NY Fishing Reports for August 2008

[bunkerjoe4]

Important when registering on our site use an active email address so you can activate account to be able to post.

Please post fishing reports here.......as little or as much detail as you want to give.

Please note: NO SPOT BURNING! Posts burning spots will be Edited or DELETED!
Some veteran fishermen have put in years developing and learning about certain spots.Some of these spots can only handle a few guys at a time. We are losing enough access as it is, due to the unfortunate behavior of a few selfish people. No sense in making it worse.

For some areas, it would be wiser to say:
OutFront (Ocean) OR -- OutBack (Bay) -- if you feel too many people will figure out what you are talking about. "Spot burning" also could involve mentioning something specific only to that area. If you do this, your post may be edited, or deleted. Remember that thousands of people could potentially read these posts. You don't want to be fishing next to ALL of them at the same time!


IF you are fishing an area that is NOT residential, being vague is less critical. For example, it's acceptable to say (Any)Park, or (Any)Bay, or mention a specific state park that has loads of parking and can handle the crowds.


If you are unclear on this concept, ask yourself:


If I name this place on the internet, will it be too crowded for me to enjoy tomorrow when people hear I got 30 fish here today?


If the answer is "Yes", then you should probably not be so specific.

We post these reports so our community will have a sense of what is working, what is not. We want to show people how to catch fish, rather than where.Even if you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well.

If you have any additional details you would like to share - weather conditions, tide (incoming, outgoing, ebb, flood) water temps, bait present, or other mention of techniques or plugs used - feel free, as long as you are not overly specific about location.

Some acronyms -

BP -- Breezy Point

CB -- CrossBay Bridge
CI -- Coney Island

FB -- Floyd Bennett
FI -- Fire Island
FT -- Fort Tilden Park
FW -- Fort Wadsworth


GSB - Great South Bay
GK- Great Kills


Jones -- Jones Beach/Debs
WE -- West End

JB -- Jamaica Bay
LB -- Long Beach

MB -- Manhasset Bay
MI -- Moriches Inlet or nearby
MPP -- Marine Parkway Bridge


LNB - Little Neck Bay
OB -- Oyster Bay
PB -- Peconic Bay

RM -- Robert Moses

SB -- Sheepshead Bay

Shinny -- Shinnecock Inlet or nearby
SI -- Staten Island
ST -- Sore Thumb

NS -- North Shore
SS -- South Shore




Mecca -- if you gotta ask where that is, can't help ya

[bunkerjoe4]

NJ WIR 8-4-08

Well folks we are in the middle of the summer doldrums. Hot hazy, humid with a few storms thrown in the interim.

Fishing has slowed down, but fluke are getting bigger. A decent percentage of keepers are being caught in the ocean. Most of these fish are coming from the lumps and depressions within 2 miles of shore. Nicer fluke in the 10lb and better class are also being caught periodically in some of the Raritan Bay channels.

Offshore, tuna are being caught, but catches are spotty. Those doing best are finding both temperature breaks and bait at the same time.

Nearshore, brown and thresher sharks, and some bluefish, are providing sporadic action.

The crazy summer after-spawn bluefish bite has not materialized as of yet, except for some back bay inlets where bigger ones come in to murder the peanuts at night. If you know of places that still have big bunker, the bluefish will be feeding on them also at night. Chop up half a bunker, toss it out, and pay atention to your pole.

Weakfishing is spotty as well. The best time to target these fish is in the dark, or the first thing after sunrise, when the higher tide coincides as well. Lead jigs and soft plastics are effective, but fresh peanut bunker also work well.

NY WIR 8-4-08

The NY bays, inlets, and beach areas are similar to NJ when it comes to fluking. Fish are getting slightly bigger with all the bait around.

Best bet for bass are the areas to the Eastern part of Long Island, some strategic areas in the western Sound, Montauk, and further north. Some of the Montauk fleet have had some good deep sea groundfish trips.

This week I want to talk about all the juvenile bait around in the NJ/NY region, and the importance of teasers. I feel this has been a bumper year for baitfish, particularly spearing and bunker. The bait schools are spread through the many bays and inside areas. The old adage of "match the hatch" should be followed here. Now is the time to key in on what the bigger fish are feeding on, and use whatever that is to catch 'em up. Sometimes the only thing that will put a decent catch together is live or struggling bait.

Additionally, with all the juvenile baitfish around, teaser rigs should be part of any surfcaster's arsenal. Teasers reported to be most effective are black, yellow, and white.

We have some rougher water from far-away hurricanes forecast in the week ahead. You don't want to be taking chances if a storm is coming. Good luck out there, and please be careful, folks.

[BassBuddah]

Fished the back side of Jones last night, ton of spearing and snappers. Caught a few snappers on small castmaster, livelined for fluke. Caught 8 to 19", no keepers.

[pescador29]

Rockaway beach in the night, 5 fluke, 8 sea robins, one weakfish maybe 5 pounds. I was using peanut bunkers, I kept the weakfish. I left when I heard thunder.

[stripercrazy]

Oyster bay before first light this morning, leadhead jig pink finesse. Looking for weakfish, got seaweed.

[pescador29]

Rockaway in the morning, I got the kingfish. Used small hooks and clam, 17 kingfish, many small, I kept 6.

[BassBuddah]

Shinny on the outgoing, small blitz of cocktails, no bass.

[stormchaser]

Took a ride to Breezy this morning, fishing bunker chunks, one small cow nose ray, 3 bluefish.

[bunkerjoe4]

NJ WIR 8-11-08

Folks, we are still in the summer doldrums as far as bigger bass in the NJ/NY bight area, but as my Dad always used to say: when life gives you lemons, learn to make lemonade!

The bluefish -- old reliable targets for the hot summer months, are still on again, off again. Boats in the near shore waters are getting them, but fishing is not consistent. Even night bluefishing, which has been almost a sure thing this time of year, has produced some dismal nights, though the party boat Captains are trying their best. Bluefish, believe it or not, can actually be picky.

Fluking is the best bet for the beaches. One significant move I may have mentioned last week is that the bay areas are still producing fluke, but the bigger catches are coming from the deeper bay channels and near-shore lumps as the fluke get ready to start their fall migration offshore. Some nice sized doormats are being recorded. People are still complaining about the shorts, but they will at least give you a lot of action if you are fishing in the daytime.

Offshore, the tuna bite is still productive for those finding the temperature breaks, and tuna now seem to be scattered on some inshore lumps, along with some mahi-mahi and other tropical creatures. In fact, anyone who snorkels or scuba dives will tell you there are many colorful fish living among the rockpiles in the inlets. It's almost like a big tropical aquarium down there.

NY WIR 8-11-08

Bigger fluke are being reported, particularly in the Montauk area. There are also some decent reports of cod and other groundfish from some of the day boats, Viking fleet and others.

Montauk bass fishing has been hot and cold depending on the weather pattern and bait available. Again, night time is the right time, and eels are still producing many of the bigger fish.

Bluefish are more abundant and aggressive in the NY than NJ areas, especially bigger tackle busting bluefish.





For both areas mentioned above, there are numerous schools of bait schooling up in the bay and harbor areas. Following these schools are a multitude of snapper bluefish.

I went to visit some friends in NY the other day and stopped at a local marina to check out the action. The time was late afternoon, and several people were pulling in one snapper after another using the styrofoam float popper rig baited with small bits of clam, worm, or using the smallest mirrolures. I imagine sabiki rigs would work just as well.

These snappers are great sport on the lightest of tackle, and one of the best ways I know of to introduce young children to fishing. Easy to catch, great fun. Just make sure you are aware that the daily limits for your area are the same as with larger bluefish. Kingfish are another great light-tackle fish to target from the beaches now, use clams or fishbites.

Crabbing is another great family activity that is easy to do this time of year.

The striped bass, one of the most prized surf catches, is relatively scarce this time of year, but a few diehards are getting them at night in places where you wouldn't think they would be. Anywhere you find huge concentrations of bait under harbor or other lights at night, you will inevitably find some bass. For these specific instances, live bait will be your best bet, though fly fishermen are doing pretty well when that target bait is very small. Otherwise, the old reliable Bomber, and other small profile plugs are producing short bass.


Making lemonade --
For those adrenaline junkies among us, some creatures are providing great nighttime action for those of us with open minds. I am referrring to brown sharks and cow-nose rays. Many people are not happy to catch one. At times they can spool you and take all your line. However, those who are prepared can have a good time fighting and catching these unusual creatures. They are best targeted at night from the ocean surf with some type of bloody bait, preferably bunker.

If you do target these creatures, remember that sharks, though many think of them as a nuisance, take a long time to mature, and should be handled with care if you are throwing them back. Brown sharks also have a nice set of teeth, be careful.

Some rays have a needle like spike in their tails, just like the one that killed the crocodile hunter. Even if you don't get one of these in your heart, a puncture of the skin by one of these things can cause a serious infection. If you don't have experience handling these things, you would be well-advised to move carefully and slowly around them. It's not worth losing your life or a hospital trip.

If targeting them, it's not a good idea to dead-stick 5 poles in a row. Each pole should be close to the fisherman, who would ideally fish 1 pole, or 2 at the most. If one of these things hits your bait, you will regret it as your pole quickly travels to England if you are not paying attention.

Otherwise, if taken care of as soon as they are caught, gutted and prepared carefully, rays are good to eat. Many sharks are protected, and should be quickly released.

Once again, please take only what you can use. Everything exists in a delicate balance in our ecosystem, (although I feel that our sand sharks, the dogfish and spiny dogfish, are abundant anough for all the planets in the solar system).

There are some serious storms rolling through again this week, folks. Please be mindful that several people have been killed by lightning on the beaches thus far. A graphite pole will act as a lightning rod on a beach with no other tall structure. Please be careful out there. Good luck, folks.

[pescador29]

Rockaway in the night, we caught more kingfish and porgies with clam. We kept 10. when are the stripers coming back?

[bunkerjoe4]

OK folks, the winner for the July NJ fishing reports plug giveaway is stormchaser.

Stormchaser, please e-mail me the address where you want it sent. The plug will be a Davis topwater swimmer, similar to the ones fishlipper is using. If anyone has not yet checked out the thread for Davis lures, go take a look. He's a good plug-builder, sells them at reasonable prices, and as shown, they do catch fish.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=78


Attached Thumbnails

[pinhead44]

Fished in front of Jones, reduced to bait fishing when artificials produced sea robins. Couple dogfish, that's all she wrote.

[nitestrikes]

W of JBay, using poppers, a few decent bluefish late afternoon.

[pinhead44]

Fished a park in the NS area Saturday afternoon. Some big porgies out there by the rocks, just a few feet out, clam pieces. Then some bigger bluefish came in, got a few on metal.

[stormchaser]

Thanks bunkerjoe, pm sent. Have nothing to report, other than some fierce seaweed I caught today.

[bunkerjoe4]

NJ Wir 8-18-08

Well, we are still into the hot and sweaty summer fishing pattern, folks. The fluke are definitely getting bigger, especially as they now are continuing to move out of the bays and can be found in the deeper shipping channels and nearshore lumps. Only 2 weeks left in the season, so get 'em while you can.

Remember when the next hearings come up what your "catch to keepers" fluke ratio was this year. Also remember that the bigger fluke are most likely to be female, so the size limit of 18" may not be as effective as they wanted it to be in restoring the biomass.

Please voice your opinion on this every time it is warranted. The regulatory commissions have tremendous power, but will continue this charade based on our complacency. Strong and well-worded protest letters, written effectively but aggressively, will allow them to see we are mad as hell and won't take it anymore.

Weakfish have been caught in greater numbers in the back bays, though more so in the Barnegat and southern bays than the Raritan. Look for this fishery to improve in the coming weeks as bigger ones will set up in the channels.

Bluefish are turning on in the surf when there is bait around. Small bait seems to be found pretty consistently along the whole coast now. Bunker and shad are still swimming around in many areas out front, and provide for exciting action as large predators continue to attack these easy meals intermittently in low light periods.

Small resident bass are still being caught, but the good news is that some larger bass are now sporadically mixed in, though this is not consistent.


NY WIR 8-18-08

Back bays are teeming with bait, small groundfish, fluke, and the occasional keeper. Fluke are getting bigger and fattening up on all the spearing and smaller bait available, as another season will shortly be over.

Bluefish in the back bays are mostly of the cocktail variety, though where there are adult bunker in some of the harbors some gorillas have been coming in after those bunker. I would hate to be an adult bunker right now.

There are still some very nice bass around in the back bays, particularly the Long Island sound. These fish are mostly available to boaters who can get out and cover some distance looking for them, but they have been caught consistently in the last week.

Porgies are also providing some excellent light tackle action from shore if anyone is fishing where there are channels or rocky areas close to shore. The key to catching these great family fishing time fish is small hooks, light sinkers, and double rigs with small pieces of clam or worm.





Overall, the bait is what drives it all, and bait is almost everywhere you look for it now. A smart fisherman will look for the highest concentrations of bait and fish in those locations, the old 90/10 rule still being in effect. You also have to give the fish what they are feeding on or a believable alternative. That's why so many bigger bass are still being taken on adult bunker, or eels.

Ocean surf fishing has its exciting moments with the cownose rays and sharks around. I am again reminding people who have never caught a ray to be careful of the stinger on the tail. Also, it is not a good idea to fish many poles when rays are around, unless you really don't care if that pole gets yanked out of the spike and dragged to England.

Offshore, the tuna fishing has been terrible for some, and spectacular for others. Hudson canyon and the area has not been very productive lately. The hot action has been in the southern canyons, Lobster claw area among others. This fishing is a daytime early morning bite for the most part.

Nighttime chunking still has not turned on to the extent that it can be counted on to save the trip. When the bite is hot, boxes are filled with tuna up to the 250lb class. Many guys will get beat up by a tuna this big. The intensity of a fight with a larger class tuna is an amazing thing, and fewer of the bigger ones are consequently brought in for the gaff shot.

However, many tuna in the 50 to 100 lb class are being caught, along with some other billfish, and the always present mahi hanging near the pots and the offshore floating structure. A good tip is to bring an inflatable raft on canyon trips and throw it out there for the mahi. This has saved many a canyon trip from failure.

Tuna fishing will only get better as we near September and a good chunk bite develops. The bait is definitely there, along with some amazing sea creatures -- white sharks, whales, sea turtles, and porpoises.

Wow - I almost talked myself into a tuna trip!

It's a shame I have been so busy, would really like to get in on one before the year is over, but I am swamped with work lately.

Good luck out there, folks, and be safe!

[BassBuddah]

RM beach side late afternoon, blues started up on the incoming, but they were close to the swimmers, so I just chilled and watched the action, some nice bikinis out there.

[pinhead44]

NS, popular park, some cocktail blues, metal.

[pescador29]

so many porgies in the Rockaway rocks tonight, clams for the bait. Maybe 5 were big, others small.

[BassBuddah]

Long Beach area before dark, some bluefish action. The biggest pods were way offshore, but I pulled in some cocktails blind casting metal.