Western Long Island & NYC Fishing Report- August 18, 2022

• Looking for the scoop out East? Click here to read Tim Regan’s Eastern L.I. / Suffolk County fishing report!

Fishing is just about as good as it gets on Long Island right now. The cobia bite continues across the island’s west end from Jones Inlet to the Gateway; wherever you find schools of bunker, you can almost bet there’s cobia beneath them. If you plan to target these seasonal visitors, be prepared with heavier gear because you’re equally as likely to find a few sharks.

I can’t personally speak on the intensity of the cobia bite because I’ve never caught one, but during this time of year there are plenty of other ways to remain entertained on the water without stalking bunker pods. In years past, I spent the second half of August into mid-September paddling around the meandering back bays for everything from stripers to sea bass. Early morning trips were my favorite. I’d cruise down the Meadowbrook around 5 or 6 a.m. to launch my kayak in Reynolds Channel before heading either east toward Jones or west toward Broad Channel on the north side of Long Beach.

Fluke fishing was usually the most productive. In my opinion, you can’t beat Gulp on a high-low rig or a bucktail with a dressed teaser above it, when targeting fluke in the deeper channels. I found plenty of shorts without a problem most days, but when things were slow or the bite seemed non-existent, a simple color change of my Gulp would trigger the temperamental fatties. Short fluke covered the bottom in slow moving water up to 20-feet deep, but I wanted to find the keepers.

In my experience, bigger fluke enjoy deeper waters, which meant fishing in stronger current and taking quicker drifts. So I hugged the bridge pilings around the Meadowbrook and Loop Parkways and found some quality fluke along with some short, and keeper sea bass. The occasional striper even joined the party.

My kayak was not the only vessel for finding fish in the late summer, though. The ol’ heel-toe express yielded some fantastic bluefish bites when I’d take early morning (or late evening) hikes down Jones or Rockaway Beach. I highly recommend hitting the open beaches with a variety of topwaters and tins during the low light hours. If your metals don’t get bit by a blue on the long retrieve, slow it down as your offering nears the beach lip; many times while targeting bluefish, I’ve hooked stripers that are nosing around in the shallow wash to feed on tumbling baitfish and sand fleas.

Speaking of a great way to catch summer stripers on the beach, throw a couple sand fleas on a 6/0 circle hook, weightless, and toss it out a few feet into the surf. If you’re already at the beach, you can dig these up on your own without spending a dime on bait for the day.

If the beach or kayak bite isn’t for you, there are plenty of incredible charter captains and party boats that fish hard for their customers. Whether you’re fishing for the meat or the memories, there’s a captain and a boat between Captree and Manhattan that’s right for you. Here’s what some of the local boats are doing this week:

Captain Josh of Gypsea Charters in Howard Beach, Queens reports fantastic fluke fishing this week, with a full boat limit of fish for 25 anglers earlier in the week. They even got out with the Martin De Porres School from Elmont last weekend and introduced a ton of new anglers to the sport with a fun multi-species day full of porgies, fluke and some short sea bass. Call or text (516)659-3814 to book ahead, reservations are a must.

Captain Rich of Rockfish Charters in Brooklyn reports:

“The bass fishing is still great over here using live bunker. it’s usually very consistent through the entire summer with resident fish, and then still great in different areas when the fall migration arrives in late October. Winds haven’t been too bad over here, we are tucked away for the most part unless offshore fishing.

Josh at Jack’s Bait and Tackle in City Island, Bronx reports that porgy fishing has slowed down a bit but anglers are still getting them on small strip bait and worms during the low light hours mostly. Tons of bluefish are all over the western sound gorging on bunker every chance they get, and striper fishing has been productive as well, mostly during the night hours using bunker.

Sound Bound Charters in Mamaroneck and New Rochelle are sailing open boat 2-times, daily. On Wednesday’s sunset trip, Captain Danny of the Sound Bound Escape in Mamaroneck reported a decent pick of porgies all caught on worms. Captain Jose of The Sound Bound Star in New Rochelle reported that it was an absolute field day on their nighttime bluefish outing earlier this week, all caught using fresh, live bunker. The western Long Island Sound is full of life right now! Go to soundboundcharters.com or call (347)843-5310 to book private charters.

Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports:

“Frank Marciari of ‘Back Bays’ said fishing has been tough on the outgoing tide in the bay, but he managed to boat a nice 18 1/2-inch fluke using larger silversides for bait.”

Brandon at Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh reports lots of cobia being weighed in at the shop. They weighed a 24-pound and a 42-pound cobia on Sunday, and even saw a handful of 25 pounders come in during the week. The resurgence of the cobia bite (which slowed for a couple weeks) is likely due to less sharks around the bunker pods. They are still there though, so be prepared with the right gear. Fluke fishing has also been good in and around the inlets, while bluefishing is insane in the back bays. There have been birds everywhere and small bait beneath them. Between Tobay Beach and Zach’s Bay there were three separate blitzes going on at once the other day, and soon there will be plenty of snappers around.

Jerry Ruff of Fish Your Way on YouTube reports:

“Got a good spot at the bulkhead and fished some rip rap as I watched the sunset over the horizon. A block of squid, size 4 hooks and a simple 3-way rig was all I needed. I knew a slew of sea bass would be around, so I fished through them for a fluke and some blowfish. Just so relaxing I could not bring myself to leave till dark.” Jerry also got into some freshwater action earlier in the week with a couple solid pickerel from the rowboat while fishing worms near the bottom of deeper water. Check out his channel for more.

Freshwater fishing is always available if you want to change things up and take some time away from the salt. It’s a great way to get kids involved in the sport too! Six-year -old angler Christian De Pree caught this 21-inch smallmouth today on Greenwood Lake, just west of NYC on the NY/NJ border.

He caught the smallie on a live minnow with his Shakespeare Spider-Man setup. Congratulations Christian!

Captain Lou Fleet in Freeport reported the Monday morning trip with Captain Willie fishing for ocean fluke aboard the Starstream was excellent. They had a lot of action and a nice amount of sizable keepers in the buckets. The Starstream VIII is sailing 1/2 day Fluke trips every day. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Capt. Willie Garris directly at 631-830-5251.

Further east, anglers of all walks congregate around Captree State Park. It’s a convenient middle-ground meeting place for anglers coming from Nassau or Suffolk counties. Captree’s Laura Lee reports:

“Wednesday’s 8 a.m. trip caught 88 ocean fluke, 147 sea bass, 61 porgies, 2 bluefish, and 1 tautog. The 1 p.m. trip caught 152 fluke, 55 sea robins, 1 kingfish, 1 porgy, 1 capeshark, 1 tautog and 1 ray. The 2 p.m. boat caught 164 fluke, 42 sea robins, 3 sea bass and 2 capeshark. Lastly, the 7 p.m. Ocean Express caught 236 big sea bass, 31 porgies, 6 mackerel and 2 squid. The 7 a.m. trip on Thursday caught 128 ocean fluke to 6.8lbs, 138 sea bass, 47 porgies, and 1 codfish. While the 8 a.m. trip caught 229 ocean fluke to 6.5lbs, 36 porgies, 113 sea bass, and 13 sea robins. It’s looking like it should be a fantastic weekend of fishing.”

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Western L.I. and New York City!

• Looking for Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Report? Click here to read what’s happening around Suffolk and The Forks

Western L.I. & NYC Fishing Fishing Forecast

Fishing will only improve as we near September. Personally, I find September to be the most enjoyable month of fishing. It’s slowly beginning to cool off, which creates some extra activity as baitfish become restless, but we still receive those warm, summer weather days. The fall run is on the horizon, but there are so many current options for anglers both inshore and offshore. The wrecks and reefs are bound to yield some great bottom fishing, whether on a private charter, party boat or your own vessel. Wherever you go, bring a little of everything.

Bluefish blitzing in the bay warrants keeping a few topwaters on hand. There will be more of that to come. If you head to the reefs and wrecks for some fluke or sea bass, bring a healthy mix of strip bait and spearing, and Gulp with bucktails or high-low rigs. It’s even smart to keep some small diamond jigs or epoxy jigs on board, because with Spanish mackerel around, you never know what you might stumble across. Bluefish, stripers, porgies and more will also hit these small but dense offerings as they mimic such a wide variety of the bait currently in our local waters.

Wherever you find yourself on the water this weekend, be safe respect each other and fish hard.

Catch you next week.