Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
Eastern Long Island
The Eastern Long Island Fishing Report is compiled and written by writer/blogger and fly-fishing industry professional, Jack Larizadeh (@jack.lariz).
Captain Chris at the Montauk Anglers Club reports: “The striped bass have returned to Montauk. The average size is about 35 inches right now. This week was a struggle in the surf… the sand beaches have been the most conducive with slot-size fish. That said, there was only one opportunity to get offshore last week, and it was very productive. As long as you found the whales, you’d find the bluefin, bonito, and false albacore. Most boats went out first thing in the morning and were back before noon with an over. The chunk bite is where it’s at, but they are also biting the jigs. Fluke fishing is good considering the horrible conditions we had.”
Steve at Wego Fishing Bait and Tackle in Southold reports: “There are bass and blues in The Gut, but some days are better than others. That said, there are more blues than bass; they’re taking diamond jigs on either end of the tide, and 3-wayed bucktails when the tide is moving. The new moon just passed on Wednesday, so bass fishing should be hot at the tip of Orient Point. Luckily there are also still porgies, sea bass, and weakfish in the bay. We have crabs ready for blackfish season, too, so stop in and pick some up while they’re available!”
Captain Tommy LaSala (@montauk_fishing_charters) in Montauk reports: “The last week of bass fishing for us has been epic! Lots of giant bass to 48 pounds with a few slots for the table, all on diamond jigs and trolling gear. There are also lots of blues around, and the fluke are still chewing in good numbers.”
Wyatt from Haskell’s Bait and Tackle in East Quogue reports on the local striper fishing: “One night guys are getting into a good body of decent fish, then the fish are gone the next day. It’s been weird, but the fish are catchable. The water is still pretty warm, so we need temperatures to cool down. That said, there are a ton of bluefish around Moriches and some albies as well. I also know there’s some good fishing in the canyons right now. Guys are getting swordfish, yellowfin, and bigeyes.”
Bill at Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale reported: “Get out there and get you some fluke! The end of the season is turning out to be pretty incredible. There are large fish holding out all over the bay and inlet. Fish in the 5-pound range are common. Jigging soft plastics and bucktails are the best bet, but bait always has ‘em biting. Weakfish reports are still good, with some larger fish starting to show up. Finesse fishing with light tackle and smaller plastics or bucktails is key. Stripers are showing up more and more as the weather and water get cooler. Needlefish and poppers are getting smashed by some quality bass on the beaches, and SP Minnows are another great choice. Surf rats are also doing well with darters, bottle plugs, needlefish and bucktails at night. Blues are ripping up schools of bait on the flats where they’re inhaling tins and poppers. The docks are still seeing action with snapper and cocktail blues, and some solid blue claw crabs too.”
Jeff at Whitewater Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports: “The wind is still brutal, but a few people have been sneaking offshore to chase a hot tuna bite. They’re hitting jigs and chunks; most guys are jigging after setting out some chunk baits. Inshore, surfcasters are catching bass on the beaches and it’s been relatively good. Striper fishing is steady on bucktails and darters, so we’re definitely seeing the start of the migration. Get out and fish.”
From the North Shore of Eastern Long Island, Sean Conway (@long_island_fishing_guy) reports: “Saturday night was hot with another nice bass in the 40” range and a few more over-slot fish. My girlfriend, Taylor, was also able to cash in on the action with a few schoolies as well!”
Phil at Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport reports: “Wind, wind, and more wind. During the last couple of breaks in weather, a few guys drove east and found bonito and albies. Locally there are tons of 8- to 12-inch blues, and we’re starting to see 8 to 10 pounders. It’s just been tough to get out with this weather.”
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This past weekend, I was finally able to find a brief weather window to sneak out and target some hardtails. With a 2-foot following sea, it took me some time to rip toward where the fish were. However, once I found some bird action I was greeted by some hungry Atlantic bonito. These fish were mobbing the surface and eating micro anchovies for 20 to 30 seconds at a time. Luckily, my buddy Colin and I were able to land a few on jigs and on the fly!
Looking toward this weekend, I’ll be chasing some more albies and bones. We’re finally starting to see some solid windows of good weather, so take advantage!
Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast
Over the next several days, we’ll be seeing some calmer water. It’s long overdue, considering the gnarly east wind we’ve been getting. That said, this weekend looks prime for some hard tail hunting from the beach. It’s about that time when albies start ripping through the beaches on the eastern North Shore. I’ve personally had the best luck on hardtails from the beach during the first two hours after sunrise. If the weather is kicked up, sometimes the bite can extend a few hours. My favorite tide has always been outgoing; if sunrise is at 6:50 a.m. I prefer a slack high around 530 or 6 a.m. so that by the time the sun is fully up, the tide is ripping. In terms of forage, you’ll find albies ripping through spearing, sand eels, and bay anchovies. I’d recommend chucking small jigs in pink, bone white, and chartreuse. In your bag, be sure to carry some binoculars—these are key for spotting any potential blitzing fish in the distance or down the beach. If you’re not sure what an albie blitz looks like, they’re pretty easy to spot. Look for big, frothing slashes on the surface, or albies flying through the air.
Albie fishing has its ups and downs—if the fish are moving sporadically on the surface, don’t be afraid to blind cast. These fish love hitting on the blind!
The Eastern Long Island Fishing Report is compiled and written by writer/blogger and fly-fishing industry professional, Jack Larizadeh (@jack.lariz).
Western Long Island & NYC
The Western L.I./NYC Fishing Report is compiled and written by NYSDEC licensed kayak fishing guide, Nick Cancelliere (@nick_onthewater).
- North Shore back bays fill with peanut bunker and bluefish
- Striped bass and good-size bluefish running under the South Shore bridges.
- Fluke still around in both numbers and size—season closes Oct. 15th
- Weakfish a common bycatch among striped bass.
- Offshore fishing slow to restart, giants should be nearshore.
John from Freeport Bait and Tackle reports: “There have been big fluke at the west end jetty! Two large ones were caught this week on pink shine Gulp, as well as spearing. Bluefish of various sizes have been in the bay, at the piers, and in the surf caught on tins, soft plastics, and topwater plugs. The bunker are scarce right now, so we haven’t had any fresh for the last week, but that should change soon. The weakfish run continues! This season has outperformed many in the past with anglers having a lot of success using pink Bass Assassins and sandworms. We are well-stocked for blackfish season with crabs available daily and a wide selection of both jigs and rigs. Striped bass are around but the true blitz action is yet to come…should be any day now!”
Brandon Weitz from Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh told me: “Fluke fishing is still good around Demo and Sore Thumb; the party boats have been coming right up against the beach. Bluefish have been all over the bays, feasting on peanut bunker; last night, while striper fishing, we were marking stacks of them. The bass fishing is picking up and you can find them if you weed through the bluefish. Soft plastics on the bottom worked slowly are a good way to avoid the blues. The weakfish bite has been really good, with a lot of guys getting them around the bays and inlets. The real fall run craziness hasn’t started yet, but it should very soon, so there’s no reason to not get out there!”
Jamie from Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside said: “Tuna reports keep coming in and the bite is getting very dependable. Most of the bluefin are being caught in the 20-mile range east of Debs Inlet. The striped bass bite is hot in the bays with non-stop schoolie action, especially at high tide. Great fun with topwater lures! Bluefish, as well as stripers, are on the bunker pods in the ocean with the first reports of striped bass in the 20- to 30-pound class being caught. Darters, metal lips, and large-profile swimmers are deadly from the surf, but live-lining from a boat is an almost guaranteed way to get bit. The fall run is heating up and Bay Park is open 7-days a week for all your fishing needs!”
Josh Rogers from Gypsea Charters out of Brooklyn reports:
“Striped bass fishing continues to produce on live bait! Seems like a new body of fish has moved into the area, and we have seen good results. We have seen mostly overs to 43-inches released this past week, with a few slot-sized keepers in the mix. We will continue striper fishing until the blackfish opener on the 15th! Definitely shaping up to be a good fall run. Book your trips now!”
Doug Tobeck of Corazon Charters in Freeport said:
“East wind impacted us for everything in the ocean this week. The bays, however, are shaping up quite well for the early fall – which is super fun. We’re still catching quality fluke, the extended season is letting us target these fish and there’s plenty of them left to be caught! Striped bass, weakfish, and bluefish are all over the bays as well. Peanut bunker have been the main forage around the bays, flooding them end-to-end. Live peanuts can really be a game changer when targeting larger fluke, plus all the other fish that are around.”
Paul McCain from River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin told me:
“I’ve been going out every other day for an hour or two to Jones Inlet. I’ve been catching a good amount of fluke on the fly plus sea robins on the flats. Surprisingly, I caught a lady fish as well. This time of year, you can see all kinds of Gulf Stream visitors like jacks and blue runners, but they’ll be making their way out soon. A few bluefish are around, but very sporadic. There are a lot of dolphins in the inlet as well, and tons of bait. Still, we could use a storm to get things moving. In freshwater news, the Connetquot flows have been good, but the water is crystal clear. Because of that, the fish are a little spookier than normal, but wet flies have been working better for me. You have to let them drift down and swing in the current. If you’re thinking about trout fishing there, I would go now before salt season ends and it starts to get crowded, and the fish are more pressured.”
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Here’s what local anglers have been posting on social media:
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I’ve been on the road for the past two weeks; a few days in the Adirondacks, and a weekend in Cape Cod for On The Water’s StriperFest. I’m back home now and it looks like I returned just in time for one of my favorite bites of the year. In the back bays of the North Shore, bluefish are absolutely terrorizing peanut bunker, with bass in the mix as well. These are the times where you can hook a gator and get taken for a sleigh ride in a kayak, while peanut bunker boil up all around you.
However, my first course of action was to don the waders and hit the back bay for a scouting mission on my lunch break. I went out just after peak-high at noon and, unfortunately, it looked pretty dead, with birds sitting still in the glassy water. While most of the Long Island Sound was rough and angry, the back bays were completely still, sheltered from these easterly winds we’ve had to contend with.
Undeterred, I returned that evening after work with my kayak and found the polar opposite—birds in the air, peanut bunker erupting on the surface, and the sight of a few bluefish tails flipping out of the water. It didn’t last long unfortunately, and while I drew a few nice topwater hits, I ultimately didn’t hook any stripers or big bluefish, just one small cocktail that looked like it had just graduated from being classified as a snapper. I caught it on a small peanut-bunker colored glider, while the topwater hits were mostly on a classic Cotton Cordell pencil popper. I made a few casts of a Gibbs Danny while I was out there, too, but by the time I started to head in, the peanuts were hardly visible and the action all but ceased.
Western Long Island Fishing Forecast
We have some really good weather windows today and Friday if you’re vessel-bound. Saturday looks OK but Sunday it looks like the East wind returns. The tides have been favorable on the North Shore for ‘lunch break’ fishing, and I’m seeing more activity on the outgoing tide, especially in the back bays where they are loaded with peanut bunker.
On the South Shore, the bridges are holding bluefish and bass. The bluefish are outnumbering the stripers from the reports I’ve gotten, but the ratio should change as the fall presses on. The outgoing tide starts around 10 PM and it looks like a great window to target bass in the surf or the back bays. At night, I like to fish metal lips, gliders, and slow-walking topwater baits to elicit ambush strikes. Black, purple, or white are my go-to colors.
It’s been a pretty good fall for weakfish, and I’m seeing a lot of bycatch of them from anglers on a striper mission. Surfcaster Dylan Jewell, a.k.a. (@l.i._bass_hunter), caught one on a darter recently at night.
October is an awesome month; if September was a let-down, October usually more than makes up for it with the blitzes we expect from the fall run. We should start to see false albacore (please lord), surface bass blitzes, bluefish, and the South Shore should (hopefully) get the Great Wall of Bunker similar to last year.
Don’t sleep on any good weather days just because the reports in your area are lukewarm. This time of year you could find a blitz all to yourself if you line up the tide right. So get out there and fish! Thanks for reading, and tight lines.
The Western L.I./NYC Fishing Report is compiled and written by NYSDEC licensed kayak fishing guide, Nick Cancelliere (@nick_onthewater).