8/7 Fishing Report
The Bay - I have not fished the Bay at all, but reports of Stripers and Blues roaming around. Lots of action with Fluke but mostly shorts. Still some keepers being caught.
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The Ocean - Made a Tuna run on one of the nicer weather days. We got our limit of 3 small Bluefin on jigs then left to go Flukin which was a big mistake, should have stayed on the Tuna bite. Fluke were off. Just one small keeper in the same areas around Block that had been good the week before. Limit of Seabass up to 20" but at 2 per person, that isn't saying much, still lots of short Seabass to pick through. Bad weather for a few days then looks to be a great stretch of weather after this tropical storm moves out. Bonito Reports still hot mainly to the east, though I have not tried. Also reports of the first Albie schools kicking around the cape. Hopefully turns out to be a big year for the inshore hardtails, but I know better than to try to predict that.
7/31 Fishing Report
The Bay - Still not putting a whole lot of effort into the bay as weather has been good enough to spend most of our time in the ocean. Some surface action with Bass and Blues around, Bay and Ocean. 2nd half of summer we tend to see these big schools of Stripers show up that meander around, sipping tiny bait off the surface, and will lazily hang around through the end of summer into fall. They're here now, and hopefully they continue to spread out and provide a good option in the weeks ahead. Some of the best Striper Blitzes Ive seen years past have been in August.
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The Ocean - Fluke fishing not as good as last week but still pretty good. 2 days in the ocean with good weather, we had 14 keepers the first day and just 7 the 2nd day. A keeper or 2 might have been lost on account of being too lazy to grab the net, and another couple that barely made 19" also released. Still decent average size, half the keepers are 23"+, the biggest this week went 26.5" and was released. Plenty of shorts, plenty of "last year Keepers". Seabass still all over. Limits yes, but compared to years past, not as quick and easy to pluck your limit of 2 casting a jig around the boat. More shorts to weed through. Still very good seabassin overall, just not the stupid crazy seabassin of years past. Then again, I am not targeting them at all, maybe if I search, I would find. Also still finding Ling and Hake in the mix especially on the deeper drops. One more Bonito found its way into the boat this week mixed in the with Chub Macks. Lots of Mackerel. I've been keeping an eye out for cobia, none seen yet, hopefully one of these days. Im hopeful we will see a push of Bones in the days ahead as they are thick as fleas just to the east. Have also seen quite a few sharks around. Thresher Shark jumped right next to the boat the other day, and we saw a few Blue Sharks cruise by. Also saw a Humpback who must have had an itchy back as he or she was jumping clear out of the water for a solid 20 minutes, just a few miles from shore.
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Tog limit is about to open up to 3 per man, and Cod opens too, both August 1. We will be seeing more and more species show up in August and hope to see continued good flukin.
7/24 Fishing Report
The Bay - Have not fished the bay except for an hour or 2 on our way out into the ocean. Did see some blitzing Stripers/Bluefish one morning but out of the 20-30 topwater strikes we got, none found the hook. Using a single belly treble doesn't have a good hookup ratio when the fish are just trying to kill the lure and not actually eating the lure. Also caught short fluke quick and easy in the brief time we tried. Nicer weather lately so most of our focus has been in the ocean. I suspect an early morning session would yield decent results targeting topwater Bass/Blues.
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The Ocean - Finally an uptick in the fluke. Between 3 anglers we have been getting around 12-15 keepers in a day with plenty of decent slabs in the 24"-27" range. Anything borderline 19" gets released, also released more than half of the 24"+ fish we've caught. Seabass limit hasn't been quick or easy, and we are releasing mostly anything under 17", but the limit comes with time just as fluke bycatch. The Seabass keeper ratio is probably 1 in 15 keepers to shorts, though we are hardly targeting them as they are generally just a nuisance that jump on your fluke rigs/jigs. Some action with Stripers and Bluefish, a bit more cooperative than they've been. Stripers up to low 30" class and Blues mostly 3-9lbs. Still not putting much effort into targeting them. Bonito and Chub/Atlantic Mackerel are around, couple Bonito found their way into the boat this week, and the mack's are steady if you want them, they sure make great bait. Reports of big numbers of Bonito to the east, as good as Ive ever heard of for July, we should/could/hopefully see targetable numbers of Bonito in the weeks to come, for now they aren't in great enough number to target at least where I have been fishing, though I will likely start putting more effort into targeting in the days ahead.
7/17 Fishing Report
The Bay - 3 trips in the bay, mainly targeting Fluke. One day we had 4 keepers after fishing the ocean first with pretty poor results (that day we had a total of 7 keeper fluke, 3 in ocean, 4 in bay). Another day stayed in the bay for a full 8 hour day and got 5 keepers with about 40 shorts. The 3rd day, 2 keepers and probably 60 shorts. Couple of the shorts were right at 19" but given they shrink on Ice, we threw them back. Good percentage of the keepers are quality size 22"-24". Also some Keeper seabass in the mix, catching a few each day. Not much luck with Stripers, though putting in minimal effort for them doesn't help, though there are reports of some roaming morning blitzes happening with a mix of Bass and Blues. Catching a couple Bass though when we try, 24"-30" class on jigs, though I haven't seen any blitzes.
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The Ocean - One trip out front that wasn't so great. Targeting Fluke. 3 keeper fluke all in 10 minutes then nothing but shorts/seabass the rest of the time. Did one deeper drop and caught a dozen Ling. Only gave it a few hours before going into the bay and getting 4 more keepers. Did catch a couple short Stripers on our way to the bay off some rocky structure on jigs, but again, not putting much effort into the Bass, they don't like to hit artificials midday with water temps hovering in the 70+ degree range. Marking plenty that wont bite.
7/10 Fishing Report
The Bay - Couple trips in the Bay this week. Flukin not bad, one day had 3 in the 22"-24" range and one smaller keeper mixed in with about 20 shorts. Another day late afternoon 10 shorts no keepers. Marked Bass in several areas but no interest in hitting artificial. Early morning or evening probably easier to catch.
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Ocean - No ocean trips this week.
7/3 Fishing Report
The Bay- Some decent action with Stripers and Fluke. Finding a good ratio of Keeper to short Fluke anywhere from 20-80', one keeper per few shorts, though action is not fast and furious. Some Striped Bass in the 20"-34" range are moving around the bay, sometimes breaking under birds, sometimes suspended, sometimes no where to be found. Lots of juvenille herring in the bay keeping the fish well fed.
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The Ocean - Ocean Flukin pretty tough. Plenty of shorts but finding the keepers isn't easy. Some here and there but nothing consistent that I've found. Seabass pretty steady. Rocky structure is loaded with shorts making it hard to get a keeper, I've been having better luck fishing the sand in 30-40' where theres much fewer seabass but good keeper ratio. One trip to Block, slow Flukin, only a couple small keepers, some 25-35" bass scattered around and in good numbers south of the Island, though no one, myself included, is fishing for the roaming pods of fish small/midsize bass. Didn't put any effort into targeting the jumbo size Bass.
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Weather has been crap most days with strong winds out of the southwest making the Bay much more doable than the ocean.