Doormat fluke highlight LI fishing action
Joe Arena of Seaford poses with a 10-pound, 11-ounce doormat fluke caught in Reynolds Channel aboard the Point Lookout open boat, Super Hawk. Credit: Super Hawk Fishing
Fair to good fishing action has been the rule around Long Island in recent days with catches hampered occasionally by the weather. Fluke continue to hold the spotlight but stripers, blues and porgies are adding to the fun.
“It’s been an amazingly productive season in terms of doormats,” said Steve Stonza at WeGo Fishing in Southold. The Greenlawns area of Shelter Island and the Oyster Factory off East Marion are still producing the best results, but a nice bite is also developing in Long Island Sound around Roanoke Shoal.”
Striper action, too, has been solid off of Orient Point, while porgies are biting in the Peconics and along Sound beaches between Hortons Point and Wading River. For a shot at weakfish, try your luck at Noyac Bay.
At Montauk, Kathy Vegessi of the open boat Lazy Bones said “fluking is starting to improve.” As proof, she offered the 8.2-pound beauty caught Thursday morning by Ryan Williams.
Paulie Apostolides, at Paulie’s Bait and Tackle in Montauk, said that striper action has improved, especially for captains dragging parachute lures through the North Rips. Porgy trips, he added, remain hot for the party boat fleet.
Long Island Sound fluke and bass fishing is just starting to catch on around Port Jefferson, according to Tim Caraftis at Caraftis Fishing Station. “We aren’t seeing many fish yet,” he said, “but a few to 6 pounds have been pulled around buoys 9, 11, and in front of Cedar Beach.” According to Caraftis, school bass are inside Port Jeff harbor, with a few bigger fish to 34 pounds out in the Middle Grounds. Porgies are plentiful, but their sizes are mixed.
To the west, Phil McGowan at Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle in Northport was happy with the improving striper action. “Anglers using bunker chunks at night have scored shorts and some bigger fish at the Middle Grounds,” he said. There are still school bass inside Northport Bay, and linesiders have also surfaced during the day between Eatons Neck and Asharoken Beach. Those fish are feeding on spearing, sand eels and rain bait so target them with small, soft-plastic swimbaits, said McGowan.
If you want to get in on some shallow water fluke action, Jay Scott at Silly Lily fishing station in East Moriches suggests heading for Harts Cove on Moriches Bay. “Work bucktails tipped with fresh spearing or Gulp! and you’ll find the keeper ratio pretty good,” he said. Harts Cove is also loaded with big bluefish around buoy 27 while stripers are hitting clam baits at The Elbow inside Moriches Inlet.
“Bluefish are king on Great South Bay,” said Pablo Salinas at J & J Sports in Patchogue. “From Democrat Point to the Smith Point Narrows, you’ll find choppers to 8 pounds.” Near the inlets, said Salinas, “surface poppers have drawn the strikes but around the docks bunker chunks fire-up the fish.”
Capt. Steve Kearney of the Point Lookout open boat, Super Hawk, was a bit perplexed by the recent fluke action in the Reynolds Channel area. “It’s slow with high quality fish some days, faster with smaller fish on other trips,” he said. Long-time customer Joe Arena of Seaford didn’t seem to mind, having drilled a 10-pound, 11-ounce doormat on Wednesday.
Email: Outdoortom@optonline.net
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
