Fishing

Capt. Dave Brennan on the Peconic Star out of Greenport told us his customers are really into the daily porgy and sea bass game. Anglers are working on jumbo scup with sea bass to three pounds; catches are reliable and very good. Capt. Mike Boccio aboard the Prime Time III out of Orient by the Sea Marina was pleased at how well the daytime bass fishing is. There are plenty of stripers to the high 20s and most fishers have their limits. Bass on the night trips continue to please as well. Some fish in the 40s are available, with Boccio’s best over the weekend weighing over 38 pounds. One example of how good this action is: the Wamsleys (mother and two sons) totaled 26 stripers between them on a single trip. Some big sea bass are part of the mix on the daytime fluke trips, too.
Capt. Bob Ceglowski aboard the Captain Bob V out of Mattituck Inlet still had some summer flounder over eight pounds last week, but found his best catches now on Long Island Sound wrecks where deep, cool water holds the fish. The wrecks provide a good mix of jumbo porgies, bluefish to five pounds, and occasional keeper bass in the 30-inch range. Weekend evening trips are drift trips yielding some nice scup and sea bass; even though fluke are the desired targets, small hooks on droppers produce an excellent by-catch. Ceglowski is looking forward to a “second run” of summer flounder if and when a new body of fluke moves in around mid-month.
Charlie Caraftis at the Mattituck Fishing Station and Marina on Mattituck Creek called the porgy fishing “great”, with 12- to 14-inch scup in 20 to 30 feet of water. Anglers working east of the station in the early mornings with small boats have been doing nicely on eels and bunker chunks, taking keeper stripers in the mid-20s and high-30s. Sunup brings occasional “gorilla” bluefish into the same areas.
From the Peconic Bays, Phil Loria at Captain Marty’s Fishing Station in New Suffolk figured there are still large scup to be picked from smaller fish in the summer mix. The shot of weakfish activity in Roses Grove last week seems to have dropped off, but there are some short fluke to be caught in that area. Also, there are lots of small bluefish throughout Great Peconic Bay.