Located between Fort Salonga and the Northport Power Station is none other than Crab Meadow Beach. However, before you get too excited and you plan to fish this piece of water by land, you must have a Town of Huntington Beach sticker on the vehicle you plan to park with. Night fishing requires a night fishing permit which is restricted to Huntington residents as well. The next best solution is by boat, which GPS Coordinates 40.9286111°N, -73.325°W will get you close to the action.
The fishing gets started with stripers by the start of May with Rebel Jointed Minnow Hard Swimming plugs, small Daiwa SP Minnows, Yo-Zuri Mag Darters, or even Tsunami Shads. The small silver/blue and silver/black seem to produce the best early while spearing move in to spawn. Then as the bunker move in, chunks of fresh bunker fished on Fishfinder Rigs take over for much of the summer. If you want to stay clear of skates and sand sharks, then any green, blue, and silver artificials will work well during the day, while black or dark purple take over on the night tides. Two-ounce black or maroon color bucktails tipped with a strip of Fat Cow Trailer or the rereleased Uncle Josh pork rinds in red/white will work well also. Try employing the bucktails while the sand sharks are on the light side for the best results.
May is also the start of porgy season, and there are plenty of jumbos for the taking from both the shore and just off the beach. Fresh clam strips, sandworms, and plenty of frozen clam logs for chum will keep the scup chewing through the tides. Keep in mind small diamond or porgy jigs will work their magic when the chum is down and the porgies are in a feeding frenzy. By mid to late June, many of the jumbo scup will be replaced by medium-sized scup that will last into October. Depending on if the sand eels show up by mid-May, so will the fluke. It’s just one of those things that we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
August is additionally gator bluefish time, and live, or chunk bunker works well, but trolling a Mojo or umbrella rig can be most effective. If you can pinpoint the school of blues, using topwater poppers like Yo-Zuri Surface Cruisers, Super Strike Little Neck Poppers, or Cotton Cordell Pencil Poppers will surely get their attention. Keep in mind that if the bluefish are numerous, switching out treble hooks for single hooks will make the task of unhooking them much easier.
The fall will produce a bit of everything including, but the main attraction is the blackfish during high tide on the rock piles with green crabs. You can either use the traditional blackfish rig or opt-out for the more modern lightweight jig with lighter tackle if you prefer a sporty approach. Remember, to get the tautog chewing at times you will need to keep switching out your baits, essentially putting a chum slick in the water. Doing so will build a feeding frenzy that can result in a serious bite of fish.
To get to Crab Meadow Beach, take Route 25A to Waterside Avenue and follow the road to the end. You can also get to the location with a boat by launching at the Northport Fishing and Boating Ramp to the west or the Nissequogue River and Stony Brook Harbor Ramp to the east.
