Eastern Long Island Fishing Report
- Stripers chewing in Suffolk.
- Night bite for largemouth bass.
- Carp on dry flies.
- Alewife runs underway. Large variety of baits moving into our waters.
Captree Bait and Tackle reports:
“We’re opening this week! Come see us the next two weekends, on the 15th and 16th, and the 22nd and 23rd. We’ll be open all day. The weather’s too nice not to be open! One of the local boats has been reporting some solid cod and blackfish fishing.”
The Captree Princess will start running trips in April to target cod and blackfish. They’ll be available to book private charters as well, for half-or-full days in the ocean or bay.
The Peconic Star of Greenport reports:
“We’ll be setting sail for jumbo porgies, weakfish, bluefish and striped bass come April 28. Trips will run daily at 7:30 AM.” For info, call Captain Paul at 631-522-2002.
The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays reports:
“We’ll begin targeting Peconic porgies on May 1st. The boat is looking great, and ready to fish!” Text or call Capt. John for info about future reservations, gift certificates and general info: 631-728-4563.
Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball reports:
“The Pink Moon was on 4/6, and I took my charter the following night to Oyster Bay. There was plenty of bait there, like chubs, spearing and grass shrimp. We moved around a bit but couldn’t find a touch.
Later that day, I met up with Dave and Jerry Audet. We hit Oyster Bay again, trying to catch some fish on camera. Nothing doing for us, but we saw some large bait working in the bay. Unsure of the species. We moved west where we found glassy water, but nothing feeding in it. We sprung back to Oyster Bay for a last hurrah. Dave picked our first fish of the night on a 3/4 ounce white bucktail. We picked about 6 more, all schoolies to around 11 pounds.” Subscribe today at www.longislandsurffishing.com.
Montauk’s Viking Fleet reports:
“We’ll be sailing out of Sag Harbor on April 29, specifically to target Peconic porgies. We’ll be lowering our fare too, as it’ll be a shorter trip to the porgy grounds! Find us on the Long Wharf. $110 per trip from 4/29-5/14. On May 15, we’ll start running out of Montauk.
We’re running a Nantucket wreck trip this Friday. Saturday’s weather looks great. We depart at 7pm on Friday and return Sunday at 2am. The fare is $400. We’ll be targeting cod and other wreck dwellers.” Call the office to book at 631-668-5700, or book online at vikingfleet.com.
Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:
“The highlight of this week was definitely the freshwater fishing. Everything is biting everything. We’ve got lots of spawns underway, so fish are extra easy to catch. In the salt, a handful of schoolies were caught in the surf. There are gannets diving on herring, and cinder worms are coming out to play. Other baits have been spotted in our waters as well.” Chris is hosting an open boat trip on the Reel Addiction, so give him a call at (631)830-3881 to book. Tackle and bait is provided, just bring food and drink, for $150 plus tip.
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Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast
Striper season might be open by the time you read this (Saturday, 4/15). I hope you catch your personal best this year and learn much in the pursuit. Godspeed.
The weather’s lining up perfectly for the opening. Although the forecast shows a few days of rain, it’s also showing some consistent sun. Sunlight is the main factor I base my efforts on this time of year.
Those gray and foggy days can feel mysterious and beautiful, which is actually a perfect combo for our kind of fishing. That kind of atmosphere seems to silence the world and sharpen our senses. You can hear noise, but you can’t see it or place it. Your muscles are tense, ready to strike with a hair trigger reflex. You might be the only human for miles in that ghostly world. I hooked my largest bass in these conditions, long after it felt like I had overstayed my welcome.
We’re geared to want the sunlight though. It is impossible not to smile when that warm spring sunlight blankets your skin. My smile only grows as I begin to imagine the possibilities of the coming night: worm hatches, shrimp hatches, crab hatches. Mantis shrimp spawns, herring runs? Lord knows, and I’m going to find out. I just know the fish are feeling as juiced up as I am.
I saw the Peconic Baykeeper posting multiple times this week about the alewife runs. They were clearing out estuaries to allow the river herring access to freshwater bodies. Thanks guys! This obviously bodes well for saltwater bites in the near future.
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The nights following warm days (especially around the moons, especially later in April) are usually my first exceptional nights of the year. While the tide is low, the sun bakes the mud flats, mussel beds, and all sorts of dark bottoms. The tide rises, and the incoming water pours over those warm beds. When your local backwater tide is nearing high at sunset, you can expect an outgoing tide of heated water during the dark. It is the perfect situation for hungry fish.
For mid-April, I’m used to fast bites of small fish. They feed on a variety of bait, so I like to catch a few fish and then switch up my offering, so I’m presenting multiple types of food across the same area. As the month progresses, my offerings will grow a bit, and they’ll be more geared towards the upper water column. I’ll expect weakfish and bluefish to be biting by that point.
I’m expecting the mid-April bite to consist of some bigger fish this year. I’ve heard whispers of slot stripers in our region this week, and I suspect they’ll be biting tonight. I’ll be on the hunt. Moral of the story: capitalize on the hot days this week for your best chance at good bites of bass.
My buddy Mike Dean of “Manhattan to Montauk” has been catching some stripes out here on the east end. He picked some fish in skinny water on the outgoing tide a few days back. He’s been seeing bunker and smaller baits from Westhampton to Hampton Bays lately. Cormorants and ospreys usually have a hold of them.
Man, I’m at the point now where I look back through my week’s photos and am amazed at how much I’ve experienced in such a short time. I’ve been fishing every day and most nights, and I’ve practically forgotten one encounter that I’d probably have called “unforgettable” at the time. Spring is a very busy time for me, though, and time flies. Anyway, without further ado, the unforgettable experience: carp on surface flies! I’m not talking dry flies though. I’m talking friggin gurglers, pretty much. I was popping white, foam-topped marabou flies along the surface, as if it were an escaping albino friggin frog (or whatever), and these common carp were literally chasing the fly down to eat it. I missed a bunch of hits strip setting, and fared much better with “trout sets.” What a treat that was. I’ve been trying to record it so I can share how awesome it is, but the fishing just hasn’t been the same since. I had one day where the fish were all over my flies, and then I kept trying every day. I think the fish grew a bit weary of my omnipresence. I got eats, but not many, and I never set the hook on one again. I’ll go back again soon. You guys gotta see this. I swear, the underappreciation of carp in this country is criminal. I love ‘em.
I’ve been hitting the freshwater at night too, hoping to coax a bucketmouth off the bottom to attack a wake bait. I haven’t had the pleasure yet, but I’ve stayed tight to fish to 3 pounds using soft plastics fished slowly on the bottom. One of these fish is going to be big.
In my mind, I’m trying this tactic a bit too early, but I’m also trying to prove myself wrong… I always am… trust no one (lol).
Thing is, I’m getting good numbers of bass. They’re active enough. So it’s fun. It definitely takes some time to locate them and figure out what they want and how they want it. So, good luck to you if you’re up for the challenge. It’s like a fast bite if your presentation is slow enough…
Same deal as the stripers, count on the nights following warm days to be the most productive. I got skunked the one night I went out after a colder day. Can’t win ‘em all, so focus on the best potential.
A number of freshwater fish are chewing now. They’re my primary target right lately. I want a big koi, a big carp, and a big bass. I definitely want some stripers now too, so I’ll be all over the place this week.
Get out there and have some fun!
P.S. – As I was writing this, I had the coolest thing happen. I was on the phone, so I couldn’t get a good video unfortunately. I saw a bald eagle fly over my head, and became entranced as I typically do. A few seconds later, I noticed an osprey flying about 100 feet above the eagle. Obviously I became more stoked, but I’ve seen this before. THEN, a red tailed hawk comes flying out of the trees! For about 5 seconds, I had all three raptors soaring directly over my head. I love this place.
I guess everyone’s feeling the same about this sun. Time to eat! Go get ‘em, and stay hungry.