Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
North Shore
Captain Arthur Cortes of Cortes Outfitters in NYC reports: “The dog days of summer are upon us, which means it’s time for shark and cobia fishing. The Breezy Point to Jones Beach are is full of life, providing us with plenty of entertainment until the water temperatures cool down. For cobia lures, the preferred choice is an orange and white bucktail, while for flies, a red and white Bulkhead Deceiver works best. To get in on the action, call or text 347-326-4750 or go to visit our website.”
The Angler Fleet out of Port Washington reports: “This past week brought us some special guests! Pods of dolphins, numbering in the hundreds, along with cownose rays, have been spotted several times. Meanwhile, we’ve continued to pick away at fluke, porgy, and weakfish. More small blues have been caught, which is a good sign for gator blues just in time for the WICC bluefish tournament. To get in on the action, call or text (718)-659-8181 or visit our website to book.”
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Mark at Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport reports: “Striped bass are still biting and the fish range from schoolie size to 40 inches. The bite is hot on live bait, so our live spot is selling fast. Three-wayed bucktails, along with eels and diamond jigs, have worked too. One week these fish are pouncing on jigs, and the next they’re on bucktails, so try it all! Finding bait is still a must. Bluefish, on the other hand, are nonexistent; finding the blues has been a super struggle. Let’s see how the WICC tournament turns out. Visit our website or call 631-239-1631 for bait and tackle needs.”
Sean Conway (@long_island_fishing_guy) in Smithtown reports: “Striper action is very slow, but there have been some solid bass in the back bays mixed in with schoolies. There are tons of spearing, small rain bait, and peanuts around. Some spotted croaker have also shown up and are mixed in with the porgies and short fluke off the beaches. Snappers are in thick, and there are some solid blues around ranging from 5 to 10 pounds. Fluking is still going strong with tons of shorts that can be caught from the surf, and I’m still seeing a few slot keepers caught from shore too.”
South Shore
Captain Doug Touback of Corazon Fishing Charters out of Freeport reports: “We fish the high percentages and nothing is better than fluke right now. All of our guests this past week scored keepers up to 7 pounds. Fishing was slower after the storm last week, which meant it took longer to catch our limit. Big sea bass and good amounts of triggerfish are in the mix as well, as an added bonus.”
The Captree Fleet reports: “This week the action in the bay and ocean was hot with lots of keeper fluke and sea bass. Fun action with a bunch of beauties mixed in. A few bonito are showing up as well! Everything you need to fish is right on the boat included in the fare at no extra cost. This weekend, the state parks and others are hosting a snapper derby at Captree State Park. Now is the time to join us. 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 to book or visit our website for more information.”
Captain Adrian Moeller of Rockfish Charters out of Moriches took a trek to the tuna grounds and reported: “Tuna fishing was really good at the beginning of last week then slowed a little during the full moon. We had a ferocious yellowfin bite on 2 of our last 5 trips and steady bluefin jigging action every day. When we find feeding porpoises the yellowfin are often mixed in, and can’t resist a well-placed popper. Live peanut bunker are becoming crucial to get them going and luckily, our canal in Moriches is loaded with them. Because of this unfortunate early bluefin closure, we’ll start exclusively focusing on yellowfin and mahi, running to the deeper blue water. All our August dates are sold out, but we still have some good September tuna dates and plenty of October bass dates available.”
Bill Falco (@fishlongisland) at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports: “Fluke reports are coming in hot this week. Lots of solid flatfish are in the bay and holding on the outside reefs. If you can cull through the piles of shorts, the keepers are big and extra thick. Sea bass reports from the local wrecks are good; the further out you go, the better the fishing. Summer stripers are starting to get picked up in the late-night hours. Anglers putting in time on the night shift are coming up with some solid fish. Tuna and mahi action in the ocean is lit up. Bluefin season is closed, but there are tons of yellows and big schools of mahi-mahi ripping around. The local docks are also starting to get swarmed with snapper blues, and crabbing is phenomenal; lots of fun for the kids, and the kids at heart.”
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Haskells Bait and Tackle in East Quogue reports: “Inshore fishing isn’t too hot right now. It seems like offshore is where it’s at. The Hudson Canyon is hot right now with big eye, yellowfin, and bluefin (which can no longer be kept). That said, the local bass fishing has been decent early in the morning. Live bait seems to do the trick. Aside from the usual fishing patterns, we are actually getting a couple reports of sheepshead in Moriches!”
White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports: “Fluke are still on the bridges, and the usual Gulp or spearing works great. We’ve also seen a nice flurry of slot to over-slot bass in the area. As for tuna, we still have a fair amount of school-size bluefin inshore with some larger ones ranging from 60 to 70 inches, but all rec. bluefin must be released from here on out. Yellowfin tuna, on the other hand, are pushing closer and closer every day!”
Tom Truehart (@northshoretommy) hit the tuna grounds and reported: “With my fishing mostly limited to weekends on my 23′ CC, I take what I can get when it comes to weather windows and last Saturday was a doozy. Left the inlet around 5 a.m. and headed to the inshore bluefin grounds with a 4- to 5-foot swell and a stiff east wind. But that wasn’t going to stop us from putting some fish on the boat. Took us a little longer than usual to get out, but once we arrived I saw bluefin breaking the surface in all directions, tuna chicks picking away, and marks all under the boat. We came tight on the jig within a few minutes and dropped the first fish, but were able to jig up a few more before we decided to call it a day. Heading back in we found a wooden pallet that was loaded with mahi. They would eat anything from diamond jigs, epoxy jigs, and even my personal favorite, fried chicken cutlets. No joke these things were eating anything you would throw at them and we had a blast for a good hour playing with mahi before heading in for good. Ended up back at the dock with some bluefin and a nice load of mahi-mahi for the table.”
Derek Monfort (@derek_sucks_at_fishing) reported: “Fluking remains decent, there are plenty of smalls to keep it fun with some nice fish for the table. Stripers from rat-size to slot-size are becoming active in the back bays on spooks and small soft plastics. Better than sitting on the couch!”
Captain Adam Ross of Tuna Cartel reports: “We ripped out of Montauk in search of tuna and upon hitting Atlantis, slayed a large big eye! Also found a wild pile of bait, stuck with it for a couple hours and capitalized. The spread included 2 diving plugs—one Nomad, one Bomber—2 Shutes, and 2 bars.”
Anthony Ferrandino of Go Deep MTK (@godeepmtk) reported: “On Sunday at 3 AM we left Westlake Marina to get our last licks on bluefin tuna. We got to the tuna grounds around 4:30 after a choppy ride and were greeted by whales, dolphins, and birds as soon as we pulled up—but no tuna marks, so we decided to troll a bit. After some time we restrategized and started to jig. At 6 AM we had our first bite and landed an 89-pound bluefin. As we were landing it, one of the Squid Skirt Jigs sitting dead at 75 feet got slammed. After making quick work of the fish, we headed back inshore. On the way in we ran into a giant piece of life and the sonar lit up top to bottom on all three views with no one on it. We decided to try for one more and surprisingly, got slammed on the Bar Breaker Rattle Edition in blurple, which we just released to the USA Surf Fishing Team, but will not be released in stores until September. This fish was a bit smaller and skinnier than the last two, but a bluefin nonetheless. After we released it, we hit the bottom fishing grounds and managed to get a couple keeper and short fluke and a bunch of mixed-sized sea bass.”
The Author’s Experience
On Monday, my buddies and I headed over to Barnegat, New Jersey, to fish with Captain Mark Horn of On Top Charters. After leaving the dock at 3 AM we made a crisp 65-mile run in calm seas. As we approached the yellowfin grounds at sun up, we were greeted by small skipjacks whizzing on the surface. Within one cast, Captain Mark was tight to a yellowfin on a Hogy Pro Tail. After boxing the fish, we began to cruise around looking for life. As soon as the sun was high enough to illuminate the bright blue water, pods of dolphins began to porpoise. We quickly blasted toward them and my buddy Neil smoked a yellowfin on a popper that must have been tired, because it took zero line. Next, I let out a long cast right behind the dolphins and after about 10 pops, I was sure that my shot was over. However, I kept popping my plug all the way to the boat. Virtually boatside, I got absolutely smoked by a yellowfin. As it ate the popper, the fish shot underneath the boat and a short while later we boxed it up!
With three tuna in the boat we began pot-hopping for mahi, and on the second pot, Neil dropped his UVT jig down and got bit by what we thought was a large mahi, but his drag was ripping. When it came up, we were shocked to see a nice yellowfin hit the surface!
Finally, we ended our day fishing on the bluefin grounds. As we pulled up to the spot we were greeted by tuna chicks and a slicked out sea. Captain Mark explained that it would be a jig bite, but the surface water looked too juicy. As I grabbed the 14K popping setup, out of the corner of my eye I saw a nice bluefin cut the surface and boil. I fired off a cast, and on the third pop, two big tuna headed toward my plug. On the fourth pop, a large rec. fish absolutely nuked it. I laid into the fish 4 times, screaming at the top of my lungs. It was like a bat out of hell. In seconds it blasted 50 yards from right to left, turned around, and swam right into the prop. I lost the fish and the plug, and truly felt bad for this tuna swimming around with a UVT Murray Popper in its yap. “I hope the popper floats up dude, I feel bad for that fish,” I said to Neil. Well, not even 5 minutes later, we started another drift and found the popper floating on the surface! My wish had been granted.
If you’re looking for a premier Jig-and-Pop experience reach out to Capt. Mark at 609-346-4856.
Long Island & NYC Fishing Forecast
The South Shore seems to be lit up with plenty of life on bunker pods. Pick a calm day and look out for dark water or flipping tails! Approach the school from a distance and cast your live bunker into the mix. I’d recommend a beefy 10K setup with 80- to 100-pound-test leader. Keep in mind that the ratio of sharks to cobia is in the sharks favor.
If you’re looking for some solid fluke action from shore, I’ve done well around Atlantic Beach and Deb’s Inlet this time of year. The area has a jetty chock-full of fluke, sea robins, and northern kingfish.
As for the North Shore, the water is blistering hot. Fluke and porgy remain the mainstays, and as I said last week, it’s the perfect time to dock hop and bounce around from beach to beach. If I’m hunting for a good fish, I’ll often make a map and attempt to hit a series of spots. Here are some hot spots right now that should produce; and if you’re looking for a big fluke, don’t hesitate to trap some killies.
- Sands Point Preserve, Port Washington
- North Hempstead Beach Park, Port Washington
- Tappen Beach, Sea Cliff
- Atlantic Beach – South Shore
- Captree State Park Fishing Pier – South Shore
- Jones Beach Field 1o Fishing Piers
- Canarsie Pier, Brooklyn
- Magnolia Pier, Long Beach
The offshore scene is still alive and hot! Montauk is the spot, and running 10 to 30 miles is the move. Look for tuna chicks, dolphins, and whales, and bomb a popper as close to the dolphins as you can. If the tuna aren’t hitting topwater, sit near some tuna chicks and watch the screen pensively. There is a good chance you find 2 to 3 fish in the column. Don’t be afraid to experiment with color. Nuclear chicken, pink, white, and sand eel patterns are always killer.
For topwater action, I’d recommend UVT Murray Popper, Madd Mantis Cherry Popper, Joe Baggs Skipper, or a Go Deep MTK Bar Breaker. As for jigs, reach for UVTs, Joe Baggs Sleek Jigs, Nomad Streaker jigs, and RonZs.