The Brooklyn Girl II in Orient Point had an exciting day last Tuesday, “landing 25 keepers with several 18-20 pound bass in the mix.”
Guest fisherman Christian Petersen of Remsenburg (pictured above) landed a 52-pound “beast of a bass” doing “an amazing job with the rod and reel despite a disability,” said Capt. Ken Holmes. Christian, who has a disability with his arm, “fishes like a pro. That fish took some first run and he played it perfectly. Unreal,” Holmes said.
Long-time Suffolk Times contributor Martin Garrell summed up fishing on the North Fork last week:
According to Captain Rich Jensen aboard the Nancy Ann out of Orient by the Sea, the persistent south wind blowing 15-18 knots on Monday was fishable on incoming, but made for rough conditions otherwise. Fortunately, fishing was good with a nice spread of fluke around Gardiners Island and a pick of keepers in the four- to five-pound range. The summer flounder tend to be 17 1/2 to 21 inches.
Since the full moon, bass action had picked up, too, with some large cows in the nighttime mix. The Nancy Ann had one 54-pounder; Mike Boccio’s Prime Time III, a 56-pounder. Scup fishing was slow now, but boaters anticipate a good sea bass season, beginning July 10.
Liz Caraftis at the Mattituck Fishing Station and Marina on Mattituck Creek was still seeing scup to three pounds plus some weakfish to 25 inches taken by porgy anglers. There are lots of short fluke around, with a few keepers mixed into the catch. After a good couple of weeks, striper fishing has slowed down in dirty water around Hortons Point. Wego Fishing Bait & Tackle in Southold described small blues in the Jessups Neck area, with scup on the Middle Grounds of the Peconics. For weakfish, anglers might try Noyac around the Coast Guard buoy. Fishing the Sound beaches should produce some small stripers and blues around dawn and dusk.
Mark and the Rocky Point Fishing Stop said the fluking was pretty good on the Middle Grounds of the Sound and off Old Field. There weren’t “a ton” of bass around but you could still get some results on night tides using either bait or bombers from the beach. There was no day bite to speak of. The Middle Grounds will produce bass as well. Blues are small while scup are good sized throughout the area.
On the Lower Fork, Scott at East End Bait and Tackle in Hampton Bays described the best fluking in Shinnecock Bay is to the west of the inlet, with lots of shorts in the East Bay. Clam chum at the Ponquogue Bridge works for stripers, with live bait in the Inlet. Ocean beaches produce a few bass and cocktail blues on bucktails and tins for the dawn or dusk patrols. A number of makos in the 150- to 200-pound range have been caught within 25 miles of the Inlet, and early bluefin tuna have also been spotted.
