Eastern Long Island Fishing Report
- The east end is beginning to feel barren on the bass front, but the bite persists, with increased intensity as you head west. Boats and beach anglers are getting it done.
- Excellent bottom fishing right now: huge sea bass to 6 pounds, and tog nearing ten pounds reported. Giant scup are in, and you can count on catching some codfish.
- White perch are on the prowl. December shrimp hatch?!
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
“We are still getting solid striped bass reports from anglers heading out in search of their final fish of the season. It’s quantity over quality for sure but there are some quality fish mixed in that ocean bite. Hit them with jigs, swim shads, SP Minnows, or popping plugs. Trolling works exceptionally well, especially with umbrella rigs. Guys on the beach are still popping fish up, left and right. The bite consists of mostly schoolie bass and little guys known as “death rats”, marking the end of the striper season. Small rods and light tackle will pull fish. Bucktails and swim baits are killer. Fly guys are having an absolute blast with the fish in close targeting small bait.
This time of year it’s best to head out and get on some bottom fishing. Tautog, cod, pollock, ling, and so many other fish are out and plentiful right now. The local wrecks and reefs are loaded up. The tog will want crabs, but most of the others will eat clam and squid, or take a jig.
Some white perch are roaming around in the brackish water, hit them with small jigs or drop nightcrawlers on the bottom. These small cousins of the striped bass are a ton of fun on ultralight tackle. If you’re going to hit the lakes this time of year, fish, slow and low. Jigs, diving crank baits, and swim baits work very well for bass and pickerel that are out looking for an easy meal. Yellow perch and sunfish will be on small jigs, or worms sunk to the bottom. Trout are nice and active in this colder weather. Start fishing your winter water, slow drifts with nymphs or rip streamers along the banks. High water after a storm is killer for big trout.”
Capt. Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly in Northport reports:
We ran our last trip of the season just a few days ago. A couple buddies joined me to target blackfish, and we managed to put a bunch on the boat. We all took home some fresh meat for dinner. Good way to close out an amazing season! Check out Dave’s website to book him for a charter at www.northislandfly.com.
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Looking for the Western Long Island and NYC Fishing Report? Click here to read what’s happening around Nassau, Kings and Queens counties!
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain on Long Island!
The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays reports:
We got out a couple times this week to target blackfish, and ended up picking a pile of them on the nicer days. That does it for our 2022 season. The catch of the year was probably a 14.5 pound fluke, which is the biggest we’ve ever had on our boat. That’s just one of many notable catches though. Thanks to all who sailed with us!
Text or call Capt. John for info about future reservations, gift certificates and general info: 631-728-4563.
The Hampton Lady of Hampton Bays reports:
“On Friday, Capt. James checked in to report on his recent wreck trips. The past few trips had been excellent, with full limits of giant sea bass being harvested among a variety of other species. We’re pulling up porgies the size of hubcaps, plus cunner and bluefish. Codfish and pollock are on the prowl, rounding out the catch and allowing our anglers to go home with a box full of meat.” 4 a.m. limited passenger wreck trips are sailing every day, by reservation only. Check out www.thehamptonlady.com for booking info.
Bryce at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports that it’s time to contemplate taking his boat out of the water. Bryce reckons the migration has passed. Granted, you still stand a chance of picking a stray striper from the surf, but the bulk of the biomass has swam past us. If you want to partake in some good fishing, you best run offshore at this point. The sea bass bite has been extremely good lately. Cod fishing has also been solid. There’s still a few weeks left of sea bass too, so get out there and enjoy. Head out to even deeper water for blackfish.
A lot of guys who are still fishing switched over to the freshwater pursuits. Bryce said 10 out of the last 20 sales were guys heading to the Connetquot to target trout. Whitewater has a well-stocked fly section for this purpose. Otherwise, most guys hung up their gear for the season. Bryce and the Whitehall crew encourage everyone to take care of any maintenance issues sooner than later. You’ll regret waiting until the last minute to get a squeaky reel tuned, when the fish are in town and there are a hundred other guys in line in front of you.
Whitewater will be hosting fly tying nights this winter, starting up in January. Stay tuned via their social media @whitewateroutfitters.
Montauk’s Viking Fleet reports:
Lots of big porgies moved in the other day, making for a good outing on Tuesday. The sea bass were biting strong alongside them, as we picked about a half dozen cod as well. Monday’s trip was similar, with a notable influx of scup. The quantity of the same three species was on par with Tuesday’s trip. Nancy Liu from Brooklyn took the pool with a 2.7 pound scup; the second place pool went to Jax Chin from NY, who picked a cod weighing 5.8 pounds.
The week began with some excellent fishing on Friday. Both trips saw some of the best sea bass fishing we’ve seen all year, with knotheads up to 6 pounds. We easily picked our limits of them, plus porgies. Thomas Berke from Kings Park took the sea bass pool in the afternoon with a 5.5 pound fish. The blackfish pool on that trip went to Miguel Rodriguez from NYC, who caught an 8 pounder. Sunday’s trip didn’t have the same huge fish, but the quantity of fish on the bottom seemed never-ending. Same story as the rest of the week: porgies, sea bass and cod. Julio Alberto Lopez from Brentwood took the pool with a 3.1 pound scup.
The beautiful December weather should provide some awesome fishing opportunities. We’re going to be sailing a ton. We’ll target jumbo porgies and sea bass at Block Island daily. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will host 5am blackfish and sea bass trips on the Star. We also have a Nantucket wreck trip sailing from 12/11 until 12/13. We’ll be targeting cod, sea bass, pollock, hake, haddock, cunner, cusk, ling, and whatever else may bite! Call the office to book at 631-668-5700, or book online at vikingfleet.com.
Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:
Bottom fishing is currently as good as it gets. Overslot codfish are being caught, alongside a good number of slot fish. Tautog have been thick, and many double digits are coming over the rail. Chris saw a lot of double digits getting released this past week, which is dope. The porgies are still around, and the sea bass are of the XXL variety.
Striper fishing has been pretty much nonexistent. Chris heard of one fish caught in the surf last week but an angler chasing a flock of gannets.
Give Chris a call at 631-830-3881 to book a trip.
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Looking for the Western Long Island and NYC Fishing Report? Click here to read what’s happening around Nassau, Kings and Queens counties!
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain on Long Island!
Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast
Thanks to everyone who showed up to last night’s meeting regarding Addendum I. Every comment made was in support of the status quo, i.e. no commercial transfers. People just want responsible management. The meeting was short and sweet. Clearly, the appetite for increasing the harvest of stripers is marginal compared to that which longs for an improved fishery. The stripers are not in a good enough place for us to be having conversations focused on how to intentionally kill more of them.
It is a shame we wasted our time last night discussing different strategies which would allow the fishery’s recovery to be hindered.
The convo SHOULD be focused on helping the species. But, man, here we are.
Don’t forget to send in your comments for the addendum. Do it this week. Let the ASMFC know how inappropriate this conversation is. “BCC” the Saltwater Guides Association (stripercomments@gmail.com) in your email. They want to ensure the public’s voice is being heard fairly.
As far as fishing goes, the local variety has pretty much dwindled to its minimum. Hop aboard a boat for some excellent bottom fishing. I’m certain we’ll experience some very warm winter days this month, so utilize them to bring home a box full of big filets.
The land-based winter fishing scene tends to be most productive on the warmer days of winter. I try spots where I think I could tie into some holdover stripers on the nice days. The spots I prefer to try on the nice days are more “out of the box” spots. If I think there’s any chance of catching perch, bass, carp or trout, I’m scouring that water with artificials at sunset. If it’s unseasonably warm, I’ll hit the sunrise with bait. Shrimp is good for pretty much anything. Corn makes more sense if you’re specifically targeting carp, but for me, it’s all about artificials for carp; so I’m either fishing marabou jigs or buggy flies. It’s low-percentage fishing in the winter time, but glorious when you succeed.
Although the fishing is slow, it can be pretty amazing out there. With less foliage on the trees, you can more easily spot bald eagles, red tailed hawks, or any one of the variety of raptors that hunt Long Island wetlands. With more people choosing to enjoy the indoors rather than the outdoors, animals become less prudent; if you’re silent and well camouflaged, they’ll walk/fly/chill within a few feet of you. It’s a cool feeling. Other animals get lost on migrations. A couple years ago, I had a small bird inhabiting one of my holdover striper spots. The Dovekie is normally found in arctic habitats; it is a relative of the penguin, and one of its primary predators is the polar bear. Whenever I fished this spot, the bird would come very close to me. I was doing a lot of photography at the time, so I took some good pics of it.
And then there’s times where the fishing is not slow. It took me a couple years to tap into any winter activity on the water. When I finally found some, I found a few places to play. Over the years, I’ve hunted out new spots. Persistence paid off here, and felt like a sunk cost there. The payoffs come in fishy dividends, dealt every year in some cases, or every two or three years in others. Some may only come once a decade, or a lifetime.
There’s a specific fish I’m due for, should its frequency be once a decade. While hunting this fish, I’ve experienced some amazing fishy sights. One occurred last Thursday evening, after I sent in my report.
It’s crazy that the “evening” is like four o’friggin’ clock now.
Anyway, I began fishing an outflow at about 3:30. I wanted to fish through sunset, about an hour later. The first 30 minutes dragged as I casted fruitlessly across the raging current. I was dissecting this current and the eddies surrounding it, with not a tap to show. Plus, I’d snagged and lost a couple jigs on god knows what. This was tough water, and my frivolous effort thus far made me want to pack up and leave.
What the heck else was I gonna do though?
I stuck it out. It was probably another 10 minutes before I got my first hit. I started picking small white perch off the bottom using a marabou jig. I had never caught perch here before, only holdover bass. Finally! One after the other, they came up, all cookie cutter 11 inchers… a solid fight on the ultralight. The cookie cutter thing gets to you after a while though, and you want a big one. I started targeting the water farther upstream, in what I’d consider a less strategic spot. Sure enough, the bigger perch were holding there. Their lips were much more tightly sealed than the ravenous little guys. It took a slow and low retrieve, and an uncomfortably long pause to coax the big girls into hitting. I picked three big ones before tying into something totally unexpected.
I was in the middle of one of those long pauses when I felt a fish swim over and land lightly on top of my jig. I lifted, expecting to miss the fish as I had on multiple light hits earlier. The bend in the rod suggested a small perch had infiltrated this big perch honey hole, but the fish I lifted out of the water seemed different. The shape and stripes practically suggested “porgy,” but the minute the dorsal fin popped up, I knew this was the same species I’d filmed in another brackish spot years ago. I was holding a juvenile black drum in my hand.
Crazy!
I’d say that was the craziest fish story of my week, but I think I can actually one up it.
You ever witness a shrimp hatch? I’ve witnessed something of the sort; I saw sea robins focusing specifically on shrimp one spring, working the topwater and breaching. It was awesome. I’ve fished a couple worm hatches, which I understand are quite similar to a shrimp hatch. The notable difference is the striper’s approach to the different foods. For worms, they’ll slowly rise and sip the surface; for shrimp, stripers rise with a little bit more of a vengeance, making sure they don’t let their target sprint away. They’ll pick the easy baits caught in the current.
What I experienced the night following the black drum incident was certainly a shrimp bite. It occurred exactly as I’ve heard “shrimp hatches” described though. I don’t know if December is too late for a “hatch” per se, but there were perch focused on the shrimp, and stripers focused on the shrimp. Nothing else besides tiny offerings were getting touched.
Luckily, I had tied up a small shrimp gurgler the night prior. I didn’t expect to use it for anything anytime soon, LEAST of all stripers. This seemed the perfect opportunity though. I had my 5 weight fly rod on me, so I tied on the gurgler and launched it across the current. First I’d mend downstream to swing it fast. With no interest in the first five minutes, I began implementing a greased line swing. I casted across the current, and then mended, and mended again to prolong the time my gurgler stayed on the far side of the current, in slow water. Each mend made the gurgler pop and throw a bit of water. This must’ve caught a fish’s attention; my fly began to swing and pick up speed, and I saw the striper rise from upstream to chase my fly downstream. I excitedly stripped and missed the hookset. I did the same exact thing again, and had another rise. This rise occurred at the end of the swing, when the fly entered slower water. I went to strip set, and missed my second fish. It would be another 10-15 minutes, well after the sunset, when the opportunity would arise again. This time I delayed my hookset a bit, hoping the fish ate the fly. I connected to the tiny schoolie striper, and solidified a sweet December memory.
From here on out, I’m chasing these solitary experiences, in the snow, rain, wind, etc. It’s probably my favorite season to fish. The action doesn’t end. It can be grueling to find, but the payoff can be huge.
I hope you’re out there enjoying it. Tight lines.