Great Action from the Surf to the Canyons
Summer ending brings about sadness for many Long Islanders, but I have come to embrace it. Traffic eases up as the tourists and non-fishing beachgoers return home, and the pace of everything just seems to slow down. On the fishing side, quite the opposite happens. In my life, things become less hectic with work in the shop and life obligations, while simultaneously my mind devolves into fiendish fishing mode, making me crazy in a good way. Summer ending and September beginning means the start of our fall run. What’s in store for the next couple of months is the absolute best time, in my opinion, for all types of anglers on the Island. It’s time to burn the candle at both ends and fish like it’s your last season ever … or hear the tales of glory from your fishing buddies.
Surfcaster’s Paradise
When envisioning fall-run-style fishing, birds working above a pounding surf zone, with bent rods in a lineup, are the first that come to mind. Over the next two months, schools of migrating stripers will converge, with hoards of bait making their way out of the bays and down the beach. The result? An absolute melee that surfcasters wait all year to play a part in. The first act of this usually takes place with mullet exiting the bays along the oceanside beaches in the first few weeks of September—that first chilly night is when it typically jumps off. When this situation presents itself during daylight hours, topwater plugs like Polaris-style poppers get the job done. If in doubt, however, throw a bucktail since these work in just about all conditions.
Right as we think about flipping the calendar from September to October, a larger variety of forage species enter into the mix. The bays hosted a massive amount of peanut bunker and bay anchovies as early as the end of May this year, which we normally don’t see until the late-summer population moves in. With that said, I think we’re in for even greater fall-run frenzies as the bait exits the bays. On both the ocean and Sound sides, be prepared to see some huge feeds on peanut bunker and anchovies, and not just from stripers (more on that later).
Toward the end of October, we may even start to see some sand eels in the oceanside surf as the transition to the “late fall” pattern starts to happen. Sand eels are both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to have relatively easy, consistent action that lasts for weeks in the same locations. Unfortunately, with easy fishing comes crowds. If you want to escape the circus, put your hours in at night. Not only will you have the spots mainly to yourself, but you’re more likely to pull in bigger fish to top it off. Be prepared to move westward with the fish as the days go on if you want to stay on a bite.
Speed Season: Inshore Pelagics
People obsess over hardtails, and for good reason. There is nothing more adrenaline-inducing or better fighting than these fish, with their blisteringly speedy runs and a “never say die” attitude. Some of us who really hunt for them may have already had early-season glory and seen or even caught a few in the last week of August. The first week of September is classically the official start to our Long Island false albacore season, though, as this is when the beloved fun-sized members of the tuna family really start to invade our inshore waters.
In general, Montauk and the rest of the South Fork will likely be the first to light up with albie blitzes. The central to western parts of the South Shore should see them soon after, and the Sound usually one to two weeks later. If you suffer from the same sickness that I do, you’ll spend the majority of the next couple of months in tireless pursuit of these fish from a boat or from the rocks with a fly rod in hand (or light spinning tackle if you’re not there yet). Even if you’re not targeting albies, my advice is to always be ready when fishing for anything in the ocean or Sound for the next month or two. Keep a light spinning rod or a fly rod rigged and ready to cast just in case they start popping up.
When it comes to finding these fish, it’s common knowledge that the waters surrounding Montauk Point are a renowned haven for them. The areas in and around the South Shore inlets are also reliable. In the Sound, try anywhere from Smithtown Bay to Orient, focusing on any of the points. The key to finding them is high volumes of small baitfish like bay anchovies or spearing to draw them in. Strong current flows and rips help to concentrate the bait, making them vulnerable to albie assaults. Your best bet is to mill around in these likely areas at low speed while looking for fish. When you see them, resist the urge to “run and gun,” as that tends to shut them down. If you idle around when you’re in the general area, chances are they’ll eventually pop up near you. Approach the school at a low speed and try to position yourself up-drift so you can cut the motor and float past them while you make a shot. Blind-casting goes a long way, too, when you know they’re in the area, especially from shore.
On spinning tackle, you can’t go wrong with size 1 Deadly Dicks, or 3/8- to ¾-ounce epoxy jigs. Pick a 7- to 8-foot rod appropriate for casting those weight ranges paired with a 3000- to 4000-size reel. For fly guys, an 8- to 10-weight is fine, depending on conditions, with either a floating or intermediate line. Tie on a small epoxy baitfish pattern or an “Albie Whore” on the end of a 20-pound fluoro tippet and you should be in the money for some little tunny.
Pelagics of the Larger Variety
Mini inshore tunas are an absolute blast, but it’s fun to go for larger, more edible offshore varieties as well. We’ve had a pretty solid tuna season thus far, but what’s to come in September and October will often be even better. Canyon-wise, trolling will continue to be effective, but nighttime chunking will start to really shine for bigeyes and yellowfins as we move deeper into the fall. With tuna baits out and a squid set deep near the thermocline, you also have a very good chance of hooking a swordfish.
On the mid-shore tuna grounds, there should be both mixed bluefins and yellowfins present in the next month or two. The jig-and-pop guys usually start to move away from the heavily jig-centric summertime fishing. Casting lures becomes effective again, with surface feeds happening more regularly. If we’re lucky, we’ll have another “dragger bite” again this fall, provided that the squid and scallop boats get clustered up in the 20- to 40-fathom range. Keep an eye on that A.I.S. tracking.
Not only are commercial boats a good indication of where the bait is, but tunas tend to follow them around because they get to feed all day on discarded bycatch being thrown overboard. The best strategy for fishing this bite is to “become the dragger” by setting up near them while chumming heavily. The goal is to get the fish to move off from the dragger and into your slick. You can use just about any baitfish for chunking—butterfish, herring, sardines, peanut bunker, etc. Don’t be stingy, bring more than you think you’ll need, and keep the chunks constantly going overboard, even when the fish are already in the slick.
Time For Tautog
Back on the inshore scene. it isn’t all fall-run action and blitzes. Many bottom-fishing junkies wait all year for October and the blackfish season to open. These wreck and reef dwellers can be tricky to hook, fight like bulldogs, and I think they are the best-tasting fish we have locally. In October, the fish stay relatively shallow, which means targeting them around inlet jetties and shallow rock piles on the South Shore, and in the boulder-strewn bottom on the North Shore in less than 40 feet of water. (A lot of these rock reefs are off the points.) Conventional bait rigs work, but it’s a great time to fish your crabs on tautog-specific jigs. It’s a very efficient way to fish, and the lighter spinning tackle that you fish them on makes it especially fun.
Jeff Lomonaco is the E-Commerce/Media Coordinator and Tackle Consultant at White Water Outfitters in Hampton Bays, NY, and is a monthly columnist at On The Water Magazine. You can follow him on Instagram @jefflomonaco.
READ MORE
Fishing the Northeast Mullet Run
In the Northeast, an annual mullet run creates what some anglers consider the best beach bite of the fall, albeit a short-lived one.
The Montauk Fall Run Logbook
A collection of journal entries show the many side of the fall run in Montauk, New York.
Mahi Fishing Out of New York City
Sight-fishing for mahi-mahi on light tackle is more than a day-saver for tuna “wishermen”.
