The spring run is at full strength at the End. Striped bass are thick from the south side beaches out to the rips, the black sea bass season has opened, the fluke are arriving, and the bluefish are roaming. Late May is one of the most productive stretches of the year around Montauk.
Stripers at full strength
The bass fishing is the headline. Fish are blitzing along the south side beaches and around the Point, and they are keying on the bunker (menhaden) and sand eels that have moved in. When you find the bait, the bass are under it — snag-and-drop a live bunker, or work a big swimbait, a bucktail, or a topwater through the edges of the school. The rips off the Point produce on the moving tide for boats drifting live eels and bucktails. From the surf, the daybreak and dusk windows have been the most consistent. Diamond jigs shine when the fish are blitzing on sand eels.
Sea bass, fluke, and the bottom
Black sea bass have opened and stacked on the wrecks, rock piles, and rough bottom — clam, squid, and jigs all produce, and the action is fast and the eating is excellent. Summer flounder (fluke) are beginning to show on the sandy bottom along the south side and in the harbor; drift a bucktail tipped with Gulp or a squid-and-spearing combo and cover water to find the keepers among the shorts. Bluefish are mixed into the bass schools and will tear up a topwater — bring wire or heavy mono leader if the blues are thick. Porgy (scup) are filling in on the structure for steady bottom action.
- Striped bass: bunker and sand eels, beaches and the rips, dawn and dusk
- Black sea bass: wrecks and rough bottom on clam and jigs
- Fluke: south side and harbor, bucktail-Gulp on the drift
- Bluefish & porgy: mixed with the bass and on the structure
Where to focus this week
The north and south sides of the Point and the rips are the prime bass water on the moving tide, while the south side beaches around Ditch Plains produce for the surf and small-boat crowd when the bait is in tight. Drift the sandy bottom on the south side and around the harbor for fluke, and hit the wrecks and the rough bottom offshore for the sea bass.
For the rip bass, a conventional setup with 3- to 4-ounce bucktails or a live eel on a fish-finder rig lets you get down in the current. For fluke, a 1.5- to 3-ounce bucktail tipped with Gulp, bounced along the bottom on the drift, is the standard, and a teaser above it often doubles your hookups.
Timing and weather
For the bass, find the bait first — the schools move, so be willing to run and look. The rips fish best on the moving tide, and they demand respect for the current and structure out there. Spring weather off Montauk can turn quickly, so keep an eye on the marine forecast. New York striped bass regulations are strict, with a slot limit and circle-hook rules for bait — know the current rules before you keep a fish.
Looking ahead to June
The striper fishing stays strong into June as the fish settle onto their summer haunts, and the fluke action improves week by week as more keepers move in. The sea bass bite remains reliable on the structure. Watch the water temperature — as it climbs, the bass shift toward the cooler, deeper rips and the night bite picks up.
Regulations reminder: seasons and slot limits change through the year. Confirm the current rules with your state agency before you keep a fish.
On the water this week? Send your photos and details through our reader report form — the best submissions run in next week’s report.