Northeast winds shut down fishing across much of the Island this past week, but clear skies have prevailed and with them comes the kickstart of the Fall Run.
Up on Cape Cod where I now reside, the fall run started early with albies, schoolies and cocktail blues making up the bulk of the early morning sunrises blitzes that you grow accustomed to come mid-autumn. But after several days of wind blowing directly into the North Fork of Long Island, fishing has picked up again.
I made a trip home in anticipation of both a fantastic, mid-storm striper bite, and in hopes of getting out with Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly — but the weather made boating off the North Shore impossible. In true “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” manner, I spent the weekend casting directly into sustained northeast winds off of Orient Point and North Fork beaches.
I know this isn’t the Eastern Long Island Fishing report, but I watched a couple hardcore surfcasters catch their first albies of the year in heavy rain and gusty wind. That was cool to see, and it shows promise for the West End of the Island that if the albies haven’t reached you yet, they will soon.
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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!
But in an effort to make something out of my trip back to L.I., I rolled with the punches, finding only one schoolie striper in a boulder field with a white smiling bill bucktail. That just wasn’t going to cut it, so rather than cast into 20-knot winds on Long Island Sound I shifted focus to a salt pond off of Gardiner’s Bay. During the evenings and early mornings, I was able to put together a decent schoolie bite from the dock while throwing a Rebel Jumping’ Minnow. There was still some slight chop in the sheltered backwater, and the spook got these fish riled up as they chased down schools of peanut bunker.
While my original plan didn’t work out after nearly 12 hours of incessant casting and multiple wind knots, this backup plan came together last minute and made the trip worth it. Catching schoolies on the same salt pond where I spent summers growing up was super nostalgic, and it goes to show that the fish were still feeding in the sloppy conditions; it just took some extra searching. Keep that in mind next time you go to call it quits after a cold, wet and windy fall run outing.
To the west, surfcasters around Jones Beach, Long Beach and the Rockaways enjoyed quality bass fishing. With the wind at their backs and high surf, the conditions were near perfect for striped bass. They favor these foamy, low visibility waters as ambush predators, and there is certainly no shortage of baitfish around.
With clear skies ahead, it looks like western Long Island’s fall run has officially kicked off.
It will typically start with school striped bass flooding the back bays, creating epic topwater blitzes that sometimes seem to stretch 50 yards plus. On October 1 of 2021, I found a solid bass bite in the surf in Jones Beach State Park. The further out the waves crashed and the longer the rolling whitewater, the better the fishing was. There wasn’t anything big, but the bite was consistent. Swimming plugs and tins were my lures of choice, and the hit often came within 15-yards from shore.
This year though, it sounds like stripers are already in thick with some size behind them. A couple friends of mine have been plugging their local back bay spots and finding fish weighing well into the teens, while the bulk of the bass seem to be around 10-pounds. If they’re still in the bays now, it won’t be long before the beach bite really picks up. Inlets will start popping off with consistency, and although you may be shoulder-to-shoulder at some points, that comes with the territory during the fall run.
For anglers who are interested in other species that can’t be caught exclusively from the surf this time of year, like sea bass and scup, there are plenty of local charter boats that will show you a good time and put you on the meat. But before you go jumping on any boats, check in with your local tackle shop and re-up on jigs, rigs, hooks and bait. Preparation and planning are crucial to success in the Fall, when the fish may be biting on soft plastics one day, and hard metal jigs the next. Here’s the rundown from local shops on the bite this week:
From the Shops
Rob at Jacks Bait and Tackle in City Island, Bronx reports:
“Lots of porgies still coming up for the boats and guys fishing from the rocks. They’re biting almost entirely on bloodworms and sand worms. Blackfish are being caught too but they’re out of season until the 11th; still, it shows promise for the season opener. Shore anglers are catching quality stripers on eels from the rocks, boats and kayaks. Meanwhile, bluefish have basically disappeared but some guys are still doing well with snappers on poppers, spoons and spearing.”
Stella Maris Bait and Tackle in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn reports:
“Porgy fishing remains pretty steady around the bridges and wrecks in the bay, and guys are getting snapper blues along with some schoolie bass out here in the canals on poppers and spooks. Most of the bass action is at night while the snapper fishing has provided much more visual, daytime fishing. The fall run is just getting started.”
Brandon at Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh reports:
“There’s been a couple reports of bass by the inlets and in the bays, with a few guys getting solid fish in the surf; but generally, fishing has been tough after the recent storm churned everything up. Jones Inlet has been decent for stripers but further east, Moriches Inlet was recently on fire. Bass are pushing in from the East every day, so the surf fishing will continue to improve. There might even be some good fluking in the bay now that the wind has laid down, and I know the bayside kingfish bite is still going strong as well. We have live kills stocked for anyone looking to get last licks on fluke this weekend! Season closes Monday.”
Paul McCain of River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin reports:
“I recently ran a trip to the Farmington River for trout, but it didn’t rain there while it did on L.I. We saw lots of fish rising but with the rivers low water levels, stealth was the name of the game. Our guided trips are a great time for fly fishermen learning the ropes and new waters. Earlier this week I did some shore fishing and landed 5 fluke on the fly, but that season ends very shortly. I am also hearing good things about Connetquot River with the increase of groundwater after all the rain we got. Last week, a group called Casting for Recovery– an fishing organization for women who have survived breast cancer— ran a trip on the Connetquot and they did well catching rainbows and brookies.”
Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports:
“Still some nice Fluke around! Bonnie Glennen caught two beauties this past week, and the largest was 4.5lb. Capt Ian of Bon-E charters put her on the fish! Green and white Spro bucktail with fluke belly and Bay Park Spearing got them to bite toward the last of the outgoing tide.”
From the Boats
Captain Josh from Gypsea Charters in Howard Beach, Queens reports:
“We saw excellent striper fishing before the storm, and it picked right back up where it left off! The bass were very agressive, nailing an early boat limit with countless releases. Its shaping up to be a great fall run! We will switch over to full day blackfish when it opens on the 15th. With the recent temperature drops, we expect it to be very good from the get go. We run daily open boat by reservation only, but are also available for private charters for your desired species.” Call/text (516)659-3814 for info. and reservations, which are required.
Captain Rich of Rockfish Charters in Brooklyn reports:
“Today was the first day that we were out in a week. Peanut bunker are leaving the bay and flooding the ocean. We were pleasantly surprised with a new body of bass that moved into the area. This morning’s charter caught and released 40 keepers using live bunker and flutter spoons. The beginning of the fall run seems to have started.” Go to rockfish charters.com for more information.
Captain Vinnie of Karen Ann Charters in Jamaica Bay reports:
“We caught around 50 striped bass this morning in the bay all on topwater and bucktails. With the volume of fish we’re seeing in the bay, it’s clear the fall run is underway because the bass will bite on just about anything you throw at them right now. There are hundreds, if not thousands of fish back here and it’s going to keep getting better.” Go to karenanncharters.com for more information.
Sound Bound Charters in New Rochelle and Mamaroneck reports:
“This week was slow but porgy fishing is still good and there’s beautiful weather ahead! The Sound Bound Star will be firing up at 8 a.m. each day this weekend. Come and experience the best fall fishing the Long Island Sound has to offer as we sail our mixed bag special daily at 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. We have plenty of availability excluding Saturday night which is booked for a private charter.”
Point Lookout’s Super Hawk reports:
Captree’s Laura Lee reports:
“After a week of tough weather, we resumed fishing Thursday morning. Today’s 7 a.m. local bay trip had 12 anglers. They caught 74 fluke up to 6.1 pounds along with 19 sea robins.”
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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 L.I. / NYC Fishing Forecast
Look for albies along North Shore beaches over the next week as they continue to push West. There are only two ways for them to keep heading south to New Jersey; through the East River, or back east and out around Montauk. It can’t hurt to keep an eye on the water daily. Even if you don’t have time to fish (there’s always time to fish), check your local beaches early in the morning, around sunrise, and watch for: fleeing baitfish, nervous water, and breaching albies. They can’t be confused for anything else.
The West End beaches from Robert Moses to Breezy Point are all holding fish, it may require a bit of searching though. Start near inlets, and if that doesn’t work, fish the open beach or the smaller jetties along the way. Anywhere that there are obstructions to create a directional change in current, there will likely be fish. The same can be said for depth changes. Read the waves and determine where there are deep pockets and sandbars by identifying the locations where waves begin to crest (if they crest at all). These wave breaks are the indicators of either sandbars or troughs, and they act as mother nature’s guide to finding fish for surfcasters.
If filling the fridge with fresh fish —say that five times fast— is more your speed, then hop onto one of the many party boats that sail daily. This is the last weekend for New York anglers to keep fluke in 2022, but sea bass and scup will remain on the menu.
Whatever you decide to do, be safe, be respectful, look out for each other, and fish hard.
Catch you next Thursday.
Its strange how “on the water” wound up with my 3 favorites…Karen Anne,Superhawk and up in the Long Island Sound the Sound Bound…ALL great boats buy I will be on the Superhawk on Monday.