JONES BEACH PIERS, NY
Nestled between the southernmost of the Meadowbrook and Wantagh bridges along the southern bank of Sloop Channel, the Jones Beach Fishing piers sit amidst some of the most productive water in the area. This stretch not only provides shorebound anglers with the opportunity to catch a wide variety of species that few other fishing piers can offer, but the potential quality of some of the fish is on par with many locations available only to boatmen.
Action on the piers kicks off with winter herring runs which can vary greatly in intensity from year to year, and attract a small cadre of dedicated followers. Herring can appear anytime from Late November through March, with some years being a total bust, and others a bonanza for those intent on pickled herring.
The best of the action here kicks off in May when flounder, fluke, stripers and blues all become viable targets. Parking for the piers is at Jones Beach Field #10 and those anglers who possess a State Park Night/Sportfishing Permit ($25 annual fee) are able to probe night tides for stripers, with some years also seeing a few weakfish in the mix. Striper action is certainly not limited to the hours of darkness, but your best shot at a big bass will most likely come after the sun goes down. Stripers to 30 pounds have been landed on the piers the past couple of seasons.
During the day, pier regulars will heave bunker chunks or clams into the channel, but most will also keep another casting rod at the ready should a school of blues work their way within casting range. Some of the more savvy regulars carry a couple of snag hooks in their bag, especially during May and June when there is always the possibility of encountering a school of bunker being harassed by big bass or blues. If you are lucky enough to be on hand when such an event occurs, it is often simply a matter of snagging a bunker and leaving it out there until a bass or blue finds your crippled bait.
Flounder fishing was surprisingly good this spring, with many quality flatties topping the 2-pound mark hitting the wood. The best of the flounder action occurred this year during the second half of May after the flatties had worked their way over to the south side of the bay. A pier based flounder tournament sponsored by the Jones Beach Bait Station on May 21 produced 64 keeper flounder and a bunch of shorts for 40 particpants. The top three fish were all in the 2-pound class, and one angler landed three over 2 pounds during the contest. Now that’s pretty good flounder fishing by today’s standards.
For those targeting fluke, the basic spearing/squid combo is popular on the planks, but some anglers do even better with the summer flatties by employing light spinning gear and tossing bucktails ranging from ½ to 1 ounce around the changes of tide when current is minimal. The bucktails can be tipped with a strip of squid or fish belly, a spearing or sand eel, or any one of several Berkley Gulp products. The Gulp sand eels, swim tails or strips that can be cut to size have all proven themselves on the fluke grounds, and some anglers even favor Gulp over the real thing.
Over the summer, fluke become the primary target, but blues, blowfish and the occasional sea bass will also be found in the buckets of the pier faithful. As summer fades into fall, stripers and blues again become prime targets, and fluke are a possibility right up to the close of the season on September 30. October sees a few blackfish showing up for those soaking fiddler or green crab baits, and November features another Jones Beach Bait Station sponsored tournament, this one targeting stripers and blues from the surf and piers.
Last season’s reopening of the Jones Beach Bait Station was a breath of fresh air for pier patrons who now have a ready and reliable source of fresh bait, tackle and snacks. The station also has a slew of other tournaments scheduled over the course of the season. Ed Walsh, who oversees the operation, is the eyes and ears of everything that goes on at the piers, and is a ready source of up-to-date info and reports. Stripers to 30 pounds, blues to 12 pounds, fluke to 12 pounds and flounder to over 3 pounds have already graced the shop’s scale, a pretty good indication of the quality of the fishing available here. You can contact Ed at 631-559-5938.
