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Photo by Capt. Sloan Gurney, Black Rock Fishing (OrientPointFishing.com)

It was hard to get “real voices” for the last report of the season, but a number of hardy souls were still out chasing bass and tautog around the East End. Captain Dave Brennan on the Peconic Star II out of Greenport said the blackfish action was still “pretty good” and that the boat was still catching. It’s only tautog, no cod, no porgies since October 20. So far a 10-1/4 pound bulldog has been the biggest of the season. Brennan will be sailing through December 1 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Prime Time III out of Orient by the Sea Marina is scheduled through December 4 with no spots available on November 24, 25 and 26 and no sailing on Thanksgiving.

At local shops, Bill Czech from Jamesport Bait and Tackle (in Mattituck) told us the South Shore was quieting down after a good run of stripers and that the Peconic Bays had no fishing activity to speak of. Stan Hentschel at the Rocky Point Fishing Stop will be heading for Florida around Christmas, but likes the action locally right now. There are still decent tautog around when you can get out, and there were scup at Old Field as recently as one week ago. The South Shore had small bass by the ton with few keepers, while Miller Place produced occasional keepers to 32 inches at night. Lots of shorts can be found along the Sound during the day. Try Buoys Nine and 11 for bass and blues with some keeper bass among the smaller fish there as well.

Gary at the Silly Lily Station in East Moriches will be fishing into December, and expects to try the Bay on Friday. With all the herring around and fish to the north, expect the striper action to go up and down until season closure. Most reports at East End Bait and Tackle in Hampton Bays include the tautog on the Shinnecock Reef with deep water wrecks producing sea bass to five pounds. Jigging for bass is better west of Moriches Inlet. Bass are spread out along the whole South Shore, not in the same concentration as a few weeks ago. Try fishing early morning and evening with bigger plugs to target bigger fish.

A fine Thanksgiving to all our readers! See you next year!

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