Sports

Fishing Report

Vinnie at Camp Site Sports in Huntington Station described the angling scene along Long Island beaches. The diehards are “in the ninth inning, waiting for a rally” in most places. There’s no big body of fish, no peanut bunker in close, and not a lot of sand eels. The North Shore has a pick of fish, particularly around mid-Island, while the South Shore has been pretty quiet. Those who fish five nights a week have a fish or two, sometimes in the 40s, but the last full moon was not a good one. Mid-Long Island Sound seems to be producing well, and boats outside Fire Island have found bass working on schools of adult bunker.

On the North Fork, Bob Ceglowski from the Captain Bob V out of Mattituck Inlet is planning on one last sailing on Friday; then he’s looking ahead to Morehead City, N.C., for the catch-release season on giant tuna. He will be booking for the 2012 Mattituck season, beginning with fluke on or about May 1. Until the gale last Friday, he had excellent fishing on blues, bass and tautog and thanked all his fares for a productive season, too. At We Go Fishing on the Main Road in Southold, Stephen spotted lots of cars chasing birds along local beaches Monday, evidence that blues and bass had pushed in close. Waters continue to be warm enough to produce some tautog on shallow drops, so We Go is optimistic for the immediate future.

Hope also springs eternal at Jamesport Bait and Tackle in Mattituck, where Bill Czech reported a nice bunch of bass and blues on the big northwest blow over the weekend. Anglers fishing chunks had bass to 28 pounds, along with big blues. Late in the weekend, some plug anglers also scored. There are no big pods of fish here, but there are enough to support an honest effort along Long Island Sound.

Some of the better action of the week was reported by Stan Hentschel at the Rocky Point Fishing Stop. On Sunday the shop weighed a lovely pair of 11-pound tautog taken off Shoreham in only 32 feet of water. Hentschel also saw stripers to nearly 20 pounds and large blues to 15 working on local bunker. Those who were slinging bait had the bigger fish while pluggers had smaller ones. The biggest headache for locals is the lack of beach access in his area. He called the South Shore “dead,” except for a few places west of Fire Island.