hot spot

It was the third day of my second visit to Block Island, and after two fishless nights Rich Morris and I decided to put some more time into scouting the island. We hit all the spots from the night before—the Poop Chute, Southeast Light, Snake Hole, Black Rock and Southwest Point—and made both mental notes as well as written ones when something stood out that we felt might hold fish later that night. When we pulled into the little parking area at the end of Dories Cove road, we both brought a rod as some cloud cover began to settle in and a light southwest wind made for some fishy-looking water, even at the early-afternoon hour.

On March 14, 1886 the 500 plus foot British passenger liner the Oregon met her fate when she collided with a schooner, most likely the Charles R Morse, and sunk approximately 15 miles south of Moriches Inlet.

Anglers sailing from Mount Sinai and Port Jefferson Harbors, and from as far west as Huntington, will set their GPS for Stratford Shoal – better known as the Middle Ground. Each season sees exceptional fishing for stripers and bluefish along with the trio of tog, sea bass and scup to keep rods bent and anglers coming back for more.

Built in 1937, the 423-foot oil tanker Coimbra was destined for duty shipping hundreds of thousands of barrels of fuel oil across the Atlantic for as many years as the Socony Vacuum Oil Company could get from the newly built ship. Then, during the wee hours on the morning of January 15, 1942 just before her fifth birthday, a torpedo fired from the German sub U-123 hit her amidships, exploding the Coimbra’s cargo of 81,000 barrels of fuel into a giant ball of flames, and killing all but six crew members in the disaster.

The water here is gin clear – much more so than my native waters of Long Island Sound – and the beach about 1/4 mile north of me glimmered white in the midday sun. A more picturesque fluke hotspot is hard to imagine. Isabella Beach, typically referred to as just “Isabella” by local anglers, is about a half-mile long, slightly-banana-shaped stretch of sand on the south side of Fishers Island in the eastern end of Long Island Sound. Fishers Island itself is about nine miles long by only one mile wide, and despite its close proximity to the Connecticut shoreline, is part of Southold Town. To its north is Fishers Island Sound, and to its south is Block Island Sound. It is this stretch along its south shore that is a perennial fluke fishing hotspot.

Located south of Copiague inside East/West Channel is the Copiague Hole, an area frequently mentioned in fishing reports, and where each season anglers score a host of inshore favorites from this man made hotspot. The Hole plays host to a variety of species from blowfish to striped bass. It is located just east of Tanner Park in East West Channel and is approximately 30 feet in depth, surrounded by the 10-foot depth of the channel. The area was dredged a number of years ago, and the dredge material used to build up the Copiague shoreline for waterfront development.

In May, the bait-rich Merrimack River is home to a number of diverse fishing environments all accessible to the shore-bound angler. From quiet marshes to open beaches, jetties and strong river currents, the Merrimack has something for everyone.

Most say Great Bay, some say the ICW. Preferences aside, the fact of the matter is that the approximately three-mile long and 3/4-mile wide swath stretching from Buoy 139 in Great Bay to the top of Little Beach in Brigantine at Little Egg Inlet (see Homeport chart #11), is the perfect venue to experience all that springtime fishing has to offer along Jersey’s bayside coastline.

South Ferry, that stretch of fast running water that separates North Haven from Shelter Island and widely referred to as South Ferry, has been known to hold large stripers in the early part of the season, and then again as the fall approaches.

At the very southern end of Absecon Island lies the quiet, affluent town of Longport. The municipality is often an afterthought to neighboring Margate, Ventnor and Atlantic City, and that’s just how Longport folks would prefer it to stay.

The most obvious spots are often passed over because they seem too easy. The Herring Run on the Cape Cod Canal is not one of those spots! When the fishing reports buzz with Canal successes, the lot is filled with cars wearing plates from every state on the Striper Coast and beyond.

Located in the hamlet of Hampton Bays the Shinnecock Canal joins Peconic and Shinnecock Bays.

If you target striped bass in the Northeast, whether from the surf or by boat, Block Island’s fabled Southwest Point should be on your radar.

March is a lean month in the salty brine, except for the fat black-backed winter flounder foraging the mud flats.

Protected from the elements like a terrapin’s shell, this aquatic area has a lot to offer for open and hard water.

New Haven Harbor is a triangular, four-mile-long bay. Three large manmade breakwaters define the harbor to the south and are accessible only by boat. These awesome structures can provide good action for early-season blackfish.