Montauk in late July is a fluke town. The doormats have moved onto the sand around the point and the outer bars, and the bass fishing has settled into an early-and-late rip game. Add porgies and sea bass on the structure and there is no reason to come home empty.
What’s Hitting
Fluke are the headline, with legitimate doormats coming off the sand at the point and out toward the Elbow. Striped bass are working the rips at first light and after dark, mostly schoolies with better fish for those drifting eels at night. Porgies are stacked and absurdly easy on any structure. Black sea bass are on the wrecks and rock piles. Bluefish are around in numbers, and the first bonito and false albacore reports are trickling in from the south side.
Where to Find Them
Fluke are on the sand from the Lighthouse east to the Elbow and out on the Frisbee grounds — drift the edges where sand meets rock. Bass are in the rips off the point on the tide change, and along the north side beaches at night. Porgies are on any rock pile in Gardiners Bay and off the point. Sea bass are on the wrecks in 60 to 100 feet. Watch for bonito busting on the south side in the afternoons.
Tides & Conditions
The July 29 full moon has the rips running hard through midweek. Water temps are near 70 on the south side and low 70s in Gardiners Bay. Southwest wind builds daily in the afternoon, which makes the point sloppy — the morning window is the one you want. Fog has been an issue on some mornings.
Tackle & Tactics
Fluke on the sand want a bucktail with a Gulp trailer plus a teaser, drifted with enough weight to stay in contact. Bass in the rips take a heavy jig-and-plastic worked in the standing wave, or a live eel drifted at night. Porgies are a high-low rig with clam or sandworm. Sea bass take squid on a bottom rig. Keep an epoxy jig rigged for a bonito blitz.
Local Intel This Week
The Montauk town ramp at South Lake Drive and the Gin Beach access are the main public launches. Shore anglers should work the Lighthouse rocks and the North Bar at dawn — footing is treacherous, so bring korkers. Fish are concentrating on the sand edges and rips this week. New York striped bass are managed with a slot limit and circle-hook rules for bait — check current NYSDEC regulations and seasons before keeping any fish.
This Week’s Tip
Drifting the point for fluke, the biggest fish come off the transition where clean sand butts against rock or gravel. Watch your bottom machine, and when the texture changes, slow down and work that seam rather than drifting straight through it.