This is my favorite time of year to hit the North Shore for striped bass, although the South Shore should be equally as productive after the massive push of large fish that flooded Long Island’s beaches this week. Bunker are everywhere, and the bass are close behind (or better yet, beneath them).
In years past, the North Shore was always good to me when rain bait came in thick. I recall nights walking around the boulder fields and not having much luck, only to find hordes of spearing being pinned to the shoreline by slot bass where I didn’t think to look. Covering ground is and covering water is hugely important this time of year. The fish are bound to be out there, they may just be more concentrated than anticipated.
Striper fishing will only continue to get better, and when they aren’t cooperating in the open surf, hitting the back bays and channels will almost always yield a few good fish. Jig soft plastics and bucktails in these deeper pockets, and throw floating swimming plugs in areas where there’s a lot of sweep and shallow water.
Surfcasting season is in full swing, and although most of us associate throwing plugs with surfcasting in the fall, I find some of my better fish with bucktail jigs and tins (like the Deadly Dick). Swimming plugs have their time and place, but it makes more sense to throw smaller offerings that match the hatch unless there are adult bunker around. I’ve spent a good portion of my fall runs throwing plugs on the north shore, and although I found success it wasn’t always where, when, or what I anticipated to catch.
With the Fall Run now well underway, it may be harder to find quality fishing spots without finding the crowds. Use resources like Google Earth/Maps to locate fishy areas that are off the beaten path. Combine your efforts with an app like Navionics, which is remarkably helpful in locating depths and contours that are likely to hold fish.
The East End is currently inundated with large striped bass on both the north and south shores, but the West End is equally as active. Bunker fields have bass beneath them, but as evidenced, there may be more predators lurking with them. Sometimes that can interfere with the bass fishing. Stripers, unlike bluefish, don’t want to compete for food; they like things easy. In this week’s report, the stripers are competing with predators that are a little bit bigger than black sea bass.
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Looking for Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Fishing Report? Click here to read about the bite around Suffolk County and The Forks!
From the Boats
Captain Josh of Gypsea Charters in Howard Beach, Queens reports:
“We saw some of the largest class striped bass hit the deck this past week, engulfing live baits once they hit the bottom. After a couple days of the jumbos, some slot sized fish showed up in numbers. Its shaping up to be a teriffic fall run yet again! We will begin targeting blackfish on the opener this Saturday, but are available for private charters for either desired species.” Call/text (516)659-3814 for info and reservations.
Captain Rich of Rockfish Charters in Brooklyn reports:
Captain Vinnie of Karen Ann Charters in Jamaica Bay reports:
“Trophy bass fishing continues through the week on the Karen Ann. There’s bunker everywhere and there’s bass beneath them that want to eat, it’s just a matter of getting the bait in front of them.” Go to karenanncharters.com for more information on booking.
Sound Bound Charters in New Rochelle and Mamaroneck reports:
“Captain B. had a decent day for mixed bag fishing with lots of jumbo porgies and a solid handful of weakfish that found the boat. Fishing will continue to get better as the water temperature cools. We’re sailing pen boat all weekend and there’s space available on all trips. Book online or just come on down to the dock!”
Point Lookout’s Super Hawk reports:
“It’s that time of year for jumbos again. There are plenty of giant sea bass and porgies coming over the rail on recent trips. Attention all topwater fishermen: while we are offshore wreck fishing, we will also be chumming for false albacore, bonita, tuna and more!”
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island or NYC!
From the Shops
Josh at Jack’s Bait and Tackle in City Island, The Bronx reports:
“Porgy fishing is still good, but blackfish season is picking up with lots of shorts and some decent keepers in the mix. Bluefishing is slow, though there are some stragglers around. Stripers are biting steadily for both shore and boat anglers. On shore, anglers are finding success on bloodworms, but the boats are catching most of their fish on bunker and eels. This is a great time of year to be fishing in the Western Long Island Sound.”
Brandon at Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh reports:
“We got a big push of quality bass down this way. Saturday was some of the most insane fishing I’ve seen with fish coming on mojo spoons, flutter spoons, live bunker, you name it. It slowed down on Monday and Tuesday though. I still managed to put together a good bite Tuesday, catching 10 bass on live bunker; one was a slot fish and there were a lot of schoolies. But nothing like the weekend, when I saw bass in the 40- to 50-inch range. I caught a 50-incher and my friend the day before had a 52-inch bass. There are also a lot of threshers in shallow and even some tuna coming in crazy close to shore. I hope the bass stick around for a bit, but they won’t want to compete with tuna and threshers for food. While fishing live bunker, three of my friends were spooled, by what could only have been a bluefin tuna, in seconds. No albies around though for the most part. There are just tons and tons of bunker right now, so get out there and enjoy the fishing while it’s good. If you can’t get out front, bass are biting in the bays at night on JoeBaggs sand eels and small swimming plugs.”
Lindenhurst Bait and Tackle reported some great fluke fishing right before the season closed. A handful of their customers managed to put a good bite together for one last outing before the season closed on Sunday. Hope everyone had a great fluke season!
Paul McCain at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin reports:
“Lots of wind made it tough for the fly guys this week, especially in Montauk, but now things are calming. We had a trip to Robert Moses yesterday and although we didn’t find any stripers, we caught a ton of hickory shad on the fly rod which is an absolute blast. Those will keep us busy when the bass won’t cooperate. Otherwise, fluke season is over so on the south shore we’re all gearing up for tautog season opener on the 15th.”
Freeport Bait and Tackle reports:
“Lots of stripers on the south side beaches. They’re hitting spoons and live bunker for the guys in the boats, and the fish are biting well both inside the bay and out front. The surfcasters are getting good bass from the beaches on Super Strike needlefish as well. Right now we’re gearing up for tautog season opener on Saturday; we’ve got plenty of jigs and our custom tog rigs ready to go along with plenty of crabs.”
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports:
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Looking for Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Fishing Report? Click here to read about the bite around Suffolk County and The Forks!
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island or NYC!
Western Long Island/NYC Fishing Forecast
Striped bass fishing is going to continue to improve. The fall run started slightly earlier than it normally would, at least in terms of the size of fish that are typically caught on the south shore this time of year. Bass from 40- to 50-inches are here, and as long as the bunker are around, they should remain with them.
Tautog season is off and running in the Long Island Sound, and the south shore should see a strong start as well. Tautog season for the south shore opens on the 15th (Saturday), so grab your rigs and jigs at the nearest shop ASAP.
Hickory shad, the most underrated fish of the fall run (for good reason) are already hitting south shore beaches in numbers. If you’ve got a fly rod and multi-species fishing is of interest to you, fish along the beach lip or near the jetties and inlets on the south shore to experience stripers and shad biting side by side. It’s a fun game of fish roulette.
The back bays are still holding some fish here and there, but the best bet for some quality, consistent action is to hit the open beaches on the north or south shores. Fishing at night is a different story. Stripers will stack into the deeper back bay channels under darkness to easily scoop up any baitfish moving in or out with the tide. It’s an easy method for feeding that expends little to no energy, which is why those soft plastics and bucktail jigs work so well in the backwaters at night.
Wherever the fishing takes you this week, be safe, be respectful and fish hard.
Catch you next Thursday.
many fish will die…and be eaten!