If weather cooperates, LI fishing prospects are good
Friends Andres Ruiz, left, 32, of Huntington, and Antonio Magana, 32, of Great Neck, cast their lines while fishing on a mild day Thursday in Cold Spring Harbor.
All things considered, it has been quite a productive fall on the Long Island fishing front. Blackfish came on strong since their season opened back in October, sea bass and scup have paved the bottom in many locations, and stripers are still blitzing on both the north and south shores. The only problem has been gusty winds, occasionally accompanied by rain — and now snow — sometimes keeping the fleet from reaching its quarry.
Winds aside, prospects for fast action continue to shine. That’s especially so for the stripers since there are plenty of keepers and tons of baitfish still in our area. Currently, the lead mass of bigger bass is firmly established to the west of Debs Inlet with fish to 40 pounds smashing trolled Tony Maja spoons and MoJo rigs. Between Jones and Shinnecock inlets, school bass with a solid shot of keepers to 25 pounds have been the rule, especially for those working diamond jigs aboard the Freeport and Captree open boat fleets.
On the North Shore, school bass continue to work the entire coastline of Long Island Sound from Hempstead Harbor all the way east to Orient Point. The north side action with the linesiders has been most consistent west of Wading River, with a few more keepers that way, too, especially around the Eatons Neck area.
As has been the case all fall long, large sand eels have held the interest of the migrating predators along the South Shore while a mix of peanut bunker and bay anchovies have sparked the action in Long Island Sound. Over the past few days some big pods of adult bunker have showed in 50- to 60-foot depths off Lido Beach and the Rockaways, thus the edge to big stripers falling to trolled spoons in the area.
As for the blackfish, the waters east of Orient Point continue to offer a great shot at filling limits and catching bulldogs to 8 pounds. Up inside Long Island Sound ’togging has been best in 40- to 50-foot depths off major points like Cranes Neck, Eatons Neck and Matinecock Point.
There’s still some great mixed-bag bottom fishing to be found on deeper structure. Capt. Steve Kearney’s Point Lookout open boat Super Hawk has racked up consistent scores of big sea bass, jumbo porgies, blackfish, ling and some cod on mid- and long-range wreck trips.
“That fishing is always fun this time of year,” said Kearney, “and it should get better and better over the coming weeks as the water continues to cool.”
Now, if only the wind will lie down.
n Capt. Jerry’s class
Although it doesn’t get under way until January, the time to sign up for Capt. Jerry McGrath’s popular “Sport Fishing on Long Island” class is now. Sponsored by the Suffolk County Parks Department, the eight-week program is in its 34th year and features instruction from some of the Island’s top captains and fishing experts.
Classes are scheduled for Tuesday nights from 7:30 to 9:30 at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge beginning Jan. 29. The course fee is $150, with discounts for kids and seniors. Call Suffolk County Parks at 631-854-4947 for more info.
Email: Outdoortom@optonline.net
