Updated: Thursday, September 3, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, September 10, 2026
This Montauk fishing report covers early September, the start of the best fishing of the year at the Point. False albacore are the lead target, blitzing under the Light, while striped bass stack up in the rips and fluke stage on the deep edges for the last days of the season. Plan around water temperature and wind. I have fished the Montauk striper run more falls than I can count, and this is the week I start watching both every morning.
What’s Hitting
False albacore blitz on bait from Turtle Cove to the Point and around to the north side, with bonito mixed in on calmer mornings. Striped bass work the rips off the Point on the moving tides, and the surf at the Light and Camp Hero fishes best on the night tides. Bluefish roam the rips and the south side beaches.
Fluke are in the last of their season on the deep edges south of the Point and around the Frisbees. Sea bass and porgies sit on the rocks and wrecks, and bluefin remain on the offshore lumps for the tuna fleet.
Where to Find Them
Look for albies on the north side from Shagwong to the Point and around the Lighthouse on the incoming. Fish the rips off the Point for bass: the Elbow, the Pollock Rip and the south-side rips on the ebb. Surfcasters should work the rocks under the Light, Turtle Cove and Camp Hero at night.
Drift for fluke on the deep edges south of the Point and off the Frisbees in 60 to 80 feet. Porgies and sea bass are on the Cartwright grounds and the inshore rock piles.
Tides & Conditions
Expect water temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s, prime for albies and just starting to move the big bass. The ebb through the rips is the striper tide, and the incoming on the north side is best for albies. Northeast wind days push bait to the Point and stack the bass.
Watch the tropical forecast. A distant hurricane can build a swell that closes the rips to small boats.
Tackle & Tactics
- Albies: small metals, Epoxy jigs and soft plastics on 20-pound braid and 20-pound fluorocarbon, retrieved fast.
- Rip bass: a diamond jig or a bucktail with a pork rind on the drift, or a live eel at night.
- Surf: bucktails, darters and needlefish.
- Fluke: a bucktail tipped with a Gulp or a strip of squid on the deep drift.
- Porgies: clams on a high-low rig.
Local Intel This Week
Boaters launch at the Montauk town ramp on East Lake Drive at Lake Montauk or at the Gin Beach area ramp. The Three Mile Harbor ramp in East Hampton is the option from the west. Shore anglers have access at Camp Hero State Park and Montauk Point State Park for the rocks under the Light, and Shagwong Beach puts surfcasters close to the north-side albie water.
Plan the rips off the Point for bass and the north side for albies. Fluke season closes in September, and New York striped bass rules include a slot and circle-hook requirements for bait. Check current state and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
In the Montauk rips, the bass hold on the down-current side of the rip line where the current breaks. Set up the drift so your jig is in the zone as the boat crosses the rip, and be ready: the strike comes in the first ten feet on the far side.
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