This week, anglers found success with big fish across the board, from bass and blues to blackfish and seabass. Although there is still the continued struggle of working through the shorts, many found it difficult to keep a hook baited as we worked with a mix of seasonal and unusually warm weather.
John from Hudson Park Bait & Tackle reports that the stripers are back in and fishing well. Fish up to 34 inches were caught this week using mainly bucktails. Bluefish are still all over, and Manhasset Bay was recently lit up with a nice mix of big bass and blues working the bunker pods under diving birds. Scup continue to hang around making for easy pickings and the keeper ratio of blackfish has improved greatly, making all levels of the local waters great target areas.
In Brooklyn at Stella Maris, Stretch has seen plenty of bass around from schoolie sized to 30 to 40 pounds. Rockaway Jetty and Raritan Bay have been the hot spots with bucktails and diamond jigs. Nighttime eels have also been working well for large bass, and the blues are at an impressive size of 15 to 19 pounds. The local wrecks are producing some impressive blackfish, of which there seem to be plenty to go around.
Ashley from Bay Park Fishing Station has had some noteworthy bass hitting the docks this week. Multiple fish of more than 30 pounds were weighed in and were caught mostly on Tony Maja Trolling Spoons. Green, white, yellow and chartreuse seemed to be the most effective. Blackfish and seabass are still putting up big numbers both in quantity and size, so keep it in mind when the bass become tough to find.
At Cow Harbor, Mark says the fishing has been fantastic for bass off the boats and has been showing signs of life in the surf as well. Gator blues are all over both inside and outside the harbor mixed in with tons of schoolie bass. Blackfish and seabass alike have been getting better and better each day and can still be found on most rocky bottoms. Squid are also being sighted in the Northport waters lately as they begin to make a fall run and should help ignite the bite even more.
Aboard the Jib VI, Captain Joe reports that they are limiting out or coming close on nearly every trip, both day and night. The striper action has been excellent out of Captree on jigs and clam chum. Most keepers are topping out around 30 pounds.
Ryan Schlichter blogs for On The Water magazine. Visit www.onthewater.com for the full version of this report, including the fishing forecast for our waters and other regional fishing news.
