Eastern Long Island Fishing Report- October 27, 2022

(Above) Jacob from Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale admires a nice striper caught in the fog.

Suffolk County / Eastern L.I. Fishing Report

• Lots of stripers available, with some bigger bass in the mix.
• Inconsistent bite on the south shore. North shore is on fire though. Big bluefish, stripers, albies, and great bottom fishing available up there. Some big sea bass, lingering porgies, triggerfish, and even blowfish. Great togging.
• Offshore bite was awesome for those who got out. Good giant bluefin fishing; explosive yellowfin fishing. Some swordfish for the taking.
• Trout ponds/streams are stocked and the fish are ravenous.

Captree Bait and Tackle reports: 

Max Fracchioni from the shop took a “sick day” yesterday and reported that “the fishing is sick!” He caught a few slot stripers and a keeper blackfish, which came home. Max finished fifth in the Babylon Fall Surf Classic with a 33 inch striper that weighed 12.54 pounds.

The shop is running a tournament this weekend (10/28-10/30). It costs ten dollars to enter, and the target is blues and bass.

Captree’s Laura Lee reports:

“Yesterday’s 7am local trip caught 261 tog and 21 sea bass. The 1pm local caught 256 tog and 12 sea bass. The 6pm trip kept 6 slot stripers and released one over sized bass.

Those trips are an overall improvement since the beginning of the week. Fishing was almost on par Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday saw a toadfish and a triggerfish. Those two species were caught on Sunday as well, among a more diversified bag. There were stripers to 32 pounds over the weekend.”

Bill at Chasing Tails Bait and Tackle in Oakdale reports:

“This week saw 40 pounders in the ocean, 40 inchers in the bay, the revival of umbrella rigs and lots of popping plugs. Another unbelievable week of fall run 2022 is in the books. 

We had big fish being caught all over the place this week. The ocean is packed with solid fish swarming schools of bait, so the jig bite and bunker bite are both going strong. Trolling umbrella rigs has gained popularity again this year, big bass can’t resist a big easy meal like that. In the bay we have schoolies, slots, and overs all roaming around smashing up bait schools. The “one of everything” approach is your best bet for staying on a consistent bite. Poppers and pencils for when they’re feeding on top, swim shads and SP Minnows for when they’re mid-column, then bucktails and diamond jigs when they’re chilling on the bottom. Tide changes have been absolutely integral for me finding a good bite from shore, it seems likes once it shifts either direction, the bite is on. I took my buddy Jacob Minerva out for a few trips this week in the back bays and we absolutely crushed it. We had quite a few schoolies and some slot size fish come rolling through. Monday in the pouring rain was some of the best all week. Switching gears over to Tautog, we have great news to report there as well. Tog are out and very hungry right now as they make their way out to the ocean wrecks, reefs, and rock piles. Every bit of structure in the bay, by the bridge or the inlet is stacked with white chins right now and the fishing is incredible. Drop down a rig or a jig with half a cab on there and you’re in for some wild fishing. Tautog hit hard and pull even harder, making for an incredibly fun fish to catch.  

The local lakes have been stocked with trout, and those fish are very hungry! You can catch them with inline spinners, Trout Magnet jigs, Power Bait dough balls, and the ol’ reliable worm and bobber. Fly guys- toss some meat at them or drift a nymph under a bobber and you’ll be on ’em. Bass and pickerel are very active, and aggressively smashing lures like lipless cranks, swimbaits, jigs, and anything top water. Yellow perch and sunfish will chase inline spinners and small jigs around, plus a classic worm and bobber setup always gets the job done.”

• Looking for the Western Long Island and NYC Fishing Report? Click here to read what’s happening around Nassau, Kings and Queens counties!

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain on Long Island!

Surfcasting guide Bernie Bass had a productive week in the surf. S&S rockhoppers were the jig of the week, especially the chartreuse one when the water was stained. The beginning of the week provided a more consistent bite; there were good fish and good numbers of them. Put in your time and you can still get a big one before the season ends.

Capt. Dave Flanagan of North Island Fly in Northport reports:

The week began with some big bruiser bluefish on the fly. The next day we continued with the bluefish, and added some albies and stripers to the list. We even got a few sight fishing opportunities. 2 days ago, the blues were still a’biting. Ted and Adam tussled against them on the fly rod, and picked up a couple albies before calling it a day.

Check out Dave’s website to book him for a charter at www.northislandfly.com.

Captain Stu Paterson of Northport Charters reports: 

“Last weekend we got out between heavy winds and big seas to pick away at some blackfish, sea bass and porgies. There is still a lot of adult bunker around, and lots of peanuts in the back of Northport harbor. We caught bluefish to 14 pounds, which put up a heck of a fight. November 28 will be the last day we sail this season.”

Call/text Stu at 631-707-3266 or check out Stu’s website to book a trip: northportcharters.com.

The Celtic Quest Fishing Fleet of Mattituck reports: 

“Bottom fishing was top notch this week. Porgies were abundant, sea bass were sizable, and tog fishing was very productive. They even picked some blowfish and triggerfish in the past couple days. Port Jeff was especially productive on the porgy front, but the fishing out east was excellent. Tog and sea bass were both large and abundant.”

Call them at 631-928-3926 for booking info.

The Peconic Star of Greenport reports:

“Blackfishing has been awesome! The wind has been down, and so have the seas, making for calm conditions and awesome togging. Some really nice sea bass and porgies came over the rail as well this week.”

Capt. Phil of Fishy Business in Orient reports:

“Our trip with the Heller group earlier this week was a bit tougher than usual, with picky tog acting shy. By the trip’s end, we were able to put a load of chunky white chins on ice along with a mess of sea bass.

The Fredericks group came out a couple days later and experienced some steady action on the tog and sea bass. The Mayer Group joined us the following day for their annual blackfish trip. The guys got to work quickly and put their limit of chunky tautog on ice, releasing many shorts. A shot of big sea bass were caught too.” They sail out of Duryea’s in Orient. Give Phil a call to book a trip: 516-316-6967.

• Looking for the Western Long Island and NYC Fishing Report? Click here to read what’s happening around Nassau, Kings and Queens counties!

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain on Long Island!

The Shinnecock Star in Hampton Bays reports:

We had a fun trip targeting tog over the weekend. We had some perfect weather, and the fish cooperated. We even pulled up a number of triggerfish and some nice sea bass.

They sail out of Oaklands Marina on the west side of Shinnecock Inlet. Call Capt. John for trip info and reservations: 631-728-4563.

Montauk’s Viking Fleet reports:

The 60 hour mahi/tuna trip from the 21-23rd was awesome. We began poking around in the deep and found a few scattered yellowfin. Around sunset, far from the fleet, we found a giant mass of yellowfin tuna that were absolutely ravenous. They ate anything we threw at them, and rods were bent over the rail from bow to stern. It was pandemonium for hours, and everyone boated their limit of YFT. After that, we steamed off to look for swordfish. We boated a couple and had a few runoffs throughout the night. The pool was a tie between two 65 pound yellowfin tunas.

Call the office to book at 631-668-5700, or book online at vikingfleet.com.

David at Westlake Marina in Montauk reports:

“Blackfish has been very good this week. There aren’t a lot of jumbos, and there is plenty of activity with small fish. Everybody is getting their limits though. Sea bass are still chewing strong, some good sized biscuits coming home to the table. Squid are in. Guys have been having fun targeting them.

The boats here had a good run on giant tuna the past two weeks. They’re targeting inshore giants. Everyone on that end did very well. Nobody’s been offshore this week.

The striped bass bite has been moderate to good. It’s mostly slot fish, but the bite hasn’t been predictable. The action is spotty, and there hasn’t really been a consistent presence of stripers. You can’t really count on fish being there two days in a row. The same can pretty much be said for the surf.”

Chris Albronda from Montauk reports:

“It’s been a very interesting week to say the least. The striped bass fishing from the boat has been phenomenal. From the shore, it seems to have teetered out. Sunrise and sunset have been the best times to catch from shore. There are a lot of mackerel around, who are very responsive to epoxy jigs.

The bottom fishing has been very good. There are blackfish to be caught alongside the sea bass, porgies and codfish. Chris targeted tog from shore recently and caught some in the shallows. There’s a decent chance you’ll happen upon a large fish if you put the time in. Offshore, the commercial giant bluefin fleet had a very successful closing day. A 500 pound mako shark was caught and released as well.” Give Chris a call at 631-830-3881 to book a trip. 

Bill Wetzel of the Surf Rats Ball reports:

This has been the worst fall run Bill has seen in Montauk since the early 1980s. He’s been catching a few fish here and there, but it’s extremely inconsistent. Bill says Montauk is primarily a Chesapeake fishery, which factors into the explanation of why this year’s so bad. There are miles of beach strewn with gill nets along the east end too, which doesn’t help the south shore bass run. There haven’t been any blitzes worth writing home about, and on many days, many boats are going completely fishless. The only decent bites seem to be occurring around the moons. SRB members have been hitting Montauk. They encountered a lot of weeds this week, and few fish. John had a good night on Friday though, catching mostly slot fish on SS darters.

Eastern Long Island Fishing Forecast

Well, I finally feel a little less pathetic… I’ve caught stripers on more than one occasion this week. The beach bite turned on pretty good. One night this week was lights out fishing, but every other night you had to work for it. If you had a line in the water at the correct time, you could potentially catch a lot of fish, and maybe even some big ones. I didn’t come across any big bass, personally, but the number of guys who did is reassuring. Opportunity is out there.

The gill nets cleaned up big time. The amount of stripers they caught and kept is staggering, especially since I saw so few getting caught by surfcasters. Judging by what was in their nets, you’d expect all-day blitzes and fish after fish for the shorebound. I think those nets are probably removing the lion’s share of stripers that visit the surf zone as they migrate along the south fork. 

When the gill nets depress me, I turn to other fisheries. I had some fun targeting tog this week. I caught a bunch more, but didn’t keep any. Most of them were short anyway. They are super fun to catch from shore.

I also put some time in on the white perch grounds. It felt good to get those strong bites on 4 pound test and a noodly ultralight rod. I caught a bunch of small fish, the biggest being like 9 inches.

It sounds like the north shore is the place to be. The south fork feels like it’s becoming a striper wasteland. Although Bill Wetzel has a couple extra decades of fishing under his belt, I agree with him that this is the worst fall run on the south fork in recent memory.

The water is still warm though. The past few years, everything has been trending just a little bit later. That’s certainly been the case this year. Although I’ve been seeing the different waves of different fish passing through, there may still be many more waves of fish, looking to combine forces with each other and start some blitzes when they arrive. I fear the hundreds of stripers I see stuck in gill nets every day are those ones I’m counting on to start blitzing; but I gotta maintain some hope. So I will. 

It could get crazy around here this week. Frankly, it SHOULD get crazy. It should have BEEN crazy for weeks now, consistently. There’s just too much BS preventing that from happening. But, hope, like I said. Let’s hope for some blitzes this week. It’s almost November, and practically none have happened. We are overdue. 

I’ll be out every day and night this week. The night bite has been good. It’s starting to feel like the opportunities for catching a big striper are waning by the day though. Soon it’ll be 99% rats and I’ll be wishing I put more time in when the big girls roamed. This week I’ll try to mitigate the potential for that remorse. I suggest you do the same.

Go get ‘em. Tight lines.