Located on the most northern point of Northport is none other than Eatons Neck. By land, there is only one way in and out of this well-secured hamlet, which is by driving the long stretch of Asharoken Ave. – through the Village of Asharoken, where the United States Coast Guard Station and Hobart Beach are located along the north end. With the exception of village residents with village permits, there is no parking or fishing allowed anywhere along the stretch of Asharoken or inside Eatons Neck, with the exception of Hobart Beach, which is permitted by residents with Town of Huntington permits from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Fortunately for boatmen, the pristine waters surrounding this peninsula is chock full of opportunities ranging from scup to cow stripers.
The bottom contour and depth vary from location to location here, with mostly a sandy shallow body of water around the southwestern side of the Neck ranging from Sand City to Duck Island. Along the northern tip of Eaton’s Neck and extending east to Crab Meadow Beach, the bottom contour consists mainly of large boulders along the shoreline and outward to 40 feet of water.
The rips and tidal clashes with the boulders draw an incredible abundance of stripers through this area, both along the beach and along the deeper depths. Anglers looking to fish for stripers in the deeper water will find trolling Mojo Spoons from buoy 13 and west towards buoy 15 can be quite productive throughout the spring, summer, and fall, especially during an outgoing tide. If jigging for bass with diamond or flutter jigs are more of your forte, the area around the Obstruction Buoy located north of Eatons Neck will also produce well on an ebb tide, particularly during the fall.
Striped bass fishing along the rocky shoreline can be exceptional during the early morning hours throughout the season before the winds kick up and also while other boats go cruising through your fishing real estate. Poppers and swimming plugs worked over areas of splashes, and swirls are best suited for the boulders. Since many boulders are submerged less than a foot from the surface during low tide, I strongly suggest fishing the rock boulders right at high tide and, as the tide ebbs, moving off the beach and into the deeper, safer depths to prevent hitting your draft or motor shaft on one of those merciless boulders.
From May through August you will find jigging half to one ounce Spro Bucktails in pink or white tipped with a Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet in white will keep the rod bent with mixed size fluke across the shoal that extends from buoy 13 to the Coast Guard Station. This slope holds a good amount of fluke that will greedily accept your bucktail offering.
As for scup and blackfish during the fall, the East side of Eatons is where the Brush Pile is located, and from mid-October to early November, the area is loaded with small to medium-sized blackfish and scup. Clams nail the porgies while green crabs entice the tog. Should you decide to drive through Asharoken to get to Eaton’s Neck by car, be sure to obey the speed limit of 30 mph and not one mile faster than 30. The Asharoken police are out in force, and you will be ticketed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
