Brandon Weitz News Today

Big bass chase bunker schools in central Long Island Sound, bluefish dominate the south shore surf, and weakfish make a showing with keeper fluke in the back bay channels.

Bluefish hit the south shore surf, stripers feed actively in the back bays and the inlets, and shops prepare for fluke season as spring tautog season comes to a close.

Stripers are hit swim shads and minnow plugs in the back bays, schoolies hit the South Shore surf, and blackfish and cod bite on the offshore wrecks.

Tautog and cod come over the rail on wreck trips, stripers stack on the flats in Long Island Sound, and stocked trout provide reliable action in the rivers and ponds.

Carp, white perch and holdover schoolie stripers take flies and jigs in tidal ponds and creeks, while largemouth bass and panfish provide spotty action in freshwater ponds.

Holdover striper action is very spotty, brook and rainbow trout take flies in the streams, and largemouth bass, pickerel and sunfish entertain in the ponds.

Pickerel, perch and bass are biting in the ponds, holdover stripers are active but picky, and herring fishing is hit or miss in the harbors.

Perch, pickerel and bass keep anglers busy in the ponds, white perch are biting in the rivers, and pier fishermen catch flurries of herring.

Big blackfish are caught off the North Fork and the west end, stripers continue to feed on bunker and sand eels out front, and freshwater fishing picks up in the creeks and ponds.

In the fall of 2023, Long Island striper fishing peaked when miles of bunker made a migratory pit stop along the western south shore.