Inshore fishing reaches a boiling point

August is an interesting month for inshore fishing. With action in midsummer form, it's amazing how many kinds of fish are available.

Mixed bag bottom fishing is a case in point. Red hot right now, it centers around black sea bass and porgies, but also sees plenty of triggerfish, bluefish and fluke as skippers set anchor and clam or squid baits hit the bottom.

Those without boats can join the fun from docks or piers, but they usually do best from inlet jetties where porgies and triggers dominate the catches. Given another week or two, snapper blues should also be large enough to grab hooks along the shore. The baby choppers are a perfect complement to the tasty blue crabs already patrolling most South Shore ports.

August also is a great month for adding a doormat fluke to your fishing resume. Action with the toothy flatfish has been solid in 50- to 70-foot ocean depths from Montauk west to Freeport and Point Lookout, and plenty of big ones have hit the deck.

"We're seeing some real nice fluke this summer," said Neil Delanoy, skipper of the Captree open boat Laura Lee (Captree.com). "In fact, we've drilled three 9-pounders and numerous 7- to 8-pound doormats over the past three weeks.''

It bears noting that Delanoy has been targeting the summer flatties only on Thursdays and Saturdays, opting for sea bass and mixed bag bottom action the rest of the week, and stripers and blues in the evenings. That makes his doormat fluke haul even more impressive.

Spearing and squid combos are the usual fluke baits along the South Shore but anglers trying Peruvian spearing or whole squid have done especially well. Delanoy mentioned that his crew has used Sabiki rigs on night bass trips to jig up a variety of large local baitfish for use when the boat goes fluking during the day. Several pool winners have fallen to these special offerings.

In Long Island Sound, doormat fluke have been tough to find but overall action has been solid, and, with a little work, most anglers can dig out a keeper or two. The central stretch between Smithtown Bay and Wading River seems to be holding the most keepers while also surrendering the highest scores. Porgies have been solid, too, with the waters around Old Field, Crane Neck and Mount Misery giving up limit catches to those using clam chum. There also are plenty of big bluefish, plus a few keeper stripers, taking bunker chunks on the Middle Grounds.

DEC asks for help

The DEC is looking for help conducting its annual Summer Wild Turkey Sighting Survey. This index is used to gauge wild turkey reproductive success and predict fall harvest potential.

Participants simply record the sex and age composition of all flocks of turkeys observed in August.

Forms and instructions are available at www.dec.ny.gov/ animals/48732.html . . . The Long Island Beach Buggy Association will hold its annual jamboree at Heckscher State Park Aug. 13. The event features games, lunch, dinner, raffles and more, and is free to members and those joining the club at the jamboree. Nonmember fee is $5. The jamboree begins at 9:30 a.m. at parking field 8.

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