It’s hard to believe we are into October and another fluke season has come and gone. The good news is blackfish season is less than two weeks away and we are already hearing of good numbers of tog being caught and released as bycatch. Stripers have become more active and the fall run looks to be building momentum, especially on the East End where the diamond jig bite has been red hot. There were also some good spurts of action in the surf along the South Fork and in the Moriches area, and we can expect the surf scene to continue to improve over the next couple of weeks.
Speaking of the surf, lots of sand eels along East End and South Shore beaches the past couple of seasons have generated some excellent fishing for school bass, and there is no reason not to expect more of the same this fall. To that end, Senior Editor Fred Golofaro, and Long Island Managing Editor Matt Broderick have some advice for fishing the suds when stripers are gorging themselves on sand eels.