7/28/22

As the water warms two consistent patterns have developed for striped bass in our area: An early morning top water bite (mainly schoolies) and an evening/night bite on chunked bunker for larger fish. Finding the right combination of current and structure is key as bass settle into their summer haunts. This produces consistent, reliable fishing as these fish will remain here until they migrate south in the fall. Many of the same areas that yield schoolies in the daylight hours will produce larger fish after dark.

6/24/22

Striped bass fishing has been on fire in the Western Sound the past few weeks. For larger, over slot bass anglers trolling during the daytime hours have been scoring on mojo rigs, bunker spoons, and umbrella rigs. During the evening and nighttime hours chunking with fresh bunker has been very productive. Schoolies and slot sized fish are very abundant and should remain so throughout the season. As the summer progresses, larger bass especially will become most active during low light and nighttime hours.

5/24/22

Larger migratory bass have shown up in numbers in the Western Long Island Sound over the past couple weeks. These fish are looking to feed after completing their spawn, and can be caught in a variety of ways. Many large bass are caught in deep water this time of year, but they can be caught in the shallows on light tackle as well. The over-slot fish pictured here smashed a bunker colored Daiwa SP Minnow in only 10 feet of water. Things should only get better in the coming weeks as more post-spawn bass arrive from the Hudson River. It’s go time!

4/24/22

Right on schedule striped bass have begun their annual spring migration into our local waters, with fish into the mid 20 inch class abundant. Early in the season it’s best to target the warmest water you can find. All of our harbors and estuaries will have fish this time of year, with tidal rivers and outflows from brackish or freshwater sources often holding larger bass. These fish can be keyed in on river herring so don’t be afraid the throw larger lures that imitate these baits. The fish above was taken on a Sebile Magic Swimmer in a local tidal river. With the boat now in the water and solid reports to our west, it won’t be long until we start seeing some larger fish. Good luck and tight lines to everyone this year.

2021 Season Recap

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.