Long Island Fishing Report
April 15 is the final day to submit comments to the ASMFC regarding the future of striped bass management. Get your comments in before it’s too late!
Sea lice on some stripers suggest there’s been an influx of migratory bass. Perfect timing as the official season opens tomorrow April 15.
Holdover stripers decided it’s time to eat with the recently warm weather.
Largemouth bass moved shallow on the warm days. Muddy bottoms are hot.
Pickerel, perch, crappie, bluegill, you name it…. If they live in freshwater, they are probably willing to bite.
We’ll start this report to the far west, as we usually do. We’re going to start with a YouTube channel though! My friend Jerry Ruff of “Fish Your Way” tested the waters in Flushing this week. I really enjoyed this video and Jerry’s perspective on his pursuit, having thrown many dry flies to carp but succeeding only once myself. I’m just going to copy and paste his words about the trip: “Flushing Meadows Park Queens, New York. Nature. On the side of the Van Wyck Expressway within the fringes of Flushing Meadows Park the ear picks up all the honks, sirens, squeals and thumps. The eye sees flashing lights, green water, discarded bottles and graffiti. The nose picks up a slurry of VOC’s in the air. Not my senses. I see swimming fish, hear chirping birds and smell the greenery of the trees, grass and reeds. Life.
Fly fishing in the middle of New York city for the majestic carp. I caught many in this great lake as a young man. However, this day I wanted and willed to see if I could fool a carp using a dry fly. If you’re a well versed angler you can understand this… Something about fooling a carp. Patience was the main ingredient. Holding tight helped. The dry fly did the work. We talk about this more in the video. In the middle of all the big city, nature picks a corner, slows it down, and wins.”
Here’s the link to the video: NYC Dry Fly Fishing – BIG CITY CARP – Flushing Meadows Park Queens, New York
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports: Lloyd Malsin of “Nansea II” got out on April 10th to target Flounder. He called it quits after two fish because the water was still a little bit too cold to produce a consistent bite.
On Friday, Capt. Nick Savene of “No Time Charters” took Rob and John out for a half-day trip to target tog and cod. They pulled up ten cod to 15 pounds, and five blackfish to five pounds. Nick is available for charters, so give him a call at 516-662-6519.
The Capt Lou Fleet in Freeport is running to the canyon to deep drop for golden tilefish this Saturday: $375 per person. Boarding 9:30 pm night before. Returns 11:59pm Saturday night. 25 person limit. Hooks and leader material included. Sinkers are for sale on tilefish trips. Electric Reel/ Rental rods $75 cash only night of. Includes battery. Book here: https://tinyurl.com/CaptAnthonySpecials The Capt. Lou is also running seal watching trips, and photographers like Hyde Rock are climbing aboard to photograph them. Hyde took some awesome photos of a big group of harbor seals hanging out on an island this week. Check out her instagram to see the pics: @Libeachesrock. Check out other awesome photos from other photographers on Capt. Lou’s Facebook page. They’re worth a look! Book with them at their website: www.captloufleet.com.
Point Lookout’s Superhawk is sailing every day, weather permitting. On weekdays, you can climb aboard and sail off for blackfish, cod and ling for $100 per person. There is a special offshore trip this Saturday, targeting jumbo porgies, cod, ling and more for $165 per person. Recent trips have been productive, catching all the above, plus pollock and more. Call today to make a reservation: 516-607-3004.
Captree’s Laura Lee had a banner trip on Sunday, catching 67 cod, 13 blackfish, 36 cunner, 2 dogfish, 2 ocean pout and 1 big ling. Rough seas cancelled most other trips. Our next trips are Friday and Saturday, 7am to 5:30pm. We’re targeting cod, tog and ling. Tuesday night (4/19), we’ll be sailing off for a special tilefish trip. See our website for details.
Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport reports: Spring is in the air, and life is on the move. Every year we see the forsythia bloom, the ospreys arrive, and all sorts of signs indicating the the life cycle is restarting and picking up momentum. Water temps are still in the low 40s in the back of the harbors. There’s a lot of bait but it’s unconcentrated. There are different types of bait in different areas, and the striped bass that are arriving seem to be cruising from harbor to harbor looking for food. As soon as they find a big mess of it, they are going to hang tight in that area. They are really waiting for the bunker to arrive. Some local anglers are finding picks of stripers, and some people are finding some seriously good bass in-and-over the slot range. Meanwhile, other anglers are opting for the more numerous trout opportunities.
The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Jamesport will be sailing their first trip on April 30th to target north shore scup. You can book trips starting April 15.
The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays is going to kick off the action on May 1st. They’re sailing out of Oakland’s in Hampton Bays then, to target porgies and weakfish. Fluke will follow shortly after. Call Capt. John for trip info and reservations: 631-728-4563.
Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball hit the Hempstead Harbor suds with a friend this week. He picked a near-keeper bass on an olive Groves darter. He had a bunch more hits and landed a few more bass before midnight; his buddy managed a handful of stripers on a mag darter after midnight. A couple nights later, he headed to the Port Washington area where access is sparse. He and his buddy noticed a lot of spearing on the walk to the spot, but no other bait. It was a slow night, with his buddy picking one slot-sized bass on a Voorhies metal lip. Bill nailed a schoolie later on a super strike black/gold darter. Subscribe today at www.longislandsurffishing.com.
In the sweetwater, Anthony Bjelke’s been keeping the night shift honest. He caught a 24 inch walleye earlier this week, and then a smallmouth last night pushing into the upper two-pound range.
He’s moving around a ton and blind casting into the night; the walleye ate a floating rapala on a fast retrieve, and the smallie ate a black keitech. He also picked some short stripers to the far west end of LI this week.
Liam Monarchio got out to catch some stripers on the fly with his buddy Mike Burker this week. They hit the sunrise bite yesterday on the western north shore.
The anglers caught, tagged and released fifteen stripers before their trip was done. Liam’s self-tied beast fly and his handlebar mustache were a deadly combo, bringing in slot bass to 35 inches. The bass probably topped out at 15 pounds.
Derek Monfort sent me a picture from the east end of LI, where he caught a surf striper littered with sea lice, suggesting that this fish has freshly migrated into local waters from the ocean. It’s safe to assume we are going to be seeing a lot more stripers getting caught in the bays now.
At this point, there’s been a huge amount of trout stocked in local lakes and estuaries. Have a look at the DEC stocking website to see exactly when and where these stockings took place:
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/23286.html
Long Island Fishing Forecast
I had a consistent week of catching freshwater fish. The perch and striper front was a bit slower for me, but that wasn’t my primary focus anyway.
I’ve been focusing heavily on largemouth bass so far this season. I’ve been launching my little rowboat regularly, trying to find some big bass in big water. I’m finding plenty of fish, like largemouth, pickerel, yellow perch, and carp. Some of the yellow perch have been absurdly large, but everything else has been on the smaller side. Then I hit a spot where I’ve never caught a fish. The last time I fished here was three years ago. I knew much less about freshwater fishing than I do now. Furthermore, I now have a greater appreciation for freshwater species other than just white perch; that means I’m not just rolling up with a small kastmaster and a marabou jig anymore.
I came to this pond prepared with one Heffty soft plastic (much like a Keitech). The weather was beautiful on the downwind side of the lake, so I’d wade there for some distance. I’d never fished this bank before, and wasn’t sure how to approach it. Earlier that morning, another pond produced a bunch of bass away in deeper water. I began taking long casts as I waded through the muck. The water was chocolate milk and I got no bites. Carp were jumping everywhere, but they weren’t my target. I thought it would be way too hard to target them in this murky water anyway.
Eventually I came to a very small tree. It happened to be the only tree in the area, so I took my first short pitch parallel to the bank. My lure skipped smoothly under a branch and beyond the tree’s reach. I practically sprinted it back, right under that branch. My best largemouth of the year lay there in wait. I watched the wake sprint towards my lure and set the hook when the bite came. A 3.5 pounder was now at my feet.
I promised you guys a big bass last week, and I considered whether I’d just accomplished that.
Naah. I fished longer, covering a ton of water for nothing. I’d go home and tie some flies that would hopefully accomplish the same job my Heffty bait did.
Days passed, and I hit other waters for many a small fish. One small striper came to hand. Dozens of one-pound largemouth and a handful of pickerel smoked my hefftys and senkos. Fish could hardly refuse a surface fly on the warmer days. Whether I threw a foam-top gurgler or a deer hair popper, the wake my fly created drew fish in from a distance. I missed one or two swipes from larger bass on those days.
Wednesday came, and I hadn’t come through with that big bass I promised. The fishing report was due tomorrow and I’d feel like a failure if I didn’t get a biggin. With the spring and summer seasons approaching, work was beginning to pile up too. I’ll have less time to fish from here on out, so I gotta get this done!
After finishing up a half-day of backbreaking work yesterday, I returned to the murky pond. Some of the silt had settled to the bottom, increasing the water clarity from 0 inches to about 1.5 inches. That was enough to boost my confidence, and I felt certain that the seductive vibrations of my Heffty’s paddle tail would lure any big largemouth from their lairs. That is exactly what happened. My first cast drew a strike from something that immediately dragged me into a snag. I broke my lure off and tied on another. I whipped it past the same piece of structure and got another bite. The first fish at my feet would be about 2.5 pounds. That was the smallest fish I’d catch today.
The bite wasn’t fast but it was ferocious. I feel certain that every time I dragged my heffty lure within 3 feet of a largemouth’s face, they’d sprint after it and eat. I had my 8-weight and a deer hair surface fly on me, which also got the job done. I opted for that outfit most of the time. Cast it right into the structure (without snagging), and any bass chilling there would respond without a moment’s hesitation. That big wake bolting up to your bait from behind is exhilarating.
The biggest bass that I came across ate my lure and ran towards me. My hookset wasn’t a very strong one since there was some slack in the line. I kept reeling, which brought the fish to the surface. When I tried to reset the hook, I pulled it right out of the fish’s mouth. Judging by the broad side I saw, it pained me to imagine her weight potential. I kept stalking the shoreline, taking anywhere from 3-10 casts before taking a single step. I was placing my floating fly in every nook, hoping for a response. As the sun set, I switched over to the ultralight and placed a few casts along the reeds. The second biggest bass I’d come across was lying in wait. I wouldn’t fudge the hookset this time. After a quick fight, the lengthy hog was at my feet.
I got most of the session, including the big fish, on GoPro; keep an eye out for my upcoming youtube video if you have any interest. I finished the fishing day with an after-dark session with my buddy Orson. We both caught a bunch of short bass until the tide stopped flowing.
This coming week should be awesome. It’s probably not going to be the warmest week, but it seems we’ve at least dealt with the final freeze already. I’m not seeing any temperatures below 39 degrees this week. Warm rains next week may serve to liven up any fish in our waters. Warm, sunny days through this weekend should provide some great opportunities to catch just about anything from the bank.
I’ll be fishing a few backbay spots this week, looking for some fresh migratory bass. The largemouth will remain my primary interest. I’ve never caught any big bass by me until the last week of April. It tends to just be shorts until then. However, last year’s shorts may now be this year’s keepers. I am excited to see about that!
Also, Friday April 15 at 11:59 p.m. is the deadline to submit your comment to the ASMFC about how you’d like striped bass to be managed. Learn more here: Speak Up TODAY on Striped Bass Management – On The Water
jamaica bay packed with stripers…karen anne charter