Despite the heat, fishing remains hot

The dreaded summer doldrums, that period when hot weather, light winds and warm waters combine to put the fish off their feed, usually rear its unproductive head in August, but it can start anytime after Independence Day given a prolonged heat wave. Some anglers feared that with recent temperatures pushing triple digits the slowdown might be accelerated this year. That hasn't been the case. In fact, fishing remains outstanding across much of Long Island.

"Catches of fluke and stripers have been very good out of Orient Point, and a strong run of porgies is still under way inside Peconic Bay," said Steve Stonza at Wego Fishing Bait and Tackle in Southold. The fluking has been especially productive off the Oyster Factory in East Marion while porgies are at buoy 6 near Cedar Point, buoy 16 in Noyack Bay and at buoy 17 off Jessups Neck. The Greenport open boat Peconic Star has also hammered the scup, plus some fluke, off Gardiners Island. New moon tides this week should help keep the bass bite refreshed in Plum Gut and The Race.

"North Shore fluke fishing is terrific," said Stew Cash, captain of the Port Jefferson open boat Osprey V. "We've been fishing in 25 feet of water east of Port Jefferson and limiting the boat three out of every five days while tossing back plenty of plump, hard-fighting 20-inchers. The Porgy fishing is good, too, and usually sees a few fluke, plus some cocktail blues come over the rail."

On the South Shore, the number of keeper fluke has picked up a bit in ocean waters while the bays remain chock-full of shorts willing to provide nonstop action. Mixed bag sea bass, porgy and triggerfish trips are also a solid bet on the artificial reefs outside of Jones, Fire Island, Moriches and Shinnecock Inlets.

The big news on the south side, however, continues to be the incredible run of stripers on the west end. Big linesiders weighing 20 to 50 pounds have been hauled from under bunker schools between Lido Beach and Tobay by anglers live-lining the big baitfish. The action has been best in the early morning hours.

On Tuesday, Don Eichin of Oceanside and his sons, Eric and Randy, both of Lido Beach, wrestled a trio of stripers to 30 pounds from under the bunker in 35-foot depths directly off Long Beach Boulevard. While working the inside edge of the bunker they observed a whale straining plankton. The elder Eichin took out his camera and was focusing it when the huge finback breached right in his viewfinder. Eichin snapped the shutter and got a great shot of the massive mammal with its head out of the water.

"That's what I love about fishing," Eichin said. "You never know what's going to happen next when you head out."

Tournaments

The 36th Annual Moriches Anglers Shark Tournament is slated for Saturday. Contact Chet Wilcox at 631-878-9280. Also Saturday, The Knights of Columbus, Surfside 3 Marine Max and The Fisherman Magazine will combine to present the South Shore Fluke Rodeo. Proceeds benefit the Special Olympics and Send A Kid Fishing programs. Call 631-345-5200.

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