Long Island Bass Fishing Heats Up

It didn’t take any magic, crystal balls or alchemy to predict that last week would yield a solid bounty of fish all around the Island for many fly and light tackle anglers. The presence of bunker, sand eels, spearing, grass shrimp and crabs, combined with the building new moon phase, cloud cover and low barometric pressure all worked to pop the lid on the local fly and light tackle scene. One of the seasonal guideposts I use to gauge saturation of fish in local waters is when good numbers of bass and bluefish reach central Sound areas…and that they did this past week in solid numbers and size. The low pressure phase of the week yielded the best results as evidenced by this week’s array of reports. Based upon my own personal sampling of the opportunities there are tons of small bass around in the 20 to 27-inch range and a solid core of keeper-sized fish that have been falling to flies and other artificial baits. Slim Deceivers, elongated Clousers and any variety of sand eel patterns have been getting it done. Keep the retrieves on the slow side and try a change-up or off speed retrieve every once in a while. You’d also be amazed at the number of bass taking flies that are being inched along right off the bottom. On the light tackle side of the equation, the hot bait of the week had to be light bucktails tipped with small soft plastic trailers and freshened with scent. Fish are both in backwater areas as well as inlets, harbors and off open beaches.

Captain Vinny Catalano of JoeyCCharters.blogspot.com logged in to let us know that it is happening big time for his charters. He advises that, “For the past week or so I’ve been waiting for the bite to bust wide open with the amount of sand eels and bunker around. It was only a matter of time this week coming up to the new moon; finally, the bass bite has been epic! According to Captain Vinny, many of his trips saw 20 to 30 fish days, “…with lots of big fish in the mix in the mid to upper teen range.” All fish were taken on both fly and light tackle spinning. Vinny has also been spotting some of the first signs of fish on the flats but that fishing has not yet materialized due to conditions made tough with wind and thunderstorms. Captain Vinny expects this coming week to bring more rolling bass in the mornings and increasing sight fishing opportunities on the flats for the rest of May and June.

I also heard from fellow flyrodder, Larry Winston who recently returned from fishing down in Bonito Springs, Florida. While Larry reported a severe winter snook kill in that part of Florida his welcome back to Long Island included a few very productive trips for spring stripers. Larry has been fishing some East End flats and been doing very well on bass. According to Larry, “I've managed two sight fishing trips on local flats since I returned and was only held back by poor sighting conditions and the two day ‘hurricane’ that just ended. The fish I have been seeing are big and hungry and also all covered with sea lice.” Larry’s two best fly rod fish so far have been a 37-inch, 19 ½ - pound bass he I got on a streamer fly of his own design, and a 32-inch, 11-pounder. He added that he has only caught three fish under 28-inches since he’s been fishing the flats.

Joe Cravata from J&H Fishing Outlet also touched base to let us know there were reports of bass and blues at Jones Inlet by the Coast Guard Station. According to Joe, those fish were taking Lefty’s Deceivers and sand eel patterns, olive over white. Joe added that there were also bass at Moriches Inlet and along the east jetty…“The east side flat have has also been producing. These fish were taking large bunker flies on sinking lines the flats by Sayville have also been producing.” Over on the North Shore Joe reports bass and blues in Northport Harbor, Sunken Meadow, the mouth of the Nissy, the Brickyard, and along the open beaches from short Beach and Long Beach to Porpoise Channel and Stony Brook Harbor. A variety of Deceiver and sand eel patterns are seeing the most action. Andrew from J&H reports that AJ Forzano has brought in a nice selection of saltwater flies to the shop and that they have also received a solid array of freshwater flies. Andrew would like readers to know that the shop’s fly rod selection is growing: St. Croix fly rods have been delivered, as well as a full selection of Cortland rods and reels; any G Loomis rod is available to be ordered. Call 631 244 0600 for further information and shop hours.

Captain Danny Reich of NYCFlyFishing,.com tells us that J-Bay was hot again this week. According to Captain Danny, “I'm happy to say I was right about the fishing getting better with the weather. This week has seen a new push of bass, crystal clear water, and great fishing.” Danny added that the best part of the fishing was that for the entire week he didn’t lip a fish under 24 or 25-inches. “Most of the fish caught were in the 26-inch range, with some in the low and mid 30s, and up to about 40-inches. All fish were eating the fly really well, and many times we could see 2 or 3 fish competing for the fly.” As far as bait goes Danny advises that there are immature spearing around as well as, adult bunker. He expects a solid push of sand eels in the next week or so.

Captain Paul Peluso of Momma Mia Charters emailed to let us know that he has been taking light tackle bass in the Moriches area on bucktails. Tuesday morning saw 6 bass come to the boat with 3 keepers. On Wednesday, he netted a couple more linesiders with one keeper. Captain Paul indicated that Wednesday’s outing also found him in the midst of a major league bluefish blitz.

Fishing should only get better from here!

Fundamentals of Fly-Fishing the Surf

If you are interested in exploring the exciting world of saltwater fly fishing you may want to consider joining Angelo Peluso for a unique fly-fishing class. Instruction will take place at selected beach locations where the fundamentals of fly-fishing will be taught in an informal and conversational setting. The basic program is geared toward the new or intermediate fly angler with customized sessions available for more experienced anglers. With almost forty years of fly-fishing experience under his wading belt, Angelo has a wealth of information to share with students attending his classes. Topics covered include: Rod and Reel Selection; Casting; Retrieves; Line Selection; Leaders/Knots; Fly Selection; Essential Gear; Reading Water; Tactical Wading; Elements of Structure; Tactics for local game fish and Beach Safety. Individual and group sessions (up to four participants) are available, and can be structured to meet any specific needs or interests. The full program runs three hours. Specialized hourly classes can also be arranged to meet specific needs, interests or time constraints. Individual instructions as well as small group (4) sessions are available. If you want to cut down the learning curve and quick start your fly-fishing game this may be just the ticket you need to get into ‘fish on the fly’ this season. Angelo’s popular and comprehensive guidebook, Fly Fishing Long Island, is also included as part of the class material. For further information and rates please contact Angelo directly at SaltyFlyLIF@aol.com or visit his website at www.angelopeluso.com.

Bass Awakening

The show season will soon begin to wind down and the official beginning of spring is but a month away. And then April will bring with it the first signs of striped bass being caught off the jersey Shore, J-Bay, Island’s west end, Little Neck Bay and many of the shallow back-water areas that awaken to the Spring’s warming sun. Increasing bass activity will also take place in many of the more predominant fresh water rivers around the tri-state area: Delaware River, Hudson River, Connecticut, Thames and Housatonic Rivers. So, it’s never too early to prepare for the seasonal renaissance and return of stripers.

Most of the bass that visit Long Island waters originate from either the Chesapeake River or Hudson River stocks. Stripers are classified as anadromous, meaning they live predominantly in saltwater but return from the salt to their natal freshwater rivers to spawn. Once the spawning mandate is satisfied the bass move out of those rivers and begin to move back to saltwater. They will infiltrate the inland waters and move up the Northeast coast. Starting in about mid-April bass will begin to be caught in the western most parts of Long Island and as the season progresses gradually flood into all areas around Long Island. Many will take up residence in the waters surrounding Long Island, including numerous bays and harbors, while many bass will continue their journey right up the entire length of the coast. During the fall migration huge masses of both bait and pursuing striped bass will move south to their wintering areas. When this movement occurs it seems as if every bass in the world passes through the toll gates at the east end of the Island, most notably Montauk at the tip end of the South Shore and Orient Point and the Race off the Island’s North Fork. Striped bass are essentially an inshore fish and as such provide numerous angling opportunities for near shore fly and light tackle anglers. Stripers show a marked preference for boulders, rocks…as one of its nicknames, “rockfish” implies… jetties, pilings, docks, piers, riprap and other forms of visible or submerged structure. They can also be caught in open water as well as on sand and gravel flats in literally inches of water. It may come as a surprise to some but sizable flats exist on Long Island and a growing number of fly fishermen and light tackle anglers are pursuing them in that venue. It is a sight fishing phenomenon comparable in many respects to tropical bone fishing and casting to tailing redfish in Florida.

See Bass Run

It’s happening, it has happened, it will happen. Those are the tenses used to describe the fishing during the past week. One’s view of the fall run is totally dependent on where and when you fish. For example, Montauk seems to be on one day and off the next. A friend of mine left a message on my phone that he enjoyed a few days of terrific fishing in the Montauk rips for bass up to 35-pounds. A couple of other light tackle guides I know fishing the Point and the southside reported having to work very hard to make a decent day of fishing for their clients. The north shore has spurts of activity with bass and bluefish making an appearance along the beaches and then a day later the only game in town is blackfish. And then some good bass, blues and even a few leftover bonito showed up at Mt. Sinai Harbor. The western Sound produced some nice bass this week with a number of fish into the mid 20’s. The folks over on the CT side are still into bass, blues and the occasional albie. The south shore beaches can be hot as a firecracker one tide and all quiet the next. J-Bay has been active as have been some of the beaches in northern New Jersey but even that fishing has been far from predictable. The most consistent shot at the Long Island Hat Trick has been in the area of the Race where some of last week’s hottest albie action took place. The south shore beaches from The End down to Moriches have yielded mostly bass and blues this past week with some sustained blitzes in the foam.

Fall Coming to Long Island

As the summer nears it traditional end we see the local fishing scene in its state of annual transition. This past weekend’s weather sent August out on a wet note and kept anglers off the water. Big bluefish continue to dominate the light tackle and fly scene but most of those catches this past week on the north shore have been offshore of some of the more notable locations like the Middle Grounds, Stratford Shoal, Crane Neck and the Triangle. Some good bass were also taken this past week, but most feel to rigged eels. The harbors are still holding both schoolies and keeper bass and many are falling to light tackle and flies. There are numerous snappers around now in the harbors and bays so if you want some fun grab a 2 or 3-weight fly outfit and give them a go. They can pull better than most stocked trout! There were some isolated reports of a few bonito landed in the Fire Island and Shinnecock Inlet areas but still very few landing reports on the north side of the Island. Such is the same situation across the Sound in Connecticut. We have not yet seen any large concentrations of fish in our local near shore waters. The only substantiated bonito reports have been from the extreme east end of the Sound. Albies so far have been scarce to non-existent inshore but are still being caught off the deep lumps and holes along with skipjack and bones. There is still some fabulous inshore fishing for various species of tuna off the near-New Jersey coast, making for some fine fly and light tackle fishing. While our spring runs have, as of late, been more of an event than the fall runs – with the notable exception of Montauk- there is a lot to be hopeful for with the congregations of bait that are amassing. Sand eels are so thick off the east end that they have attracted whales. New England areas are seeing much the same phenomenon. All that bodes well for a solid Montauk and south shore run…the bass are already there! That run is a paradise for fly and light tackle anglers.

Hosted Alaska Fly Fishing Trips

Alaska is one of the finest fly-fishing destinations on earth. I took my first trip in 1989 and have been on many annual trips since, fishing for king salmon, silver salmon, chums, sockeye and pinks, as well an indigenous species - char, graying, dollies and magnificent rainbow trout. I have a unique opportunity to host a small groups of fly anglers at several remote lodges during the 2010 season. Good fishing in Alaska requires advance preparation to ensure prime weeks for the targeted species. You would be surprised at how many anglers make the mistake of selecting the wrong times for the species they would like to catch and end up verky disapponted. My experiences can help you avoid those costly mistakes that can ruin the trip of a lifetime. If you are interested please reposnd to me at apdotcominfo@aol.com for further details. Thank you. AP

August in Alaska

August is an exceptional time to be in Alaska. It is a month blessed with an extraordinary abundance of game fish, all quite eager to engage the visiting fly-fisher in continuous contest. It is a time when the much heralded silver salmon make their stage debut, entering the many small, flyfishing-friendly rivers throughout the state. This time of year also witnesses the aggressiveness of indigenous rainbow trout as they bulk up on the nutrient rich eggs of the millions of sockeye salmon now in full spawning mode. During August,one also has the opportunity to introduce a multitude of egg- fly patterns too large numbers of hungry grayling and char and Dolly Varden, since they too are now enjoying a natural buffet consisting of this unique form of caviar. The spawning salmon attract the magnificent bald eagles that feast on the remains of spent and dying fish. This is also a time when one of Alaska largest carnivores, brown bears, bulk up on a seemingly endless supply of spawning salmon, building fat reserves to carry them through winter hibernation. It is fair to say that the presence of salmon in Alaskan rivers attracts all varieties of wildlife that benefit from this most natural of all resources. The fish also attract an abundance of anglers. But Alaska is a big state and one can find spectacular solitude and fly-fishing beyond comparison. Yes, August is my favorite time to fish the Greatland, especially the AK Peninsula. When I am there you will be sure to find me on some remote tidal spawning stream, fly rod in hand searching for hard fighting and bright silvers. See you in the bush!