August 30th - Transition Time

Stripers and Blues

We’re beginning to enter the time of year on the Long Island Sound when it feels like everywhere you look you see life. It’s a transitional time right now in that we have big stripers and blues still around, but we are also starting to see some fun blitz action with both schoolie and slot size stripers, with blues often being mixed in. You’ll find these blitzes often on outgoing tides, especially when there’s a north wind to help shove the young of the year baitfish out into open water where they are most vulnerable.

If you are a big striper hunter, it’s time to start really enjoying these last few days of magic before the bigs move south and we start pining over their return in May of 2024. For now, the bite is great, with topwater, GT eels, and tubes producing great fish. Trolling plugs and divers also becomes more productive this time of year when bigger fish are more willing to move around and chase food, since they’re going to instinctively feel that need to fill up with food before their trip south for winter.

Fall fishing means downsizing for the most part, so small topwaters, swimbaits, metals/epoxies, and diving plugs like the Daiwa XRap are all excellent choices. Find some birds and have a blast!

Seabass and Porgies

Seabass has improved recently with fish reportedly a bit shallower than they were about a month ago. We heard of good fish in 40-50 feet, on reefs and humps, which is accessible to all. Bigger reefs like Six Mile are holding solid fish if you can find a concentration of them and dial in your drift.

Fluke

Fluke fishing has been decent but spotty, as it has been all summer. Typically we expect to see a boost in fluke being caught in September, so the best bet right now is to go out to your normal spots and keep trying them as the water cools and all of that bait becomes active. Speaking of bait, don’t overlook trying really shallow water for fluke, as peanut bunker and silversides pour out of the creeks, those fluke will move up for an easy feast, especially on an outgoing tide.