Fall Fun Finally

Well, it took a long time to get going, but we finally have been getting a good sampling of the sort of fall migration fishing the South Fork’s anglers expect to see.

The succession of hurricane swells have faded out and the water has settled enough that it seems the predators and bait finally found themselves on the same page the last couple weeks.

Even though the weather before this past week only had fleeting hints of the fall chill, the fish seemed to have gotten impatient with the seasons and began to feed.

False albacore have stormed back onto the scene, especially on the North Fork and in the ocean off Shinnecock. Montauk has had its good days, but has remained inconsistent and many of the guides are roaming back into Gardiners Bay and Long Island Sound in search of the drag burners their clients are after.

Striped bass are definitely on the move along the South Fork beaches, and while the fishing hasn’t been red hot or as consistent as it was last fall at this time, there have been some quality stripers taken from surf.

The dark hours have been the best time to find a quality striper, though plenty of slot fish are being taken off the rocks of Shinnecock Inlet during daylight hours for those who work at it.

The Montauk blitzes haven’t really gotten into the daily swing of things still, for whatever reason, but on the days they have fired off, anglers have found some spectacular fishing.

Boat fishermen are pulling nice striped bass out of the rips off Montauk Point and from the waters of Shinnecock and Moriches inlets. Diamond jigs and bucktails are working in Montauk, but live baits are the trick for the inlet crowd.

The start of the blackfish fishing season has been welcomed by tog aficionados everywhere. Warm weather and calm seas have made for some very pleasant days on bobbing above the rock piles the past week.

Fishing has been pretty good for the early season, and a handful of trophy sized fish have been weighed in at local marinas already.

Party boats that target blackfish can be kind of rare, but the Shinnecock Star and Hampton Lady, both fishing out of Hampton Bays, are doing blackfish trips on certain days.

The blackfish bite should only get better as the fall wears on and waters, eventually, start to cool down.

Black sea bass are a reliable way to fill coolers and freezers for those starting to stock up for the winter. There’s plenty of party boats offering trips to the deepwater wrecks to fill up on biscuits if you don’t have your own ride.

The offshore scene has quieted a bit in the past week. The yellowfin bite south of Shinnecock seems to have faded and there haven’t been a lot of nice days for canyon runs. A few giant bluefin are lurking within reach, however, and some local boats have brought big fish back to the docks.

A lot of surfcasters are hoping the nasty weather and east winds the later half of this week will bring stripers into the surf zone. So get out your rain gear and big ducktails.

Catch ’em up. See you out there.