Fishing Forecast for Long Island - New York

With the first official day of summer this past week came more reliable fishing across Long Island. Big stripers and bluefish continue to compete for baits while fluke have spread the greater numbers further towards the East End. Big porgies have improved as well, and a few weakfish are now being picked throughout the day.

John from Hudson Park Bait and Tackle again reports big bass and blues being taken out of New Rochelle. The bluefish range in size from 17 to 19 pounds and the bass have ranged between 38 and 47 pounds on the top end. Cows weighing  42 and 47 pounds were weighed this week. Both fell to trolling spoons. There was also a 42-pounder taken on a bunker head, plus a 38-pound brute that ate a trolled Mojo rig. The porgy fishing has been slow but that seems to be of little concern thus far for local fisherman.

Mike at Stella Maris reports great fishing of all kinds. Alligator blues are holding steady, competing with the big stripers in the Brooklyn waters. Fluke have been red hot as well. One charter boat had 45 keepers only a few days ago. There is still a lot of mature bunker around and shark fishing has picked up quite a bit.

At Bay Park Fishing Station the best action continues to be with big stripers. Ashley saw a 52-pounder weighed in this week. That fish was caught after a couple anglers came across a breaching whale. They threw some surface poppers and pulled out the trophy. There have also been a lot of fluke in the area but shorts dominate the catch. The best results have been east of McCallister and in the bays where toss backs abound.

Aboard the Jib VI, Captain Joe has held steady with decent fluke action out of Captree. Each trip has seen an average of 15 to 30 keepers plus all the shorts you can handle. On the afternoon/night trips, the bluefishing has been best on the last of incoming tide and first of outgoing. Father’s Day weekend was tough but the action has rebounded over the last few days.

At Campsite, Carmine reports the best bass tactic for the Huntington waters has been tossing bunker chunks at Eatons Neck. Along the nearby estuaries, soft-plastic shads and topwater plugs have been effective with fish up to 30-pounds. Fluke have been productive with fish in the 3- to 6-pound class plus plenty of throw backs. Scup have been numerous on top of mussel beds and rocky bottom, mostly in about 25-feet of water.

John Sr. from Terminal Tackle also has a lot of bunker holding locally and attracting the big bass and blues around buoy 15. The bass have been up to 46 pounds with a majority of them weighing 20 to 30 pounds. Surf fisherman have had success as well, mostly near Sunken Meadow at the top of the tide. John adds that there have been occasional weakfish picked here and there but it not yet worth making a day out of them.

Cow Harbor’s Evan reports similar action. The best fluke fishing has been off of Crab Meadow and Sunken Meadow in the deeper waters. There have been scup around these areas as well, and also off buoy 13. The bass have yet to show many keepers but there have been plenty of schoolies hitting spoons and bunker chunks in the back bays. On the beaches, there have been mainly cocktail blues hitting tins and, occasionally topwater plugs. With sea bass season set to open on June 27, there have been plenty caught and released. Most of this action has come from 30- to 40-foot depths.

Ed from Warrens Bait and Tackle has yet to see the fishing really light up. There has been a slow pick of fluke and porgies in the waters east of Riverhead, along with some cocktail blues off the beach. With warm weather continuing to show, the bite should start growing stronger very soon.

Further east at Wego Fishing, Steve told of increasingly good production with bass in both the Gut and the Race. You can find all the big blues you can catch on the flood tide in the same areas. Porgies have shown up on both the bay and Sound with considerable size. Fluke have been biting off the Oyster Factory as well as in Gardeners Bay and Long Island Sound. Off buoy 17, a few weakfish are mixed in amongst the unrelenting blues.

In Hampton Bays at White Water Outfitters, Jake reports an increase in action for bluefin tuna and sharks offshore. The best bass bite has been at night off Shinnecock Inlet with slightly less action during the day on clams. There have been some blues mixed in although, unlike much of the Island, there seems to be more bass at this point. Also on the ocean side, fluke fishing continues to improve everyday with bigger fish.

At Gone Fishing Marina, TJ has seen a big improvement in fluke fishing. There are still a ton of shorts around but the keeper pick has picked up with some big flatties being taken. Stripers have been around, too, although they have been more spotty. Blues continue to tear up the surf.

Tonya at West Lake Marine had a 70-pound bigeye tuna brought in recently from offshore aboard the Luna Sea. There was also a report of three keeper bass taken on live eels. The fluke fishing in Montauk has been decent up to this point and big scup have been holding steady for some time.

At River Bay Outfitters, Paul reports a slight lull in local catches. On the freshwater side, the hot weather has lowered the water level in local streams and rivers making fly-fishing as well as conventional casting more difficult. In other waters, mainly ponds and lakes, the largemouth bass bite has really been strong, especially at night on Jitterbugs.

The Staten Island Tuna Club continues to be on the big fish. There have been daily catches of 40-pound bass near the Statue of Liberty. Fluking has been getting better every day in channels along Princess Bay. The shark fishing has been good, too. Last week’s club winner of the annual shark tournament weighed in a 335-pound thresher aboard the Game Boat.

Fishing Forecast for Long Island – New York

With more hot days of summer ahead, keep an eye on the beaches as bluefish begin to move through with big bass following closely behind. When the daytime action is hot, it is worth a shot going down at night for the bigger fish. Offshore action also is worth a trip as shark and tuna fishing seems to be getting hot. For freshwater, Jitterbugs and spinners are always a good bet in local ponds but head out right at dusk if you are hoping for a lunker.