Every year around this time, it starts. The conversations at the tackle shop shift from what’s happening today to what everyone hopes will happen next month.
“I can’t wait for the albies.”
“Just give me a few weeks.”
“Wake me up when the fall run starts.”
As anglers, we’re always looking ahead. We count down to opening day, watch water temperatures, track moon tides and wait for that next big bite. There’s nothing wrong with anticipation, but sometimes we’re so busy waiting for the next season that we forget to enjoy the one we’re already in.
August has earned an unfair reputation among Long Island fishermen. For many, it’s simply the month between summer and fall—a stretch of hot weather to get through before hoodie season, migrating bait and striped bass blitzes arrive. But that’s selling August short. This is the month of glass-calm mornings, warm nights and long evenings that leave plenty of time for one more drift or one more cast after work.
The fishing certainly isn’t standing still. Bluefin tuna continue to roam within reach of Long Island ports. Sea bass and porgies are filling coolers, while fluke season often produces some of the biggest fish of the summer. Surfcasters willing to fish after dark continue to connect with quality striped bass, shark fishing has become one of the hottest summertime opportunities on our beaches, and before long the first whispers of false albacore will begin to spread.
Some of my favorite fishing memories haven’t come during October blitzes or on crisp November mornings. They’ve happened on quiet August evenings when the ocean was calm, the air was warm and the only sound was a drag slowly giving line in the darkness. Those are the moments that remind me why I fell in love with fishing in the first place.
Before long, the boats will be coming out of the water. Surf rods will be rinsed one last time before finding a corner of the garage, and conversations will shift from fishing reports to winter projects and next year’s plans. It always seems like there’s plenty of time left until suddenly there isn’t.
When January arrives and the wind is rattling the windows, nobody wishes they had spent less time fishing in August. If anything, they wish they had made one more evening tide, one more offshore run, one more drift over the fluke grounds or one more family trip before school started again. Those opportunities always seem more valuable once they’re gone.
Fishing has a way of reminding us that every season is temporary, and that’s part of what makes each one special. Fall will get here soon enough. The cool mornings, blitzing bass and running albies aren’t going anywhere. But today, summer is still here.
So enjoy the warm water while you can. Chase a few fluke, run offshore for tuna, fish an inlet after sunset or simply spend an evening on the water with family and friends. Before long, we’ll all be talking about next summer—and wishing we had one more August evening left.
