Hot Spot: Ocean Beach To Point Of Woods - The Fisherman

Hot Spot: Ocean Beach To Point Of Woods

Located on the south side of Great South Bay, there is an area, which harbors great action for Long Island anglers—Point of Woods to Ocean Beach. Anglers can enjoy super action in this stretch from the early part of the season, continuing throughout the summer and fall. Located just south of Range and East channels, the area offers several deep holes, plus a tidal current that flushes baitfish in both directions.

Weakfish can be hot at times off Point of Woods, with fluke and large stripers in the mix. Fish the buoy chains in the summer, and you’ll be rewarded with triggerfish. Follow the birds, and you’ll catch as many blues as you want.

By using your electronics (as it is not marked on charts), you can find a deep hole of about 20 feet right in front of the Point of Woods Dock. This transition from deep to shallow is a perfect ambush point for weakfish to intercept baitfish. The best times have been early in the morning or after dark. The key is a stealthy approach and with minimal amounts of boat traffic. I have mixed feeling about the boat traffic as the ferries run all the time, so I believe these fish adapt to the noise.

ocean-beach
This highly productive stretch holds a slew of species through the season.

As fluke begin to arrive, and especially the timeframe from June through July, anglers should drift the channel in front of Ocean Beach utilizing a typical hi-lo rig, tipped with spearing and either a strip of squid or fluke belly. Add in a Berkley Gulp bait in pink shine or hot pink, and you can up your odds. The last of the incoming tide and first of out is the best period to fish.

Stripers and large ones always show up in weekly reports throughout the year. Anglers fishing live bait by day score with fish from this area to the inlet, but I have made several trips with Capt. Walter on the Fish Finder II out of Captree to this area when all other boats were “up top” and found fish from school to high slot size fish. The dropping current has always produced well, but anglers, including the party boat fleet, have caught these bass on both tides.

Tackle and gear for this area are typical for bay-type fishing. For fluke, a 6-1/2 to 7-foot rod rated for 12 to 17, matched to a Shimano Calcutta 400 or Abu 6500 will suffice. On the bait end, nothing beats a well-placed local spearing on a bucktail in my opinion, but some anglers also add in a fluke belly from a legal fluke. Berkley Gulp baits are always an added plus too.

For casting to weaks, a 7- to 8-foot spinning rod rated for 10 to 18 pounds and a good quality spinning reel is paramount. Shimano, Daiwa, Abu, and more make reels with super smooth drags. When aiming for weakfish and at times using light lines, your drag is as critical as your bait. Bring along soft plastics from Bass Assassins to old-fashioned jelly worms, and you cannot go wrong on the weaks. Try using red or purple on the worms, while white and pink are good choices on the Assassins.

For live bait striper action, a typical 7-foot rod rated for 20 to 30-pound test braid and an old standby of mine – Abu 7000C is a good outfit. Some anglers prefer braid, but for using live eels, I still like mono. For live bunker, I’ll switch to 30-pound Kast King Kast Pro 8X or Berkley X5 or X9. I top off the braid with a shot of Ande 40-pound mono. Bear in mind the new circle hook regulations when targeting striped bass.

For a good map of the area, go to www.captainsegullcharts.com. This will bring you to Capt. Seagull’s Nautical Charts. Choose chart number SLI107; this will cover the South Shore of Long Island from Shinnecock to Jones Inlet.

Related

SANDY-HOOK

Hot Spot: Sandy Hook

Hot Spot: The Old Stone Church

ROBINS-ISLAND

Hot Spot: Robins Island