Western Long Island and NYC Fishing Report

• Summer of Cobia – multiple landed from the jetties and beaches; more big weigh-ins from boat anglers this week. 
• Hot fluke run continues, anglers are catching limits offshore and nearshore, North to South. 
• Big sharks being caught from the beaches. 
• First reports of Spanish mackerel trickle in 

It’s been pretty epic seeing all these cobia catches. Karl Neumann (@kan313) of the BK Anglers crew caught and released a beautiful cobia from the surf this week on a 1 ounce bucktail tipped with a Berkley Gulp! 4 inch swimming mullet. It’s getting difficult for me to take my kayak into the Sound for the usual fare while knowing there’s cobia on the South shore. 

 

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In addition to cobia, surf anglers have been catching huge rays from the beach. Brandon Weitz from Causeway Bait and Tackle sent in this pic of him and a few buddies catching a massive butterfly ray out of the surf while sharking.

 

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Speaking of sharks, Michael Urbaez (@bx_sharkman) landed this bull shark out of the surf. Sheeesh. I am never going swimming on the South shore ever again. 

 

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Petey Trovato from Lindenhurst Bait and Tackle reports: 

“Fluking is on fire right now. Me and my buddies have been catching keeper fluke from shore and on boats, it doesn’t seem to matter which. We’ve been limiting out using gulp and bucktails. The cobia bite has been really good, anglers are catching them from the surf now on lures, namely fluke rigs. The sea bass bite has been great on the reefs too, mostly from jigging gulp.” 

Brandon Weitz from Causeway Bait and Tackle in Wantagh told me: 

“Shark fishing has slowed down a bit compared to last week, but the rays are packed in the surf. We caught a huge butterfly ray. Fluking has been really hot still, both inside and outside. Cobia really picked up too and its been epic seeing all the catches this week.” 

• Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Fishing Report: Click here to read what’s happening around Suffolk County and The Forks!

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC!

Gypsea Charters in Brooklyn reports:

“Fluking has been very productive over the the last few trips to the ocean. We have seen quite a few anglers nail their limit of flatties on a daily basis. The summer flaking is in full swing, now is the time! Pack your jigs and Gulp and be prepared to fish the sticky bottom. Call or text (516) 659-3814 for info and reservations, which are required in advance.”

Paul Mccain from River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin said: 

 “All the rivers upstate are blown out since the rain. I walked the beach recently and saw a lot of bird action so there’s definitely plenty of bait around on the South shore. A friend of mine has been catching stripers off the sod banks at night and doing very well. But he’s also fishing very early in the morning around 3:00 a.m. when the bite seems to be at its best for stripers. There’s been a pretty good weakfish bite as well for fly anglers lately. With the cinder worm hatch in the Sound now is a great time to take to the back bays for stripers on the North shore.” 

Bay Park Fishing Station in Oceanside said:  

“Sharks, rays, cobia, take your pick! The surf is loaded with monsters and anyone throwing a chunk is sure to catch something exciting. Offshore, tuna, big sharks, and cobia are being caught near bunker pods and miles out. The reefs have been producing fluke and sea bass and the inlets are alive with bait and bluefish blitzing on them. We have everything you need to hook a monster!”  

Freeport Bait and Tackle reports:

“Fluking has been the hottest we’ve ever seen it, so many keepers are getting reported and weighed in at the shop. If you aren’t fluking now you’re missing out! Bucktail and gulp combo is the way to go, we carry everything you need at the shop.” 

• Tim Regan’s Eastern Long Island Fishing Report: Click here to read what’s happening around Suffolk County and The Forks!

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain around Long Island and NYC!

This past Wednesday was a nice overcast day with a quick shower and cooler temperatures, probably my favorite conditions for fishing. I went out on my kayak around 5:00 a.m. and pedaled towards a ledge that’s been consistently producing keeper fluke in the 20 inch range. On my way there I saw fish rising and first thought that the bunker have finally shown up in force in my part of the Sound. 

But it was actually striped bass rising to the surface and slurping up cinder worms. I saw small wakes wriggling across the surface. These nasty things were everywhere and the stripers were gulping them up every second, quietly, and gently breaching the water surface with their fins and tails every few seconds.  

It was another mirror calm, picturesque morning on the Sound. The skyline and waterline blended together so that you could hardly tell which one was which. Then, a striped bass would break the mirror to feed on a cinder worm. 

I tried threading a small section of Gulp! sandworm onto a light jighead and reeled it in close to the surface to ‘match’ the cinder worms, but by the time I wet my line, the bite was already wrapping up. The stripers had went from rising every few seconds, to every few minutes, to not at all. Nonetheless, the cinder worms continued to wriggle around the surface, creating small wakes that were visible from a distance.

I trolled this short worm presentation around on my way to the ledge but never got bit. It was nice to see my dear striper friends feeding on the surface, but I had a different quarry in mind that day and I didn’t spend much time trying to get them to bite. 

When I arrived at the ledge, it was outgoing tide and not incoming like the last time I fished it. So I was drifting in the opposite direction, following the tracks on my fish finder to make sure I went over the productive areas. I positioned my kayak facing into the current and casted slightly ahead of me a bucktail and 4 inch Gulp! grub combo. Giving only a few pedals to maintain a 0.5 m.p.h. drift, while reeling just enough to keep my line tight. 

In terms of jigging technique, I’d give frequent small twitches of the lure and then one big lift to entice a bite on the fall. Then a pause, keeping my line tight as I drifted, before repeating that cadence. If I get bit but don’t hook the fluke, I speed up the cadence and give higher lifts to provoke a strike on the fall. 

That morning, I caught one keeper at 19 inches and at least one fluke on each drift. A dozen porgy played ball as well when I tried slow pitch jigging, and I couldn’t avoid one large sea robin, though I don’t mind them much when they’re that big. A great morning of bottom fishing, but I didn’t stay long; I had to be in by 8:30 a.m. to start my day.  

What’s Biting?

Take advantage of the hot fluke bite and roll the dice for cobia with the classic Gulp! and bucktail combo. Study those nautical charts for heavy contours that indicate drop-offs and big ledges to find fluke. But if you’re a shore-bound angler, simply cast a few feet off the beach and work the lip for fluke lying in wait to ambush your bait or lure. Stay mobile and don’t stick around in one spot too long if it’s not producing. 

If you’re on the North shore, cast out clams, worms, or other bait on a hi-lo rig with a 2-4 oz sinker for porgy. They are infesting the rocky bottom of the Long Island Sound and make for easy ocean groceries. 

For black seabass, target boulder piles and stay active – if one boulder doesn’t produce any fish, move onto the next. But don’t get discouraged by all the porgy either; chances are they’re just beating the fish to your lure. Weed through the porgies and see if there are any seabass around willing to eat. More often than not there are. 

When scouting boulders, don’t just look at your chart; watch your sonar for the unmarked boulder or structure piece and drop a waypoint and a line on it. It could become your new honey hole for knucklehead seabass. This is my bread-and-butter; Finding those nearshore honey-holes that the boaters don’t know about or can’t access brings me a ton of satisfaction as a kayak angler.

The weather for the rest of this week and the weekend (minus Friday) looks great. With a few mornings in the upper-60’s and mid-day high’s topping out in the middle 80’s it should be noticeably more comfortable this week.  

Stay safe on the water and enjoy this beautiful week ahead. Thanks for reading. Tight lines.