UTERJanuary
Holdover stripers in the rivers; winter cod off Montauk
Slow plastics in the Hudson, the Harlem and the Connecticut River for holdovers; Montauk party boats to the wrecks for cod when the weather allows.
New York Harbor to Montauk, Connecticut shore
Long Island Sound and Montauk fishing
What's biting in Long Island Sound and Montauk in October: bluefish, black sea bass and yellowfin tuna at their peak, with tautog, weakfish and mahi-mahi around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 23 fish here month by month, from Sheepshead Bay to New London.
The fall run builds; tog season reopens
New York Harbor, Jamaica Bay and the lower Hudson; Long Island's south shore surf and inlets backed by Great South Bay and the Moriches and Shinnecock bays; the Peconic and Gardiners bays between the forks; Montauk Point's boulder fields and rips; and Long Island Sound — rocky reefs, harbors and the Connecticut river mouths on the north side, the Race at the east end. Offshore to the Hudson and Block canyons.
Sheepshead BayFreeportCaptreePort JeffersonMontaukOrientNorwalkNew London
Updated
Now · October
The fall run builds; tog season reopens
Stripers and blues on sand eels off Montauk and along the south shore; tog season opens on the Sound rocks (dates differ Sound vs Bight); bluefin close to the beaches some years.
Striped bassLittle tunny (bonito)BluefishTautog (blackfish)Atlantic bluefin tunaBlack sea bass
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeaving
Bluefish
Black sea bass
Yellowfin tuna
Swordfish
Little tunny (bonito)
Peak; a storm can end it.
Striped bass
Fall run: sand eels off Montauk, bait balls along the south shore beaches; birds everywhere.
Golden tilefish
Atlantic bluefin tuna
Bluefin blitzing within sight of the south shore beaches some falls.
Scup (porgy)
Tautog (blackfish)
Fall season opens in October (dates differ for the Sound and the Bight) — check NYSDEC.
Weakfish (gray trout)
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
White marlin
Summer flounder (fluke)
Atlantic bonito
Bigeye tuna
Shortfin mako
Common thresher
Blue shark
Albacore (longfin tuna)
The water
The tide here
Semidiurnal, 2–7 ft
Two tides a day with very different ranges: two to three feet on the south shore, under a foot in the back bays, and seven feet at the western end of the Sound. The Race and Plum Gut rip hard — fish the rips on the strongest current, and the south shore inlets on the change.
Structure that matters
Beach / surfPass / inletArtificial reefWreckChannel edgeBridgeFishing pierDock / pilingsGrass flatLedge / hard bottom
After a cold front
Fronts flush the shallow south shore bays. Fish slide to the inlets and deep channels; in the fall, a northwest blow drives bait out of the bays and lights up the beaches and Montauk the next morning.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Winter flounder spawn in the harbors; cod on the wrecks
Blackbacks in the harbors and bays (mind the season); cod trips on calm days.
March
First stripers stir; mackerel and cod
Warm afternoons in the back-bay creeks for schoolies; spring mackerel off Montauk if the run comes.
April
Hudson striper spawn; tog season; flounder
The Hudson spawn from Croton north (river rules differ — check NYSDEC); New York's spring tog season is April only — crabs on the harbor rocks; chum and worms for winter flounder.
May
Bunker stripers in the western Sound; blues and weakfish arrive
Live bunker in the western Sound harbors and Jamaica Bay; topwater on the flats; weakfish at night in Peconic; big porgies into Gardiners Bay.
June
Montauk and the Race light up; fluke in the inlets
Eels at night on the Montauk rips; drift the south shore inlets and Peconic for fluke; chum for makos (release) and threshers off the south shore.
July
Fluke, porgies and sea bass; bluefin off Montauk
Summer flounder (fluke)Scup (porgy)Black sea bassBluefishAtlantic bluefin tunaCommon thresherBlue sharkMahi-mahi (dolphin)
Hi-lo rigs and clam for porgies and sea bass on the Sound rock piles; bluefin on the sand eels south of Montauk; makos and blues on the chum.
August
Canyon tuna; bonito and the albies' first arrival
Yellowfin tunaBigeye tunaMahi-mahi (dolphin)Atlantic bonitoSummer flounder (fluke)Scup (porgy)Atlantic bluefin tunaWhite marlin
Overnight trips to the Hudson and Block canyons; bonito on epoxy jigs at Montauk and the Race; mahi under the pot buoys.
September
Albie season at Montauk; the biggest fluke of the year
Little tunny (bonito)Summer flounder (fluke)BluefishAtlantic bonitoScup (porgy)Striped bassWeakfish (gray trout)
False albacore off the Point and Shagwong from about the third week; doormat fluke on the ocean humps; snapper blues in every harbor.
October · now
The fall run builds; tog season reopens
Stripers and blues on sand eels off Montauk and along the south shore; tog season opens on the Sound rocks (dates differ Sound vs Bight); bluefin close to the beaches some years.
November
The Montauk blitz; big blackfish
Birds and bass at the Point and along the south shore beaches; green crabs on the Sound rock piles and the Montauk boulders for tog.
December
The tail of the run on the south shore; tog to the end
Last stripers on the south shore beaches; tog until the season closes; winter cod trips start.
Fish guides for Long Island Sound and Montauk
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAlbacore (longfin tuna)Atlantic bluefin tunaAtlantic bonitoAtlantic codAtlantic mackerelBigeye tunaBlack sea bassBlue sharkBluefishCommon thresherGolden tilefishLittle tunny (bonito)Mahi-mahi (dolphin)Scup (porgy)Shortfin makoStriped bassSummer flounder (fluke)SwordfishTautog (blackfish)Weakfish (gray trout)White marlinWinter flounderYellowfin tuna
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