Hamptons Fishing Report: Striped Bass Bite Heats Up with the Weather

As this report goes to "print," Long Island fishermen and fisher-women, are benefiting from a combination of decreasing winds and increasing catches. Since the arrival of the summer solstice, anglers have been celebrating the bonus of fish in both quality and quantity. Westhampton, Hampton Bays, Southampton and the surrounding areas are presently filled with multiple instances of non-stop angling action, especially if one catches the tides correctly.

Capt. Scott Jeffrey of in Hampton Bays had a terrific report for Shinnecock Bay as well as the inlet and the ocean as he said the striped bass continue to be the number one target for anglers.

“The bass continue to bite on drifted clams and live baits and the bridge and western Shinnecock Bay have been holding some decent bass too,” he said. “The blues, up to 36-inches, have been common in the inlet as well and the bay is loaded with blues and can certainly save a day after you are tired of catching short fluke. The fluke bite is about the same, 40:1 ratio on shorts to keepers, but the bay and ocean bites are both consistent although you have to be patient. The larger fish have come on live baits and to those who are sea bassing on the reef with clam baits. Speaking of sea bass, the bite is nothing short of great. Keepers are very common and all who are targeting them are going home with dinner. The porgies can also be found on the reef.”

East End’s Peconic Bay report indicated that both the bass and bluefish are just about everywhere these days, especially in the areas of Roger’s Rock and Robins Island, with the usual recipe of heavy clam chumming a must. The surf report highlighted bucktail action and diamond jigging were prime ways to catch stripers and blues in the inlet along with the sought after triggerfish, which have made their appearance as well. Porgy rigs with squid strips are doing the trick.

“The canal is still pleasing anglers with the fluke catches, but again you need to weed through the shorts,” Jeffrey said. “Porgies have made a decent showing at the canal’s north end and the bait of choice has been sand-worms. The ocean beaches action is slowly improving both east and west of the inlet and mainly blues are being caught, but there are some keeper bass too. The clam baits work well in the evenings. The bass are still holding in the canal but they are extremely fussy. The night tides have seen a few fish taken of bunker chunks, the heads have been the ticket.”

On June 25, Molnar’s Landing in Hampton Bays held its Ninth Annual Early Fluke Shootout and the leading fish was an 8.4-pound doormat which took the winning prize. The group that caught the fish were angling aboard the St. Jude III with Capt. Rick. Second place went to a 5.11-pounder, with third place close behind at 5.10 pounds.

Over on the North Fork, Capt. Sloan Gurney aboard the Black Rock out of Orient Point, saw a young angler named Georgie, age 11, reel in two keeper bass on a charter last weekend and the action everywhere is really heating up with the weather.