Eastern Long Island Fishing Report
- Big bass all over, for surf and boat fishermen. Awesome ocean bite this week, with spearing blitzes occurring.
- Tiderunner weakfish arrive, alongside gator bluefish.
- Blackfish chewing in the deep.
- Lots of bunker around.
- Jumbo porgies in the Peconics.
- Squid on the north fork.
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
Striper reports are off the charts with solid fish all over the bay, on the open beaches, and in the ocean. Live bait is pulling good sized fish, just be sure to adhere to the circle hook regulations. Lure-wise, SP Minnows, mag darters, swim shads, bucktails, and popping plugs have been getting whacked hard by aggressive stripers. Fly guys are sizing up to big hollow flies when they find the bass are on bunker instead of spearing. Matching what is swimming around close by is key. A few yellow eyed demons have been spotted around as well. They’re big, mean, and love busting tackle. Hit them with poppers and walking baits, tins, and bucktails. They will happily eat them all. May is usually a stellar month for fishing, and it’s shaping up to be another great one.
Action is starting to get better in the freshwater. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are active, pickerel are out hunting, perch and sunfish are all schooled up looking for a meal. Bass are smacking swimbaits, inline spinners, Senkos, and jigs like mad. Pickerel are also looking for something moving, they love swimbaits and inline spinners. For the perch and sunfish, a worm and bobber rig will have you on them all day. If you prefer lures, a tiny spinner, spoon, or jig would work wonders for those little guys. Trout are looking up during the morning hours, hoping to sip down some dry flies. I like something fluffy with a visible top color when I’m throwing dries around. Hang a nymph under a dry when they head down for their afternoon break. Streamers will get the attention of the more aggressive trout in the area.
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The Island Princess in Captree has been running light tackle striped bass trips in the bays lately, with some solid bites occurring. They’re sailing twice a day this weekend, from 7-11:30am and 12-4:30pm, and will be running for fluke starting May 1.
The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Mattituck reported they are now booking trips for the 2023 season. Call them at 631-928-3926 for booking info, or check the website/Facebook for more info.
The Peconic Star of Greenport reports:
“We’ll be setting sail from Greenport for jumbo porgies, weakfish, bluefish and striped bass tomorrow, April 28. Trips will run daily at 7:30 AM. Keep an eye open for special fluke trips in May, and join us throughout the summer to target mixed bags of stripers, blues and bottom fish.” For info, call Captain Paul at 631-522-2002.
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Looking for the Western L.I. 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!
Steve at Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold reports:
“The squid are in, and we’re loaded with jigs to catch them. The stripers have been chewing, and catches are coming on S&S bucktails and Dark Matter finback shads. The freshwater fishing has been red hot too; grab some Yamamotos from the shop, they’re in fresh!”
Rosie Fishing of Moriches Bay will be adding a six-pack private charter vessel to the crew this season. It’s equipped with state of the art electronics and rigged for offshore fishing. This ship’s been proven for years as a commercial tuna boat. Give them a call for booking info: 631-905-5829.
Surfcasting guide Bernie Bass says it was an interesting week and a half. His usual spring haunts have been pretty hit-or-miss, so he’s been jumping around a good bit. The fishing he’s been seeing out front has been pretty great though. There’s been a consistent bite, with some nice fish in the mix. Bernie reckons this mild winter is the cause of this early awesomeness.
Larry at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports:
“There has been a good bite of slot-size stripers this past week, in both the bay and ocean. Bluefish also moved in 3 days ago. Gators to 18 pounds have been caught in the surf. There’s been a ton of bunker in the bays and the bluefish have been hot on their tails. Some big fluke have been caught, boding well for a good opening day on May 1. Porgies are coming up in the Peconics for the party boat crowd. Some decent weakfish have been caught as well. Sebastian from the shop picked a 27 inch one the other night. Besides that, there’s only been a couple reports from the surf guys. These fish coming in seem to be about two weeks ahead of schedule.”
The Hampton Lady of Hampton Bays reports:
“We had an awesome group on Monday, with some serious father-son competitions occurring. Matt was first to hit his limit, beating his dad; Nicolas kept the pressure on his pops as well, beating him out on their porgy limit. Some guys had some beautiful weakfish too! The day prior, we had buckets full of jumbo porgies to three pounds; it was no problem catching your thirty fish limit. The stripers were chewing quite well also. We’re sailing every day from 6am-2pm. Text Capt. James for reservations: 631-521-3366. We still have openings on Saturday and Sunday.”
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.”
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Looking for the Western L.I. 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!
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. Call the office to book at 631-668-5700, or book online at vikingfleet.com.”
Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:
“It’s been a very exciting week on the water in Montauk. Boat and surf fishers alike are getting in on the bite. The stripers are here right on schedule. Keeper bass have been in the surf on the south side. Small bucktails with paddle tails and swim shads are getting the job done. For the boat guys, keeper sized stripers are hanging right underneath the herring and spearing. They’re being caught on bucktails and diamond jigs, as well as umbrella rigs. Some blackfish have been getting caught in deeper water.”
Chris is hosting an open boat trip on May 1 for fluke (weather permitting), so give him a call at 631-830-3881 for info. You’ll likely get into some striped bass as well.
Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball reports:
“Dave M. and I hit the Islip oceanfront early in the week. There was a good amount of wind and weed in the water, and I was only able to hook one fish in the poor conditions.
Two nights ago, Doug joined me in the Oyster Bay area. First spot produced zero fish, but we made a small move and hooked one small bass on a small bucktail. We moved to the south side around sunset and did quite a bit of walking, catching only one small bass on a Grove olive darter. I dropped one other fish and missed a few hits. There was a lot of mung in the water. At 9:30pm we found our way back to the bay and banged about three more small bass. I’ll be targeting Montauk soon, so stay tuned!
Tyler got out on 4/23 from 11pm-4am on the western sound. There was a light wind, but he caught some picky bass on soft plastics.
Sean fished Montauk on Tuesday at the bottom of the tide on the south side. 6 schoolies came to hand, from 18-22 inches. All fish were thick and healthy looking, besides a few who had cuts and scars. On Wednesday he fished the same tide and picked half as many fish. Three stripers came to hand, all under 20 inches. Subscribe today at www.longislandsurffishing.com.”
Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast
That striper run this week. Holy guacamole. April may be my new favorite month. Of course we had some big fish last week, but this week actually got even better. As soon as I finished my report, I took care of my other work for the day before hitting the beach. The water was crystal clear. The visibility had to be 20 feet, and I could literally see big brown blobs, comprised of dozens of stripers, swimming westward in the periwinkle sea. It was very vivid, and the stripers’ presence was very obvious. I launched my drone to film the school that was right in front of me, and pulled out my fishing rod to cast a 7-inch Z-man swimmer on a weightless worm hook. I had a terrible first cast, nailing the school right in the middle. The fish, rather than freak out, became intrigued by my hypnotic bait. A bunch of them followed it in, and one nailed it behind the wave. I set the hook as soon as I felt the hit, and missed the fish.
I burned the lure back in for another cast, and sent one flying before the school scurried away. I watched from 50 feet away as 8 individuals followed my lure. I told myself “don’t set the hook too quickly this time.” That big Z-Man bait feels like actual meat. The fish are happy to keep it in their mouth for an extra half-second or so… maybe longer. The fish were nosing it as a wave approached. When my lure and the fish disappeared behind the wave, I felt the hit, waited, and set the hook into some good weight. A short while later I had a mid-20 pound fish on the beach. It would be my only hit of the day, and my biggest fish of the week.
Most of the rest of the week went like that: just one hit during the day, although I knew many fish were swimming by, and were curiously following my lures right to the beach, over and over. I have a drone shot of me casting a beast fleye and it getting eaten, but not eaten enough. The fish grabbed on to the back of the fly, and kept it in its mouth until I ripped it out. I think I’ll have to add some stinger hooks onto my giant flies, at least for the surf. It’s tough to hook those fish. It’s like the only current they use is when they ride a cresting wave to launch an attack. I think typically, the prey gets caught up in those currents; from my drone’s perspective, and from the hits I felt those few days, I could tell that keeping my lure still in the wave in that moment was crucial to procure a bite.
Anyway, the night bite went much better. My friend EJ kept the beaches honest while I hunted the bays with some other guys. I don’t think there’s been a night where EJ hasn’t caught a fish over 20 pounds. He’s an animal. Back in the bays, my success paled in comparison to my other friends’. I had a couple decent fish to the mid teens, while Justin and Stephen picked bass to 20 or so. They were getting good numbers of fish too. I caught wind of one giant surf weakfish taken in the back bays that had to be at least ten pounds.
My buddy Derek got into some solid bluefish as well. I’ve been on the hunt for them and weakfish ever since I heard of these fish. Derek’s gator looked to be in the teens, probably mid-upper teens.
Both species have been super elusive so far, although I did find a couple teeth marks in my giant soft plastic the other night. Chris Tracy picked a decent bluefish at about 10.5 pounds in the surf, and my buddy Matt Feldman picked one just over ten pounds in the bay yesterday. The choppers seem to be trickling in steadily.
I’m hoping for some more awesome action today. It always seems to be going down as soon as I finish writing this report. Just a couple more things worthy of note from this week:
The amount of driftwood on the beaches right now is absurd. I heard a cool theory about it. My buddy was saying it comes pouring out of the Connecticut River. It took me a second to imagine the journey, but it made sense to me. With this week’s new moon tide and prevailing easterlies (swell, wind, sweep), the river(s) would have flooded and spewed out all this timber. The wood rides the outgoing tide, exiting the sound and rounding Orient, then Montauk. South and east winds sent the wood up on to our beaches. Careful driving the beach; there’s plenty of juvenile seals that look like small logs. You don’t want to hit those.
Another abnormality this week was a dead Osprey I found. I picked it up yesterday morning off the side of the road, and had the DEC come and pick it up at my house. It appeared to have a broken neck. Although I was shocked and upset to see this dead majestic raptor, it was the closest I’ve ever been to one. I took a bunch of pictures of its talons and beak.
The DEC will perform a necropsy, and hopefully let me know what happened. My buddy Chris Paparo (@fishguyphotos) says he’s seen them fly into buildings before. I reckon this bird might’ve crashed into one of the construction vehicles on my block.
I’d hate to end on a bad note like that, so let me consider this week’s weather and fishing potential. It looks like a rainy weekend, with a lot of cloud cover and mild temperatures this week. Although I love nice weather in the spring, there is something to be said for consistency. We’ll have East winds through the weekend, and then west winds afterward. The full moon is next Friday, and I love the few days leading up to a full moon. Although I found darker colors better on the leadup to the new moon, white seemed to thrive on the downswing. Come full moon time, white always works for me, so I feel really confident about the fishing after this weekend.
Expect potential for dirty surf for most of this week. The east winds we’ll experience tomorrow and the next day will be stiff… it actually looks like it might be a nor’easter. Thankfully there will be no frigid temperatures with it, according to meteorologists. You can never tell if those guys are telling the truth though…
I can see myself just avoiding the ocean surf entirely this week. I’m expecting a fully dirty week. It’s perfect timing, as the populations of fish in the bays seem to be booming, and the stripers passing by in the surf seem to be getting smaller and smaller. We very well may get another run of solid fish before long though.
Who the heck knows at this point! This is the best April I’ve ever fished. Here’s to an even better May!
Enjoy it out there.