Sports

Fishing Report

Steven at WeGo Fishing on Main Road in Southold told us scup action continues from Buoy 16 in Little Peconic Bay out to Noyac with cocktail blues numerous off Jessups Buoy 17. Long Island Sound porgy fishing is still excellent with bluefish out east. While there are some keeper fluke off Gardiners Island, better action can be found in Shinnecock Bay. Steven said the striper action on the morning ebb Monday was excellent out east with lots of throwbacks from the 20s into the 40s.

Charlie Caraftis at Charlie’s Mattituck Marina on Mattituck Creek liked the striper action before daybreak off Hortons Point on live eels. He has weighed some fish in the 40-pound class recently, too. Once daylight comes, large bluefish appear on the scene and chop up the eel baits. Anchoring and chunking will produce not only blues, but also the occasional sand shark to six feet in length. Scup fishing continues torrid from Iron Pier past Hortons Point, with the largest fish usually in more than 40 feet of water. There are some weakfish to 20 inches mixed with the porgies as well as triggerfish of around two pounds. The best scup of the week was a jumbo 21-inch fish, taken from shallow water and stuffed with mussels. A few small blues can be found early and late on local beaches.

Bill Czech at Jamesport Bait and Tackle in Mattituck liked the weakfish numbers around Nassau Point, Robins Island and in Roses Grove. Hi-lo porgy rigs seem to score pretty well. For Peconic scup, go to Buoys 22, 24 and 30 rather than Jessups Buoy 17. With warm bay temperatures (up to 82 degrees!), the incoming ocean water in Shinnecock Inlet produces the best fluke fishing, fish to 23 inches, but there are some good fish some two miles out in the ocean; sea bass can be found in the ocean mix, too. Montauk bassing is best for boats using baits while the beaches don’t seem to be producing at all.

Vinny at Camp Site Sports in Huntington Station filled us in regarding action to the west. South shore beaches are best for chunking now while the inlets are good for bucktailing by night. Bluefish range from cocktails to seven-pound choppers. Offshore sharking is quite good for blues with some threshers thrown in, and the tuna bite is now far offshore. The 40-to-80-pound tuna “close in” have dissipated.