Warm waters attracting some interesting species

The influence of a warm spring and hot summer on local fishing catches hasn't come as a surprise to Long Island anglers nor gone unnoticed. Many are finding an influx of species more likely to be encountered south of New Jersey to be an interesting addition to the local fishing scene.

"We had some real thrills last Thursday," said Capt. Mike Ardolino of the Sheepshead Bay open boat Brooklyn VI. "We were down along the Jersey Shore when we hooked into five huge black drum while diamond jigging for bluefish. Tony Fish was the only person to get one on deck. It weighed 80 pounds! I would have liked to have seen the ones that got away."

With water temperatures in New York Bight running 74 to 78 degrees, it's likely more big drum will be encountered, probably while the fleet is concentrating on the "teen-sized" bluefish that have been hammering diamond jigs from Sea Bright to Monsters Ledge at the Mudhole.

In addition to the drum, Ardolino and his fares last week were treated to the sight of big cobia jumping on the surface, and the sight of whales and porpoise in our waters has been commonplace this year.

West End anglers have reported catching silvery smooth puffers. Occasionally found in our waters, these are common to southern states and the Gulf of Mexico. One or two are taken each year, but at least a dozen of the blowfish cousins have been landed recently.

By this point, the report of triggerfish taken over South Shore wrecks, reefs and from inlet jetties, especially at Moriches and Shinnecock, have become rather ho-hum, but consider that only a decade ago this tasty, toothy and hard battling species was mostly an anomaly here.

"One thing I've noticed," said John Mantione at J & J Sports in Patchogue, "is that the warm start to our season has mixed-bag fishing action running ahead of schedule. There's a pleasant blend of summer species up inside Moriches and Shinnecock Bays, right now. The action, especially with kingfish and a few school weaks, seems to be a little ahead of schedule -- but no one's complaining about that."

Out at Orient Point, Capt. Mike Boccio of the charter / open boat Prime Time II agreed with Mantione's assessment. "We've got porgies feeding really well at Orient and I know the Peconic Star in Greenport is putting away some big ones to 3 pounds, too. That kind of scup action usually sets up in August."

The porgy action remains hot in Long Island Sound waters, mostly out of Huntington and Port Jefferson where fluke have also been in an agreeable mood. Mattituck and Captree are other ports where fluke fans should expect success.

You might imagine that the hot weather would have put a damper on the super striper fishing out of Montauk, or at least turned the bass over to the night bite at Orient, but that hasn't been the case. The Montauk fleet is still trolling up bass topping 40 pounds while the crews at Orient are limiting out almost daily on bucktails tipped with pork rind.

Email: outdoortom@optonline.net