Fisherman's World

Max at Fisherman’s World said local fishing has steady for blackfish, stripers and scup. Tog fishing is driving most of the activity at the shop but there are some good bass bites locally and beyond to make putting in the time and effort to target them worth the while. Blackfish reports have been pretty typical for the early season. The best fishing is still shallow, though this week they did start to hear more reports coming from wrecks south of the islands where they heard of better numbers of 5- to 8-pound fish. That said, the biggest number of blackfish in the region are coming from 30-feet of water or less with good action for shore anglers as well. Striper fishing is good and there are a few different bites to get in on depending on your preferred flavor. Early mornings are seeing the best blitz activity with bass working schools of peanut bunker, anchovies and silversides. The deep water structure is holding bass as well and the fall run Diamond Jig bite at 11B and 28C is a staple of later fall run action in the region. The Housatonic River is also producing bass to 35 pounds on both bait and artificials. Scup fishing has been good from both boat and shore as water temperatures are still warm enough to support them. Sea bass fishing has improved and should continue to get better as water temperatures drop. Hardtail sightings have been sporadic locally with more bonito around than false albacore. There is a bit more reliable action across the sound in front of Port Jeff and Smithtown Bay. The shop is open seven days a week.

Tyler at Fisherman’s World said local fishing has been consistently good as we enter the heart of the fall run. Lately, they’ve been hearing about bass blitzes along the shoreline fueled by peanut bunker, anchovies and silversides. Good striper fishing has boaters and shore anglers in on the action alike, chasing birds and favoring long casting lures like epoxy jigs and tins. The blitzing bass have generally ranged from slot to over slot size but one especially determined customer aged 12-years old took a 44-inch lineside from the beach on a 9-inch plastic eel. The deep water structure is holding bass as well and the fall run Diamond Jig bite at 11B and 28C is a staple of later fall run action in the region. Tog fishing has been steady with most fish coming from shallow water, less than 30 feet, with a few solid reports from deep water wrecks. They expect blackfish action to be consistently good throughout the remainder of the season. There was a solid weakfish bite going in the harbor and inshore and they are good sized ranging to the high 20-inch range, about 6 or 7 pounds. Bluefish have been scarce in the region save for the cocktail sized fish cruising in shore and around the islands. Sea bass fishing has improved and should continue to get better as water temperatures drop. Tyler said that as we look ahead into November the name of the game will be all bass and blackfish as other species depart the region. Blackfish action should get better on deep water pieces and piles once water temperatures begin to drop steadily. He said for stripers, targeting areas around the mouths of major rivers and estuaries where the fish tend to winter over will be the best bet. Specifically, catching bass as they stage around the mouth of the Housatonic is a tried and true late season winner. The shop is open seven days a week.