Head East for Bass, Head West for Bottom Fish

After several weeks of humid 80- and 90-degree heat, a Canadian cold front was just what the doctor ordered as it brought rain, thunderstorms and paved the way for cooler air over the upcoming weekend. We’re definitely making the transition into late summer fishing patterns – and it’s already begun in many places – and fish are getting sluggish as water temperatures near their seasonal high. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of viable fishing options to be found around the state, and if you’re willing to do a little traveling and employ some finesse tactics — there’s still some trophy-size fish to be caught around the state.

East End

Montauk is definitely the place to be right now, and for the foreseeable future. A large amount of big stripers have taken up residence in the rips off the Lighthouse, and some of these bass are pushing well past the 50-pound mark. Captain Sal at Paulie’s Tackle of Montauk reported numerous big fish being caught this week, including one that tipped the scales at over 50 pounds at his marina. The twist has been a slowdown of the daytime bite, with most of the larger fish being landed at night on live eels. From the surf, things have been on the slower side overall but there’s a decent chance things are about to pick up significantly. The wind is forecasted to be out of the east from this evening straight through Sunday, enticing some of the larger bass into the wash to feed at night. This east wind also aligns with the July new-moon tides, increasing your odds of tying into a large linesider from the beach. If you’re casting from the rocks around the point during the day, I’d stick with the standard offering of the local surfcasting sharpies – a white half-ounce bucktail with a white-and-red Uncle Josh pork rind trailer. Just make sure you’re good and stocked up before hitting the rocks because the snags around the lighthouse are plentiful and unforgiving. During the overnight session, I’d recommend either slowly retrieving live eels weightless on a 5/0 Gamakatsu live bait hook attacked to a 4-foot, 40-pound-test fluorocarbon leader. Retrieve the eel just fast enough to maintain tension on the line, preventing the eel from tangling itself on the leader.

In the Hampton Bays area, the crew at East End Bait & Tackle reports that bass fishing has slowed down with the spiking water temperatures. Clam chumming in the Shinnecock Inlet is still producing the occasional keeper bass during overnight hours. Fluke fishing has remained steady outside the inlet, although the best action has shifted to deeper water. If you’re looking to do some fluking this weekend, focus your attention in the neighborhood of 70 feet deep and make your adjustments from there.

South Shore

The water is getting close to tropical off Long Island’s south shore, now pushing into the 80-degree range throughout most of the region. Bass are becoming harder to find outside Debs and Jones inlet, although the thresher sharks are still feeding on the menhaden in 70 to 100 feet of water. If you’re still looking for bass, get out to some deeper water — in the 65- to 90-foot range — just make sure you stay within three miles of shore. It’s against federal law to fish for striped bass outside of three nautical miles from shore, so keep an eye on that GPS when searching for life in deeper water.

North Shore

The spiking water temperatures are also the lead story on the Long Island Sound. Along the north shore of the island, the sea surface temperature is as high as 83 degrees in places although it moderates somewhat as you head out toward the middle of the sound. Fluke and porgy fishing remain productive through the heat, though the bass fishing has definitely suffered due to the persistent heat. If you’re looking for linesiders in the sound this weekend, fish deep and fish at night. Soaking bunker chunks around some structure in the neighborhood of 70 feet of water is probably your best bet for getting into some decent bass. The bluefish should be less hard to find, so consider circle hooks on your chunking rigs to minimize cutoffs.

Metro New York

Although surfcasting options around the city are now slim-to-none until the fall, there’s still some decent options to be found not too far from shore. The Marilyn Jean IV out of Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn continues finding good amounts of jumbo ling and even the occasional cod on the near-shore wrecks, as well as some nice sea bass and even a big monkfish this week while drifting the deeper water. Inshore fishing for triggerfish has also turned on significantly over the past week, providing another tasty species for anglers to fill out their day’s catch.

Upstate

Rain and cooler temperatures are both welcome additions to the forecast for sweetwater anglers upstate. Trout fishing has suffered significantly from the persistent heat, but the rain and cooler nighttime temperatures this weekend should help raise water levels and lower stream and river temperatures upstate. The charter guys up on Lake Ontario are still producing some nice fish despite the warm water. Browns, Steelhead and even a few nice King Salmon are being caught on the down riggers. Largemouth bass fishing in the region has been decent, with most nice fish being caught on either live bait or rubber worms. Pan fishing also remains productive across the region with nice-size crappy, bluegill and perch being caught on live bait, micro jigs and on small fly patterns.

Best Bets

Whether you’re fishing from shore or out on a boat, Montauk is definitely the place to be right now if you’re looking for stripers this weekend. Big numbers of bass are hunting in the cool water currents running through the Montauk Rips. The usual offerings are producing most of the bigger bass. Drifting live eels at night on a three-way rig has produced most of the big fish recently during the overnight sessions, and even a few nice bass during the day. Most of the charter fleet, however, has been trolling wire setups through the rips with either parachute jigs or umbrella rigs in daylight hours then switching to eels for night trips. Tight lines.