Suffolk County/Eastern L.I. Fishing Report
- Outstanding bottom fishing these past couple days, from Islip to the tip! Great action on the north shore too.
- Wrecks are holding strong. Good eating size tog, sea bass, codfish, and more.
- Striped bass blitzes along the south shore. Death rats to slots and overs. Peanut bunker is fueling this action for the most part.
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
“We’re about a month away from the first day of winter, but it feels like it’s here already! Cold temps and wind chills have severely cut into fishing time. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any fish though! The bay is still active with pods of bait getting harassed by small schools of striped bass. Toss an SP Minnow, pencil popper, swim shad, or surface plug at them for the best results. The ocean is absolutely loaded with bait, and tons of fish to harass them. Bring out some bucktails and diamond jigs along with your bay tackle. These blitzes get big, and quite intense.
Tog action is non-stop on both shores. The wrecks, rock piles, and reefs are chock full o’ tog, and there are some impressive fish lurking down there. It’s not uncommon to grab a double digit fish this time of year. The same story goes for sea bass, cod, and the other wreck fish down in the deep.
Freshwater fishing is slowing down but if you work your lures low and slow, you’ll have some luck with a passing bass or pickerel. Yellow perch and bluegill aren’t too affected, they’re all schooled up and eagerly taking down bait and small lures. Trout action is going great; wait for the water to warm up a bit and the bite will be on. Scale down your flies or use something like an egg or worm to entice a bite during these cold months.”
Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters reports:
“With warmer than usual water, and a few Indian summer days these past couple weeks, the bite has been good with jumbo porgies, sea bass and tog. The water temps are starting to drop now, last measured at 54 degrees. Some hard-fighting blues are still hanging around town, forming lines with the slot stripers to invade peanut bunker schools.
We’ll be back out this weekend, and are pulling the boat from the water on Friday 12/2. If you want to get out before then, give us a call! Big thanks to our customers from this past season!” Call/text Stu at 631-707-3266 or check out Stu’s website to book a trip: northportcharters.com.
The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Mattituck reports:
Wind kept us off the water for much of the week, but once it died down, the togging went very well! Some really nice sea bass came over the rail a few days ago. Wind plagued us the next couple days, but we’re sailing when we can! Call them at 631-928-3926 for booking info.
The Peconic Star of Greenport reports:
A lot of really nice tog came over the rail this week, alongside a bunch of good sea bass. There were even some Thanksgiving codfish in the mix! For info, call Captain Paul at 631-522-2002.
Capt. Phil of Fishy Business in Orient reports:
“The Ward Melville Fishing Club joined us for some fantastic togging yesterday. The group fished in chilly conditions with steady action of keepers and shorts. A flurry of action at the end of the tide filled the boxes with quality tog.
The day prior, the Alagna group battled a strong west wind to target the bottom. The guys enjoyed a solid bite and put a load of white chins on ice. A few sea bass and lots of short life filled in the gaps, and got us home early.
Days earlier in the week were equally, if not more productive. Togging was spectacular this week, and we went home early with limits on more than a couple occasions.” They sail out of Duryea’s in Orient. Give Phil a call to book a trip: (516)316-6967.
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The Hampton Lady of Hampton Bays reports:
Huge sea bass have been prowling the wrecks and gracing our decks. We’ve been picking some really nice mixed bags, with pollock, cod, bluefish, ling and jumbo scup coming over the rail. Catching a limit of XL sea bass has been very easy, and all fares have been taking home big bags of meat. Check out www.thehamptonlady.com for booking info.
David at Westlake Marina in Montauk reports:
There are tons of fish coming in today! The blackfish and sea bass fishing was spectacular today. Lots of folks are bringing home the meat, harvesting fish between 3-6 pounds. It didn’t look like anybody was out bass fishing, and why would they when the bottom fishing is so great?
I could hear the seagulls squawking in the background of our phone call. David said these guys should’ve brought two knives to fillet: one to cut up the fish and one to ward off the seagulls.
Happy Thanksgiving from David and the crew at Westlake!
Montauk’s Viking Fleet reports:
Only two trips occurred this week. Saturday morning began with sea bass as the target, and we found a bunch of big ones. We caught an easy limit, and then made a move to target tog. We headed inshore and found some good fishing. Another easy boat limit came over the rail, with some real beauties getting caught. There was no pool though.
Later in the day, the Superstar started in the deep water and picked away at large sea bass. While targeting porgies, we caught more sea bass and some jumbo scup. Everywhere we tried was good. Some dogfish came up, but they weren’t much of a nuisance. We also had some mackerel. The pool winner was Kevin Zhong from Brooklyn, who caught a 3 pound porgy. Call the office to book at 631-668-5700, or book online.
Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:
“Striped bass fishing was consistent this week. A lot of the bigger fish moved on, but there are plenty of slot-sized fish to go around.
Black Sea bass and tautog are chewing up a storm. The November bottom fishing is about as good as it gets. There are some codfish and porgies to mix up the bag.
Squid fishing is still very good.” Give Chris a call at 631-830-3881 to book a trip.
Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball reports:
On Friday, Bill targeted the Fire Island area during a howling west wind. There was spearing everywhere, but Bill called it quits after a one-hit-night.
On Sunday, Bill hit the first light session with Walter and Washington on the sand beaches in Montauk. The water looked good, but the north side was calling to them at first light, so they ran there to find gannets working outside of casting range. Nothing doing fish-wise in the surf, so they ran back south. Walter picked a schoolie on a 3/4 ounce bucktail. Bill nailed a legal bass on a 1.5 ounce bucktail. They all picked another few bass on bucktails before calling it quits. The amount of gannets was insane. The water temps were around 56 degrees, which is perfect striper fishing conditions.
On 11/19, Rob hit the western back bays on the north shore. He picked one mid-20 inch schoolie, and dropped two more fish as the dark of night settled. The fish were hitting a hydro minnow and a sebile magic swimmer. Rob focused on the upper incoming and outgoing.
John F. fished the west side of Jones on the incoming the other day. He got hit by a couple fat schoolies on a tsunami sand eel, but only connected with one. The wind made for some tough fishing.
Bill posted some old log entries in the Ball the other day. He was discussing whether there might be a herring run this year. The log entries detail some sick, late-season fishing in early December. There were bass over 20 pounds feeding in tight. Bill is thinking this is the year!
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Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast
For some reason I like getting out more when the weather’s brutal. I think it’s the higher chance of solitude that gets me motivated. I’ve been enjoying empty beaches while I skunk in the surf. The sunset last night and the sunrise this morning were exceptional, regardless of the fact that there were no fish to keep me company.
I’ve been getting my fill of bass and perch in the back bays. The fish are still stacked pretty good back there, although I haven’t found anything of size, really. I know other guys targeting some other bay water and finding some piggies in the back.
At the same time, there are signs of serious potential ahead. This morning I drove on the beach before the sun rose. The seagulls were squawking frantically, and fighting with eachother. Something fishy was obviously going down. I couldn’t tell what until I slowed down and observed a bit. Then I noticed one seagull with a small bunker tail sticking out of its mouth. Most of the fish was in its throat, and another 2 seagulls were seemingly waiting for the sated seagull to choke on it or puke it back up. I wish I took a picture; it’s always funny seeing that desperate side of seagulls.
As I type [rather quickly] I’m getting phone calls and texts about blitzes going down. I think I had just missed one this morning, so I’m trying to finish up this report so I can have my redemption!
Wetzel has been talking about a herring run. I’ve experienced faint traces of them on a few occasions this past decade. The bites I lucked into only occurred for one or two days. They were some of the best days of my fishing career. I didn’t catch anything exceptional; the biggest fish were between 20 and 25 pounds.
Thing is, when your fingers feel like they’re approaching frostbite and your face is completely numb on a still, December night, a single hit from a fish gives you so much adrenaline that you can brave those conditions for hours on end. You have to dig deep for the wherewithal to deal with the cold, but when you find it and implement it, and convert it into a big December fish, you’ll have a guaranteed lifelong memory.
I reckon we’ll see another herring run this year, perhaps bigger than anything I’ve experienced. The first one I came upon occurred the last night of the season. I threw herring chunks and caught 14 stripers in the low-to-mid 30 inch range. Four years ago it was all soft plastics. Others I’ve witnessed had the bass demanding blue plugs. You never know what they’re going to want, but make sure you keep some stuff like that on you this last month of fishing.
HOLD UP, QUICK BLITZ BREAK.
Ok, I’m back. That was awesome. I had like 20 short bass and couple slots. Most fish were on the fly. All fly fish were under 20 inches.
Death rats are definitely on the move. Peanut bunker is fueling blitzes. Fish were blitzing right at my feet on a couple occasions; when there was no visible action, they’d hang tight behind the break, eating my hollow fleye when it was motionless. I kept missing hits, so I switched to a two handed retrieve. That allowed me to strip-set like three or four times immediately after I got hit. I had a good amount of line out, so the hits were swift and my stretchy line wasn’t helping me pin them quickly enough. Once I got the hookset down, I began catching fish almost every cast.
Anyway, I’m glad I got into that. This fall provided the worst blitz action I’ve seen in the past ten years.
There is still time left, but this is death rat season. The bass blitz, but they’re small; great for light tackle, but it gets monotonous quickly. I think that’s why I’m hoping so hard for a herring run. That wouldn’t necessarily cause “blitzes,” but it’d certainly provide some feeding frenzies that produce some great fish.
Keep your eyes peeled! Look to the beaches near the inlets for action. Montauk is always promising too. This is not the time to slack. Keep motoring folks.
Tight lines.