Long Island, Metro NY - South Shore Fishing Reports

Captain Joe from the King Cod in Captree reported they?re starting to pick some nice tog on the deeper wrecks, with plenty of life now everywhere they go. Lots of shorts with 35 keepers to 6 pounds for a good crowd. The water is still very warm, in the low to mid 50's. They expect the blackfish to bite well right through the end of the season on December 22nd. They will be sailing on fair weather days only.

Pablo over at J&J Sports in Patchogue chatted with me and said while the efforts have been down in the last week he did know that the reefs out of Moriches and Fire Island both produced blackfish to 5 pounds again. The striper fishing has been much steadier to the west by Long Beach but he did know of a few small fish caught on the Smith Point stretch by surfcasters during the week on small diamond jigs. Some of his customers have started fishing the local lakes with live shiners for trout and largemouth bass.

Mike over at Saltwaters Bait and Tackle in West Islip told me casters are still connecting along the Moses stretch with small stripers but the better action has been to the west by Jones Inlet. He also said the boaters have been having a little more luck with fish from 18 inches to 30 pounds outside of the inlet on the sand eels schools. Tuna were reported to have been seen outside again but getting them to hit was another story.

From the Fishfinder II they said Saturday's 10 a.m. striped bass trip saw another great day of jigging ? boat limit of slot-size keepers plus plenty of catch and release with oversized and undersized striped bass to 25 pounds. Monster Bluefish to 16 pounds were also in the mix. This was the last trip of the year for the boat. On behalf of the crew and Captain Walter they wanted to say thank you for a great season and Happy Holidays to all.

The Laura Lee Fleet out of Captree reported much improved ocean blackfishing Saturday! The trip caught 188 blackfish keeping 31, 6 cunner, and 7 cape shark.