Fishing is slow but bass, flounder around

Where are the fish? That is the question on the minds of many anglers across Long Island as April slides into May. Considering the harsh winter and this spring's below average temperatures to date, it's not surprising that the season seems to be off to a sluggish start. Rest assured, however, that plenty of baitfish have already invaded local waters and the predators are tight on their tails.

"We have a significant number of school stripers here already," said Ken Tokar, skipper of the Port Washington Angler Fleet, "plus a few fish in the 15- to 16-pound class."

That should come as no surprise since western Long Island Sound traditionally sees strong catches of bass in late April. So far, the best scores have come from inside the harbors with soft plastic jigs and swimming shads accounting for the most strikes, but Tokar expects that bunker chunks will start tempting larger fish fairly soon.

"There are stripers stirring along the western South Shore, too," assured Captain Nick Savine of the Oceanside charter boat No Time. "Still, better action with bigger fish can be found by cutting across the New York Bight to probe New Jersey's Raritan Bay. The waters there are slightly warmer than along our coast."

Indeed, it was there that Savine and the Lloyd Malsin group used whole clams to limit with ten keeper bass to 34 inches on Wednesday, a great start to their striper season.

"West End cod fishing is still worth a shot for anglers running out of Jones Inlet," noted Mike Barnet, skipper of the Freeport charter vessel Codfather. He proved as much on Monday when he ran to 110 feet of water and put his fares over 30 keepers to 10 pounds. Barnet also managed a few local bass on clam bellies this week and expected it would be "just a few days more" before the linesiders explode on the local scene.

While the western quadrant has seen some decent action already, fishing across the middle sections of Long Island is only just beginning to shake off winter's chill. Flounder have been the biggest focus in this region so far, with a few taken from inside Huntington, Lloyd and Port Jefferson harbors on the North Shore. In the South Shore bays, the Captree open boat Captain Gillen has picked a few winter flatties from West and Dickersons channels while private boaters have managed some fish on both the Babylon and Heckscher flats.

There has also been a trickle of flounder plucked from the Shinnecock and Quogue Canals, and from beneath the Smiths Point Bridge. The size of the flatties this year has been impressive with most stretching the tape greater than 15 inches. Unfortunately, solid scores have been few and far between.

Codfish remain the prime target out at Montauk, but only a few charter boats, including the Bluefin IV, Captain Mark and Sea Wife, are fishing for them. With less pressure from the fleet than over the winter, catches have rebounded nicely southeast of Block Island. Captain Michael Potts limited out the Bluefin IV on both trips this week with most of his catch measuring 24 to 25 inches and a few fish approaching 15 pounds. Jigs and clams have both been effective but the largest cod fell mostly to the clams.

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