(Above: Two large cobia patrol the outskirts of a bunker school. @southforksalt)
Eastern L.I. / Suffolk County Fishing Report
- Jig bite’s hot for tuna.
- Big fluke getting caught across the south shore. Bottom fishing in general is great. Big sheepshead went to the scales.
- Weakfish bite resumes on the north shore
- Giant bass working the moon tides in Montauk. Lots of small bait moving across the south side.
- Sharkiest week of the year on the east end. Cobia in the mix.
Captree Bait and Tackle reports:
“A good amount of large fluke have been coming to the dock this week. Joey the Grandson picked himself a nice 8 pounder off the reef on the 20th. The next day, Jay brouhght in a 7.5 pounder. Then yesterday, Fred dropped down a Gulp rig and ended up reeling up an 11.44 pound doormat while fishing aboard the Captree Fishfinder. Great fish guys! Last but not least was a local sheepshead caught by Sean, which measured 8.64 pounds at the shop!”
Captree’s Laura Lee reports:
“Yesterday’s 7 a.m. caught 38 fluke to 5.2 pounds, 111 sea bass, 32 scup, 5 mackerel, 3 ling and 7 sea robins. The 8 a.m. trip caught 139 fluke, 6 triggerfish, 123 sea bass, 49 scup, and 16 sea robins. The 1 p.m. Express caught 75 sea bass, 185 porgies, 11 fluke, 1 trigger and 23 robins. The 2 p.m. Local bay trip caught 116 fluke, 33 sea robins and 11 sea bass. At 6 p.m. the Express caught 214 sea bass, 302 porgies, 87 mackerel, 1 ling and 1 squid.
One weakfish was caught Tuesday, plus more of the aforementioned species. Monday and Tuesday morning’s trips were cancelled. Sunday went similarly to yesterday’s trips, with the addition of a cow nose ray and a stargazer on the afternoon trip. A cod came up on Saturday, plus fluke to 7.2 pounds. A sun dial and 4 rays were caught on the afternoon trip. Friday also picked fluke to over 7 pounds; the 8 a.m. trip picked 443 big ocean fluke.”
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Mark at Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in Northport reports:
“The WICC bluefish tournament is coming up this weekend. Sign up for a chance to win $25,000 for catching the heaviest bluefish. We’re loaded up with porgies locally. There’s still bass in the mix as well. There is some fantastic fluke fishing going on right now. Sharpies are doing especially well… Fluke are on the move, so those who understand their movements are finding the big ones. Mark suggests hiring a charter captain to put you on the big ones. The new moon is also coming up this weekend. Make sure you get out for sunrise and sunset fishing during those tides.”
The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Port Jefferson reports:
“Some big porgies and solid weakfish have been coming over the rail this week. Sea bassing was good, and the blues were pulling hard and fast in the beginning of the week. Weather messed with the bite a bit on certain days, but this fishing was stellar overall.” Call them at (631)928-3926 for booking info.
Capt. Phil of Fishy Business in Orient found a good number of short stripers this week, and then plenty of slots to take home. The big blues were a blast to fight this week, and bucketfuls of sea bass were there for the taking. They sail out of Duryea’s in Orient. Give Phil a call to book a trip: (516)316-6967.
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
“Local fluke action is hotter than the air temperature! Lots of fat fluke are in the bay, and they are crushing bucktails and shop rigs. Fish in the 20 inch range are common, and many anglers are taking home their bag limit of solid fish. Put a Fat Cow strip or a Gulp of your choice on the bucktails and get to jigging! As for our shop rigs, they do great with bait, or Gulp plastics. Hit the local wrecks and reefs for some bigger fluke; just size up on your rigs and weights. Mondo seabass are out patrolling these areas as well. Throw some clam on our shop rig to target them. Epoxy jigs and bucktails are also getting hammered by big knuckleheads.
Cocktail blues are roaming the flats, smashing up bait balls and testing all of your light tackle. They’re all over swimbaits, shallow divers, and poppers. Don’t forget your steel leaders! The Cobia are still stacked to the West of us. They love epoxy jigs and bucktails, even little poppers. Look for pods of bunker, or rays. Striper action is good out deep, past all the wildlife patrolling the bunker pods. Some fish in the 30 pound range are being found.
Tuna action was on fire this week with near shore bluefin, plus yellowfin and bigeye offshore in the deep. I got the opportunity to board the Black Hawk Sportfishing Team’s 39 foot Contender with Capt. Bobby Lee Jr. We went out Friday morning and came back Saturday evening, we had 8 yellowfin, 6 albacore, and a swordfish hit us at night. What an incredible experience!
Now to size down quite a bit, the snapper action at the local docks is very worthy of mention. There are lots of little fish, and they get bigger every time you go for them. The snapper will smash up small shiny lures, snapper poppers, and spearing on bobber rigs. Kingfish and blowfish are down at the docks as well. For those little guys, use some clam on tiny blowfish or flounder hooks and bring a chum pot along with you for non-stop catching.
It’s another scorcher week, and that means warm fresh water. Hit the lakes and rivers early for your best chance. Bass and pickerel will be up in the shallows looking for a quick meal. Swimbaits, inline spinners, and lipless crankbaits will get them moving. The morning is the best time to throw topwater too. Poppers, ploppers, mice, and frogs all get annihilated by bass and picks during this time.
For some ultralight fishing, sunfish and yellow perch are the perfect target species! They school up in numbers and are eager to bite. Worm and bobber will always work, and inline spinners catch non-stop. Trout action is real slow this time of year, and the rivers are very hot. Get in the water as the sun comes up and get out there by the time the water temp. hits 68 degrees.”
Rosie Fishing of Moriches Bay reports:
“Mel caught his limit of fluke yesterday before 9 a.m., and about 40 keepers came over the rail and into the pail on that trip. The fishing went similarly three days prior, with Mike picking his limit in under 45 minutes.” They’ve been hitting the fluke both in the bay and ocean. They run private charters and open boat trips alike. Give them a call for info.
The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays has been poking around both inside and outside the bay, picking a mixed bag of fluke, sea bass and triggerfish. They even pulled a bullet mackerel up this week. A consistent bite of fluke led to several 6+ pounders coming over the rail. Call Capt. John for trip info and reservations: (631)728-4563.
Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:
“Bottom fishing has been very productive. Jumbo sea bass, porgies and fluke are all plentiful. Fluking can be hit or miss, but when it’s on it’s on. Striper fishing has been producing slots and over-slots. I am seeing lots of 50+ pound stripers getting caught and released. Offshore, the tuna jig bite is very, very good. Guys working the jig are outfishing trolling outfits. False albacore are mixed in with the tuna.” Give Chris a call at (631)830-3881 to book a trip. He is available this Sunday to do some light tackle tuna fishing.
Montauk’s Viking Fleet reports:
“Yesterday’s afternoon trip yielded lots of sea bass and porgies with a few healthy triggerfish to boot: “enough to feed an entire army fish tacos!” There were several fluke over 5 & 6 pounds, with Troy Mathews’ 6 pounder taking the pool. Carlos Ramirez won the morning pool with a 5 pound fluke.
Sea bass, porgies, fluke and triggerfish graced most of the rest of the trips this week. Fluke were hitting the 6 and 7 pounds mark regularly. Scup, triggerfish and sea bass were all making it above the three pound mark.” Call the office to book at (631)668-5700, or book online at vikingfleet.com.
Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball reports:
“Chris L joined Bill for an evening in the office, aka Montauk Point. Bill was fresh off an injury, but managed to hold his own on the deep hike into the south side rocks. There they came upon a ton of small bait, like spearing, anchovies and grass shrimp. Four or 5 bass were waiting for them there, happily taking their mag darters. Almost every cast produced a hit. Keep an eye out for daytime blitzes. If they’re not occurring already, they’re imminent.” Subscribe today at www.longislandsurffishing.com.
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Eastern Long Island Fishing Report
I’ve all but abandoned the surf at this point. I still survey it daily with my drone, and enjoy watching the action from above. There haven’t been a ton of predators in the surf zone (except on certain days), and I got tired of the lock jaw I was experiencing on the striper front. Whenever those bay anchovies move in thick, the stripers always act differently. The solution is probably simple, like “fish at night” or “throw a teaser at low light.” But I’m chartering children, who are mostly prone to a short attention span if the action’s not immediate.
So we do the dock gig a ton. It’s been awesome this week. Nonstop perching, with eels, carp and even a fluke coming up from the brackish depths. The fluke was likely only able to survive due to an increased salinity in the brackish areas caused by the extreme moon tides.
But I’ve probably spoken enough about that at this point. Chum the water, use nymphs to catch baitfish, use those baitifsh to catch bigger fish. Marabou jigs will get the carp, and a piece of shrimp on a hook will catch just about anything. Simple recipe for nonstop fun, and the time will fly as you catch ‘em up!
But let’s get to the nitty gritty, the ever-changing, big game frontier situated just off our coast. This was the coolest week I’ve seen, from an aerial perspective. The conditions were nowhere near perfect for filming (I like a bluebird day, no wind, no clouds). I can’t say exactly why, but the conditions were apparently perfect for feeding. I saw more sharks this week than I ever have.
I was filming one school of bunker pretty far out that was covered in at least 15 sharks (that I could see). They were running through the school over and over, making the bunker schools flash like lightning. It was an amazing light show just like that, but then the mighty bluefin tuna entered. The flashes of bunker lightning became more spectacular than a fireworks show’s grand finale. I only saw one tuna, but perhaps there were more underneath. What looked like one tuna making one run shut down the entire bunker school.
They came up pretty quickly after. The bunker hug the surface to use the sun: the more sun they reflect, the flashier and more evasive they become. When they go deep, they lose that defensive edge. Surely the sharks underneath helped expedite their return to the surface, but the bunker would undergo a few more attacks up there before disappearing completely. Just like that, poof. A hammerhead, a dozen spinner sharks, and a giant bluefin tuna all swam in different directions towards their next victims. I followed suit.
I could’ve went one way or the other, and been equally pleased with either result. The gulf stream eddy that had pushed into the surf zone the night prior brought a tremendous amount of life with it. Mauve stingers, which are bioluminescent jellyfish from the eastern hemisphere, made their way to our shorelines, stinging hundreds of bathers across the east end.
They’re normally found in Australia and the Mediterranean Sea… not so much on the east coast of the U.S. The blue water made for incredible filming conditions; I definitely got some of my best footage of the year.
I’m certain the fishing got better with it as well, seeing as the ferocity of the sharks attacking bunker rose tenfold. It was similar to their peak activity last year, where I could count on them going airborne during their vertical sprints through the bunker schools. I caught a few of those on my drone. They were leaping acrobatically right behind the surf’s breaking waves. What an awesome sight.
A predominant southwest wind and the new moon tides should dirty up the surf somewhat over the next couple days. Since yesterday, I could see the water becoming slightly muddied. There’s a tinge to it today, and tomorrow evening I reckon it’ll be translucent to opaque. I think it’d be a very good idea to work the bay side on these moon tides. Just have a feeling there’s some big fish back there working these big tides.
I heard whispers of a nice surf bite in Montauk, which I expect to get even better over the next week or two. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, and the first wave of the fall run is either underway or about to occur.
I think it’s going to be an awesome fall run this year. For now, I’m enjoying the summer bite. You should too. Get out there and catch ‘em up. Tight lines.