Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
Captain Kenny of The Angler Fleet (@anglerfleet) out of Port Washington reports: “Better and better fluke action after some slow periods. Small and larger snappers are around, with plenty of bait to be found. Porgies have worked their way over, but we are waiting for a more consistent bite to run local porgy trips.”
Captain Jess Rogers of Gypsea Charters out of Brooklyn reported: “Fluke fishing continues to be excellent for both boats. The short action has been keeping everyone busy all trip long with enough keepers in the mix to 5 pounds this past week. We have been fishing the wrecks and rock piles in 40 to 80 feet, so be prepared to lose some jigs. Those that stay at the rail are often rewarded with limit catches. Both boats will continue to fluke daily by reservation only.”
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Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters (@northportcharters) reports: “We had a very productive week at my Kids Summer Fishing Camp. Jackson and Jacob, with a team effort, reeled in a beautiful 26-pound striped bass on live bait out in the Triangle. Joseph had a magnificent striper while drifting for fluke Friday morning on a traditional fluke rig with squid and spearing in the bay. He was very surprised! Lots of big spearing are swimming around our local waters now, along with medium-sized bunker and some butterfish. Max had another 22-pound striped bass at fish camp too! Charter customers were busy this week, catching mostly throwback stripers with live bait. Plus, the kids had some beautiful fluke up to 5 to 6 pounds in the bay. Call or text 631-707-3266 today for reservations or go to northportcharters.com.”
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Mark at Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport reports: “The striper bite chilled out a bit. There are fewer fish around, but they range from 30 to 40 inches. Topwater and live bait are the name of the game. Little cocktail blues are showing up inside the harbors, and snappers are here early, which is surprising! The porgy bite in the local harbors is continuing to get better.”
Bill Falco of Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle (@chasingtailsbait) in Oakdale reports: “Summertime bottom fishing is the way to go in our local waters. Fluke, sea bass, and porgy offer tons of fun fishing with light tackle. Fluke are ripping through the channels, looking for flats, jumps, and dips all over the bay. Lately, I’ve been going on the finesse side in the bay and using 4- and 5-inch soft plastics instead of big mondos. Gulp Jerk shads and shrimp have been pulling nice fish, and the grubs always put in work, too. For ocean fish, I’m going big and bright! Sea bass are on the jig bite pretty good. Bucktails and jigs in super-bright colors will pull them. Clam on a shop rig will always work too. Porgies are in the mix with the sea bass and are always a good time. Bluefish have been ripping it up out east—some solid fish are lurking in Shinny and Montauk. Striped bass fishing is still pretty good up on the North Shore and out east. Twenty- to 30-pound fish are destroying schools of butterfish up north, and the Montauk bass are all over the bunker and sand eels. Tuna fishing has been lights out this season. Lots of good bluefin and yellowfin, and some bigeye are starting to be reported. We’re loaded up with top-quality tackle like Chatter Lures and Madd Mantis, as well as the rods and reels you need to tackle these pelagic missiles.”
Captain Adrian Moeller of Rockfish Charters (@rockfishcharters) out of Moriches reports: “We started our tuna season this week and have been pushing daily in search of bluefin and yellowfin out of Center Moriches. We ran a day trip to Block Canyon for yellowfin and missed the first-light bite, only managing three fish, then covered a lot of ground on the way home. The amount of life is a great sign, and we managed to find a feed of hungry bluefin, jigging four at a time up to 55 inches! The previous couple of days, we hit the local midshore spots and trolled up smaller bluefin and mahi-mahi. The bite is getting better by the day, and we still have some August and September dates left.”
Aqualina Charters (@aqualinacharters) out of Moriches Bay reports: “The fluke bite is heating up. We’re finally getting some better-quality fish. Still have to pick through shorts, but there are nice fish inside the bay and outside in the ocean. Quality fish to just under 6 pounds this week.”
Dan Termini of Bluff Lures (@bluff_lures) hit Block last weekend and reported: “Last weekend saw water temperatures rise to the low 70s, in turn pushing the last wave of the migratory striped bass down, hugging the bottom. Aboard Hoss Sportfishing, everything came together; we had first light, the end of the incoming into slack tide, clean water that had come in with it, and hungry bass. Jigging and popping 14-inch eels off the bottom brought bass up to 46 pounds onto the deck. As the sun rose higher in the sky, we were sharked a few times, and then the bite faded, a typical sign of the summer patterns to be expected. Find the cooler, cleaner water for the best chance to get on the tail end of the striped bass bite as the summer heats up. And don’t forget the eels.”
Captain Rob Lehnert of North Fork Adventures Charters (@northforkadventurescharters) out of Southold reports: “I had another week inshore in Peconic Bay. The weakfish bite was steady as long as the tide was running. Each trip saw keepers up to 22 inches, with most trips getting their boat limit. Boat traffic tends to put these fish down, so try to get out in the mornings. Fluke and sea bass are in the mix as well.”
Capt. Pete Douma (@doum_flies) of Windward Outfitters out of Montauk reports: “Montauk feels like it is settling into its typical summer bite now. The bluefish are filing into the rips and shallows close to shore, while the bass are becoming more scarce. There is still a bit of a night bite, especially in the deep water on the flood tide, but be wary of sharks taking your catch. Small bass have been popping up tight to shore lately too, gorging on the massive schools of juvenile sand eels that we’ve basically had all year. Instead of our usual chub mackerel, Boston mackerel have also been chasing the sand eels. While the bass aren’t around as much to eat them, there have been some really impressive spinner and thresher shark feeds under the schools of mackerel, going completely airborne. While not exactly my main target, there are some absolutely massive porgies out there in huge schools. On light tackle, they can be a blast. Nearshore tuna fishing remains slow, but temps are rising, and the bait and sea life situation is abundant, so any day could explode.”
The Author’s Experience
This weekend, I had the pleasure of fishing with OTW’s Johnny Mac out at Block Island and Montauk. Our first day was an absolute grind. The large school of migratory bass near Block Island has moved on to greener pastures. Yes, there are resident fish around, but they are super tide-dependent and finicky. While Saturday was a wash at Block, we were able to find some bluefish locally on the fly in Montauk.
On Sunday, we steamed out bright and early to fish a slack tide at Block. Around 7 a.m., we began marking ones and twos. The snap jig seemed to get the job done. My snap-jig setup consists of a Tsunami SaltX 4000, an Eastern Rod Works snap-jig rod, 10-pound braid, and a 10- to 20-pound fluorocarbon leader paired with a Big Bill’s Bucktails sand eel-colored snap jig.
As for snap-jig techniques, I simply let my jig hit bottom, snapped it sharply, followed the jig back down, and paused it for two to four seconds. The fish seemed to hit as soon as the jig loaded up on the rod while it sank. The bite itself was very light—a gentle tap was all it took for me to detect big fish inhaling my jig. All said and done, the bite window lasted two hours. I was able to land three fish, while Johnny hooked two and unfortunately dropped them both.
On our way back to Montauk, we ran into tailing blues that were tough. While we dropped the fly in their faces a dozen times, they simply wouldn’t comply. Finally, after an hour-long chase, we started to come tight to the yellow-eyed demons!
Long Island & NYC Fishing Forecast
We are undoubtedly in the doldrums of summer. Bass fishing has come to a halt. That said, the porgy and fluke fishing is continuing to improve. It’s been a slow season for both, but anglers willing to put in the time are converting on keeper fish. There seems to be a ton of sand eels around, which has been fueling the bite for hubcap porgies and keeper fluke.
As water temperatures have warmed this month, sharks have moved into Montauk and the eastern Sound. If you happen to find a pod of bass, make sure you lock down the drag on them! Don’t feed the sharks.
On the tuna front, we’re off to a slow start. The fish haven’t seemed to set up anywhere in particular—they are on the move. One day you might find two or three fish; another day it could be zero. Regardless, there are plenty of whales and dolphins to pull up on and cast around. I’m hoping the tuna season turns over and the fish set up off Montauk soon!