Montauk is fishing a strong early-summer card. Striped bass are working the rips around the Point, fluke are stacked on the sandy bottom, and sea bass and the first of the summer’s bigger fish are filling out the mix at the End.
What’s Hitting
Striped bass are the headline, holding in the rips around Montauk Point on the moving tide. Fluke are thick on the sandy bottom and along the drop-offs. Sea bass are stacked on the wrecks and rock piles, and bluefish are roaming the rips and beaches on the bait.
Where to Find Them
Fish the rips off Montauk Point and the surrounding structure for stripers on the moving tide. Fluke hold on the sandy bottom and channel edges around the Point and in the bays. Sea bass are on the wrecks and rock piles, and blues work the rips and beachfront. Gardiners Bay and the harbor flats hold fluke and the occasional sight-fishing striper, a calmer option when the Point rips are too sloppy.
Tides & Conditions
Early-summer water is warming and the bait is building. The rips fish best on the moving tide, especially the low-light windows. Fluke want the moving water on the sand. Morning seas have been workable around the Point — watch the afternoon wind and the fog common to the End.
Tackle & Tactics
Drift or troll bucktails and jigs through the rips for stripers, and throw plugs in the low light. For fluke, drift bucktails tipped with Gulp or squid-and-minnow combos along the sand and edges. Drop bait for sea bass on the structure, and toss metal to blues. Bucktails and jigs in the 2- to 4-ounce range are the rip standards for stripers; for fluke, a bucktail tipped with Gulp or squid worked along the sand is the call.
Local Intel This Week
Launch from the Montauk (Star Island / South Lake Drive) ramps for quick access to the Point and bays. Stripers are concentrating in the rips and fluke on the surrounding sand. Striped bass have a strict slot limit and fluke a size limit in New York — check current regulations before keeping fish, and consider releasing big bass. The Montauk Point surf and the lighthouse rocks give shore anglers legendary access to stripers and blues on the moving tide.
This Week’s Tip
In the rips, work the down-current edge where the fast water meets the slower water. Stripers stack in that seam to ambush bait tumbling through — get your jig down into the rip and let it sweep through the edge naturally.