Striped Bass: 2021 was a strong year locally for striped bass as fishing seemed to improve from 2020. Schoolies began to show up in numbers by mid-April and larger bass began to show by mid-May. Throughout the summer stripers were found feeding consistently in the early morning hours by throwing top waters and soft plastics into shallow water structure, with larger fish coming after dark. The fall run was also strong, with good numbers of bass both in the backwaters and over deep water structure.
Bluefish: Over the past few years bluefish, especially large bluefish, had been oddly scarce in the Western Sound. This changed in 2021 as their numbers improved significantly, and bluefish of all sizes were found consistently throughout the summer and fall. 2021 was a solid year for bluefish and hopefully points towards another strong year in 2022.
Bonito & False Albacore: Bonito and False Albacore (albies) were scattered in the Western Sound this past fall, with reports indicating that more fish remained to the East and out in deeper water than usual. This fishery can vary greatly from year to year. A few anglers were able to connect, but 2021 was not as consistent as other years for these species.
Other Species: Black Sea Bass fishing was very good in 2021, with some really nice sized fish taken in the beginning and end of the season over local reefs and rockpiles. Large sea bass were a little tougher to come by mid-summer but action was still consistent. The ever abundant Porgy (Scup) provided consistent action all year, and are a great option for getting kids into fishing. Fluke (Summer Flounder) fishing was fair, with shorts outnumbering keepers but the abundance of smaller fluke was encouraging. Blackfish (Tautog) fishing in 2021 was nothing short of spectacular. Limits were caught each trip with some really nice sized fish in the mix, including the 10 pounder shown above that was released to be caught another day.