Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
Update: January 30, 2025
- Safe ice no longer likely after a period of warmer weather
- Ice out should provide more opportunity for panfish and largemouth from shore
- Rivers and areas with current your best bet for trout, white perch, and holdover bass
Here’s what local anglers have been posting on social media:
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Last week, I had the rare pleasure of ice fishing on Lake Ronkonkoma with my buddy Sean Conway (@long_island_fishing_guy), and we both got into some yellow perch in about 6 feet of water nearshore. The perch were tiny, but we were still hyped to get into our first-ever ice fish.
As you can see in the embedded IG posts above, Sean and I weren’t the only ones to get out and enjoy Long Island ice.
I got the ice fishing bug bad, so that Saturday I woke up at 2:00 AM to make it to the NY-VT border at first light to fish Lake Champlain for lake trout with Alex Corriveault (@Champlain_Papii). We got into some lake trout, yellow perch, northern pike, and even white perch on bucktails and tiny tungsten jigs. It was a little sketchy being that far out on the ice, especially hearing all the pressure cracks, but the ice was almost 8-inches thick and full of anglers.
It was also my first experience fishing with live-sonar, and I wont lie, that technology is pretty incredible. Watching a lake trout come into view on the edges of the screen and home in on your lure made the fishing a lot more exciting than just regular blind jigging through a hole in the ice.
The next day, I headed west into the Adirondacks for a snowmobiling expedition towards one of the most beautiful, remote places in NY: the Stillwater Reservoir. I’d been there over the summer to field test an inflatable paddleboard and skunk out on a musky mission. This time though, I wasn’t there to fish, just fool around a snowmobile.
You’ve got to appreciate each season for the opportunities they bring. I know the cold and snow isn’t for everyone, but learning to find fun in all 4 seasons is key to loving life here in the Northeast.
Long Island and NYC Fishing Forecast
We had a window for ice fishing on Long Island, but that window is quickly coming to a close. With temperatures well above freezing over the past couple of days, and the 7-day forecast showing daytime and nighttime temperatures skirting the upper 40s and even 50s, your attention should turn instead to ice-out fishing for trout and bass in the freshwater ponds, and holdover striper fishing in the back bays.
While the rivers have remained mostly ice-free, ponds and lakes may still have thick bank ice and skim ice, making fishing difficult. Depending on factors like sun coverage, wind exposure, and water flow, your results may vary depending on where you’re fishing. If you can find a spot with a spillway, you’re likely to have plenty of fishable water.
However, if you did get out to do some ice fishing and got into some fish, you should remember those spots and try to revisit them with a cast, assuming you weren’t too far from shore.
Upstate, the ice should last longer but your best bet is to head as far north as possible. A thaw is definitely coming and you’ll want to closely monitor water conditions if you have any plans of venturing out on the ice.
Update: January 16, 2025
- Cold weather is likely to freeze over the remainder of the ponds, making rivers your best bet.
- Party boats are sailing offshore for deepwater wrecks targeting cod and other groundfish, weather permitting.
- Rainbow, brown, and brook trout are biting well on small flies and light jigs.
- Pickerel, largemouth, and panfish are likely inaccessible due to skim ice.
Sean from Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle in East Northport told me: “With the cold coming up, there’s not a whole lot to do outside of fishing the rivers and hopping on a party boat if the weather allows for a wreck trip. Ice fishing is a good bet if you’re willing to drive up north. I haven’t heard of any herring activity, and fishing for holdover striped bass is always an option if you have the patience for it and can tolerate the cold.
Paul McCain from River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin told me: “I was out on the Connetquot on Tuesday and had myself a banner day. There were only 3 other anglers on the river, and I was able to move around and really cover the water. Streamers were not particularly effective but still hooked a few nice trout, and I had over 20 fish on midges, which they couldn’t pass up. With the brutal cold ahead, I’m likely going to be tying flies vs. getting out on the water.”
Here’s what local anglers have been posting on social media:
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The holidays are done, it’s time to settle in for winter. Are you feeling cabin fever yet, or have you been staying busy? Regardless of the brutal weather, there’s still plenty of opportunity to cast a line and get tight.
My old reliable for breaking the winter cabin fever on Long Island is the Connetquot. I reserved a beat this past weekend hoping to fish through the snowfall. While the snow was less than expected, the fishing was not. Streamers of various colors and sizes hooked rainbow and brook trout, with my new personal best brookie coming off a blind cast of a black Woolly Bugger.
Long Island and NYC Fishing Forecast
With the cold weather ahead, your best bet for a bent rod is going to be inland streams and rivers with moving water. Any stagnant water is very likely to freeze over as we head into a period of brutally cold temperatures in the teens. The Connetquot and Carmans rivers will be loaded with trout, as well as white perch in the brackish sections and even the occasional holdover striped bass.
My new PB brookie slammed that streamer close to the surface and gave dozens of drag-pulling runs, and even a few acrobatic flips which led me to think I hooked a largemouth bass at first (even though I don’t think they make it into the Connie). With the cold water this time of year, I feel like the trout just don’t quit. It took me a few minutes to net the fish, after which I documented it on camera and sent it back to the river.
Bass fishing on Long Island leaves much to be desired. My local ponds are full of skim ice and fishable water is hard to come by. I’m not likely to be visiting those any time soon unless we get ‘blow-torch’ weather in the 40’s and 50’s like more recent winters. The mid-day temperatures actually look pretty OK until Sunday. Next week’s forecast looks like the opposite. Similarly, pickerel fishing has been tough due to a combination of low water and skim ice.
Holdover striped bass are a possibility, if you don’t mind the grind. Slow-crawling soft plastics or plugs with loooong pauses are your best bet. I’ve seen a few holdovers come out of the East River and some of the back bays.
Bob Aquatic on YouTube got after it with a green shrimp and hooked a schoolie bass and a small black sea bass in the East River recently. Similarly, Bsprex on YouTube has been grinding this winter, catching all kinds of interesting stuff in his fish trap, as well as both freshwater and saltwater species on ultralight tackle in ponds and streams. Hopefully these guys inspire you to get out and try something new, regardless of the weather. Even a 1-inch mummichog can be exciting when you haven’t made a cast in weeks.
If you aren’t miserable in the cold, the weather is looking pretty good for ice fishing this week. Temperatures in the teens down to the single digits mean that safe ice is likely. Most of the popular lakes should have notices posted at access points, but information on current ice conditions can sometimes be hard to find.
A good bet is to call a nearby tackle shop or sportsman’s lodge to ask them about ice thickness, and tips on where to go and what you can catch. Check out this article by OTW’s Andy Nabreski on beginner ice fishing tips if you’re just getting started. And for additional safety measures, brush up on ice fishing safety tips before you go.
It’s winter. If fishing a bluefish blitz in warm weather is on your mind, you’re going to be miserable. Temper your expectations, try something new, and you might find appreciation for the cold!
Thanks for reading, and tight lines.
Update: January 2, 2025
- Sea bass, porgy, cod, pollock, and other groundfish landed in large numbers on the last party boat trips of 2024
- No sign of a strong herring run yet.
- Freshwater ponds and inshore bays are likely to freeze over by next week, making rivers and moving water the only option.
- Big snowfall in the forecast—something to be optimistic about for the Chesapeake.
Happy new year! I hope you took time to fish while we had highs in the 50s. From here on out, it’s going to get colder and snowier. My New Year’s tradition of fishing Stump Pond was interrupted this year, and instead, I opted for a trip to a local pond for a skunking after dozens of hopeful casts with a Shimano jerkbait. In retrospect, a soft plastic presentation like the Ned rig or a small paddletail would’ve probably been more effective. Despite the cold start to 2025 for me, I’m very optimistic about next week.
Here’s what local anglers have been posting on social media:
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC!
Long Island Fishing Forecast
Check out this band of snow expected to hit the Chesapeake on Monday! This is something to be optimistic about for striped bass, where its been found that lots of snowfall in winter and rainfall in the spring has helped create ideal conditions for striper spawning. After 6 straight years of bad striper spawns, let’s hope for a bumper year in 2025, which already seems like it’s had a colder and snowier winter than any of the past several years.
This snow is going to reach us as well. While the cold is guaranteed to freeze up the ponds and lakes on Long Island overnight, rivers like the Carmans and Connetquot will be just fine, and with the pattern change, it’s likely that trout, white perch, and holdover stripers will be on the feed. There’s fewer things more serene than a quiet morning of trout fishing under a gentle snowfall, or stalking a back bay between skim ice and throwing plugs and soft plastics for holdovers. I guarantee you’ll have the bay all to yourself. Just wear some decent gloves or you might go home missing a few fingers to frostbite after lipping your first striper of 2025.
Now if you’re still looking for deep water action, your best bets are going to be party boats sailing offshore. The Viking Fleet has overnight offshore wreck trips scheduled every Friday starting next week. These trips target tilefish, pollock, hake, and other groundfish as deep as 1,000 feet. These are serious fishing trips that require proper gear for success. Check out this video for a Christmas week pollock trip the OTW crew went on to get an idea of what to expect.
Other options are daytime cod trips that usually sail early in the morning and return around sunset. However, you’ll need to browse Facebook pages and party boat sites to find out who’s sailing and when. With the exception of the Super Hawk in Point Lookout, it doesn’t look like most Long Island charter boats are offering these trips yet, so stay tuned to their social pages and websites when they announce them.
We have 3 months to hold ourselves over before the main event kicks off in April. Whether you hit the salt or the sweetwater, I hope you find success this winter and catch ’em up. Send any photos to me on Instagram @Nick_OnTheWater to get featured in the next report!
Thanks for reading, have a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year – and tight lines.