Eastern Long Island Fishing Report
- Outstanding striped bass fishing on the North and South Forks.
- Big blues remain on the north shore.
- Some good weakfish are still chewing on the south shore.
- Fruitful porgy bite continues.
- Tuna bite explodes at the canyon.
- 300+ pound thresher sharks coming to the dock.
Captree Bait and Tackle reports:
“Allan weighed in a 3.8 pound fluke he caught yesterday. Another angler brought in a 390 pound thresher shark to weigh. Jack brought a four pound fluke in that he caught on Gulp. George from Booyah fisheries won this year’s shark tournament, weighing in a 308.2 pound thresher. Willis hit the Captree docks the other morning, and ended up bringing home a keeper fluke and weakfish. The piers are producing and the charter boats are doing great. Bluefish have moved out, and been replaced with fluke, weakfish, crabs, and stripers.”
The Fishfinder of Captree reports:
“We’ve found some good short life mixed in with the keeper fluke this week. Friday’s night trip produced a bunch of slot-sized and short stripers, plus some nice bluefish. The pool fish was a 34-inch bass taken on a live eel. We had a 6-pound weakfish come over the rail earlier in the week.”
Capt. Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly in Northport reports:
“Jerry joined me early in the week to target some tailing bluefish. He ended up catching his personal best at 17 pounds on the fly. The fish took a Bob’s Banger. Jerry’s son Will got on them as well. Nick and James joined me a couple days later, picking some big stripers on big flies off the bottom. Stripers and blues continued to bite as the week progressed. Overall, some awesome fishing this past week.” Check out Dave’s website to book him for a charter at www.northislandfly.com.
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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!
The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Port Jefferson reports:
“Kids from the Terryville School got out with us two days ago to lay a smackdown on the porgies. The scup bite has been good this week, with some smaller weakfish coming over the rail. Sea bass also came up, but had to be returned to the sea. One angler turned a double into a triple when a spider crab latched onto the porgy on his bottom hook the other day. One tog came up earlier in the week, feeding on the same clams as the other species we caught. The Garden City PBA came out with us early in the week to target stripers after we caught a heap of scup. Some quality bass came up on that trip.” Call them at 631-928-3926 for booking info, or check the website/Facebook for more info.
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:
“Big bass on the beach, in the ocean, all over the salt marshes, and roaming the flats, we received reports of quality stripers across the island this week. It’s been a little breezy, but worth it! Surf guys have been finding big fish in the early mornings and late nights, eating big baits. Darters, bottle plugs, and big bucktails have been getting demolished. Poppers are doing work in the sunrise and sunset hours. Monster bluefish are all over the place too, destroying everything in their path. Anything shiny or splashy will get their attention pretty quickly. Fluke action is heating up quickly in the local bays. Flatties are stacked in the channels and working their way towards the flats. Some quality fish have been pulled over the rails already, usually on a shop rig. Bucktails and standard rigs both work great, just add your favorite bait or artificial. Weakfish are held up in their usual spots, crushing pink soft plastics and bucktails. Target them with light tackle for increased success. Kingfish and blowfish are showing up at the local docks, munching on clam or squid.
The lakes and rivers are lit up with action across the board. Trout are active in the mornings and evenings, all over the big bug hatches. Bass and pickerel are cruising and looking for big meals before it gets hot. Swim baits, cranks, in-line spinners and top water lures will grab their attention. Sunfish and yellow perch are schooled tight, and eagerly taking down any worm and bobber rig they come across.”
The Peconic Star of Greenport reports:
“The Cornell crew joined us the other day from upstate. They caught a ton of porgies and a nice weakfish to take home. We’ve been seeing weakfish to nearly ten pounds, and porgies to three pounds. The porgy bite was always hot, and the weakfish were mostly hit or miss. The weakfish that did come up were regularly large though. We’re fishing daily for jumbo porgies and weakfish at 7:30 a.m.” For booking info, call Captain Paul.
Capt. Phil of Fishy Business in Orient reports:
“Cesar and his family/friends joined us yesterday. We had a great day of steady action, catching bass and blues. We boated a limit of slot bass, and took home a load of bluefish. We released many unders and a couple overs. The Marullo group put a similar catch on ice a couple days ago, with a bunch of bonus porgies to boot. The Montefortes found the same fish the day prior, bringing home a bunch for the bbq. The North Fork Anglers came out to target some fluke early in the week, putting together a nice catch of flatties. It was a strong bite all week on the North Fork.” They sail out of Duryea’s in Orient. Give Phil a call to book a trip.
Surfcasting guide Bernie Bass reports:
“The action was up-and-down this week, once again. I caught some better bass towards the end of the week, on plugs on the night tides. The bluefish were around for the picking during the day tides.”
Rosie Fishing of Moriches Bay reports:
“We picked a lot of fluke this week, filling angler limits regularly. Striped bass were also coming up in pretty good numbers. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for sailing times and reports. Give us a call for booking info!”
The Hampton Lady of Hampton Bays reports:
“The fluke bite has been on this week. We’ve had some good ones to, to over 8 pounds. We’ve had plenty of four-fish limits taken, and quality catches all around the boat. Text Capt. James for reservations, we’re sailing 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays reports:
“Fluke have been chewing well in the skinny water the past few days. The fish are still feeding on crabs, mantis and grass shrimp. We found some stripers chewing on the fluke grounds as well.” They’re sailing out of Oaklands Marina daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Text or call Capt. John for info.
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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!
Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:
“It’s been a very eventful and exciting week in Montauk, for both surf and boat anglers. Multiple 40- to 50-pound bass were caught in the surf this week. From the boat, there were multiple 40- to 65-pound fish being caught. Savio on the Fishooker has been keyed in, catching a lotta large.
Porgies are in and they’re extra large. We saw our first good run of fluke, with a few double digits hitting the scales.
Butterfish hole is holding loads of blue sharks. There were a few mako sightings and a thresher shark out there too. The tuna fishing in the Canyon is red got, with every variety available. If you have the range and get a good weather window, the time is now!” Shoot Chris a text at 631-830-3881 to book a light tackle trip.
Montauk’s Viking Fleet reports:
“We ran a fluke trip to Nantucket, where we picked 20+ fish over 8 pounds, 4 over ten pounds, with the biggest being 12 pounds. Jonathan Visek won the pool with his 12.3 pounder. The fluke were biting okay back home, coming up with the porgies. The bites were mostly slow this week, but anglers brought home some meat. The porgies that came up were medium to large for the most part. Some bluefish came up with them two days ago, as did three keeper fluke.” Call the office for more info or book online.
Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball reports:
“On Monday, Bill hit the south side with John under some imperfect weather conditions… perfect for fishing. Bill provoked a strike early on using a pencil popper. Around dark, he had a short take a needlefish. Bill took another short after making a quick move later in the evening. Unfortunately the lightning chased them out of there.” Learn more at longislandsurffishing.com.
Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast
Brandon Sausele has been solidifying his status as one of Montauk’s best surfcasters for the past five years or so, taking the top spot in most of Montauk’s surf tourneys. He’s always got some top notch competition from the local sharpies, like Toad, who just picked a 42 pounder for third place, and John Bruno, who leads the Spring Shootout with a 48 pounder. Brandon currently sits at second place with a 44 pounder.
Montauk wasn’t the only place holding large bass though. Reports came to me from the inlets and the bays all over the east end. Surf guys have been picking thirty and forty pounders this past week. The action should continue through this moon phase. Don’t sleep on it. This is the time of year to catch your largest striper.
Squid are hounding the sandeels a few hundred yards off the beach. I got some cool drone footage of them on the hunt. There are dolphins out there pretty regularly. Bunker has been swimming past intermittently. They haven’t really taken up residence yet though. One day they’re here, the next they’re gone. I imagine the whales will be right on the bunker’s tails in the next week or two. I miss those leviathans! There’s been so little action on the oceanside by me.
Find structure for the best fishing opportunities right now. My beach has been mostly quiet, save for a few schoolies and fluke I’ve been catching. It’s a bite or two a day. The real action along the beach is occurring closer to major structure points. There are schools of stripers and bluefish swimming by, but they’re mostly out of casting range when I see them.
Fortunately, all the smoke has cleared, leaving us with some bluebird skies. It’s been super clear in the mornings, with cloud cover coming in quickly by 10am. Word is, more smoke is on its way to the States from Canada. Hopefully it’s not as bad as last week. Temps should remain pretty constant. It’s been a moderate start to the summer season, with lukewarm days and a bite to the evening air. We’ll see more of the same this week, with some thunderstorms thrown in the mix. They’re forecasting a good bit of rain in the near future, which we could totally use. It’s been so incredibly dry this year.
As for the fishing… I’d recommend throwing the skinny stuff, as sand eels seem to be one of the main menu items. Nighttime is the right time; most reports I’ve heard involve big bass working the beach lip under the cover of dark. They’re not too easy to catch, and they’re nipping at the back of your lure. You can catch them during the day too; stripers are scavenging the suds for shellfish. Try bait while the sun’s up. Guys patiently waiting for their clam to get eaten have lucked into some very large Black Drum this week. This fish has become a much more common catch along the western south shore in recent years. Surfcasters have been getting them to about 50 pounds for the past three years.
If you want a larger bass, cast during the night when they come closer to the beach. I reckon there are some monsters yet to be caught in the next 5 days. I’m expecting to hear of some 10+ pound weakfish finding a hook as well. Honestly, you never know what you’re going to catch; Sean McDonald sent me a video of an Atlantic Sturgeon getting caught off the Shinnecock rocks this week. Sean thinks he hooked/snagged three others that day, just chilling in a hole. On that note, I’ve heard more about sturgeon this year than I ever have. Hopefully they’re making a good comeback.
I’ve been seeing lots of boats coming back from offshore, loaded up with tuna. Like Chris A. said, if you can get on a capable boat during a proper weather window, you stand a chance at a very memorable outing. Get out there while the getting’s good. Plus, if you don’t mind sharking, the opportunities are beginning to abound on that front. There’s high potential for epic days in the bluewater right now.
I’ve been bogged down with manual labor lately. It’s slowing down a bit, so I’ll be looking to make some of my own reports this week. I haven’t been fishing enough to tap into anything great these past few weeks. Still, the drone kind of gets me my fix. Watching those squid hunt sandeels the other day was eye opening. I’ll attach the link to the Youtube video if you want to check it out: https://youtu.be/2P9657PpsoM