- False albacore are still around and can be found most reliably on both the North and South Forks.
- Blackfish (tautog) season opens today in the NY Bight. The bite in the Sound has been a little slow to start, but keeper fish are being reported.
- Striper fishing in the South Shore surf has been great. The North Shore has been slightly less so; there’s no noteworthy blitz activity yet, but the fish are there and willing to bite.
- Last call for fluke: the season ends today.
- Weakfish have really put themselves in the spotlight the past few weeks. Light-tackle bucktails or soft plastics fished in the back bays give you a decent shot at a unicorn.
The fishing tells you it’s fall, but at times the weather makes it feel like something else. We’re in a really nice stretch of weather at the moment. I got out albie fishing this past weekend and found plenty of small albies scattered across the East End. In total, I caught four albies in four to five hours of kayak fishing, and in typical albie fashion, four of those hours were spent pedaling around looking for them.
There are tons of birds and bait around, including snapper bluefish. I’ve found that the albies show up in a window, generally on the early outgoing tide, which on this particular day was 11:30 a.m. Like clockwork, the hardtails started popping up in the distance, and I raced toward them (as did every center console within a 2-mile radius). Fortunately, they were in a biting mood, and it took only a couple of casts into a feed to get my first of the day. They also hung close to shore, moving along the beach well within range of surfcasters. In about an hour, I hooked and released all four, a dopey grin stuck on my face as I admired the vibrant colors of each fish.
On opening day of tog season in Long Island Sound, I set out on a nearshore kayak mission in spite of the rain. I figured tucking in behind a bridge piling or alongside a jetty would cut what little wind there was, and my Grundéns bibs and rain jacket would handle the rain. With a bucket of green crabs and a simple Belmar rig tied on, I launched out of a nearby harbor and anchored just off the tip of a jetty, hoping to fight a few tog and maybe bring home a keeper if I got lucky.
On a good day of togging, you can drop a bait down and immediately feel taps. This wasn’t a good day of togging, but I did start getting bites right away. A mix of small tog, porgies, and bergall kept stealing my bait, so I switched from half crabs to whole crabs, crushing or slicing a small part of the shell to disperse more scent. That switch quickly produced a short tog. Unfortunately, the wind drove the rain right into my face, and my wet, cold, crabby hands convinced me to cut the trip short after about two hours.
I returned the next morning, Columbus Day, to beautiful but windier conditions. Fishing the same spot, I caught several near-keepers in the 14- to 15-inch range and, to my surprise, had the area to myself for a few hours. Wedding-planning responsibilities cut the outing short, but I was satisfied to call it a successful scouting mission. On another day, a full 6- to 8-hour tog trip would likely produce a limit.
Looking Ahead
Albies are still blitzing close to shore, and I’d be surprised if that changed anytime soon: it’s only mid-October, the weather has been pretty warm the past couple of days, and the water is in the low to mid 60s. The surf bite has been picking up, too. Needlefish are the plug I see guys catching on most often, which makes me think the venerable tubed diamond jig or a sand eel jig would work just as well.
Fishing the peak tides and matching the bait are a major part of success this time of year. Bring a variety of profiles, from long and slim (sand eels) to short and chunky (peanut bunker). My surf bag typically holds a couple of A27 diamond jigs, a Deadly Dick, a 1-ounce Kastmaster, a minnow plug, a needlefish, a darter, and, of course, a few white bucktails. Somewhere in a pocket, I keep a 2- to 3-ounce cannonball sinker and a few snelled hooks, ready to tie on if I want to pivot to blackfish.
If stripers and albies don’t cooperate, blackfish likely will. Tog fishing is refreshingly simple: with a hook, line, sinker, and crab, you’re 90% of the way toward a good day. Whether you’re fishing from shore or a boat, drop your line near a bridge piling, rock jetty, or other submerged structure, and you should find fish. A tog angler’s most valuable assets are time to work through missed bites and small fish, and plenty of crabs to last the day.
Western Long Island Fishing Reports
Captain Josh Rogers of Gypsea Fishing Fleet out of Brooklyn reports: “We had excellent bass fishing this past week as the fall run has begun! Lots of bait has flooded into the area, and the fishing has been stellar. Most of these fish are trophy-sized, as we typically see this time of year. With the blackfish opener on the 15th, we will begin to target them daily on the Gypsea II.”
Captain Kenny of The Angler Fleet out of Port Washington reports: “We’re starting off the blackfish season with a great bite and plenty of fish, with keepers and some big ones in the mix. The jumbo porgies have finally shown up if you’re in the right spot, and we still have plenty of bait around, with some bass starting to feed on it. A full fall run is right around the corner.”
Jamie at Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside reports: “Bass are blitzing outside of Debs. The bunker is thick, with whales and threshers mixed in. Chris Eniman and James GaNun reported multiple hookups and lots of bait in front of Atlantic Beach. Green crabs are in for blackfish. Bay Park has all your gas, bait, and tackle needs, and we’re open seven days a week!”
Captain Doug Toback of Corazon Charters out of Freeport reports: “The big bass are in! We had a legitimate 49.5-inch cow hit our decks this week. We’re going to guess she was a little below the 50-pound mark. It’s still a bit inconsistent, and we expect that to change as the season progresses. Live-bait fishing rules the roost right now.”
Eastern Long Island Fishing Reports
Capt. Rob Lehnert of North Fork Adventures Charters out of Southold reports: “When the wind laid down, I got out with a charter blackfishing. There was a steady bite but lots of shorts. The highlight was a 5.4-pound blackfish. I also got lots of underwater photos while we were fishing.”
Capt. Pete Douma (@doum_flies) out of Montauk reports: “Another week of good albie fishing here in Montauk. Not exactly a typical week of albie fishing, but a good one, with multiple 30-plus-fish days and a good amount of large ones mixed in. While we do have some good surface feeds, the bulk of my fish have come blind. The blitzing fish have been keying in on bay anchovies like normal, and all the regular albie stuff works there. Epoxies, small flies, Snax, etc. have all worked well. Off the blitzes, however, they’ve been on larger baits like sand eels, squid, and even halfbeaks, snappers, and mackerel. For these, I’ve been setting up where I think the bait is and casting blind, or in the area where we’ve seen a fish or two pop up. Teasing with a Doc has even worked pretty well. Fly-wise, size 1/0 Kinky Muddlers, my albie slider, and large Surf Candies have worked well. For spinning rods, it’s tough to beat Albie Snax and XL Fish Snax. RonZs and Hogy epoxies have worked well, too. Hopefully this bite holds, as the bass bite is pretty bleak here. Hopefully we see them in numbers soon.”
If you have photos to share, email them to feedback@onthewater.com to be in next week’s report.
Thanks for reading, and have a happy fall run!