Long Island, Metro NY - Long Island Metro NY Freshwater Fishing Reports

John at J&J Sports in Patchogue said the local lakes are showing great results. The bass fishing has been okay with multiple fish per outing. Bass are being caught on a variety of baits like live shiners and nightcrawlers, top water frogs, ribbontail worms, jigs and small poppers are all getting bites. The panfish are great to target too if you just want to catch a boat load of fish. A small piece of nightcrawler and a float will catch any bluegill, perch or crappie in the area. If you want to do some night time fishing, then walleye are good to target. They will hit slow retrieved lures like crankbaits, jerkbaits and swimbaits. They have big gold eyes are very sensitive to light, so don't shine your flashlight on the water or you'll scare them.

From Paul McCain at River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin I heard who said “We got a break from the hot and humid weather this week after what started as record highs. We did receive some rain which we really did need to keep our streams full and cool.” According to Paul, fishing the Connetquot has been a little slow but changing flies and fishing deeper water close to cover has been the ticket to success. Terrestrial patterns like ants and beetles are his choices to put fish in the net. In the heat of the summer Paul will switch over to the warm water species. Paul and his friend Mark spent Tuesday up on the Housatonic and all Paul could say is that the fishing was off the charts. None of the fish were large with the biggest at about 14inches. But these fish fight way above their weight class. The pond fishing is also another option. It is best to fish early or late during the cool of the day. Paul is always amazed how overlooked this fishery is. Nothing gets his heart going like a big largemouth exploding on a topwater popper and with over 100 ponds and lakes here on Long Island, full of hard fighting fish willing to take a fly, the opportunities are endless. If you need more information about this fishery, call 516 415 7748 or stop into the shop, 980 Church St., Baldwin.

John at J&J Sports in Patchogue said the lakes have been consistently producing an array of fishing opportunities.  Perch, bluegills, pickerel, and trout make up a mixed bag. Over at West Lake dunking live nightcrawlers would give you the best shot at catching trout along with panfish. Give Great Patchogue Lake a go with some live shiners for pickerel. The weeds are starting to develop so working the weed lines is the best shot at finding them. Joe from J&J, fishing Lake Ronkonkoma, proved that Long Island freshwater largemouth fishing is alive and well as he had several fish up to 5 pounds.

Memorial Day weekend certainly kicked off some great fishing around the island. Centrally, inside the bays, the problem was this ongoing slip gut which made fishing from most of the docks and piers around the Fire Island Inlet area tough. Some good fishing opportunities came from open beach stretches along the central South Shore where the slip gut was not an issue. Fluking from the shore on the North Shore of the island is also starting to improve with the water temperatures warming up. Shinnecock and Moriches Inlets appeared to be a bite cleaner than the western ones and made for easier presentation of bucktails and shads.

At the Montauk Anglers Club, guide Chris Albronda reported the fishing in Fort Pond has really picked up. With the better weather and a bunch of sunny days, the largemouth, walleye, perch and smallmouth have been caught in great numbers. Chris had walleye up to 8 pounds and largemouth up to 5 pounds, all on artificial lures, in the afternoon. For hot freshwater information for the area, Chris will be working at Montauk Anglers Club tackle shop where you can find all of the freshwater gear you need and tips on where and what’s biting.

Down the road at Chasing Tails Bait & Tackle in Oakdale, Billy reported all of the local lakes have been stocked with trout, and fishing is rock solid. Inline spinners, spoons, small jigs and of course a worm and bobber rig will have them on the end of the line all day. Yellow perch and bluegill are starting to school up in the shallows and are slurping down worms left and right. Inline spinners and small jigs also work very well. Walleye are lurking the darkness and smashing jerkbaits and swim baits, and they love a bright color. 

At Paulie’s Tackle in Montauk, shop regular Chris Albronda reported it has been an incredibly successful winter. The walleye fishing has been the best Chris has seen in many years. Many of my Chris’ charters caught their personal best, and many multiple fish nights. With this mild weather we have had the water temperature has remained relatively warm. On the warmer days, the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass would bite. As the days get longer, March is going to bring some absolutely epic fishing in Chris’ opinion. There will be fishing available both night and day. The smallmouth bass will be the first ones to really start biting. If you’re looking to get into some nighttime walleye fishing, please contact Chris at 631-830-3881 or [email protected]. Chris would also like to thank all The Fisherman readers out there for a great season, but don’t stop now, come on down the fish are biting!

Ken from Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor told me Kevin Dehler had a 30-pound carp fishing a North Shore pond during last week.