Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
- Back-bay mudflats stack up with stripers in less than 5 feet of water.
- Stocked trout provide easy bites between finnicky striper feeds.
- Keeper cod & blackfish aplenty on offshore wrecks.
- Updated fluke & porgy regs.
John from Freeport Bait & Tackle reports:
“Anglers in Jamaica bay are mostly reporting schoolie to slot-size bass on yellow SP Minnows and Joe Baggs Swarters. In the back bays, there’s also been a good bite on bunker & larger sized plugs and plastics as mature fish start to move in.
Blackfish are in at the local bridges as well. We have fresh green crabs, mussels and clams in stock, as well as blood worms & sand worms, plus everything you need for rigging. Shop is open from 9:00AM to 5:00PM, and closed on Wednesday. Hours will be extending starting April 15.”
Captain Josh Rogers of Gypsea Charters out of Brooklyn reported on their first trip of the season:
“It definitely felt good to get back on the water! Opening day of blackfish saw a boat full of eager anglers ready to shake off the rust. The bite was very good in the morning, with shorts and keepers coming up with a few nice cod in the mix. We bounced around after that, seeing some more good short life with the occasional keeper mixed in. We will continue blackfishing until the striped bass opener on the 15th. All trips by reservation only, call/text (516) 659-3814 for info and reservations.”
Brandon Weitz from Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh told me:
“Once again, some awesome holdover fishing has been interrupted by poor weather. But things are looking like they’ll improve with this warm stretch ahead of us! If you’re fishing the North shore, bring your light tackle– the fish are taking soft plastics, Mag Darters, and Joe Baggs Swarters. The best bite seems to be on the incoming and peak high tide.”
Petey Trovato from Lindenhurst Bait and Tackle told me:
“I’ve been at Belmont and Argyle Lakes lately. They’ve both been freshly stocked full of trout that are willing to bite on anything you throw at them. April 13th is the Family Fishing Festival at Belmont and a great way to introduce a young one to fishing.
Blackfishing has been good offshore with plenty of keepers on deck and cod in the mix, but inshore, it’s been a tough bite. My buddy Bruce has been hitting the bridges, near-shore wrecks, and other structure but not having much success. This time of year, clams work well for blackfish just as much as crabs, if not better. Tie on a hook-and-sinker rig and cast out towards bridge pilings and jetty rocks.”
Nuno DeCosta from Tyalure Bait & Tackle in Rye told me:
“The spring has been off to a decent start so far. This past Monday we got a ton of 20 to 30-inch holdovers on Rapala X-Raps, Joe Baggs paddletails & SP Minnows. The biggest were up to 35 inches. Blackfish season has seen a decent start with quality-sized fish but in small quantities. Still able to pull a limit of keepers on clam & crab, which is great.
In the freshwater, anglers are having a ball catching big trout on leadcore trolling setups on the Kensico. There’s also great smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing taking place right now.”
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC!
Here’s what local anglers have been posting on social media:
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If you have a catch you’d like to share, DM me on Instagram @nick_onthewater.
After Easter brunch, I launched my kayak for the first time this year and found myself literally running over stripers in just a few feet of water. The warm weather brought many fish in so shallow you could bump them in the face with an unweighted soft plastic or topwater plug.
The daytime bite was great while it lasted, but as the sun angle dipped it seemed the fish turned off to most presentations, only taking the smallest soft-plastics we could find in our tackle bags, like Keitech Swing Impacts or Storm Wild Eye shads.
The paddle back to the boat ramp in the low-light hours was spent spooking, and being spooked, by stripers just under the surface that would immediately about-face and slap the kayak with their tails when you got too close. It was like paddling through a minefield of striped bass. Since that day, we had ourselves an epic Nor’easter with wind that created some of the tallest waves I’d ever seen in the Long Island Sound. Hope everyone is doing OK.
New regulations have passed for fluke – 3 fish at 19 inches or more from May 4 to August 1, and then 19.5 inches or more from August 2 until October 15.
For scup (porgy), regulations for shore anglers remain the same, while vessel-based anglers are subject to an 11-inch minimum size limit—an increase from 10.5 inches last year. Then, from September 1 through October 31, party/charter boat patrons are allowed to keep up to 40 fish 11-inches or longer.
Long Island and NYC Fishing Forecast
We’re looking at much prettier weather starting tomorrow and for most of next week. The holdover bite should really turn on again once the sun comes out and those air & water temperatures come back up. The bays are going to be chocolate milk the next couple of days, but it shouldn’t be hard to find fish in shallow on the flats. While in my kayak this past week, I measured temperatures as high as 56 degrees, with stripers so shallow you could make out their silhouette under the surface. Now might be a good time to tie on a small spook or pencil.
The primary bait on the North shore seems to be spearing, with small schools visible at low-tide in the back bays of the Sound. It’s been a light-tackle game with soft plastics and smaller minnow plugs getting bit the most. My buddy Frank pulled up 3 fish over 30 inches while out on our kayaks last weekend, each one on a small, slim paddle-tail.
On the South shore, adult bunker have started to fill up J-Bay and bigger baits should attract bigger bass. Larger plugs, metal-lips, and even topwater can attract hungry bass bites, and be on the look out for sea lice should you catch any particularly hungry fish.
Trout ponds and rivers are being stocked almost weekly, and they’re a sure-bet for a tight line if your free time doesn’t match up to a tide-cycle for holdover fishing. Likewise, the lakes & ponds across the island that hold bass, chain pickerel, and panfish should see an uptick in activity as the weather improves. Both human and fish. This time of year I usually tie on a swim jig & paddletail combo, or a weedless, Texas-rigged curly-tail worm or Senko.
The bottom fish bite has been good for party boats targeting wrecks, with keeper-sized cod & blackfish being caught on clams as well as crab. Plenty of boats are sailing this weekend, some for the first time this year. It’s a terrific opportunity to get in on the blackfish bite with the beautiful weather.
Starting next week, we’ll be splitting up the reports into Western & Eastern Long Island once again. The Eastern report will now be headed up by Jack Larizadeh, a name you might recognize from this article on bluefish in the sound, and on Instagram as @jack.lariz.
Remember to go and renew your fishing licenses for the year if you haven’t already – the saltwater registry is free! Visit https://decals.east.licensing.app/ to get yours online.
Enjoy the beautiful weather and get tight. I know it’s going to be an epic week.
The L.I./NYC Fishing Report is written and compiled by NYSDEC licensed kayak fishing guide, Nick Cancelliere (@nick_onthewater).