Long Island Fishing Report – July 22, 2021

Fishing Report For Long Island

Frank from Bernie’s Bait and Tackle in Brooklyn says Spanish mackerel have entered the scene en masse. Some areas are holding them especially well, like Breezy. Check ‘em out at sunrise, when they’ll be schooling up and attacking the small bait. Dolphins have been seen feeding upon them, which must be a really cool sight. Guys are coming in to buy lots of jigs to target the Spanish mackerel. Word is they’re also by Debs. Porgies are the second preference these days. They’re anywhere and everywhere, actively chewing and consistently bending rods. Bluefish have backed down a bit. They’re scattered throughout the region, and mostly being caught by boat anglers. The surf guys aren’t really seeing many bluefish anymore. Stripers are still a night fishery. There are still some good reports coming from those targeting them. There are a few in the back creeks, but you’re better off getting closer to that ocean water. Guys are chunking and trolling bunker. The fluke have been lethargic. That’s pretty typical for this time of year. It hasn’t been a robust local fishery for a while now. One or two local party boats have found some good keepers on the reefs. There are plenty of sharks around, from dogfish to sandbars and sand tigers. Sea robins are there to eat your fluke bait. The bluefin tuna bite has been very good lately between New Jersey and the Bight. There’s been some very nice catches. Crabbing picked up immensely. It’s been developing over the last few weeks. There are plenty of blue claws to be taken.

Josh at Gypsea Charters in the Rockaways reports:
Summer fluking is at its finest! We continue to experience incredible action with rods bent throughout the day, and many keepers hitting the deck. Fish to seven pounds were boated. Striped bass fishing also remains red hot, with limits being acquired each trip. The Gypsea Star sails every weekend by reservation only, and is available for private charters during the week. Text for booking details: 516-659-3814

Kathy from Freeport Bait & Tackle got a bunch of fresh reports in this week. Anthony did well fishing killies at the Cholera. He caught his limit of sea bass, and some small fluke. There have been people catching cobia out there lately too. The cobia are eating bunker. Chris Ludwig had an insight on the cobia, which seem to have moved in thick between Fire Island and Jones Beach. He says they’re following the rays and sharks in towards the beach. Jerome was fishing by Guy Lombardo Marina, and brought in a keeper fluke to weigh at the shop. The fish went 6.8 pounds. Jerome caught it while using a Gulp new penny jerk shad. Captain Don Toby had a few keeper fluke to 22 inches on Hempstead Reef the other day. There were lots of big porgies there as well. He was using clams and squid. There were a lot of snapper out there. Don went up to Nantucket and boarded the Helen H for a two day trip near the Stellwagen bank. Day 1 resulted in 17 fluke up to 24 inches, plus sea bass. Day 2 they caught 12 cod, 14 haddock, and a tub full of mackerel. They didn’t use any bait, it was all on jigs. McAllister Reef has been a good spot for sea bass and fluke. The cholera was the hot spot this past week. The shop is loaded up with tuna gear, as well as other hard-to-come-by gear. Make sure you stop in if you need anything.

Captain Willie of the Capt Lou Fleet in Freeport reports:
Fishing is just wild. Ocean fluke fishing is at its absolute best right now. There are loads of keepers, and plenty of action. We will not be fishing in the bay unless extreme conditions prevent it. Even if it’s rough, we’ll anchor up for sea bass and fluke jigging. There have been tons of sea bass coming over the rail. The Starstream VIII is sailing two 1/2 day trips daily. Book your trip at www.captloufleet.com.

Point Lookout’s Super Hawk has been finding sea bass, porgies, fluke, ling and more. The fish have been big and hungry! Lots of kids are catching on their family-friendly trips, and plenty of fresh fish is coming home for the table. They do a great job of teaching beginners how to fish. Call Capt. Steve to make a reservation: 516-607-3004.

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
Summer fishing is at its finest right now. The waters are loaded with bait and every summer species you can think of, from bass to blowfish. Sea bass action is hot on the outside wrecks, with some bigger fish being pulled up over the rails in the 4-6 pound range. They’re chewing clams and smashing jigs. Fluke action is finally where it should be, with a solid body of fish making their way here. The bay is loaded with big fish; a customer weighed in an 8.5 pound doormat on Monday. Hit ’em up with bucktail rigs, gulp jigs, and the classic squid-spearing combo on a rig. The shop rigs are an island-wide favorite for many anglers (and fluke too!). Striper action is best at night off the beaches and in the back bays. Sharpies are still getting on 10-20 pound fish. On the boat, look for bait pods and structure. Work these areas hard and you will get fish. Don’t forget your circle hooks if you are a bait angler. A few decent blues are still lurking around with the bass as well, smashing up plugs and chewing bait. In the fresh water – the water is still warm during the mid-day, so trout fishing and mid-day fishing are going to have to wait. In the meantime, you can target largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, pickerel, carp, crappie, catfish, and sunfish all morning and evening. These species are all active in the warmer water and they are hungry! Swimbaits, lipless cranks, jigs, soft plastics, and topwater lures are all great choices for bass and pickerel in the summer months. Throw topwater lures for the morning and evenings, and everything else mid-day. Work the grass lines, lily pads, stumps, logs, and any other structure. For the sunfish and perch, all you need is some worms and bobbers and you’re set to fish all day, or you can toss an inline spinner or small soft plastic jig for some really fun active fishing!

Captree’s Laura Lee has been putting their clients on some big ocean fluke this week. Fish up to and over 5 pounds are regular occurrences. An ungodly amount of sea bass have been boated, and full boat limits acquired. Some fun species have been coming over the rails too, like triggerfish. They’ve been catching a couple of those each day it seems. Lots of porgies, sea robins and bluefish are being caught. Flounder, blackfish and red hake have mixed up the catch, as have silver eels, mackerel and ocean pout. Friday night’s trip even boated 22 squid. They’ve been canceling some trips due to poor ticket sales, which seems insane as the fishing grounds are so productive.

The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Port Jefferson sailed their annual charter with Jack Anthony Pool. The crew decided to roll the dice on a new spot, and ended up hitting a home run! They found some big scup, sea bass and weakfish. The rest of the week saw the same, plus sea robins, blowfish, fluke, and some beautiful sunsets. A cobia was even caught while bottom fishing! It was not keeper size, so it was released. They’ll be sailing regularly, weather permitting. Go to celticquestfishing.com to buy a ticket.

The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays got on the fish in the bay and the ocean this week. The ocean produced triggerfish, big sea bass, fluke, porgies, mackerel and many smiles. There were some nice fluke to seven pounds in the skinny water. The bay showed great action as well, more so on the fluke front. Lots of fish came over the rail to five pounds on the Tuesday afternoon trip.

Chris at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays says the passing has slowed down a bit in Montauk, as it tends to this time of year. There’s still fish, but quality and quantity have decreased. Fluking has not changed much at all. It’s been the same all year, kind of slow. It hasn’t really turned on yet, but we’re expecting a bite to form in the near future. Out at the wrecks, sea bass reign supreme. Drop clams or a jig down and you’ll be in the money. Surf guys have switched over from daytime to night time fishing. They’re also hitting deeper, colder water to be more productive, i.e. from the flats to the bridges and inlets. Offshore, the tuna bite has been decent in the canyon. They’re getting small yellowfin and big blue marlin. White marlin have been getting hooked too. Speaking of which, there were three white marlin sightings within a mile of the shoreline this past week. Shark fishing is good as always and seems to be getting better with each passing year.

David at Westlake Marina in Montauk weighed in a 200-pound thresher the other day. A 100+ pound mako came in this week as well. There’s been a ton of life around. The tuna bite slowed down a bit, but guys are still picking some here and there. Fluke fishing seems to be picking up. They weighed in two ten-pounders yesterday. A number of limits have been coming to the cleaning tables, which is a better situation than we’ve seen for quite some time. It’s all inshore action, from Frisbie’s to Cartwright. There’s some really nice fish out there. Black Sea bass are still cranking. There’s good sea bass fishing all over. The weather has been good, and so has the fishing. Charter boats have been doing real well with it. They run out and catch some bluefin, and then hit the inshore waters to mix up the bag. One customer was fishing in a small boat just off the south side, catching blacktips on after another.

Montauk’s Viking Fleet sailed their first 48 hour tuna trip of the year this past week. They had yellowfin to 109 pounds, and 10 bigeye from 140-220 pounds. The trip started off with a pick of small and medium yellows in the morning, and before noon they had boated 4/5 bigeyes. The afternoon was stellar, with that 109 yellowfin and 6/6 bigeye landed. With all that meat, they were able to end the trip a few hours early. Tuesday started off great, with nonstop action on jumbo porgies and seabass. A few keeper fluke came up as well, and the buckets were full all around the boat. Stephen Bubier won the pool with a 4.5 pound fluke. Porgy fishing has been holding up very good around the lighthouse. They found a lot of small sea bass to the south, and 6 quality fluke to seven pounds. Giant porgies also graced the deck, having bitten all afternoon. Peter Magee from Smithtown landed a 3.75 pounder to take the pool. It was back out to the lighthouse yesterday morning for big porgies and lots of sea bass. They’re picking through plenty of short sea bass to find the keepers, but the fluke were ridiculous, with the biggest weighing 9.5 pounds. Fred Billings took the afternoon pool with a 4.25 pound sea bass.

Surf guide Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball got into some schoolie bass Tuesday night after sunset. The fish were chasing bunker, and were willing to smack his pencil popper. After dark he and Matt found a few more on SS needles and darters. Later on came a few more, plus a realization that there was a good amount of spearing in the wash. Steven confirmed the presence of spearing in the central northern part of the island, while fishing a Boulder field during some zombie hours.

Chris Albronda gave me the goods on Montauk:
It’s been another exciting week on the water in Montauk. Big stripers, jumbo fluke, XL Black Sea bass, and dinner plate scup were pulled over the rails. Chris got out on the Miss Montauk and had the greatest fluke trip of his life. He had fish to nine pounds, and released a bunch of keepers. Artificials were the hot ticket. Offshore is still red hot. The epic bluefin bite continues to amaze; even the more seasoned tuna fishermen are impressed. Further off, wolf packs of Bigeye are mangling spreads. Many multiples are being landed, along with yellowfin and mani. Sharking is also red hot. Blue, brown, dusky, mako, thresher and sand tiger sharks have all been caught this week. Chris is doing open boat trips with Tailwrapped Sportfishing charters. Check them out on social media, and/or give Chris a call to book a trip at 631-830-3881.

Long Island Fishing Forecast

Shark week continued long after Discovery deemed it finished. This week was absolutely insane, and the ceiling of insanity just seemed to climb higher with each passing day. I always thought time would fly during enjoyable times, but this week felt really long. Usually I want summer to be over, but I’m very happy we’ve got over a full month left. Lord knows what madness is to come.
Every day I was excited to rise and see what the day would bring to the bunker schools. I filled and refilled my 128 GB SD card, overloading my computer with awesome footage. I can hardly keep up! I’ve spent countless hours poring over the drone footage I got of the chaos. I don’t know if the same exact species were occurring outside of the few miles in which I was filming, but I’ll tell you about what I saw.
On day 1, I wanted to see a shark. NYS DEC was asking for a video to share to honor shark week. That day I got out in the fog and saw a single shark. The next day, there were multiple sharks, just moseying around the schools of bunker. Some weather came and went, and I thought it could spell the end of that sharky little stint. Then came the consistency.
I love consistent weather in the summer. We get flat, clear water and sunny, bluebird days. Those conditions are great for filming whatever’s going on under the surface. Last year I caught lots of new species on camera in these conditions. I was hoping to do the same this year. Cool fishing opportunities also arise during the consistency.
My goodness. I was not expecting such a tremendously violent showing of life. I’ve seen crazier stuff, but this whole week was right up there. My take on the situation is as follows. The gulf stream eddies, and sends whoever may be far out to sea into our sandy shores. We tend to see pelagics like mackerel and/or some exotic species. It’s a total wild card at this point in the summer, and you can never guess what will show when warm water makes its way towards the coast. This year, it turned out to be lots and lots and lots of southern sharks. Not to mention some enormous bluefin tuna, and some funky rays, and a beastly thresher, all within a few hundred yards of dry sand.
One day I flew out, and there were literally dozens of sharks swimming around this one giant school of bunker. Those who saw the footage said it reminded them of pacman going around making dots disappear. As the days went on, the sharks began to group up and find the different bunker schools in the area. No matter where I flew, there were big predators there. I noticed a few different species in the mix: mainly blacktips, dusky, and sandbar sharks. Guys I know were catching spinner sharks not too far away, and cetaceans would visit regularly to put on a show. The sharks got angrier as the week progressed. Their swimming pace picked up, and they began to attack more and more. I saw different tactics from different sharks; some would sprint through a school by themselves, hoping to catch a mouthful of unexpecting bunker. Others would school up and launch a seemingly coordinated attack to create chaos. On certain days they attacked from above, and on other days they came from below. They made their way right into shore on a few occasions, straight up blitzing on bunker. The images were breathtaking.
I could probably write an entire friggin book about this week, but I’m sure you get the idea. It was sick!
The climax for me was watching my friend Chris Ravn captain a crew that fought a 487 pound thresher shark within a quarter mile of the beach. They hooked the fish about 300-400 yards from the sand where I was filming. For the next 5+ hours, the shark dragged the boat in circles as they tried to reel the giant to the boat’s side. I was in contact with them, and had the fortune of capturing most of the fight, including the gaff shot and the victory cheers. I watched them high five, hoot and holler on the screen of my remote, and then I heard the cheering a few seconds later on the beach. That’s how close they were. That’s how close that giant shark was.
And as if THAT wasn’t cool enough, I caught a giant bluefin tuna on camera just 300 yards from the beach. While the sharks attacked the menhaden, a specimen that put the toothy predators to shame entered my frame. The dark, fat body made me think “thresher” immediately. I saw the forked tail though, and next though “great white.” When a brown shark came to investigate my subject, I noticed that there were yellow triangles going from the rear dorsal fin towards the tail. It was a bluefin, and it was probably 1.5 times bigger than the ~6 foot shark. It was lazily swimming along the edge of the bunker schools, and it appeared to be enjoying the sun and digesting a recent meal. Chris Paparo (@fishguyphotos) filmed a couple more big tuna in attack mode on the bunker schools in just 25 feet of water a few days later.
Okay, that’s that. Crazy friggin week. I hope you all got out. I got up this morning to check on my bunker schools, but I didn’t see them. The ospreys appeared to have a tough time searching as well. As the stormy-feeling north wind kicked in last night, I was afraid it might put an end to this unbelievable action I’ve been seeing on the reg. It’s possible exactly that happened. But mannnn, it’s not even August!!
Lord knows what madness will come.
You all saw that marlin in the Jersey surf, right? If not, check it out. I’m expecting even crazier stuff to occur throughout the next month. Apparently the cobia situation in Jersey has been pretty spectacular, and we are seeing more and more around our parts each week. I had a feeling there might even be some underneath these bunker schools out front. I tried snag and dropping a bit, but didn’t get any love. I’ll be on the lookout for the next gulf stream eddy, or whatever it is that causes these offshore species to come right on in. Someone said “healthy ocean.” I think that’s a good bet. With all the menhaden in the water, it makes sense that we’re seeing [typically] offshore (and southern) species come right into the surf… and I don’t think I can say it enough, we have over a month left of summer. Cue the bonito, and spanish mackerel, and I don’t even friggin know what else. Bonefish or permit, anyone? Mayhaps a GT for good measure. I dream.
Having just written all that, I went out and launched my drone this morning. I immediately found a big tuna probably 400 yards off the beach, gunning through the bunker schools. Looks like it’s still on my friends. Get out there and enjoy.
Tight lines.