There’s more fishing behind us than ahead of us for the season. What lies ahead though, is some of the best fishing of the year.
The fluke bite this season wasn’t epic, but it wasn’t that bad either. The arrival of peanut bunker in late August reignited what had become a sleepy bite across the south shore. There’s short time to target fluke this month with the season ending on the 9th. We probably won’t see any drastic change in water temps that start to have the fluke moving offshore before then. However, that tremendous amount of bait will certainly have them on the chew. Fishbites and Gulp have consistently outperformed spearing throughout the summer. I know I’m not the only one thought with a solid stash of frozen snappers caught in August and September for the fluke finale. I like using a braid to 3-way swivel connection with the appropriate size sinker. A 20–30-pound test leader from 24 to 36 inches will give the bait a much better presentation to trick a doormat. If you can still get your hands on the live ones, absolutely throw them in the live well along with some live peanut bunker. Keep in mind that there is a daily limit of 3 snappers per person.
Another idea to make use of a live well full of peanut bunker for inshore fishing is targeting weakfish. If anyone’s been down to the beach to surfcast at sunset on a calm day, typically the shiny fish jumping by the closest bar are juvenile weakfish. While the season for them is open all year, like striped bass, the best opportunity to catch them is early spring and throughout the fall. Their numbers have improved in recent years after basically vanishing from local waters. They can still be targeted with bucktails matching a peanut bunker profile, but the real thing will always work better. Unlike the pink color and long thin profile mimicking worms in the spring as far as artificials go, bucktails with a jig strip are the best choice this month and through the end of the season.
Blackfish season starts this month on October 11th for the Sound and on the 15th for NY Bight. There’s a 16-inch minimum in all areas but a bag limit of 3 in the Sound and 4 everywhere else in NY waters. Blackfish are by far one of my favorite table fares for local inshore species and targeting them in October is something I look forward to every year. I’m kind of partial to fishing the North Shore from Manhasset Bay to just west of Orient. There are some togzillas to be caught but the depth and currents around Plum Gut and The Race calling for double-digit ounce sinkers require a special skill set and touch. From Execution Rocks to the Middle Grounds there are deep and shallow spots and I love the shallow ones and working a jig. When blackfish jigs started to arrive on the scene a little over 10 years ago, I was lucky enough to give one a try. I hope, but doubt, I’ll catch a bigger tog in my life than the 17-pounder off Greenwich in 8 feet of water. The patience to not swing on the meaningless bites, pushing the limits of the lightest yet sturdiest leader that will hold up to the rubbing on boulders. It’s really fun fishing with a tasty reward. October is the best month for targeting tog with so many wrecks and structures untouched since the short spring season.
On the offshore front, it’s still worth a run out to the near offshore spots and for those with larger boats that can get to the edge, if there’s a weather window, pounce on it. The phenomenal bluefin and yellowfin bite with land still in sight this past August and through September will most likely continue through October. The enormous bunker pods that have lured in bluefin to 600 pounds in past years are here again and may very well supply some thrilling catches this month.
The little tunas as my son used to call them, false albacore are still zipping around chasing all sorts of small baits. Run and gun fishing for these speedsters is something I love to do when I get the chance. While I still carry deadly dick tins in a few color schemes and sizes in my albie bag, I’ve been mostly throwing epoxy jigs the past few years. They can be very picky eaters so be ready to switch from white to green to pink and back to white as needed. I know I’ll be cursing myself for not practicing more last winter with a fly rod and I see a buddy at the bow hooking into a hardtail. Maybe next year I’ll have that thrill of hooking into one on a fly.
As much love as I have for all the previous fish I’ve written about so far, my one true love and one that will never fade is for striped bass. This is the fish that lit the fire and kept fanning it from when my fishing obsession started some 15 years ago. By boat and by surf, October is go time. Last month I caught a few but the anticipation for the full-on chaos of the migration is here and is real. I’m lucky enough to live about a ten-minute drive to the beach and a few minutes longer drive to my buddy’s house with a 23’ center console docked in his cove.
First light and last light are still the best times to fish as the migrators move through, and often no light is the best time as big nocturnal feeding cows creep along the beach, through the inlets and the bays around structure and moving water. Darters, needlefish, bucktails and soft plastics (when the blues aren’t wreaking havoc on them) are the go-to choices from shore with a general rule of lighter colors on moonlit skies and darker colors around a new moon and overcast skies. I just got the hang of a darter last year, and for those who haven’t used one…they work. It’s a leap of faith of sorts that it is imparting action, and once you take that leap, you’ll be rewarded. During daylight, bucktails, spooks and poppers along with sand eel imitators are the right call.
When given the opportunity to work the bunker pods, the excitement and anticipation are at high levels. It’s tough to argue that anything artificial will catch better than a live bunker. We’ll have two or three rods rigged and ready to go with a circle hook for a quick transition to the circle hook for a snagged bunker. Typically, just one of those rods gets used during the drift as I opt for a large surface plug, flutter spoon, diamond jig or bucktail. I’ve had a lot of success the past few seasons with all, with the flutter spoon accounting for most of the catches. While you’re out looking for pods and they’re small when you find them or just not there, give bucktails a try. The stripers typically aren’t that big but casting a 1-ounce bucktail with a jig strip into any white water by a sandbar is very productive. This isn’t something to do though by yourself. I’ve seen plenty of close calls with guys fishing solo casting into white water and not realizing how quickly the tide moved them and how quick approaching waves are.
We’re down the homestretch, so don’t give up any opportunity to fish this month!