The first week of September on Long Island is the changing of the guard. Fluke are on the ocean edges for the last days of the season, false albacore have arrived at the inlets and along the south shore beaches, and the porgies and sea bass are stacked on the inshore wrecks and rock piles. The bass are beginning to show on the north shore rips and in the inlets at night. It is a lot of options for one week, and all of them are good.
What’s Hitting
What’s hitting this week: fluke on the ocean edges outside Jones, Fire Island, and Shinnecock inlets in 40 to 70 feet, and on the deeper rips in the sound. False albacore at Shinnecock and Moriches inlets and along the south shore beaches, with bonito mixed in on the east end. Porgies are thick on the north shore rock piles and in Peconic Bay, and sea bass are on the wrecks and the reefs. Striped bass are on the north shore rips and in the inlets at night on the outgoing, with bluefish mixed in. Blackfish season opens in October, but the fish are showing on the inshore rocks already.
Where to Find Them
Fluke outside Jones and Fire Island inlets and on the Shinnecock ocean edge. Albies at Shinnecock and Moriches inlets on the incoming and along the beaches from Westhampton to Montauk. Porgies at the Mattituck and Port Jefferson rock piles and in the Peconics. Sea bass on the wrecks off Jones and Fire Island. Bass on the north shore rips at Eatons Neck and Plum Gut, and in the south shore inlets at night.
Tides & Conditions
Ocean temps are in the low to mid-70s, prime for the albies and still fine for the fluke. The incoming tide with clean water is the albie tide at the inlets, and the moving tides on the ocean edges are best for fluke. Any distant tropical system will build swell and close the inlets to small boats — check the marine forecast before heading out.
Tackle & Tactics
Fluke take a bucktail tipped with a Gulp or a strip of squid on the ocean drift. Albies want small metals and Epoxy jigs on 20-pound braid and 20-pound fluorocarbon, retrieved fast. Porgies take clams on a high-low rig, and sea bass take a clam or a squid strip on the same. Bass on the rips take a bucktail or a diamond jig; in the inlets at night, a live eel or a darter.
Local Intel This Week
Public ramps: the Captree State Park ramp on the Great South Bay, the Shinnecock Canal ramp, the Mattituck Inlet ramp on the north shore, and the Bay Park ramp in East Rockaway. Fish are concentrating on the ocean edges for fluke and at the inlets for albies. New York fluke season closes in September and the striped bass rules include a slot and circle-hook rules for bait — check current NYS DEC regulations before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
When the fluke season is down to its last week, the keepers are on the ocean edges, not in the bays. Drift the 40- to 60-foot edges outside the inlets with a heavier bucktail and a bigger bait, and you will find the fish that are staging to leave.
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