Sports

Fishing Report

Warm water (84 degrees in Long Island Sound) hasn’t hurt the scup fishing according to Dave Brennan, skipper of the Peconic Star II out of Greenport. Overall, the fishing is O.K., says Dave, with porgies still available in good sizes and in all depths. Sometimes the pick is slower when certain drops don’t pan out or when tons of tiny sea bass interfere. Boat traffic and bad manners among boaters make some days challenging.

Kyle Baugher at Captain Marty’s Fishing Station in New Suffolk was impressed by continued summer action and figures this bodes well for the fall, too. Scup around Buoys 22 and 24, fish to 16 inches, and weaks to 25 inches off Roses Grove highlight the catches. In mixed bags are blowfish and “kingfish” (whiting), while both the North and South Race produce cocktail blues. Ted At We Go Fishing in Southold pointed out that summer weaks are also available off Shelter Island around South Ferry. A smattering of weakfish came from Long Island Sound off Greenport recently. Fishers Island Race continues to produce bass by day and night while Montauk seems to be “on fire” for stripers, fluke and sea bass.

A lengthy report came from Bill Czech at Jamesport Bait and Tackle in Mattituck. Czech calls the Peconic Bay action “the best we’ve had in 20 years,” suggesting that the weakfish in the hole between Nassau Point and Robins Island are often larger than expected for this time of year (up to five pounds). The Race and Plum Gut feature big blues to 12 pounds, and night bassing continues to hold up. Spot (members of the croaker family not usually seen north of New Jersey) show up in catches of scup and kingfish in the western Peconics, surprising DEC fisheries experts. One keeper fluke came from the Greenlawns, but Shinnecock is the place to go for summer flounder, especially Buoy 17, Pine Neck, and Buoy 7, the Basket area. Long Island Sound beaches continue to produce scup and nothing else.

Mark at the Rocky Point Fishing Stop mentioned local snappers and blue claw crabs as well as blues and bass in 80 feet of water. Just as they are at points east, scup are the big draw off the beach. Predators are absent among the schools of peanuts and large bunker spotted locally, and the South Shore beaches remain quiet, without any bait schools by day.