Sports

Fishing Report

Out east aboard the party boat Prime Time III out of Orient by the Sea, Capt. Mike Boccio rated the summer picture as “very good, overall.” He called the scup fishing “outstanding” and suggested the striper fishing has picked up. There are plenty of bluefish to 13 pounds, and the only species missing now is false albacore.

From Mattituck Inlet at Charlie’s Mattituck Marina, Charlie Caraftis found the scup fishing to be “really good from Roanoke east to the Firing Range.” There are now porgies to 15 inches in the summer mix. Sea bass can be found on rocky pieces while fluke are generally smaller than keeper-sized, with a ratio of 20 fluke caught for every keeper culled. Horton’s Point still has some bass, but you must fish early before the gorilla bluefish become active. Fishing around high water on local beaches, anglers will find porgies as well as cocktail blues.

We Go Fishing at the Port of Egypt in Southold called the eastern beaches “relatively quiet” but talked up the new body of summer flounder off Gardiner’s Island. The Oyster Factory is also worth trying. Anglers in Little Peconic Bay are advised to check out the scup action off Greenlawns or Jessup’s Neck. Back west in Great Peconic Bay, Phil Loria at Captain Marty’s Fishing Station in New Suffolk liked the recent catches of both summer weakfish over 16 inches and porgies. Nassau Point was quite good as well as Jessup’s. Although the summer scup tend to run smaller, they are now solidly distributed in the bays.

At the Rocky Point Fishing Stop, proprietor Stan Hentschel told us the summer fishing is typical. The beach scene has slowed, but the scup fishing is quite decent. Short fluke abound with throwback: keeper ratios well above 20 to one. Striper fishing has also dropped off, but small blues are “all over the place.” At Camp Site Sports in Huntington Station, Jonathan informed us about plenty of bait along South Shore beaches; action is flat, however. The blues further out are smaller. It’s best on August beaches to fish nights and to fish bait in most situations.