Montauk Fishing Report

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5/18/2013 - Good Fluke action on the South Side this morning with fish up to 9Lbs. Bunch of shorts too, and Bluefish chasing the fluke rigs up to the surface. Most of the action seemed to be between the Teddy Bear and the Radar Tower in about 50ft. of water.

5/2/2013 - Its been a long quiet winter. Cod fishing never really materialized this winter the way everyone was hoping. Recent trips out to the wrecks S. of Montauk and Block Island have for the most part been completely unproductive, usually with one keeper fish being caught all day (if that). Even Gary "Toad" could only scrape up one Cod last Saturday despite hitting every wreck between Montauk and the Suffolk Wreck.

Fluke season opened yesterday and according to Chase and Courtney Darenberg at the Montauk Marine Basin, the Fluke fishing has been much better than normal for this time of year with guys limiting out.

There have been some Herring in Fort Pond Bay lately which is apparently THE PREMIUM FLUKE bait. So don't forget to pack a Sabiki rig or 2.

Word on the street is that draggers have been getting some Striped Bass which means they are around, but the water temperature is still low for this time of year (only around 49-50 degrees F), so they are not really biting.

12/4/2012 - Went out this morning trying to find some Cod on the wrecks South of Block Island. The water was still in the mid 50's. As soon as the sinker hit the first wreck, BOOM instant double header HUGE Black Sea Bass (which are CLOSED now..... of course), then again, and again!!! So friggin' many Sea Bass. On to the Acid Barge, same deal, ALL Black Sea Bass... tried the next spot, only smaller Sea Bass, then the Doggies moved in. Tried moving into shallower water around 60-70 feet in the rocks closer to the shore of Block Island (hoping to get away from the Dog fish), but it was just more of the same... nothing but dogfish after that. Guys who've been Blackfishing lately say that it's been good at spots like Cartwright and S. of Block Island as long as you have Hermit Crabs (Green Crabs aren't doing it) and they are getting an occasional Cod in the mix. Herring action has been a little spotty lately according to Chase Darenberg at the Marine Basin, but if you can find some there have been some Striped Bass around in deeper water at spots like the Alaska Rip.

11/24/2012 - Herring are HERE!!!!

11/16/2012 - Hurricane Sandy really shook things up here and it was tough to get out afterwards because of the gas shortage in the area. Things are getting back to a more normal state, fuel docks are opened and fishing is back in full swing. There are still some Striped Bass around, and word on the street is that Blackfish action has been hot. Cod has been good in shallower water (60 feet) South of Block Island with one boat reporting getting 19 (good sized ones) on crabs while fishing for Blackfish. However, Cod action has been almost non-existent at the deeper wrecks (180-200 feet) with nothing but LOADS of monster Black Sea Bass, which closed on November 1st, so it's a total waste of time.

11/1/2012 - Black Sea Bass season has been CLOSED (early).

10/23/2012 - Not much going on in the way of Striped bass action, but Blackfish action has been red hot back West in the Sound. HUGE Black Seabass on the wrecks South of Block Island, but not much in the way of Cod yet, probably because the water is still too warm, no dogfish though, which was nice. In addition to the loads of bait off the beaches on the North and South side, there are schools of Peanut Bunker and Herring around in the Montauk Harbor area, but the word on the street is the Bluefish have moved in hard and it's really taken a toll on the Striped Bass fishing, which has not been great lately.


10/18/2012 - Crazy Albie action between the inlet and Shagwong Point. There were groups of 10-15 fish forming into rows swimming alongside each other and making these big pushes along the surface. They were chasing very small bait... looked like anchovies. Not much if any surface action anywhere between town and Montauk Point on the South side. Cod fish action has been outstanding at Cox's Ledge according to the legendary Gary "The Toad". "Little" Anthony on the Ana Mary got an awesome 30+Lbs. Bull Mahi off some of his offshore lobster gear (about 50 miles out).

10/7/2012 - Insane surface feeds with big schools of Striped Bass pushing tiny bait right up into the wash on the beach. If you can get your boat in close enough to get a cast the action is epic. Offshore action has been hot, with some Yellowfin and Big Eye Tunas in the triple digits.

9/30/2012 - Striped Bass fishing has been consistently good over the last week or so, but seemed to slow down a little bit yesterday. Apparently there were False Ablbacore (aka Albies) everywhere though.

9/14/2012 - Word on the street is there has been some decent Striped Bass action lately in the surf and there were birds working and some visible surface action yesterday off Ditch Plains beach about noon.

9/12/2012 - Got a late start around 11am heading out to Ranger Wreck area with some good looking SST charts and reports of hot action off shore with Yellowfin and Big Eye Tuna over the last week. Stopped and checked some high-flyers for Mahi near 7&7 and saw some fish, but could not produce a bite, they were very finicky. Saw porpoise before we got to the Ranger and put the lines in the water (water temp was a little over 72 degrees), got a False Albacore right away... trolled around the area for a while longer working the pods of porpoise but produced nothing except some more Falsies and a Mushy (Skipjack Tuna). We picked up ad headed East towards the Outter Butterfish Hole where we saw more Porpoise and a couple of HUGE breaches (whales maybe)... trolled a NICE 17Lb. Cow Mahi off a high-flyer a little before 4pm, then had a double knockdown w/ 2x 36Lbs Yellow Fin Tuna right after 4pm only a few seconds after we saw a school of half-beaks jumping off to one side of the boat. Landed both fish, bled, gutted & iced then and called it a day! The water temp was about 74.5 degrees F where we got the bite, just a spectacular September day.


8/18/2012 - Capt. Mike Potts on the Bluefin IV reported having good Cod action at Cox's Ledge for yesterdays charter.

8/16/2012 - Things are still a little stirred up after the recent storms that have passed through. Not much going on in the way of Fluke or Stripped Bass, but there have been HUGE Porgies around, and Black Sea Bass action has still been good, lots of Bluefish around too. There is loads of bait in the water and birds working over schools of bait from just inside of Shagwong to Fort Pond Bay consistently over the last couple of weeks, it looks like it may be Mackrel or possibly Albies chasing the bait. Offshore action has been spotty with a few fish being caught here and there, but no major focused action to speak of in the way of Tuna or Swordfish. Mahi-Mahi action has been pretty good lately starting at around "7&7" or even closer some days. The water is about 77degrees F.

7/24/2012 - INSHORE: Fluke (and Black Sea Bass) fishing has been consistently good over the last week, especially at areas like Frisbies on the incoming tide... the squid & spearing combo was the ticket to limiting out. Based on the chatter on VHF channel 19 it sounds like Striped Bass fishing is starting to thin out a bit as the water temp starts to increase (which was almost 70 degrees F on Sunday).
OFFSHORE: Action has been starting to heat up offshore with a few trips bringing back decent numbers of Yellow Fin Tuna up to 98Lbs. over the past week. The Everclear got back to the Montauk Marine Basin from an offshore trip yesterday afternoon w/ a 100+ Lbs. Swordfish, a couple of Yellow Fin Tunas and some Mahi. Apparently there has been more Yellow Fin Tuna action up in the flats than actually out in the canyons, with reports of boats who stopped short where they saw action doing better than guys who went all the way to places like Fish Tails and Atlantis.

7/11/2012 - Striped bass fishing has still been excellent with lots of big fish around. Black Sea Bass fishing has been extremely hot with guys limiting out and getting some huge (22 - 24 inch) fish. Fluke action has been picking up with some good sized fish out towards Frisbies. Offshore action has been a little quiet still with reports of a few fish here and there. There was a flurry of activity with some small (40Lb.) Bluefin Tuna between CIA and the Outter Butterfish Hole over this last week and the Mahis have moved in... mostly small ones, but they been caught as close as 12 miles out.

6/24/2012 - Striped Bass fishing has been incredible with some slob fish being caught up to 57 Lbs.. There have been loads of 30's and 40's around. Fluke action has been getting better. Porgy and Sea Bass fishing are GREAT right now. Offshore action is still a little quiet.

6/11/2012 - INSHORE: Fluke fishing has been getting off to a slow start with an occasional keeper in the mix here & there. There were loads of Porgies right outside the Elbow off Montauk point in about 60 feet of water. There were Bluefish (and probably some Striped Bass) STACKED UP on the Elbow, sometimes covering almost the whole screen of the fish finder. Paul Cuneo reported landing a 48inch slob Striped Bass on a 9-weight fly rod out of the rocky coves on the South side Montauk Point, he estimated it at around 40Lbs. There are loads of Black Sea Bass around at spots like Frisbies with some nice size fish in the mix, the season opens on them on 6/15. Unfortunately, there were loads of dogfish yesterday out around and past Frisbies, which totally sucked.
OFFSHORE: There has been some recent Bluefin Tuna action ranging from 5 to 20 miles out with about half a dozen brought in on Sat. (last weekend 6/2)up to about 80Lbs. and one brought in on Sunday 32Lbs. Nothing has materialized since and it seems as though there are only a few scattered fish around right now... to make matters worse the Bluefish have moved in with a vengeance (how do they always know to chew up your most expensive lures). There have been some scattered reports of Yellowfin being taken offshore in the Canyons and even some Marlin around.

5/23/2012 - Good Fluke bite out in front of the Montauk Lighthouse toward the end of the outgoing tide. The fish were hanging around the drop-offs at about 60 feet (give or take) and spearing was the ticket. There were a bunch of throw backs, but a couple of keepers in the mix. Unfortunately there were some bluefish around as well and the choppers took their toll on the Fluke rigs. A couple of guys have reported success catching Fluke on diamond jigs recently as well, right in front of the inlet in fact.

No visible surface action for Stripers of Blues to speak of.

5/17/2012 - There were lots of birds working just outside the lighthouse last night right before sunset. There were thick schools of Bluefish but there were some nice size Striped Bass in the mix as well (32 inch keeper on the second cast). The key was casting a tin, then letting it sink down about 20 feet or so before starting to reel.

Not much going on in terms of Fluke action anywhere between Montauk on the South Side all the way backup North of Shelter Island with the exception of a (very)few big fish taken from time.

Porgy action has been red hot w/ lots of big plump ones around... 2Lb'ers are not uncommon.


5/3/2012 - The word from Paulie's Tackle is that the are 20Lb. Stripers in the surf (as of last week). Opening day of Fluke was a washout with horrendous weather conditions... nobody was catching anything besides (a few shorts at Pocketbook and) skates... and it hasn't gotten much better since.

4/6/2012 - Small striped bass in the coves!

3/21/2012 - Everyone's waiting to see how far off the normal migration patterns fishing will be this year. Cod action never materialized this winter the way everyone hoped (probably because the water stayed so warm). Commercial dragger captains have reported that they haven't had to go out past 30 Fathoms to catch Fluke and Skup (Porgies) all winter... which is very unusual. They have reportedly been catching Porgies around Block Island all winter, which may help explain reports of Giant Bluefin Tuna around Block in early January. Word on the street is that the Striped Bass are back West a little towards the middle of Long Island and should be here any time (if they're not already).

11/16/11 - Word on the street is that the Herring run has started. They have been in Fort Pond Bay and hanging around Culloden Point. It's been tough to catch them some days, but if you get any head out to the point for almost instant Striped Bass action. Blackfish action has been decent but spotty and according to the legendary Gary "The Toad" they've moved into deeper water.

10/11/11 - Inshore and Offshore fishing have both been RED HOT this last week. There are still False Albacore (Albies) around near Montauk Point, Shagwong Pointand Fort Pond Bay. The Striped Bass action has been insane with huge surface feeds popping up around the Montauk Point Lighthouse. There are so many fish in such a small space at times the fish on top of the schools are literally lifted out of the water on top of other fish. There has been some decent Blackfish action, but the water is still a little too warm to push the Porgies out, so bring lots of bait... Hermit Crabs are the ticket.
The Offshore fishing scene has been in high gear with lots of good action between West Atlantis and The Dip. Yellow Fin Tuna up to 80Lbs. were taken in just the last few days, Long Fin (True) Albacore in the 30's, Swordfish, and small Mahi-Mahi are all being caught in abundance.
Surfcasters will have easy access to the Striped Bass along the entire length of beach on the South Side this year starting at Ditch Plains and all the way back to the West end of Montauk. The beach between town and Ditch Plains is wider than it has been in years and "The Cliffs" are an easy run right now.

10/1/11 - It was a scene of total insanity yesterday with over a hundred boats out off Montauk Point despite horrendous conditions in the rips. There were False Albacore (aka Albies) surface feeds busting out all over the place from the Pollock Rip and the Elbow all along the North side back to Shagwong Pt. and there has been sporadic Little Tunny action in Fort Pond Bay. The Striped Bass fishing has been red hot with BIG fish out in the rips. Eels and Jigging were both productive on the ebb yesterday morning. Offshore action has been outstanding over the last week with loads of Long Fin Albacore around as well as some Yellow Fin and Wahoo in the mix on the troll. There were a few swordfish taken as well.

09/24/2011 - The morning started out foggy but as the day went on the fog burned off and the fishing got hot. Great Eastern was the place to be on Saturday and fishing while the tide was in motion was the key. We started the day wire lining the RIPS with parachutes, no action. Then we switched over to eeling during the tide and the action was slow but steady and the fish were consistently in the 40inch, 30lb range. The best news of all was there were not a large amount of blues around so the eels lasted most of the day! In conclusion, another good fall day bass fishing with Captain Steven Kramer on his 28ft Bertram the Elaine K.

9/12/11 - FLY FISHERMAN ALERT: False Albacore (AKA: Albies, Little Tuny) were in the rips out in front of the Montauk Point Lighthouse today. The cast master was the only thing that produced a hit.

9/6/2011 - The striped bass fishing has been red hot. The Blue Crush had 7 bass all over 30 lbs drifting eels. The biggest Striped Bass of the day was 39Lbs.




8/16/11 - Inshore and Offshore fishing have both been super hot over the last few weeks. INSHORE: There are still lots of BIG Fluke around on both the South side in spots like New Grounds and Frisbies as well as on the North at spots like Pocketbook. There have been lots of good sized Black Sea Bass being taken as well, mainly in the rocky areas like Frisbies. Striped bass fishing has been good and promises to improve with reports of HUGE schools of Bunker (bigger schools than anyone has seen in years) in Long Island Sound just North of Promise Land.
OFFSHORE: There has been an incredible break that formed between the Gulf Stream and the Labrador current that stretched south from Montauk Point all the way out to the Canyons. Farther out, guys have been catching Big Eyes, Yellow Fin Tuna (and bigger Bluefin Tuna), (true) Long-fin Albacore and there has been an incredible amount of Marlin being caught this year. Closer in to shore, guys have been reporting catching Yellowfin and nice sized Mahi as close as 20-25 miles out.

7/27/2011 - Still excellent Fluke action around the Frisbies area and at the Midway buoy with fish over 10Lbs. being caught on a pretty consistent basis.

7/22/11 - Huge Seabass and nice keeper Fluke at Frisbies on the start of the incoming tide.

7/17/11 - awesome Fluke action on the South side during the flood tide this morning... doormats!!!



7/12/2011 - Offshore action has been hot lately with several boats spotting and some hooking up with Marlin surprisingly close to shore. Mahi have moved in close as well and were being caught this last weekend around high-flyers as close as 18nm out. The water has heated up and the 50-100Lb Bluefin seemed to have moved out of the area around 30 fathoms where they've been for the late few weeks.
Inshore action has been pretty consistent with good sized Fluke and Sea Bass around. Striped Bass fishing has been a little spotty with good action some days and almost nothing on others.

7/3/2011 - Word is out... offshore action has been heating up!!! There has been an incredible Bluefin Tuna bite outside CIA around the 700 line for the past couple of weeks. At least a couple of boats came back with nice 50-60Lb fish. There has been incredible amounts of bait, porpoise and birds in the area at times the water was clear and just around 67 to 68 degrees. The bite has been going incredibly late into the day... or all day for that matter. Unfortunately there have been tons of weeds which means a lot of work keeping the hooks clean while trolling AND there have been wolf-packs of monster bluefish all over, just waiting to chew up your spread. Eddie Eurell on the Bite Me went to the canyon and reported a good trip with a triple knock down on Yellow Fin and reported radio chatter of a bunch of White Marlin and even a few Blue Marlin taken nearby. Inshore action is red hot as well with big Fluke and Sea Bass around. Gary Toad called to report that one of the guys on his boat caught an 8.6Lbs. Fluke on a recent trip.

6/13/2011 - Rob Lucas reported that Eddie Ammon got an 8+ Lb. Fluke yesterday on his boat, "Get-R-Done". There has been talk of some spotty school Bluefin action recently just within a couple miles of the point and at CIA grounds.

5/30/11- From Paulies Tackle comes word of some larger bass on the South Side.Bill Gardiner weighed in a 42.26 lb bass that put him in 1st place in the Montauk Surfmasters Spring shootout. Adam Flax is in 2nd with a 23.75 lber.
Paul Pira worked the same are Sunday night and bucktailed a 40.60 lb bass.

5/20/11 - Word on the street is that the Fluke bite is heating up. Call Capt. Michael Potts on the Blue Fin IV is you're looking for an excellent Montauk fishing experience!

5/1/2011 - Scattered reports have been coming in of some small Striped Bass and Bluefish being caught on the South side beaches, specifically Ditch Plains. One commercial fisherman out of Montauk who fishes about 80 miles offshore reported incredible amounts of bait on a recent trip. He said "the machine was lit up the whole ride" and they spotted whales. Hopefully a good sign of things to come!

 

WATER TEMPERATURE: 54.3°F

SUNRISE & SUNSET TIMES(5/25/2013):

• SUNRISE: 5:23am
• SUNSET: 8:06pm
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TIDES:

• Next High Tide: 8:48pm
• Next Low Tide: 3:00am
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MOON PHASES:

• NEW MOON: Thu, May. 9
• FIRST QUARTER: Sat, May. 18
• FULL MOON: Sat, May. 25
• LAST QUARTER: Fri, May. 31
• NEXT NEW MOON: Sat, Jun. 8

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