Updated: Thursday, May 28, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, June 4, 2026
This Montauk fishing report for the week of May 28, 2026 lands right on the spring striper peak. Late May brings striped bass to the Point rips in numbers, an open fluke season with productive bay drifts, and the start of the offshore season. Stripers are the lead target. Plan around moving tides on the rips and southwest wind, which can cut into trip count, so take the productive mornings when they come.
What’s Hitting
Keeper-class and over-slot stripers come daily on the Point. Live-lined eels at the rips account for the biggest fish, and trophy-class stripers top 40 inches. The surf fishes daily on the dawn tides, and 40+ inch fish come on bucktails and live eels worked from the rocks. Fluke fill the bays and channels, and schools of 8-12 lb choppers push through the bays.
Offshore, the early bluefin season starts with a handful of 60-180 lb school-class fish, and numbers build through June. Mako, blue and the occasional thresher shark arrive and are released, and a few yellowfin start to show on deeper water.
Where to Find Them
Stripers hold on the Southwest Ledge, the Elbow and the deeper structure off the lighthouse on the moving tides. In the surf, work the North Bar, Light House Beach and the Ditch Plains area, where fish follow sand eels and migrating menhaden close to the beach.
Drift for fluke in the Block Island Sound back bay, the Napeague area and the Gardiner’s Bay channels. Bluefin are on the 30-fathom water, and sharks on the inshore canyon water.
Tides & Conditions
Moving tides drive the Point. Rips form where current pushes over the ledges and concentrates bait, so peak current is diamond-jig time, while slack is the window for anchored boats setting eels into the rip with light current. The surf fishes best on the dawn tides. Southwest wind on several days limits trips. Water temperatures climb through the upper 50s and into the 60s as the summer pattern settles in, and fluke carry the inshore fishery through August.
Tackle & Tactics
- Trolling: wire line with 5-9 oz parachute jigs in white or chartreuse drifted through the rip lines.
- Jigging: AA17 and AA27 diamonds in chrome or chartreuse during peak current for schoolies to keepers.
- Surf: pencil poppers, white SP Minnows, bucktail jigs and live eels.
- Fluke: 1-2 oz bucktail tipped with a Gulp! 4-inch Swimming Mullet in white, chartreuse or pink, drifted along channel edges.
- Blues: cast diamond jigs, white bucktails and Got-Cha plugs.
- Offshore: trolled ballyhoo and cedar plugs for bluefin; trolled or chum-fished mackerel for sharks.
Local Intel This Week
Montauk Harbor is the jumping-off point for the Point rips and the offshore grounds. Montauk Point State Park gives surf anglers the rocks and beaches around the lighthouse, Napeague State Park sits close to the Napeague fluke water, and Shagwong Beach is another shore option. Fluke season is open in New York waters (it opened May 4, 2026), and ASMFC striper rules apply under NY DEC. Use circle hooks with bait, pinch barbs and release oversized breeders. Check current state and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
For the biggest bass, save your live eels for the slack. Anchor up-tide of the rip and set the eel back on light current, so it settles into the rip naturally instead of being swept past the fish. Tight lines.
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