Sports

Fishing Report

Capt. Dave Brennan on the Peconic Star out of Greenport was enthusiastic about the scup fishing this month. Usually you wait for August for the better fishing with fish difficult to find in July. Not this year, though fish are in somewhat different spots. Some of the jumbos are spectacular, 18 to 19 inches! There are plenty of bluefish around, but blues are not yet a nuisance.

Liz Caraftis at Charlie’s Mattituck Marina on Mattituck Creek said there were plenty of scup in mixed sizes everywhere from the Northville Pipeline to Hortons Point. The biggest fish, jumbos to 15 and 16 inches, can be found in 40 to 45 feet of water. Bass fishing off Hortons continues to be quite good on chunks and live eels, even during daylight hours. Fish over 40 inches, including one 45-pounder, were reported. Summer flounder are all shorts. Hortons Point also has its share of large bluefish.

Linda Czech at Jamesport Bait and Tackle in Mattituck told us beaches were quiet. Excellent striped bass fishing still continues by night in Plum Gut and Fishers Island Race while a new wave of smaller summer flounder seems to have moved into the area around Gardiners Island. Stan Hentschel at the Rocky Point Fishing Stop also spoke of good fluke numbers but sub-legal fish. The overall porgy fishing close to the beaches and in boats impressed him. Snappers in four-inch sizes are showing along Long Island Sound, and blues from cocktails to slammers are also in the area. If you find them, keeper stripers are in up to 70-foot depths now.

Our final report came from Captain Marty’s Fishing Station in New Suffolk where porgies and weakfish are principal attractions. Scup are west of Robins Island while the weaks, fish to 24 inches, are taken on high-low rigs off Roses Grove. Porgy sizes have declined somewhat in recent days, and short fluke have pushed into the area near Jessups Neck. Cocktail bluefish can be found in both the North and South Race around Robins Island and off Jessups. In the latter zone, anglers should try diamond jigs to four ounces.