Mid-August at Montauk is when the season starts turning. The new moon at the end of the week means the strongest rip tides in a month, the first false albacore are being reported to the west, and the fluke fishing on the north side has produced some genuine doormats. It is a busy stretch on the water and an early start is worth more than it was in July.
What’s Hitting
Striped bass are working the Point rips on the strong tides, best at dawn and after dark. Bluefish are mixed in and can be thick enough to be a nuisance on the drift. Fluke are the standout day fishery, with good numbers and some large fish on the north-side structure and the deeper rips. Porgies are stacked on every piece of hard bottom and sea bass are on the wrecks. The first bonito and false albacore have been reported along the south shore, and offshore, tuna are being caught at the Butterfish Hole and Coxes Ledge on the flat days.
Where to Find Them
The Point rips, Shagwong and the Elbow are the striped bass water on the moving tide. North-side structure from Gin Beach toward Cerberus Shoal has been the better fluke ground. The rock piles off Culloden and around Great Eastern hold porgies and sea bass. Surfcasters are working the Point and the North Bar on the tide change at first light and last light.
Tides & Conditions
Water is running 68 to 72 degrees. The new moon brings the biggest rip tides of the month, which is when Montauk fishes best and also when it gets dangerous for small boats — the rips build fast against a wind-over-tide. Seas have been 2 to 3 feet with a southwest breeze filling in by afternoon. Plan the trip around the current tables and be off the Point before the wind stands the rip up.
Tackle & Tactics
Rip fishing means diamond jigs and heavy bucktails in the 3- to 6-ounce range, or live eels drifted after dark on 50-pound leader. Fluke anglers should drift a bucktail-and-teaser with a squid strip or a live snapper blue, adding weight to stay vertical in the current. Porgies take clam or squid on a high-low rig. If the albies show, a small metal on 20-pound braid and a 15-pound leader is the whole program.
Local Intel This Week
Montauk Harbor and the Star Island ramp are the practical launches, both crowded from dawn on summer weekends. Shore anglers are fishing the Point at Camp Hero and the North Bar on the tide change. Fish are concentrating in the rips and on the north-side structure rather than spread across the open sound. Striped bass, fluke and sea bass carry size and season restrictions — check current New York DEC regulations before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
In the rips, fish the back of the standing wave, not the face. Bait tumbles over the shoal and gets disoriented in the slower water behind the break, and that is where the bass sit. Drop back into the trough and jig it there rather than working the whitewater.
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