took the tog pool with a 9-pounder. Monday was another productive day aboard the Starship. Capt. Dave put his clients on the fish, with plenty of porgies and black sea bass in the mix. A couple of cod came up as well, but the wind made the fishing tough in the afternoon. Chris Conway from Queens took the pool with a 3-pound porgy.
Jeff, at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays, says the mixed bag of bottom fishing offshore is excellent right now, and should be better the further east you head. Places like Montauk, Orient, Block Island, and Fishers Island are typically the best places to be fishing this time of year. More locally, off the Southampton shores, the tautog fishing has been good. Boats heading out a bit further are getting into some cod, black sea bass, and jumbo porgies when the weather allows. The giant bluefin tuna bite south of Montauk has been great for catch-and-release anglers. They’re releasing bluefin from 500-to-1,000+ pounds. There is a selective opening on Dec. 1. Transitioning to stripers, there are plenty of small fish around. Maybe one out of every 20 or 40 fish will produce something nicer, maybe a slot or over-slot bass. Small bucktails and diamond jigs are doing well to imitate the predominant bait, sand eels. Daiwa SP Minnows, Super Strike Bullets, and any other long, skinny plug will also work. Nighttime anglers are putting up some better fish, typically slot-sized fish. For boat anglers, there are a plethora of fish, and some slightly larger schoolies, ranging from 24-to-27 inches. Head to the ocean and look for birds working bait along the beaches. Or you can try drifting some baits at the inlet. Those anglers are getting some slot fish, and good numbers of stripers. I asked Bryce what he thinks is going to happen with the tuna fishery next year. He seems to be as optimistic and believes someone is going to target a tuna from shore and land one. This fishery has been improving for the past decade, and there are no signs the momentum is going to stop.
Rick, at Harbor Marina in East Hampton, says the bottom fishing continues to be excellent for those willing to make the run to deeper waters. Block Island was very good last Saturday for both black sea bass and tautog, with a few decent porgies in the mix. In addition, there were some good reports of cod in about 140-feet of water, more to the south. Once again when the weather cooperates the bite seems to turn on at inshore waters, but also offshore reefs and wrecks. The fact that anglers are only able to get out one or two days a week is probably helping take some pressure off and the fish are stacked up and waiting. The surf zone has become a bit more hit-or-miss, but there are still some schoolies along the East Hampton beaches and I would not totally rule out the possibility of a keeper or two. The calendar is ticking away though. Hopefully, the long Thanksgiving weekend will give us another decent day or two on the water for those looking to wring a bit more life out of the 2020 season. There are several 6-pack charter boats and head boats running out of Montauk for those looking for late-season bottom fishing.
Surfcasting Guide, Bill Wetzel of Surf Rats Ball, says he fished Friday and Saturday, in Montauk, and Brookhaven. Targeting larger bass at the end of the season will often mean many skunked outings, and lots of small bass. Bill’s charter on Friday got a couple nice bumps on big metal lips in Montauk, but they didn’t convert any of the hits. The Brookhaven area was more productive, with a handful of schoolies around sunset. Bill says the next moon should be producing some big fish. If you’re positioned correctly, you could intercept some.
Surfcasting Guide, Bernie Bass, says he got into good numbers of stripers on the night tides this week. The colder nights earlier on produced most of his better fish this week, so make sure you gear up when the weather gets frigid. There’s still plenty of bait around, and plenty of fishing to be done. Bernie says he’s calling it quits in the surf after Thanksgiving morning; thank you Bernie for all the reports this year.
Kathy, at Freeport Bait & Tackle in Freeport, says the fishing is going very well lately. The striped bass bite is especially good. They’re all over the place, hitting everything from bait to lures. Bloodworms and clams are productive baits. Anything representing a sand eel should do the trick; Tsunami Sand Eels, Ava-27 Jigs, Daiwa SP Minnows, YoZuri Mag Darters, and needlefish. Topwater isn’t out of the question yet though. There are fish of all sizes. For the boats, umbrella rigs are the lure of choice. Mojos and bunker spoons are working just fine. There have been a couple sparse reports of bluefish, but very few. Tautog have been biting well near the bridges. Green and white crabs are flying out the door. They’re also biting at AB Reef, along with porgies. Black sea bass are biting offshore and the fishing is lights out. No word on herring yet.
Long Island Fishing Forecast
We’re just about in the final stretches of the Long Island striper season. The materialization of a late-season “large fish” bite, known to most as a thing of the past, isn’t out of the question. In just the past few days, fish to 30-pounds have been taken in the surf. I only heard of one really big fish, but my friend Nico had a nice mid-teen fish ake his lure from amongst the countless schoolies the other day. A week ago, anglers were catching a single keeper out of every dozen bass. It appears that number is dwindling, to perhaps 1 out of every 40 fish being a keeper. Not everybody will be so lucky to catch a keeper; I’ve been watching guys pick fish after fish after fish, and never break 20-inches. That’s also my own, personal experience this past week. One way to break that spell is to target larger fish with larger lures. I did that this morning and had one missed hit in about an hour and a half, on a big pencil popper. I threw on a Tsunami Sand Eel and caught a few small fish real quick before I left.
I believe there will be more chances for bigger bass to 20-pounds as the moon approaches. Target the water strategically, and don’t forget the patterns that have been successful all autumn. Low tide, night time, big water, inlet proximity — these are a few of the keywords associated with most of the big fish I’ve seen taken in the surf this year. Consider them all, especially around the moon. I’ll probably tell this story every year, as the experience itself keeps me motivated to hit the surf for as long as possible.
On December 15, maybe six years ago, a bunch of large herring showed up on the beach where I was walking my dogs at sunset. I had a light tackle rod with a Sabiki Rig and caught five herring. I wanted to chunk those that night, targeting stripers on the final night before the season closed. My only thought was “fish are probably more numerous to the west, so I’ll head west.” My westward journey stopped at the Robert Moses Causeway. I drove to the farthest west parking lot there, to be as close to the inlet as possible. I took the long trek to the glassy, calm water. I was about 2-miles from the inlet, and had no way to discern whether I was on any productive soft structure. Turns out being that close to the inlet was good enough, as I quickly hooked up on the first chunk. I proceeded to hook up another 14 times, on every cast. Each fish was about 30-to-32 inches, and I lost just one that I’m sure would’ve been slightly larger, maybe a 20-pounder. One other angler I spoke to that night had fished a variety of blue plugs from my spot to the inlet, a 4-mile round trip hike, for not a tap. Another angler chunked about 50-yards away from me, but he did not catch. I assumed he was throwing bunker or clams. These fish I caught were just honed in on the herring.
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