The big picture: The fall run is on. Bass are crushing bunker on the South Shore, the albies are back in Montauk, and blackfish season opens Sunday.
- Striped bass: Large blitzes are happening on the South Shore, with fish into the 40s out of Freeport and fish from the teens to 30 pounds holding in the back bays. A good push of big bass has also moved into the eastern Sound, and the night bite has been the most productive.
- Albies and bonito: Albies have returned to their regular spots in Montauk and are willing to eat. XL bonito are feeding on rainbait in the eastern Sound.
- Bait: Bunker are stacked on the South Shore, large spearing are lining the beaches, and sand eels and bay anchovies are thick in Montauk.
- Bottom fishing: Sea bass to 4 pounds and jumbo porgies to 2 pounds are coming out of the Sound.
- Blackfish: The season opens Sunday, October 11 for the Long Island Sound and Oct 15th for the NY Bight. Get your crabs ready!
Long Island and NYC Fishing Report
Mark at Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport reports: “There are a lot of bass around at the mouths of harbors, and guys are preparing for blackfish season. It starts off on Sunday! Get your green crabs while they are hot. There are also some black sea bass around in the mix. There was a really good weakfish bite before the storm, but I haven’t heard of too many after. I saw there were bonito east of us as well, and they are huge!”
Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters reports: “I got out Friday and Saturday. We got on some nice sea bass lately, up to 4 pounds on charters, and jumbo porgies to 2 pounds. The water is still warm in the Sound, around 66 degrees, but with a northeast blow, it should be cooling down soon, and hopefully the striper bite will improve. Lots of bait around in the bay and LI Sound! With blackfish season starting this Sunday, hopefully everything will set up for a great fall run! Call or text 631-707-3266 today for reservations or go to northportcharters.com.”
Captain Kenny of The Angler Fleet (@anglerfleet) out of Port Washington reports: “With blackfish season opening on Sunday here on the North Shore, we are switching gears to target the reef donkeys that patrol our local rock piles. With early-season fish being caught to the east and west, we are looking forward to a productive tog season ahead. The weather on the North Shore is looking prime for some early-season T-shirt togging! Come out and test your tackle! Weekend trips are booking up fast, and openings on the weekdays look like a prime time to fill the coolers!”
Sean Conway (@long_island_fishing_guy) reports: “There’s large spearing stacked up throughout the whole beach, and fish are feeding heavily on them. You have to be there at the right bite windows to find that consistent bite; otherwise, you’re slowly picking through fish here and there throughout the night. This week, it seems the bigger fish (teens to 30 pounds) have been holding up in the back bay, and the action out front has slowed up. I expect another big push of fish during this upcoming new moon.”
- Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC
Captain Doug Toback of Corazon Fishing Charters out of Freeport reports: “Bass fishing is on—the big girls came in early after the storm. We have been getting fish into the 40s and experiencing large blitzes. The bite has been early, and we expect the fishing to improve along with extended fishing windows. The bass are on small bait, so smaller jigs have been the way to go.”
Bill Falco (@chasingtailsbait) of Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports: “Striper reports are off the charts, too. The second wave of fish is here, and they are here in force. Eels, mullet, bunker, and sand eels are all on the menu. Surf guys are having an absolute blast with fish up to 30 pounds. Bucktails, needlefish, NLBN paddle tails, and SP Minnows have been pulling some solid fish. I went out with the boys, Vinny Cagnina and Will Jacobs, the other night, and we were all hooking up and pulling in some solid bass, all in the 10- to 15-pound range, with Vinny’s solid 20-pounder coming in clutch at the end of the night. On the boats, guys are tossing bucktails, NLBNs, Storms, and SPs, and of course dunking some live eels to get in on this killer bite.”
Captain Adrian Moeller of Rockfish Charters (@rockfishcharters) out of Moriches reports: “That’s a wrap on our Moriches tuna season! We had an incredible summer, highlighted by an amazing run in August with 22 successful trips in a row and the most consistent tuna fishing we’ve ever seen. While the action slowed down in September as the yellowfin moved off and the bluefin migrated out, we didn’t want to drag our feet on slow water. Rather than taking customers out for tough fishing, we canceled our remaining scheduled tuna trips, refunded all deposits, and made the pivot to fall run striped bass—and we’re already starting with a bang! We ran our first open boat trip today and absolutely crushed big bass up to 50 inches. For most of the morning, we had double and triple hookups, wrapping up the day with around 30 big bass brought to the boat. That’s how we like to kick off the fall run! Because we wrapped up tuna season early, we have plenty of striped bass availability open on the charter schedule. Looking ahead, from late October through November, bluefin tuna will migrate back through our nearshore waters. We’ll be running specialized run-and-gun trips targeting them (experienced anglers only, please!). If you’re up for the challenge, simply book a full-day bass trip and send me a text letting me know you want to target bluefin instead. The great bass fishing should continue into December, and we’ll start bringing albie gear along for a fun change of pace in between bass bites.”
Colin McElroy (@colintmcelroy) reports: “The first wave of fish came through NY and moved toward NJ, stopping at all the familiar zones. Fish up to 50 inches have been caught along the NY and Jersey coast. Montauk haunts are producing nice fish, with albies still all around. I saw some casting-range albies at the lighthouse today and in Montauk Harbor. The night bite has been producing the best, with baby weakfish imitations on the north side of the East End of Long Island. The sunny days from shore have been tough, but if you grind, you can get a fish here and there. The fall run has just started, and it’s shaping up to be a great one.”
Capt. Pete Douma (@doum_flies) out of Montauk reports: “It actually feels like fall again here in Montauk. Temps dropped, the endless northeast wind ended, and the fish are back. With the amount of bunker, sand eels, and bay anchovies around, it had to happen again soon. The big news is the albies have returned to their regular spots and seemingly are pretty willing to eat, too. Small Surf Candies in all colors, along with my slider pattern, have worked best, but they’re hitting everything. Spin-wise, Albie Snax are still king for me, but epoxy minnows are working, too. The other thing that came back was the bass, from little schoolies to some seriously big ones. Tide windows are sometimes short for the big ones, but once you figure it out, they are willing to come up pretty good. Larger flies like flatwings have worked well, cast into fish or dredged deep behind the boat. Look for larger gulls to point out the big baits, and you’ll find the big fish. Water temps are still in the mid-60s here, so I think (hope) we have plenty of fishing to go.”
The Author’s Experience
This week, I ventured out to the South Shore of the Island, and it is absolutely stacked with bunker. While the bait is plentiful, we had to move around to find the fish. The right school of bunker is getting absolutely crushed by striped bass in short, fast intervals. It’s almost like albie fishing: if you can get a topwater in the mix, you’ll come tight. Per usual, I was throwing the Surface Freak into the chaos, and in typical fashion, it pulled out a 30-pound fish. Captain Doug Toback reported the same kind of large blitzes out of Freeport, so the action isn’t limited to one stretch of beach.
As the weather continues to cool down, we should expect to see a big push of fish. It’s the start of the fall run. Get out there and start pounding the water!
Long Island & NYC Fishing Forecast
Things are shaping up well on the Island. Fish are sliding through the South Shore beaches, feasting on bunker. The goal is to stay in motion until you find a school that’s getting crushed by bass. The name of the game is large plugs, since this first push of migrating fish can typically be very large. If you haven’t caught any yet, don’t worry; it’s just getting started. We have an abundance of bait to fuel some great fall fishing, from bunker on the South Shore to large spearing on the beaches and sand eels and bay anchovies out in Montauk.
On the albie front, the fish have returned to Montauk. It seems as though it took a second after the storm for the albies to show themselves again, but Pete Douma reports they’re back in their regular spots and willing to eat small Surf Candies and Albie Snax. On another note, there are XL bonito around in the eastern Sound, feasting on schools of rainbait.
Additionally, there is a good push of big bass in the eastern Sound, which is something we don’t typically see. Colin McElroy reports that the night bite on the north side of the East End has been the most productive, with baby weakfish imitations doing the damage.