June got off to a fast start for anglers in our area and the best part about it is that the good fishing should continue throughout the sixth month. Bluefin tuna made a surprisingly good showing this past weekend to get the offshore season off to a fast start. Bluefin were caught as close as 60 feet of water outside South Shore inlets, and also out in the 30 to 40 mile range. The first thresher sharks have been landed, a precursor to a lengthy list of shark tournaments slated for this month beginning this weekend with the Point Lookout Shark Tournament and followed the next weekend by the Star Island, Freeport Hudson Anglers and Moriches Anglers shark tourneys. It’s shaping up to be a busy month for the offshore crowd.
Schools of bunker are streaming down the Island’s south side and the big bass are on them. The first weekend of the month saw many stripers over 40 pounds fall to live bunker, and trolled bunker spoons and Mojo rigs. There were also more than a few new additions to the 50 pounder club, topped off by bass of 58.8 pounds weighed at Chasing Tails B&T in Oakdale and 60.4 pounds weighed at Saltwaters Tackle in West Islip. Both came from the Fire Island area. The Suffolk Marine Striped Bass Tournament held on Sunday saw the top eight fish range from 44 to 49 pounds. Look for this fishing to continue well into the month and spread east over the next couple of weeks. The down side to this excellent run of big fish is that many of them are being brought to the scale. We should really be looking to conserve some of these big breeders so think twice about killing the big girls, especially if you already have meat back home from a prior trip, and absolutely if you have no intention of eating the fish.
Porgies continue to hold up their end of the bargain and are keeping sinker bouncers entertained throughout the Sound this month. On the East End, Peconic Bay still has its share of scup but the current hot spot has shifted to Cherry Harbor. As the month progresses the number of jumbos will decline, but there will be no shortage of action.
June should be a good month for fluke as the ocean bite along the South Shore develops. Montauk is already off to a good start this month with many quality fish over 5 pounds finding their way into the weekend’s reports. June is also prime time for the North Fork so look for that fishing to develop as the month progresses, along with improved fluking in Sound waters to the west. Jamaica Bay and West End waters always produces some nice fluke in June and there is no reason to believe that this season will be any different.
Bluefish, bluefish everywhere. That was the gist of reports from the first weekend in June. Hopefully we get a couple of more good weeks out of the spring run but the action is likely to diminish in most areas as the month progresses. They have yet to invade the Sound but that’s a fishery that could carry well into the month if it develops. The blues are widespread and mixed in size, ranging anywhere from 2 to 3-pound cocktails to slammers in the upper teens. Hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the season as bluefish have been hard to come by during the summer and fall for the past several seasons. If you enjoy catching blues, you might want to get your fill now in case they pull another disappearing act. Let’s hope this season is different.
As we merge into June, some pleasant surprises in the form of weakfish and blowfish. Both species were surprisingly abundant in May and that bodes well for this month and the rest of the season. Both Great South and Peconic bays would seem to have the edge with weakfish going forward, but keep in mind the Western sound has had good numbers of weaks coming up as bycatch by porgy anglers the past couple of seasons. While the one fish bag limit discourages some anglers from targeting weaks, they are a great light tackle fish and make for some excellent catch and release action. Blowfish should remain an option through the month and into the summer providing commercial potters don’t wipe them out as has happened in recent years. They are the perfect saltwater panfish and the ideal target for kids and those who ply the piers and docks.
And then there are sea bass. This week’s reports echoed a familiar refrain – “All these big sea bass. Why can’t we keep a few?” We are hearing of lots and lots of sea bass, and big ones to 5 pounds and more being caught by anglers targeting porgies, fluke and weakfish. That’s no surprise given the stock is 2-1/2 times the target biomass. Due to over restrictive regulations, the NY recreational season does not open until June 23 with a three fish bag limit. If you like catching and eating these feisty, delicious fish, you will have to wait until the last week of the month to get your fill in June.
