Newsday 6/30/06

Fishing Forecast
Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Publication date: 2006-06-30


Jun. 30--1.Western Long Island Sound: Striped bass continue to mob the area with plenty of fish in the 20-30 pound range and R&G in Port Washington reporting a 38-pounder. The action is almost exclusively on fresh bunker chunks and live bait. Jack's B&T in City Island reported anglers are limiting on fluke to 5 pounds at the points using bucktails with squid and spearing. Porgy fishing is strong.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: Four Winds in Huntington Station reported super fluke action with loads of sand eels and anglers having no trouble reaching limits. The pool fish on the Huntington open boats is typically between 4 and 6 pounds with outstanding action. Bass are biting well though the weather limited anglers last week. Porgies are shallow which is good for beach fishing but tough for anglers drifting worms for bass.

3. Smithtown Bay: Tony DeVito and his buddy limited on fluke to 6 pounds and had porgies to 2 pounds while Mike Mastrogiacomo and Rich Cunes had fluke to 25 inches off West Meadow, according to Swaine's B&T in St. James. Dave Ciotti used live killies off Short Beach to take a limit of fluke to 20 inches, a few bluefish to 4 pounds and a 14-pound striper.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: An intense fluke bite with many anglers limiting out on fish to 6 pounds and plenty of juicy keepers in the 3-4 pound range for the open boats out of Port Jeff. The sand eels keep the fluke feeding through all conditions. Many say it's the best fluke action in at least 10 years. Fluke has been pretty disappointing in other parts of LI, but from Oyster Bay to Rocky Point it is tremendous.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: A nice bite along the Sound side from Goldsmith Inlet to Orient with anglers working the surf with poppers and wooden plugs for keeper bass and blues, according to Wego Fishing in Southold. A lot of big porgies on that side as well. The Gut and Race are producing strong bluefish with a few keeper bass during the day, and at night the bite turns to stripers.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: Some decent fluke action by the Ruins in the last few days, with anglers using squid and spearing or live killies to flush out the keepers. Bluefishing in the bay is a sure thing with a diamond jig or small shad; just find the birds working. Most of the fish are cocktail size.

7. Montauk Point: The Marine Basin Shark Tournament brought 10 fish to the scales, but no threshers for the first time in a few years. Most of the action was far offshore. Fish On took first place with a 315-pound blue shark and Tuna Tangler had a 192 mako. Striped bass action is excellent as Amanda had a 38.4-pounder on the Venture and Freddie's B&T reported some keepers from the surf, mostly on night tides.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Every so often the fluke bite has a pulse, like when the ocean lit up for the Shinnecock Star on Saturday with fish to 6 pounds, but then it fades again. Wind and fog this week did little to boost angler participation, according to Molnar's Landing, but Tom, Wayne and Al had stripers in the inlet to 18 pounds.

9. Moriches Bay: Mastic B&T reported good striped bass action on clams and a solid bite of sea bass and ling on the outside reef and wrecks when conditions allow anglers to get there. Fluking in the bay is decent; Bob hit a limit of fluke between buoys 27 and 29, according to Silly Lily's in East Moriches.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Billy Sorrese drilled a 40.71-pound striper on live bunker off South Beach and fishing buddy Dave Gagliano took a 27.8-pounder, according to Augie's B&T in Babylon. Peter Mack picked up a 15-pounder fly fishing in the inlet. Bluefish are spread about and the fluke bite from West Channel to the bridge picked up with some nice keepers. Fluke are biting outside southwest of the inlet but dogfish are a nuisance.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Paul on the Emily S had a 37-pound striper on live bunker in the inlet and anglers have been using bunker and clam chum from the Meadowbrook to the Wantagh bridge for nice keepers, according to Woodcleft Fishing Station. Sam Agro took a 223-pound mako while releasing another 150-pounder around the Schooner. Fluke has been slow but a few keepers have come off the Lido Golf Course in Reynolds Channel.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Pete and crew on the Fish On battled the dogfish at the Mudhole before moving to the Virginia for a 214-pound thresher, according to Bay Park Fishing Station. Bill, Randy, Les and Ronnie had 17 keeper-sized stripers to 41 inches off Rockaway using fresh clams in about 35 feet of water and Capt. Jack of Jesse James charters fished the back bays for a 28-pound bass and nice blues on clams.

13. New York Bight: Joe and Vin from Bernie's B&T in Sheepshead Bay had a first-hand report of strong fluke action on the open boat The Angler with fish to nearly 8 pounds. Mike Bordes and Bob Heney also had fish over 7 on the half-day trip in the bay.

NY Newsday

1. Western Long Island Sound: Jack's B&T in City Island reported striped bass in the 20-pound class and said the big 40-pound cows have been coming to anglers trolling wire. That means the fish are deep and on the bottom, so make sure the chunks get all the way down. A burst of bluefish hit the area this week around the bridges and fluke to 4 pounds have been caught off Harts Island.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: The coolers lined up outside Four Winds B&T in Huntington Station yesterday as the shop weighed five fish over 20 pounds by 10 a.m. with Tim Lober's 26-pounder leading the way. Most action is in Cold Spring Harbor but there are fish in the Triangle and inside Huntington Bay. Charlie Burk had a 7.38-pound fluke off Asharoken.

3. Smithtown Bay: Steve from the BLT CafA© in St. James took a 14.5-pound striper from the mouth of Stony Brook Harbor using worms and Swaine's B&T in St. James had reports of bass to 15 pounds with bluefish mixed in at the Nissequogue. Most stripers are on clams or worms but some anglers are using bucktails and plugs.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Anthony Caputo hooked a 7-pound fluke on the Celtic Quest on Sunday, and like the other keepers it was stuffed with sand eels. There was also a report that a local dragger pulled a 20-pound fluke near Buoy 11. The Capt. Bob fleet in Mattituck continued to mash the keeper fluke with fish to 8 pounds. Rocky Point Fishing Stop reported huge shad in the Sound with 25-pound stripers feeding on them and bluefish along the beaches.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: Steady fluke as the Peconic Star reported 60-80 keepers per day, including last week's 11-pounder. Bernie Osofsky had an 8-pounder last week then returned Monday for a 7.35-pounder, and Choi Duk Il had a 6.85-pounder on Wednesday. There have been one or two tough nights for bass in the Gut and Race, but overall the fishing has been excellent.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: Lots of life in the bay. The weakfish arrived and anglers are taking fish to 12 pounds from Jessups to the Greenlawns, according to Wego Fishing. Bluefish are buzzing all over. Stripers are hitting in Jessups. Anthony Capasso caught a 6.41-pound fluke on Tuesday, one of many 4-6 pounders.

7. Montauk Point: George Bowman nailed a 42.5-pound striper from the surf on Monday and the bass fishing has been good according to Johnny's Tackle Shop in Montauk. The charter boats are diamond jigging and trolling for their limits and the big open boats start their nighttime eel fishing trips this weekend. Lots of fluke with plenty of shorts and a few sea bass. Many charters have openings this weekend.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Ocean fluking had fizzled with the storms but as things settled the fishing returned. The Shinnecock Star had fish up to 8 lbs., 6 oz right outside the inlet. Molnar's Landing reported Willard and Mary Huber have averaged 15 flounder a day this week in the nearby creek.

9. Moriches Bay: The final weekend of flounder season promises to be a very good one. Silly Lily's in East Moriches reported that the best action should be early in the morning. Worms and mussels have been working very well between buoys 15 and 21. Stripers are being caught in the east and west cuts on clams and lures. Anglers after fluke could find them at the warmer water around buoy 7.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Conditions dictate how the Captree boats make out on night striper trips. The Laura Lee had 15 fish over 20 pounds on Monday, including Steve Wilitus' 29- and 23-pounders, while on Tuesday with more wind Cole Rudnick limited out with a 22-pounder amid slow action. By Wednesday it picked back up and Chris Fogione had a 30-pounder. Fluke action is frenzied but keepers are absent. There are sea bass to 5 A1 2 pounds.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Ed Haran caught a 30-pound striper off Long Beach using chunks yesterday, according to Scotty's Fishing Station in Point Lookout. There are some keeper fluke mixed with the shorts in the bay and out in the ocean. Jose Rodriguez hooked a 12-pound blackfish using fiddler crabs off the Point Lookout jetty. Blackfish season closes Wednesday.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Clams are the bait for striped bass with Bay Park Fishing Station reporting action at the Rockaway Reef and the Atlantic Beach Bridge. The Fish On reported six keeper-size fish to 28.5 pounds over the weekend and the Valiant had lots of action with a pair of keepers. An occasional keeper fluke pops up, but the sea bass are a better bottom bite.

13. New York Bight: Striped bass fishing is terrific for the Sheepshead Bay boats and while fluking has been tough there are plenty of sea bass, blackfish and ling to pick at. Don't forget the Noreast.com Striped Bass Memorial Classic this weekend where the angler with the two heaviest fish between 30 and 34 inches could win $10,000. [Newsday Tom Rock]

PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Shad run is dud, fishermen claim

Shad run is dud, fishermen claim [By Dan Shapley, Poughkeepsie Journal]

John Mylod found nothing in his nets Wednesday and gave up fishing for shad early. He turned to working out knots and repairing holes in hopes they catch more next year.

"It's not so much the season. It's the few shad that are out there," the Poughkeepsie fisherman said. "We used to fish past Mother's Day."

Shad fishing on the Hudson River reached new lows this year. The number of crews trying to catch the Hudson's only remaining commercial fish declined. Most who did fish didn't catch much.

Coastwide, the story was the same, said Christopher Letts, an educator for the Hudson River Foundation. He buys shad for the annual shad festivals, and his suppliers reported slim harvests from South Carolina to Connecticut.

"The season is terrible. I've never seen it so bad," said Kevin Coons, a Hyde Park resident who for 15 years has taken time off each spring to fish for American shad. "I've had a lot of people stopping by. I've had restaurants stopping by. Restaurants can't get them from their suppliers."

Last year, about a dozen boats fished for shad, the largest of the river herring. This year, it was closer to 10.

Roe is coveted

Shad's Latin name means "most delicious herring." Its notoriously bony flesh deters many. It takes an expert to fillet a shad and remove the bones. Its roe is a delicacy as passionately loved by enthusiasts as it is reviled by its detractors.

Bill Collier, a Wappingers Falls resident, has looked for the fresh catch from the river ever since tasting roe at a VFW dinner in Cold Spring. He was sorry to hear about the early end to the season, since he hadn't had a meal yet.

"I'm disappointed to hear the news," he said.

Commercial fishing on the Hudson has been in decline for decades. PCB pollution makes most species of fish illegal to sell, and unsafe to eat, according to state advisories.

Shad are the exception because they spawn briefly in the river, eat little, then return to the ocean or die. Yet, a number of insults have contributed to a decline in shad numbers.

PCBs and other pollutants may harm fish directly. Acres of spawning habitat have been destroyed. Thousands of eggs and larvae are killed by power plants drawing cooling water from the river. Zebra mussels invaded the river 15 years ago and have since filtered so much plankton from the water that young shad leave the river smaller, weaker and more prone to predation. Intense industrial ocean fishing at the river mouths was only banned last year. And fisheries managers have favored the striped bass, the voracious predator at the heart of a recreational fishery that now eclipses the commercial.

This is the second year since interstate fisheries managers banned off-shore fishing that had decimated the shad population. Whether it results in a resurgence in Hudson River shad remains to be seen, since shad born in coastal estuaries mature for four or five years in the Atlantic before returning.

"It'll be another couple years before we see," Mylod said.

Bobby Gabrielson Sr., whose family has fished out of Nyack for decades, catches the smaller river herring, bluebacks and alewives that striped bass anglers use for bait. They hardly fished for shad this year, but caught them when they tried. He was the lone fisherman of several interviewed who said shad were abundant.

"I'm telling you, the shad were there. They were there last year too," Gabrielson said. "They stopped the intercept fishery on the coast. Now, I'm getting calls from Cape May, N.J. A guy from Philadelphia came all the way up here for shad. That's the demand for this stuff now."

Restoring shad coastwide is a goal of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. On the Hudson, it's a priority for the state's Hudson River Estuary Program.

"This is one of our signature species, and it is our goal to restore them to their historic high levels," said Fran Dunwell, coordinator of the estuary program. "We have our work cut out for us."

There are no shad festivals scheduled in Dutchess or Ulster counties this year. The Hudson River Foundation will host a festival Saturday at Memorial Park, Depew Avenue in Nyack, Rockland County. Next weekend, festivals are planned in Catskill, Greene County and Croton, Westchester County. Visit www.hudsonriver.org for information.

Providence Journal 5/12/06

1. BAY:When there's a break in the weather, striped bass are rolling on the surface outside of Bristol Harbor and along Prudence and Patience Islands, especially near Potter Cove and Providence Point, said Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine. Wednesday evening, Silvia caught 34- to 40-inch bass in the Seekonk River. Jim White, skipper of the charter boat White Ghost, says the Providence River is loaded with stripers. He also recommends the waters off Barrington and Poppasquash Point in Bristol.
2. This is the time of month when Ed Hughes starts finding large schools of large stripers in the waters off Conanicut Point. The fish tend to be just beneath the surface, and they'll hit flies, Slug-Gos and hard-plastic lures. He said bass have been hitting flies in East Greenwich Harbor near the Goddard Park boat ramp. Nearby, Dave Sanford has been catching a lot of stripers and some squeteague at Sally Rock, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.
3. In Middletown, Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle said schoolies to keeper-sized bass are biting at First and Second Beaches early in the morning and in the evening. They're taking small poppers, Slug-Gos and Storm Wildeye Shad. A bit up the Bay, anglers are taking fish as large as 26 pounds on squid, he said.
4. Tautog are biting from Sachuest Point to the Stone Bridge in Tiverton, Toland said. He also recommended fishing the rocks at Fort Adams, Ocean Drive and the Mount Hope Bridge. The bite has improved in Bristol Narrows, said Henault.
5. BEACHES AND SALT PONDS:Fran Sawicki, the dean of Point Judith Pond, has been catching flounder, but it hasn't been easy, he said. "I caught four real nice flounder [Tuesday], but I had to work for them," he said. I caught them in 4 feet of water, and they were nice, fat fish. I got four on Sunday, but I had to look for them. They're in places where they haven't been before. Two weeks ago, I got my four fish in 25 minutes, but they're much harder to find since the weather turned cold." Stripers as large as 35 pounds are holding in the deeper holes of the pond. Sawicki cuts 6-inch, motor-oil Slug-Gos in half and uses the tail ends to catch the bass. Three- to 4-pound bluefish have appeared in the pond, too. "My gut tells me this is going to be a phenomenal year," Sawicki said.
6. Quonochontaug Pond holds bass and tautog, said Don Cameron of Captain Don's Bait & Tackle. He weighed an 18-pound striper Wednesday morning. The fish hit a squid-colored Gag's It's Alive lure at the boat ramp on the breachway. Tautog, as large as 7 pounds, are biting worms.
7. Fluke are biting in the waters from the fish trap at Point Judith to Green Hill Beach, Cameron said. Thom Pelletier of Quaker Lane Outfitters said the fish are in 35 feet of water one day and in much deeper areas on other days.
8. PARTY BOATS:Squid fishing has been excellent aboard the Frances Fleet boats, their skippers report.
9. Cod fishing is slow, but fluke fishing along the beaches is excellent, even though there aren't any jumbo fluke being caught. When cod fishing did improve a little on Sunday, the largest fish taken was a 25-pounder.
10. FRESHWATER:"All this rain will raise water levels on our rivers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," Ed Lombardo said in an e-mail. "I like fishing blood worms in sizes No. 18 to No. 16 just under the surface. The worms will be washed in rivers and still waters by all the increasing volume of water. The worms are a deep to bright red in color and are tied on a scud style hook or a regular hook. I also like using all of the other flies that mimic what is still hatching, such as Mahogany Duns, Red Quills, and Black and light Tan Caddis in sizes No. 16 and No. 14. Black ants have also been good during long periods of rainfall. I like using sizes No. 16 and No. 14."
11. BEST BITES
    
12. Point Judith Pond:Striped bass, bluefish
13. Aquidneck Island shore:Striped bass, tautog
14. Prudence Island:Striped bass
15. THE TIDES:The moon causes tides and affects the activity of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as animals on land. Anglers generally find the best fishing two hours before and after a high tide, but fish and other animals also become active around the time of low tide.

Hudson River Shad

How's fishing? Depends on who's telling the tale By DAN SHAPLEY

Commercial netters on the Hudson were, with rare exception, consistent in their assessment of the 2006 shad season. It was lousy.

When it comes to dropping a hook and line in the water — whether the target was shad or striped bass — the story line was not nearly as consistent.

Spring is the time for fishing on the Hudson, as river herring like shad spawn. They are followed by the spawning striped bass, which prey on the herring.

As you're reading this, chances are Bill Emslie's sitting at White's Marina in New Hamburg, waiting for the next boat to dock and unload a striped bass. The Wappingers Falls resident organizes the annual Hudson River Striped Bass Tournament, and so he will spend this weekend weighing bass.

'Fish are scattered'

If anyone has a pulse on the season, it's him, and this is what he had to say about the year in stripers: "It depends who you talk to."

"There are fish out there now. They're scattered between here and Albany," he said. "You have to find them, and maybe you have to find the hungry ones."

Anglers have been catching bass in the 20 and 30 pound range consistently, he said. He expects one more than 40 pounds to take the prize today.

When it comes to shad, some anglers said they have had a lot more luck than the commercial netters.

"Not many people consider a rod and reel when they think of American shad. Since Colonial times, shad had been the providence of commercial fishermen," Tom Lake, a naturalist for the Hudson River Estuary Program and a fisherman, said.

"In the last 25 years, however, they have slowly become a darling species, albeit for only about three weeks, of a select number of dedicated anglers looking for a world-class fishing experience in the Hudson River."

The best fishing for shad is probably done, as the spawning run nears its end and the rain makes the water muddy. Shad strike by sight so anglers need clear water, Lake said.

If shad are under-appreciated as a sport fish, river herring are all but ignored.

Shad's smaller cousins, the bluebacks and alewives, have been scarce, many fishermen have said. Some catch them to eat, but the biggest harvest supports the bait needs of the trophy bass hunters.

There's no good data on herring caught in the Hudson, but many say their decline has been steep and persistent, just as it has been elsewhere on the East Coast.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts banned all herring fishing this year, following the lead of Connecticut. Other states have set restrictions of various kinds as well.

There's a growing chorus of voices suggesting, quietly, New York should follow suit, though others say herring don't need such aggressive restrictions.

Rob Marshall, who works at his parents' bait and tackle shop, Fisherman's World, in Wappingers Falls, said fishing for the popular bait needs to be stopped.

"We're going to have to," he said. "The only reason the stripers come up here is for the herring. They follow their food up here because that's where the herring spawn." [Poughkeepsie Journal by Dan Shapley]

Fluke 18-inch rule negates the bounty -- Newsday.com

• Anyone interested in catching fluke on opening day last weekend was in luck. The fish were biting hard and fast. But anyone interested in keeping fluke had a much tougher time as the 18-inch regulation relegated some otherwise very big fish to throwbacks and left many anglers frustrated.
• The distance between 17 1/2 and 18 inches never seemed as great as it did this week. So many fish were just-shorts, forcing fisherman to first squint at the lines on the ruler, then wince at the idea of tossing the catch back. The good news is that in another few weeks, those fish will be big enough to find their way to someone's plate. By the end of the summer, the 16-inch fish will probably be long enough to keep. The bad news is that fluke season ends in early September, so any fish smaller than 16 inches this week won't likely reach the regulation by the time the recreational fishing ends.
• While many anglers were tossing fluke over the side as if they were bailing water from the engine room, there were a few locations where keepers were plentiful. Just outside Shinnecock Inlet on opening day, the Shinnecock Star found plenty of 18-inch fish. Bill Nixon had a 9-pound, 4-ounce, fish Saturday afternoon to go with an 8-pounder and a 6-pound, 8-ounce fluke by other anglers on the trip. On Sunday, Mike Chan hooked a 9-pound, 2-ounce fluke. In the Greenlawns area off Shelter Island, Bill Joyce caught a 10.44-pounder and Wego Fishing in Southold weighed about five fish of more than 8 pounds from that same area during the weekend.
• Eighteen inches will be a difficult benchmark to meet throughout the summer. Heck, it was difficult to meet this week. But it is still early for productive fluke fishing in many areas. Sure, anglers may have to alter their techniques or their locations to put some filets on the table this year. But fishermen who know their craft and put in their time will find the keeper fish. That's the one constant in fishing. [Tom Rock NY Newsday]

NY Newsday 5/12/06

1. Western Long Island Sound: The stripers continue to hit hard as R&G in Port Washington reported action on everything from live bunker to pencil poppers with fish to 25 pounds in the bay. Jack's B&T in City Island weighed a 34.5-pound bass taken between the Throgs Neck and Whitestone. A few bluefish are moving in, mostly in the Sound, and some bottom anglers are still finding blackfish or flounder.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: Decent striper activity with fish to 23 pounds taken from Cold Spring Harbor and keepers off Eatons Neck and in the Triangle, according to Four Winds in Huntington Station. The big excitement was over sightings of mackerel schools yesterday morning; the bluefish should be right behind them. Fluking has been steady with keepers up to 21 inches, and Bill Joyce brought a 10.44-pound fluke into Four Winds that was caught off the Greenlawns of Shelter Island.

3. Smithtown Bay: A lot of fish to catch but not a whole lot to keep. Most of the striped bass are schoolies with a few up to 30 inches, and they are coming on clams and worms according to Swaine's B&T in St. James. The fluke have also been short as anglers reported many 17-inch throwbacks on squid and spearing or sand eel and squid combos.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Rocky Point Fishing Stop reported small striped bass taking cinder worms in the harbors while bigger fish have been working clams and worms off the beaches. The fluke opener saw plenty of action, but not a lot of keepers unless you went to the east. Bluefish are starting to pop up.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: A very steady fluke bite with about a 50-50 keeper ratio and the bigger fish in the 5-7 pound range. Capt. Mike of the Prime Time III said Tom McKeever had a 7.5 pounder on opening day. Look for the doormats to start coming up this weekend with the full moon. The moon should trigger some striped bass and bluefish action in the Gut and Race, too.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: A nice flow of keeper fluke marched into Wego Fishing in Southold this weekend. Jean Rogers was first to hit the scales on Saturday with 7.4 and 6.5 pounders. Mr. Swiskey had a 10.85-pounder taken off Greenport and Jeff Mayo caught a 9.1-pounder on the Isabella. Linda Riedner brought in fluke of 8.15 and 6.95 pounds on Saturday and had a 13.55-pound weakfish on Monday.

7. Montauk Point: A lot of fluke coming up just short of the 18-inch regulation, but they'll grow to keeper size by the middle of June. The action is top-notch and there are nice fish to 7 pounds along with steady blackfish. Johnny's Tackle Shop in the Village reported sparse striper action for the boats but surfcasters under the light and at Ditch Plains have found some good schoolie action.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Fluke season opened with a bang as Bill Nixon took a 9 lb., 4 oz. fish on opening day Saturday and there were other fish over 8 pounds on the Shinnecock Star. Capt. John reported the bite was just outside the inlet in 25-55 feet of water and while it was furious action at times with some shorts and fish from 3-5 pounds, the bigger fish generally came during slower paces.

9. Moriches Bay: Flounder action was hitting a peak last weekend before the weather kept most anglers on land this week. Silly Lily's reported Kenny Dinkel and Phil Kelly found a nice pod of fish around buoy 15 with the biggest flounder at 2.48 pounds. The action has been between buoys 14 and 20 and should continue through the month.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Capt. Ken of the Laura Lee reported terrific striper action at the bridges on Tuesday night. Ten anglers hooked about 100 fish and Jim Brown had 16 keeper-sized fish. Augie's in Babylon reported similar bass highlights as Conrad weighed a 25.3-pounder on Sunday with most of the action on live bunker.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Anglers who ran outside for live bunker then brought them back inside for fishing in the rips and off the jetties found nice striped bass from 15-25 pounds over the weekend, according to Woodcleft Fishing Station in Freeport. The Codfather has been limiting out on keeper bass at Debs using clams. Boats on the reef have been finding sea bass from 4-5 pounds.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Bay Park Fishing Station reported Gene Tripodo decided to throw some bucktails during his lunch break on Wednesday, made four casts and pulled up a 4.42-pound fluke. There have been some fluke to 22 inches on squid and spearing. Striped bass action has been very good and Hans Coflesh had a 6.26-pound sea bass from Rockaway Reef.

13. New York Bight: Premier striped bass action in Raritan on bunker chunks and live baits with fish to 30 pounds and up gobbling the bait. Jamaica Bay is also seeing its share of 20-25 pounders, especially around the bunker schools. The Angler in Howard Beach reported lots of just-short fluke in the bay along with some fat keepers to 5 pounds.