Jealousy! That’s the only word to accurately describe how I feel about all my Long Island buddies getting in on this fantastic fall run action…
Okay maybe not just jealousy. I am so happy to see that the Fall Run has been as incredible as it has down in my old stomping grounds. Large striped bass have inundated the south shore from Shinnecock to Breezy Point, and although Montauk is still seeing fish, the bass seem to be closely following the bunker pods that sit 50- to 100-miles west of The End.
The NY Bight is currently loaded with fields of bunker, and the bass are close behind. There are currently no signs of that bite slowing. Large topwater spooks and poppers have been tricking slot and over-slot stripers into the near 40-pound range, while live-lined bunker catch consistently. Flutter spoons have also been doing the trick around the bunker pods. Please remember to keep the bass wet as long as possible before taking a photo, and take your time when releasing them. The fishing is so good that there’s no need to rush. The over-slots will not swim off strong if tossed back into the water without care. With our proximity to the Hudson as it becomes a more prominent spawning site for stripers, New Yorkers have a duty to care for these fish so we can continue to see fall fishing like this for years to come.
To the east, striped bass are biting on sand eels along the beaches between Atlantic Beach and Fire Island. This has been a long and steady bite that has kept rods bent over the past two weeks, and as of now, there are no signs of that slowing down either.
Tautog fishing has picked up over the past week or so on both the north and south shores. Tog anglers in the Western Sound are finding limits with some quality fish to 8-pounds in the mix, and the south shore reefs are seeing fish of similar caliber.
I would say that this is Fall Run fishing at its finest, but there’s one ingredient missing: bluefish.
Sure there are scattered reports of blues here and there, but this years bluefish bite doesn’t hold a candle to the near-shore blitzes on adult and peanut bunker that are anticipated each Fall. Big blues were once a fall run staple, and while I see a few decent fish coming up here and there, I’ve yet to hear or see much in the way of bluefish blitzes. I sometimes worry about that fishery as much as I worry about the future of striped bass. If you catch a couple good blues, keep your spots under wraps and try to release them quickly. They are powerful and resilient fish, but they deserve our respect, despite how many plugs they ruin or accidentally steal.
If you’re looking to keep fish, may I recommend releasing the blues and instead taking a trip for sea bass, scup or tautog.
I just had my first taste of tog in over a year and man, it was delectable. I blackened it with a homemade blend and then drizzled hot chili olive oil and lime juice over the top before making a couple fish tacos. The second fillet is in the freezer awaiting the perfect cold day for tog chowder, or as some of my co-workers here at OTW would say, “tawg chowdah”. These fish provide firm, tasty fillets that can be prepared a thousand ways. Shoutout to OTW’s Andy Nabreski for those fillets, which inspired me to look into local boats so I can get out there and catch some tautog of my own this Fall.
From the Boats
Captain Josh of Gypsea Charters in Howard Beach, Queens reports:
“Excellent blackfishibg over the last week with many quality keepers hitting the deck. Limits have been easier to come by lately, with fish to 8 pounds being landed. There’s enough short life in the mix to keep things interesting and keep rods bent. Don’t miss out, fall fishing is in full swing!” Call/text (516)659-3814 for reservations, which are required.
Captain Rich of Rockfish Charters in Brooklyn reports:
“The amount of bass in NY Bight is nauseating. I cringe at the thought of future generations of bait in their path! They are voracious eating machines fattening up for their long migration swim. This has been the case though, it’s nothing new. There are acres of busting bass with lots of birds mainly feeding on peanut bunker. Just about any shad or top water plug thrown gets inhaled. The fish are so thick that even the fly-rodders can enjoy non-stop action.” Call Captain Rich to book a charter (347)661-4501.
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Looking for Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Fishing Report? Click here to read what’s happening 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 and NYC!
Captain Vinnie of Karen Ann Charters in Jamaica Bay reports:
“The bass fishing is insane right now. There are literally miles of big fish willing to hit topwater, and there’s equally as much bait. The bass are gorging on peanut bunker of all sizes. Get in on the action while it’s hot.” Call Captain Vinnie to book a charter (516)728-6952.
Sound Bound Charters in New Rochelle and Mamaroneck reports great tautog fishing out of Mamaroneck on Wednesday. The captain relayed that they had a steady pick of blackfish all day and finished off with fast, drop-and-hook action toward the end of the outing. There were fish up to 8-pounds landed along with several limits which lead to a happy crew, happy anglers and fillets for all. They’ll also be sailing for scup, sea bass and weakfish this weekend aboard the Sound Bound Star. The Sound Bound Too, however, is limited to six anglers and sails out of Mamaroneck at 7 a.m. daily. To book, check out the website soundboundcharters.com or call (347)843-5310 to reserve ahead.
Point Lookout’s Super Hawk reports that they’ve seen some of the best fishing of the year over the past couple weeks. There have been limits of jumbo sea bass and platter-size porgies coming over the rail on their wreck trips. They are also running special offshore wrecks trips on select dates over the next week, conditions permitting. Check out their Facebook page or go to superhawkfishing.com for more information!
If you’re looking to meet some friends from the East end halfway, Captree is the place to do it.
Captree’s Laura Lee reported on Tuesday that the 1 p.m. local trip had 17 fishermen. They caught 276 blackfish, 3 triggerfish and 15 sea bass. Later on, the 6 p.m. trip had 15 fishermen. They caught 15 striped bass and kept nine slot fish, releasing 2 more slot size fish, and 4 over-slots. On Wednesday, the 7 a.m. local trip caught 445 blackfish, 8 triggerfish, 22 sea bass, 1 toadfish and 1 cunner. Then at 1 p.m., the following local boat caught 293 blackfish and 5 sea bass. To finish the day, the 6 p.m. local trip caught 5 striped bass keeping 2 slots and releasing 3 over-slots. Meanwhile, the 6 p.m. Express trip kept 6 slot size striped bass.
From the Shops
Jack’s Bait and Tackle in City Island, Bronx reports:
“Porgy fishing has been good for the party boats out there, and there have been some really good blackfish coming up as well. There were even a few sea bass in the mix recently. Some notable catches we’ve seen were tautog up to 8-pounds or so being landed alongside platter size porgies. The striped bass fishing is still slowly picking up, and the best fishing is for anglers throwing eels, metal lips and minnow plugs from the rocks. The bluefish that were here last week seem to have disappeared. Blackfishing should continue to improve throughout the month in the Western Sound, and we’ve got plenty of crabs to supply.”
Bay Park Fishing Station reports:
Brandon at Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh reports:
“Fishing has still been really good on the beaches. Early morning and night tends to be the best time for the bite. The sand eel bite has been strong, so we’re selling a ton of the Joe Baggs. There are some swimming plugs catching here and there, mostly Swarters and SP Minnows. Blackfishing has been good in the bay around bridges still, but the reefs out front are pretty much dead for tog right now. I heard of some albies to the west mixed in with some bluefish, but nothing materialized out of that report. There was some great topwater bass action around East Rockaway earlier in the week, bass were just crushing bunker and wouldn’t think twice about hitting topwater plugs, flutter spoons anything we threw at them.”
Paul McCain at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin reports:
“We ran a trip at Stump Pond in Blydenburgh Park this week using canoes and kayaks, and our group did very well. We caught almost all yellow perch but they were good fish, most of them around 10- to 12-inches. Hard to beat a little relaxing freshwater action on a beautiful day. The weeds are dying down so it’s making fishing easier in our local bass ponds, and when things really open up so does the fishing. I went fishing again Tuesday around Orient Point in the kayak, and my friend Mark caught a couple smaller bass on the fly. There was not as much bait as I hoped, but the water is still warm out there and super clear. I’ll be going out tonight around Jones to fish the back bays for stripers, as the wind will be at my back. Hoping to get out front one of these days too, with tins and teasers, which have been doing very well. Diamond jigs and other metals with a teaser are bringing in good size fish over 35-inches!”
Freeport Bait and Tackle reports:
“Fishing is great this week, a lot of guys are hitting the big bass on live bunker and flutter spoons, as well as diamond jigs from the boats. They’re stalking bunker pods 2- to 3-miles out. There have been lots of over-slot fish, but plenty of slots have been reported over the past week. It seems a new body of fish is moving in, because off the beaches there are slots, but its mainly an early morning bite. Blackfishing is prime around the bridges still, but there’s lots of picking through shorts. The ocean blackfish bite is picking up though. If you’re fishing for bass on the beaches, Joe Baggs sand eels and Al Gags whip-it eels are fishing great. Super Strike little neck poppers and Yo-zuri mag poppers are working great in the surf recently too. Later at night, darters are fishing well from the beach. We heard of albies recently on epoxy jigs out in the ocean too, so we’ll see if those fish push inshore. Other than that, giant porgies and gigantic sea bass are being caught from the party boats.”
Lindenhurst Bait and Tackle reports:
“The black fish bite is getting progressively better. Here’s Jeremy Kurtz (below) with a pair of nice white chins he caught on Saturday.”
The local bridges and jetties are holding fish, but it takes extra work to find quality keepers. Head to deeper water around wrecks and reefs off of the south-facing beaches to improve your odds at hooking a giant tog.
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Looking for Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Fishing Report? Click here to read what’s happening 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 and NYC!‘
Western Long Island/NYC Fishing Forecast
Tautog fishing should continue to improve as long as the wind and weather remains calm and doesn’t stir up the bottom too much. Tog can be incredibly picky and fussy eaters, passing on a meal that is either not presented the way the want it, or not the type of crab they’re keyed in on at the time. For these reasons, it pays to bring a couple different types of crabs with you and avoid committing to the jig or rig; stay open minded, and switch baits often if they’re not getting bit. The fresher the crab the better. Green crabs, white leggers, Asian crabs, fiddler crabs and even hermit crabs are good bait. Sometimes the smaller crabs work better because tog will pick it up and swim away with it in one grab as opposed to the tell-tale crunching on bigger crabs before a committed take. The smaller crabs also put tog immediately closer to the hook, which can sometimes lead to hooking more short fish.
Striped bass fishing has remained steady across the south shore beaches and out into the NY Bight, where big bass are hitting large topwaters around bunker schools. Bring a handful of plugs like poppers and spooks, but keep some larger profile soft plastics ready too in case the bass get finicky; that tends to happen at times when they’re keyed in on bunker. If you’re fishing for stripers on the beach, sand eels seem to be one of the primary baitfish in close. Diamond jigs with a tube trailer, JoeBaggs sand eels and Storm or Tsunami sand eels are must-haves during this time of year. Keep a couple swimming plugs and bucktails in your plug bag and you’ll be well prepared for a day on the south shore beaches.
On the north shore, tautog can be caught from jetties and stretches of shoreline with deep water and big boulders. It takes a little exploring, but catching tautog from shore is fun and challenging, and the north shore is certainly the place to do it. On the striped bass front, anglers should find areas with heavy current and throw metal lip plugs or live eels. Although there may be fewer fish on the north shore, there are certainly some bigger bass that patrol the shallows under darkness, and an eel wriggling around in the rocks is hard for them to pass up.
It’s tough to say when the offshore bite will pick up again; it sounds like the yellowfin bite has died off, but tuna fanatics still have the push of migratory bluefin to look forward to in the latter half of the month.
Whatever you’re fishing for this week, dress for the conditions because Fall is here and so are the classic Fall run conditions. Most importantly, respect the fish, respect each other, be safe and fish hard.
I’ll catch you next Thursday!