Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
North Shore
Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters reports: “The weather was so good that we extended the kids’ summer fishing camp an extra week—and the bite did not disappoint! We had jumbo porgies to 2½ pounds, and Ava and Fiona landed the biggest ‘pork chops’ of the week. Lots of short fluke kept the rods bent, with some nice keeper sea bass mixed in. Bigger cocktail blues have now arrived with a voracious appetite. Call or text 631-707-3266 for reservations or visit northportcharters.com.
Capt Skippy out of Mount Sinai Harbor reports: “After Hurricane Erin’s ocean swell dropped water temperatures, fall fishing kicked off. Bottom fishing has heated up with a great porgy bite, large sea bass, and a few weakfish. Striped bass remain steady, and large bluefish are becoming more plentiful. This week we landed bass to 42 inches and bluefish to 10 pounds on the troll, jigging, and topwater. We’ve been working with Gray FishTag to tag over-slot stripers, giving customers the chance to catch, tag, name, and release fish for research—shoutout to Gary and family, who tagged and released a big bass named ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Fish.’ Fluke on the shoals has slowed; your best shot at a keeper is deeper drop-offs and structure with larger baits.
Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly (@northislandfly) in Smithtown reports: “August is gone, summer is over, and the fishing is steadily picking up. We stayed busy with sunrise and sunset bass action. Smaller bluefish invaded the Sound, and gators started showing at the end of the month. Days are shorter and mornings crisp—we’re all waiting on the true hardtail arrival. We had a quick push of bonito the second week of August, but they vanished after a few days. Spanish mackerel have stuck around, and clients have landed some beauties. False albacore should be right on time—areas to the east and south have seen them for a week. Bass fishing stayed solid all summer, so the fall run looks promising. My September/October calendar is nearly full—grab the remaining dates. The Sound is loaded with bait of all sizes—spearing, anchovies, butterfish, bunker—it’s about to bust wide open!”
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Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC
The Angler Fleet (@anglerfleet) out of Port Washington reports: “The bite has begun to normalize, though it still varies on a daily basis. Croakers continue to be pests on the porgy grounds, and cocktail blues are coming up with some weakfish still in the mix. Unfortunately, our dolphin friends have been spotted yet again, though we’re optimistic they’ll be departing shortly. We have been seeing a ton of bait, indicating a great kickoff to the fall! To get in on the action, call or text (718)-659-8181 or visit theangler.com.”
Captain Arthur Cortes of Cortes Outfitters (@cortes.outfitters) in NYC reports: “Fishing is heating up this week as stripers are showing more activity in the bay and the weakfish bite is improving. With plenty of bait in the bay, it looks like it will be a good fall. Our fly choice this week: white popper. Lure of choice: weightless/weighted pink flukes. To get in on the action, call or text 347-326-4750 or visit cortesoutfitters.com.”
Mark at Cow Harbor in Northport reports: “It’s not too too crazy yet, but we’re starting to get into the fall run. The shop is getting stocked for fall, so stop in. Bluefish are moving in and the bottom fishing is solid on porgies and sea bass. Plus, weakfish are in the mix! And albies and bones should be around soon. Visit cowharbortackle.com or call 631-239-1631.”
Captain Scott Worth on the North Fork reports: “The past week still had stripers in their usual summertime spots out east, and we had fish to 48 inches in shallow water on light tackle. I expect the striper bite to start feeling more like fall in the coming weeks. The albies have made their early season appearance locally, which did not happen last season, so hopefully a positive sign for an albie-filled fall!”
South Shore
Nick at Haskell’s Bait & Tackle in East Quogue reports: “The bay bridges have bass. Shinnecock Inlet has plenty of fluke and bass. Outside the inlet, anglers are finding fluke in 60–80 feet. Albies are on the beaches near Shinnecock and the bite is solid. Weakfish are around and chewing. Triggerfish and mahi are still on the high-fliers.””
Captain Adrian Moeller of Rockfish Charters in Queens reports: “Season 2.0 has officially begun. We had a few tough days re-finding the big body of fish after the storm, but the yellowfin fishing has blown wide open, pretty much all you want on live peanut bunker and chunks. All that’s required is getting a good slick going then waiting for the tuna to start ripping through it and every rod is going off. As long as you bring enough peanut bunker, you’ll have a banner day out there. This is some of our favorite fishing of the year for our bass charter clients that don’t get to tuna fish very often. 50- to 100-pound yellowfin are very forgiving to fight on circle hooks, and we have a much better hook-to-land ratio than with jigs and poppers.”
Captain Josh Rogers of Gypsea Charters in Brooklyn reports: “The storm definitely took its toll on the fishing. As soon as the ocean settled, though, we picked right back up where we left off. Lots of action with the shorts to keep you busy and some of the best quality of the season. We have been bouncing around small snags in deeper water, covering a lot of ground to put together a catch. Many limits were taken this past week with the big fish of the week coming in at 8 lbs 7 oz. We will continue to target fluke as long as they stick around and then will switch gears to stripers. The striper fishing has already begun, and we are available for private charters for your desired species.”
Captain Doug Touback of Corazon Charters in Freeport reports: “Fluke fishing is back, but it’s different — which we like. The fluke moved into their early fall patterns which brings out the best in us! In addition to fluke, we are getting monster porgies and sea bass. We have a couple more weeks of this and then we are hitting the offshore grounds.”
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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: “Ocean fluking started slow early in the week, but by Wednesday it was back to nonstop action. Lots of keeper pool fish to 5-pounds plus. Sea bass remains hot with boat limits, and bycatch includes mackerel, stargazer, triggerfish, and bonito. Everything you need to fish is included in the fare. Gift certificates are available in-office or online and can be used on any member boat. Our open-boat schedule is changing, and the Fleet charter boats are already booking into 2026, so call 631-669-6464 or visit captreefleet.com.”
Bill Falco (@fishlongisland) at Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale reports: “Another week of great fluke action in the books! We have another month and a half of the season to go, and the bite is hot. The bays are loaded with fish, some quality fluke in the 5- to 8-pound range are in the mix with all the little guys. We’re fishing light tackle and bright colors, with big presentations to target the jumbos. Sea bass action on the outside of wrecks and reefs is nonstop, with quality and quantity. Bucktails and jigs are putting in work, and the classic clam on a rig always does the trick. Cocktail bluefish have invaded all of the inlets, feeding ravenously on schools of bait. They are easy enough to catch with a diamond jig or a bucktail, and provide lots of fun when you’re out there trying to find a bite. Late summer stripers are lurking in the inlets as well, hanging out deep, and incoming tides have produced best. I’ve had the best results with bucktails. A few bonito and Spanish mackerel have been spotted ripping around our waters, up on the North Shore and down here on the South Shore. Albies are still up north a bit, so a big rush of pelagic fish should be happening any day now. At the docks, snappers and crabs are all over the place. Grab a crab trap and some frozen bunker and you’ll have dinner in no time!”
Max Fineman (@finemanfishes) reports: “Albies and small bones are outside the inlets with cocktail blues mixed in. Lots of fluke, blowfish, and snappers in the bays, with bigger fluke coming from the ocean and inlets. Triggerfish reports have been strong, too. Bass fishing has been steady the last few weeks—mostly on live bait, with some early morning topwater action.”
Derek Monfort (@derek_sucks_at_fishing) from Eastern Long Island reports: “Albie pods are popping up all over, but mostly out of shore range. Boat guys are going to have a blast. Small silversides and bay anchovies are on the menu!”
Captain Adam Ross of Tuna Cartel (@tunacartelofficial) reports: “We broke the inlet around 3:30 AM to find a beautiful, calm ocean. Reached our spot by 5:30 AM and got right to trolling—hooked up before we even had all the lines out. Picked away steadily and had 8 yellowfin in the box before things slowed down. All the early action came on Sterling Tackle chains and bars. Later in the day, we switched over to chunking, and around 2:30 PM, it turned into a frenzy—hand-feeding nice yellowfin right at the boat. Had a surprise white marlin show up on a bait as well. We kept our 6-man limit and headed back to the barn. What a trip!”
Will King (@willie_fish) reports: “We hit the yellowfin grounds and we absolutely crushed. The chunk bite was insane, we hand fed tuna for hours off the transom. I even caught my largest yellowfin ever, a whopping 62-inch, 134-pound monster that sucked down a live bait.”
Tony Trapani (@big_toeknee_) reports: “Cocktail blues were firing off the last few mornings from the back bays into the inlet. The bonito bite is either red hot or cold as ice at Jones. Spanish mackerel are still showing up, and there’s plentiful bait stacked almost everywhere. Just waiting for this new moon to get things raging.”
Captain Tim O’Rourke of Montauk Point Fly Fishing (@mtkpointflyfishing) reports: “After things settled post–Hurricane Erin, fall mode kicked into overdrive. We’ve got a nice push of preseason albies in Montauk, tons of bait, and bluefin tuna and spinner sharks very close to shore. Offshore is excellent if you want to push the edge—bigeyes and plenty of yellowfin around.”
The Author’s Experience
This past week I spent my time up in Massachusetts in search of false albacore, and while it was a grind, it paid off big time. Not only did I find albies, but I found GIANTS with my friends! I don’t believe I sniffed an albie under 10 pounds! The key to success was a JoeBaggs resin jig. While the schools weren’t large, the small pods of albies I found were down to chew. All it took was a well-timed cast and a fast retrieve.
Additionally, I had plenty of action on the fly. With the small pods staying up on the surface, it was easy to launch a cast in and get an eat. The flies that worked included a Fulling Mill Cowen’s silverside, blue- and olive-colored surf candies, and Whalley’s money minnow in white. My fly rod of choice has been a stiff 10WT with floating line.
Long Island & NYC Fishing Forecast
The fall run is heating up! Albies, bonito, and Spanish macks are moving into the South Shore inlets, so hit the beaches and jetties early in the morning and you’ll be rewarded. I sound like a broken record saying this, but a 7- to 8-foot rod with a 5K spinning reel and 12- to 20-pound leader tied to a resin jig, Deadly Dick, or Albie Snax will do the trick. If you’re on a boat, please be courteous to other anglers and kayakers. I know it’s easy to get excited and hammer down into the blitz, but a slow and steady approach will increase your chances and keep everyone around you happy! It’s easy to get into a boating accident if everyone is moving at Mach 10, so keep your head on a swivel.
As for bass, the bite should only get better. It’s only a matter of time before we see blitzes in Montauk, the Sound, and the South Shore.