Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
North Shore
Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters reports: “With an ‘off week’ at Kids Fishing Camp we did a bunch of charters and they did not disappoint! Remarkably, with water temperatures now in the mid to high 70s in LI Sound, we were able to get a nice striper bite while live-lining in the early morning, and they are still chewing hard. We had slot-sized bass to 31 inches and several throwbacks to 25 pounds! Plus, we caught lots of short fluke and the occasional keeper. Also, we had some first time anglers on the boat Tuesday morning and the 10-year-old girls had a blast and caught lots of porgies, cocktail blues, spot, weakfish and a dogfish. It’s safe to say they are hooked for life and can’t wait to join in on the excitement of my Kids Summer Fishing Camp next year! Call or text (631) 707-3266 or visit our website to book a trip.”
The Angler Fleet (@anglerfleet) out of Port Washington reports: “The fluke bite has shifted, with tons of shorts in the shallows and the doormats now more spread out in deeper water. The porgy action has slowed down a bit, with fewer schools around, though we’re still picking off a handful of keepers during our fluke trips. We’ve also seen some weakfish coming over the rail—hopefully they continue to chew as the week goes on. To get in on the action call or text (718) 659-8181 or visit our website.”
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Mark at Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport reports: “Porgy fishing has been hot on the party boats and beaches, and stripers are still around after 5PM on topwater and flutter spoons. Live spot has been killer for bass! Stop in and get some before we run out. Fluking locally is tough, as the fluke are in super deep water. You’ll need to hit 60 feet or more to get your keepers. Anything 80 feet and over could yield a giant. Visit our website or call 631-239-1631 to order rigged eels, live eels, or eel skin plugs!”
Sean Conway (@long_island_fishing_guy) in Smithtown reports: “Tons of rain bait and spearing in the back bays. There was a solid cinder worm hatch as well on the night of the new moon. I’ve been catching schoolie-size stripers and small blues on small soft plastics. Fluking has been good in the back bays as well, but there are not a lot of keeper-size fluke; the average fish is 12 to 17 inches. Porgies also made a good showing lately off the beaches. On the freshwater side, the bite has been productive at night. I’m finding some decent largemouth on Whopper Ploppers, frogs and gliders.”
Captain Skippy Charters out of Mount Sinai reports: “This week out of Mount Sinai Harbor, we saw some great striped bass fishing, catching schoolie-sized fish to bass in the 40-pound class! Stripers have been caught trolling, jigging, and even on topwater when the mood stuck. We have been working with GrayFish Tag, tagging over-slot striped bass for their research, giving customers the unique opportunity to catch, tag, name, and release large striped bass all in the name of science. This week, I want to give a shout out to 13-year-old Quinn, who caught a nice 20-pound bass named “Uncle Kenny” on a bucktail. Let’s see where Uncle Kenny gets recaptured! There are a ton of fluke on the shoals mixed in with sea robins, but keepers are hard to come by. Local wrecks and rock piles have plenty of sea bass with some big porgies mixed in, making for great mixed-bag fishing!”
Steve at Wego Fishing Bait and Tackle in Southold reports: “Believe it or not, there are still fish in the Gut on the incoming tide, and of course fishing is still good in The Race on the outgoing as well, with bluefish mixed in. The bay has porgies, weakfish, and fluke. Fish deep water and you’ll catch! Jessup’s Neck has the porgies and some cocktail bluefish. Tuna Ridge, Habbs, and Ranger are hot for tuna! We’re not seeing many yellowfin, but there are mahi around.”
South Shore
Brandon Weitz (@bweitz1) from Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh reports: “Fluke fishing on the reefs has picked up pretty good in the last week, with a lot of keepers and short action. The cobia fishing has been hot as well, and live bunker and eels have worked best. Tuna fishing has been insane; trolling, jig, pop, they are hitting everything. Both bluefin and yellowfin are coming up, along with some nice yellowfin close to 100 pounds on poppers. Summer fishing is firing on all cylinders, so now’s the time to get out!”
Bill falco (@fishlongisland) at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports: “Fluke action is still hotter than the weather this week. Lots of solid flatties are in the bay and on the local wrecks and reefs. Light tackle, bright colors, and work those shelves and dips. A hi-lo rig with a bucktail on the bottom and a teaser up top does the job. Hang your favorite soft plastic off the hooks and get to bouncing! Sea bass are all over the local wrecks and reefs too, inhaling clam rigs and smashing jigs. Summer bass up north is still going strong with lots of nice fish sticking around on the bait. We’re catching a few smaller bass out east as well, which hopefully is a great sign for the fall run. Tuna reports are nonstop; boats are pulling up on crazy blitzes and jigging and popping fish until they can’t anymore. In fresh water, hit the lakes early morning or in the evening with your favorite topwater lures and get on the incredible bass and pickerel action. Mid-day it’s beyond hot, so fish low and slow with jigs or Senkos. If you’re looking for panfish, toss a worm and bobber rig near any structure and they’ll be hanging out there. If you’re going after trout, make sure to check those water temps! Don’t fish anything above 68° for the sake of the trout surviving releases. That being said, on those good mornings they are all over terrestrials like beetles and spiders.”
Tom Truehart (@northshoretommy) in Moriches reports: “Bad weather but good fishing. I ran out of Moriches this past Sunday morning on my 23cc and the water was rough. I was planning on heading about 40 miles south and we decided to cut the trip short due to weather. I ended up stopping around the 20-fathom curve to head back and ran into a few tuna chicks but not much happening. I pushed a little further east and there were chicks for as far as I could see picking away in a slick the size of a football field. First cast we whacked one right up top, a nice 50-inch bluefin. Next, I dropped a jig and it immediately got smoked. This went on for about 2 hours with multiple drifts, getting tight a few times with each drift we made. All 45- to 50-inch bluefin gorging on sand eels. What we thought was going to be a bad day turned out to be one of the best.”
Captain Doug Touback of Corazon Charters in Freeport reports: “A while ago we predicted that the summer fluking season would be one of the best… and we were right! We are getting easy 6-person limits with fish over 7 pounds on our trips. To date, it has been one of the best seasons so far. Our Daiwa slow-pitch outfits and high-lo rigs with 5-inch FishBites have allowed our guests to crush the fish.”
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC
The Captree Fleet (@captreefleet) reports: “This week, the action in the bay has been much more productive than the last two weeks with lots of keeper fluke and a few monsters up to 7 ½ lbs. Offshore sea bass fishing is still hot and boats are keeping their limits with a few nice fluke to 7 lbs. and a full assortment of ling, porgies, sea robins, triggerfish, mackerel, stripers and bluefish mixed in. The action is nonstop! Now is the time to join us. Reservations are suggested for all open boat trips. Get your gift certificates! These are available to purchase in our office or online and can be used on any of our Members Boats. Call us at 631-669-6464 or visit us at captreefleet.com.”
Captain Adrian Moeller of Rockfish Charters out of Moriches reports: “Fishing this week has been absolutely savage. We’re catching lots of yellowfin mixed with bluefin, mostly on poppers. This fishing is really as good as it gets. There’s an inshore bluefin bite and a 20-mile wide offshore yellowfin bite.”
Aaron Diener (@aarondiener) took a tuna trip out with Capt. John McMurray of One More Cast Charters and reported: “The offshore bite was hot, the bluefin loved the pink and white UVT jig. When we got to the yellowfin grounds it was NatGeo out there with dolphins, whales, birds, and tuna taking poppers, RonZs and jigs. I even landed a 70-inch fish!”
Patrick Hilbert (@pattytales) in Montauk reports: “Fish have been solid in pockets from Moriches to Montauk. Tuna chicks in water ranging from 150 to 180 feet is the giveaway. Fish on the screen will eat streaker jigs, working fast. A light leader of 80 to 100 pounds has been necessary. Finding any life is worth casting and drifting; sometimes they’re there and sometimes not. The sand eels have been heavy in the upper water column, so light plastics and maybe even a fly can work well, but there are lots of fish on the bottom too. Fun-sized fish!”
Nick at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports: “Inshore fishing is okay, there are more bass showing up in the bays. Fluking is consistent and triggerfish are starting to show up. We’ve had a huge influx of bunker moving in with sharks on them too. Tuna fishing is phenomenal inshore and offshore, with mahi mixed in.”
Nick Cancelliere (@nick_onthewater) on the south shore reports: “It’s sharky out there. I went out to explore the bunker pods off the South Shore this week with my buddy Jack Francesconi (@togdawg) and found plenty of brown, blacktip, and spinner sharks marauding through the pods, sometimes on the surface! While the target was cobia, we had plenty of bycatch and break-offs from the sharks of the Carcharhinidae family. Ultimately, we only made it back to the dock with only a few cocktail blues to show for it, but at one point during the day, while just a mile and a half off Jones Beach, we were treated to a pretty epic sight of a giant bluefin breaching clear out of the water and cruising the surface, chasing what I assumed were bunker. By the time we reached where it was, there were no pods in sight however. I’m no tuna guy, so all we could do was watch in awe. Hopefully it’s a good omen for my upcoming trip.”
Tim O’Rourke (@mtkpointflyfishing) in Montauk reports: “The tuna bite remains strong inshore. Still nice quality fish within 20 miles of the point. The good weather this last week has made heroes out of plenty of people.”
Capt. Joe Diorio (@joe.diorio.guide.service) reported from the Montauk tuna grounds: “The fishing is insane, we’ve had tuna up to 70 inches eating jigs, but it’s mostly 41- to 43-inch fish chewing 150- to 220-gram UVT jigs in electric chicken. Fish are also hitting dead-sticked RonZs. Double-digit days have been super common. Yesterday was ridiculous—we had 25 tuna!”
The Author’s Experience
Sunday the 27th and Wednesday the 30th I spent my time on the tuna grounds. The bite was red-hot with fish off Montauk in 180 feet of water. A ShoreCatch-colored, 150-gram UVT jig was the hot ticket. Simply hit bottom and tap your jig slowly up the column. Once you feel the eat, don’t be afraid to give the tuna the business. It seems like sunrise til 9 AM, or late afternoon, are primetime windows. The fish are mostly on sand eels and butterfish. Wednesday was pretty epic as well; the hot jig bite continued with fish up to 55 inches. My friends Marc Achtizeger and Matt Paghidas made a super short run for inshore tuna, and we crushed fish while speed jigging UVT jigs in just 140 feet of water. It doesn’t seem like tuna fishing is slowing down. I’m excited to keep the ball rolling.
Long Island & NYC Fishing Forecast
If you couldn’t tell, tuna season is in full swing. The bite is lights out just miles off Montauk. That said, don’t sleep on the inshore game! The Sound is still providing plenty of fluke action. Fishing off the Mattituck Inlet jetty should be hot with plenty of porgy and fluke to catch. Break out the Gulp and jigheads! A 6-inch Gulp swimming mullet in chartreuse paired with a Kalin’s 1/2- to 1-ounce jighead should do the trick. There are also fluke on the South Shore beaches, so grab a light spinning rod and get to casting.
On the North Shore, it’s a great time to check out the Tappen Beach dock in Hempstead Harbor. This area is known for big fluke in August; I’ve had plenty of hammers in that area. I’d also recommend checking out Bar Beach in Hempstead Harbor; the dock at the end has amazing current with pilings full of algae. Frankly, any dock or pier on the Sound should have plenty of life on it. The growth on the pilings attracts bait which, in turn, brings in the fluke. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different bucktails and teasers.
As for the mid-Sound, there are still stripers at Eatons Neck chewing sandeels. Sunrise and sunset are your best bets. Be sure to pack weightless Albie Snax, snap jigs, and a small spook. The fish range in size from 20 inches to 20 pounds.
Finally, Shinnecock still has bluefish floating around. At sunrise and sunset, you should have luck on small tins and poppers. Additionally, word on the street is that there are some monster fluke in Shinnecock Bay!