Stripers – The striper bite continues to improve in the eastern sound. Good bass are being caught from shore by dunking bunker chunks. However, the better fish are still being found out on the reefs. Long Sand Shoal and Bartletts have been giving up some solid fish as well. Live lining bunker and hickory shad have been very productive. However, the bigger bass seem to love live eels. Pictured is Tom O’Connor with a cow of a striped bass that he caught off of a local reef.
Fluke – A lot of anglers reported fluking to be slower this past week. You need to really put in your time to find them. Mike Hudak is pictured here with his limit of keepers. He found a lot of success in 35-45 feet of water. Outgoing tide seemed to be the most productive. Fluke are still gorging themselves on squid. These fish are so fat and once boated, they are just spitting up whole squid. Bucktails tipped with curly tails or squid strips are the way to go. With white and pink still being the most productive colors.
Bass – Bass are still hiding under thick, sloppy weeds. Dragging frogs over lilly pads and weeds will tempt any bass to explode through that tangled mess for a meal. Another option for bass right now is to get down through the weeds with soft plastics. Bluegills are everywhere and are being preyed upon by bass and everything else in the lake. So lures that resemble the colors and/or profile of juvenile bluegills have been producing. Pictured is Kira Ayn Varszegi with a beastly largemouth, weighing in at 6lbs 7oz!
Black Sea Bass – With the season finally underway, anglers took to the sound in search of these beautiful and delicious fish. We received some great reports from Allison at Somerset Tackle this past week. Fish were being caught in about 80 feet of water on rock piles. Somerset Tackle squid jigs and home made spinner rigs were producing some great black sea bass. Other effective methods are diamond jigs and high low rigs baited with squid or clam strips. These fish are very aggressive.
Scup (Porgy) – Porgy fishing has been reported being fair to good. Some good schools of fish were being found in around 20 feet of water. They are hitting jigs hard! Pictured is Rob Olints with a fat porgy that he caught jigging an ultra minnow tipped with a small squid strip. They are extremely energetic fish and are very fun to catch.