Weakfish and porgies are the talk of the town. Gator blues have invaded most bays around Long Island. Huge stripers being caught to the west. Schoolies all around the island. Most areas saw an influx of slot-sized fish this week. The squid run occurring is worthy of mention.
Long Island Fishing Report
Frank from Bernie’s Bait and Tackle in Brooklyn just got a fresh report from Rockfish Charters in Brooklyn that some huge stripers were being boated today. Those guys are using live bunker, and putting a hurting on the huge bass moving through. Frank heard some very good fluke reports from opening day. Party boats are catching keepers. It’s not hand-over-fist but there is some solid fishing to be had. Every angler is reporting at least one or two keepers. The general population is around the Verrazano to Gravesend. There have been some big bluefish reported in the Raritan, and around Staten Island. There were even some reports from the piers, but Frank says take those with a grain of salt. The steadily warming temps are really heating up the fishing. Porgy reports are beginning to come in from the bayside of Far Rockaway. Frank says the typical cycle of porgy catches goes like this: giant spawners come in first for a week or two. Then the action stops for a week or two. Finally, you get your mainstay porgies, which are more average-sized. Frank says the fishing situation is starting to look real good. He even went so far as to say that it’s “gellin,” and I don’t think anyone could argue with that.
Josh at Gypsea Charters in the Rockaways says striped bass fishing remains excellent with limits of slot-sized fish on most trips, and countless releases. The abundance of bait in the area suggests the spring run will continue at full force for the next month or so. Fluke season opened on the fourth, and the amount of keeper fluke coming up was a pleasant surprise. The pool fish on opening day was six pounds. Both boats saw good action with quality keepers, despite the cooler water temps this early in the season. Call for booking details: 516-659-3814
Paul at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin spent this week fishing close to home in the local parks. He has been hooking into fish every day, but they keep throwing his hook! The point is, they’re biting. He ran up to Westchester with a group of guys from the LI Flyrodders, and they got into some good trout fishing. Paul himself had five fish, and most guys bent the rod. Back home, largemouth bass season is closed; pickerel season, on the contrary, just reopened. The bluegill action is on fire, and there’s plenty of fish to be caught in the local sweetwater. In the salt, Paul says there are enough stripers around that some anglers are doing well, but it’s not exactly easy pickings. He hasn’t heard of any bluefish around.
Kathy from Freeport Bait & Tackle got word of some large porgies and weakfish to the east. Bait fishermen are hooking stripers on bloodworms and clams; for artificials, your best bet is using paddle tail swimbaits. Anglers are preparing for fluke season, but no reports on that end just yet. Kathy has an enormous stock of gear and tackle for both stripers and fluke. The shop is also well-stocked in the bait department. The spearing is outstanding, there is fresh bunker, and eels are available for night shift bass hunters. Plus there’s a whole wall of Gulp for the fluke fisherman.
The Capt Lou Fleet in Freeport saw a great opening day for fluke. The size could have been better, but the action was great. Captain Willie Garrison will be taking anglers out daily for half-day fluke trips. Whale watching cruises will resume on May 15. The Fleet will be taking people out to enjoy the Jones Beach Air Show as well, so check out the details on their website (captloufleet.com).
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports:
Lloyd Malsin of “Nansea II” fished on Wednesday’s in some great conditions, boating over sixty ling and a half dozen cod. Many fish were released, with the intent to support this burgeoning population in our local waters. They quit once they acquired enough meat for the five-man crew.
Point Lookout’s Super Hawk is looking forward to some flat seas this weekend to target ling, cod and more. Ling is a great tasting fish, and these trips can provide you several meals of fresh fish. The fishing has been very good lately. Opening day for fluke was no exception. Some solid fish came over the rails. They’ll be targeting fluke daily, except on Thursday and Friday when they’ll target ling. Call Capt. Steve to make a reservation: 516-607-3004.
Captree’s Laura Lee kicked off this past week on Saturday night, with a striper outing. The 6 pm trip caught nine bass, and the 11 pm trip saw 27 stripers come over the rail. Sunday’s night trip caught 15 stripers and five shad. Monday’s night trip had 16 anglers, who caught 33 bass and one shad. Tuesday was opening day for fluke, and the Captree Fleet wasted no time. Anglers caught 81 fluke and three sea robins on the morning trip. The afternoon trip caught 62 fluke to four pounds and 14 sea robins. The night trip had 21 fishermen, who caught 17 bass and one shad.
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
Spring has finally sprung and our local fish are here and hungry! The bass bite is on fire, and only getting better by the day. Bluefish came in early, and in big numbers. Weakfish made a good run with a few solid tiderunners being caught. Plus fluke season kicked off with a bang! The bass are roaming the channels and flats, taking shallow diving lures, swim shads, soft plastics, and popping plugs. Bluefish moved in and they are big and ravenous. They’ll hit anything you throw at them, especially shallow divers and popping plugs. On the fly, bass and bluefish are demolishing clousers, deceivers, and bangers. Fluke season started off very well, with plenty of keepers and even a few double-digit fish already coming over the rails. The fluke are crushing bucktails, Gulp jigs, and the classic squid and spearing combo on rigs. The bay is loaded right now. Weakfish have come in and moved to their usual spots. You can pull them on light tackle with small jigs. They love bright colors. In the freshwater, post-spawn is upon us and most of the big females bass have headed back to the deeper water to recover. Tons of aggressive males are active though, smashing up anything that comes in their way. Jigs, soft plastics, and swimbaits are doing very well. In the morning and even hours the topwater bite is starting to heat up. Pickerel are out lurking for a meal, and love crankbaits, chatterbaits and swimbaits. They also crush topwater lures. Trout are most active in the mornings and evenings, especially during hatches. Mayfly imitations in their various stages have been getting gobbled up. If you spin fish for them, try trout magnets, inline spinners and the classic worm on a hook. Yellow Perch are still very active and schooling up well. Crappie are out in droves, and there are plenty of bluegill and pumpkinseeds roaming around. Great way to get the kids out fishing!
Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle reports:
The reefs and wrecks are holding life. One angler pulled a couple of cod up off an inshore wreck this week, and other anglers got lucky with tautog to 7.5 pounds coming off the Fire Island Reef.
Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Jamesport hammered the weakfish this week. Some solid specks were making appearances. Scup, fluke, butterfish, striped bass, sea bass, and mackerel were all nibbling on the clams as well. Just yesterday the fleet put their clients on a keeper sized fluke and more big weakfish. They’ll be sailing regularly, weather permitting. Go to celticquestfishing.com to buy a ticket.
Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport says the fishing this past week was fantastic. When the wind lays down, there are plenty of schoolie bass around willing to bite. Boat and shore guys alike are making it happen on the bass front. Some anglers have even found some bigger stripers in the slot range. Porgies are also around, providing a bit of a bite. There’s been a lot of wind, whipping the plankton around, which is bringing lots of bait species into our water. There’s a squid run occurring, and there’s plenty of spearing around still. There is even mullet in the area.
Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters reports:
Fluke are starting to bite but the LI Sound waters are still pretty cold, at 49-50 degrees after the rain this week. It should warm up next week with some sunny days, and Friday we’ll be scouting in the bays and harbors before the weekend charters. Stu’s still catching schoolies from the north shore beaches; last night there were stripers tailing on the surface towards the end of the flood. Stu had some awesome action then, enticing the bass with pencil poppers. It’ll only get better from here on out! Call or text to make reservations: 631-707-3266. Or check out the website at northportcharters.com
I could hear the excitement in the voice of Steven at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold. The fishing up there has been excellent. You name it, it’s biting; even the sea bass, which aren’t in season. There’s been an awesome run of squid this year, and the amount of small bait around is ridiculous. This bodes well for the future of fluke season. Right now, though, fluking is probably one of the slower games in town. Give it a week; the warming temps should kick the flatfish into high gear. Big bluefish are starting to show up. Some serious gators are shredding tackle. Weakfish and bass in the Peconics are chewing pretty regularly. Light bucktails are putting plenty of fish on the boat. Some huge porgies began biting this week.
Rich at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says the bays really opened up this past week. There are lots of weakfish around, so guys have been targeting them. It feels funny to say, but it just may be the main game in town. The porgy fishing has been phenomenal. Boats are bringing fish to 3.5 pounds to the scale. There’s a lot of stripers in the bay. You can catch all the shorts you want, but there are some just-barely keepers as well. There is a big batch of gator blues in the bay as well, up to 15 pounds. They are attacking the bunker, which are everywhere. Jeff, Ethan and Bryce from the shop got out a few times for some successful fishing. They had fish on the fly, plugs, poppers, you name it. Plenty of action to be had. Rich suspects we’ll see some guys head offshore soon, but there’s been no word of any recent trips.
Rick from Harbor Marina of East Hampton reports:
Most boats from Three Mile Harbor have been running west to the Peconics, and the bite has been a bit hit or miss. Porgy fishing is the most consistent game in town. Schoolie stripers are filling up the bay, with an occasional slot fish in the mix. A few weakfish have been taken incidentally by Porgy fishermen and a few by anglers trying for gamefish. No real mass of bluefish showing yet, but probably any day. It’s time to get on the water, as more fish are arriving in our area daily.
Surf guide Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball fished Montauk and the Peconics this past week. On Friday, he and Dave G found huge water on the south side of Montauk, and were forced to target the north side instead. The chop made for some tough fishing, and the two couldn’t procure a bite. He got up early on Sunday to target weakfish on a sod bank. He caught one small bass, and then three weakfish, all on a small green bomber lure. All fish were in the 4-5 pound range. Later in the day he moved out to some open water to cash in on the big bluefish that were in the area. He got a big one to take a white super strike popper. Surf rat Nate Bowditch hit up the suds in NY Harbor on 5/4 for the top of the ebb. He tossed albie snax for a bit, and got a few missed strikes. He switched up to light tackle, throwing two-inch white tsunami shads. He started bailing fish from then on… nothing of size but a good time no less.
Montauk’s Viking Fleet posted a report on Sunday May 2:
Capt. Dave reports a slow start to the porgy season on the Viking Star. It was a tough day with picky bites. We put a long day in, and some anglers put a catch together. Regulars Pete and Pete tied for high hook with 22 fish each. It’s only going to get better! The pool winner was Ernest Dillard from Selden, NY with a two pound porgy. The fleet is scheduled to sail daily, so check out the website or Facebook for further updates.
Last but not least is Chris Albronda with a Montauk report:
Things are really starting to heat up fast in Montauk, with the arrival of bluefish, and the larger striped bass in tow. Anglers have been testing the limits of their tackle with gator blues on the north and south sides. Shagwong had some serious monsters, and good numbers of them. They’re hot on the tails of bunker, and nearly every fish you catch is loaded with the pogies, or even butterfish.Opening day of fluke was on par with seasons past, with a handful of keepers coming to the scale. There are some big ones around. The local commercial guys are catching jumbos everyday in the bay and ocean. Oversized sea bass were even caught, as bycatch. The porgies have made their way around the north side and can be found in areas along the bay shores if you throw out a sandworm. All in all, it’s off to a great start. Chris expects it to be one of the most exciting fishing seasons Montauk has seen in a long time.
Long Island Fishing Forecast
Well, I finally broke my weakfish slump. If you’ve been struggling as I have, just keep at it. Old-timers are saying that this is the best weakfish run since the seventies. If an angler’s been cursed on the weakfish grounds for the past fifty years, this should be the year he’ll break it.
I managed my personal best porgy while targeting weaks as well. I didn’t weigh it, but the fish had to be well over two pounds. What a delight. I brought it home and cooked it whole in the oven. I have a weakfish on ice for dinner tonight, from that same outing. Great fishing, and great eating.
If that kind of fishing isn’t enough to get you off the couch, perhaps the yellow-eyed demons will convince you. Spring gator bluefish season is one of my favorite parts of the year, and we’re right in the midst of it. It is strangely early this year, as I’m used to their arrival occurring around mid-May. They were here on the east end by the end of April though! I can’t help but wonder what that is going to mean for our other fisheries.
The ones I know about have started off with a bang, and I swear we’ve been on an upward trajectory these past few years. Chris Albronda said it’s going to be one of the most exciting fishing seasons we’ve seen in a while, and I totally agree with him.
Consider the tuna, weakfish, porgy, sea bass, tog, and fluke fishing these past few years. All those fisheries have provided plenty of food, action, and crazy fights for many anglers. Some of those fish were thought to have been depleted, but it may have just been a cyclical thing in some cases. I still believe the flounder will make a comeback, although there wasn’t much evidence condoning that stance this year.
Anyway, if all these different fisheries improve AGAIN this year, it’s going to be absolutely ridiculous. I feel like we’re in a golden age, and I feel like it won’t last long. I’m banking on some of those fisheries being just as good (if not better) than last year, but there’s a distinct possibility that most won’t. We just have to cross our fingers, and take advantage of the good times while they’re here. Carpe diem.
Get your boat in the water. Get your butt off the couch. Many aspects of our sport are better than we may ever see again, and if you hesitate you will be filled with regret when the good fishing’s up.
Catch ‘em up, and treat ‘em well!
tight lines!