Montauk Fishing Reports

FISHING REPORTS

It was an epic week in Montauk with the striped bass. Acres of birds from gannets to artic terns were diving on bunker and bay anchovies. Some of those batches of birds were within reach and the surf making for some epic surf fishing. On the water, as long as you could find the birds you could find bass from unders to overs up to 30 lbs. A few bluefish have been showing up as well.

Opening day on Miss Montauk produced some nice size keepers. It’s only gonna get better from here, especially as that water starts to warm up. incoming has been best on the water, outgoing has been best for the surf.
No sign of pies yet, but there are blowfish available at the public docks, use clam and small hooks on hi lows to target them.

It was an amazing week of fishing for Montauk. Both from boat and from shore, anglers had great success. The blackfish grounds were filled with quality size fish, there was also a very good amount of decent size cod caught, and a mix of large ling. Some anglers stayed local and some traveled far. Both were successful. In the surf, the striped bass made an incredible showing with fish from rats to over-slot sized fish. They were eating a variety of lures from darters, SP minnows, diamond jigs, bass assassins, and Hopkins. The best of it started on Thursday. From the north side of the lighthouse to ditch plains fish could be found. There was also a showing of shad and herring, and no sign of squid yet. Come, check out the tackle store and get everything you need to gear up and hot tips for Fishing in Montauk both fresh and saltwater.

The fishing has picked up even more since last week, with more striped bass and bigger in the surf with fish just below the keeper range, and a slower pick on the blackfish bite from the shore. Still no sign of squid.
From the boat, there were reports of limits of blackfish and a few cod from members of Montauk Anglers Club Marina. The tackle shop is open and we have slips available for the season also transient slips are available with a launching ramp located on-site, this weekend’s weather is looking mint.

It was a special week in Montauk for the saltwater. Towards the beginning of the week, I landed my first striped bass of the year. It was caught at Ditch Plains, on a 5” albino shad bass assassin and a 3/4 oz S&S bigeye head, on the incoming tide. There is a ton of krill, shrimp, and spearing around providing plenty of forage for predators. The birds have been working the surf picking at these baits. 

On Tuesday I grabbed a small pack of frozen clam from Montauk Anglers Club tackle shop and headed to the tautog grounds to see if they arrived. I was pleasantly surprised with a keeper-sized female blackfish that I released. The blackfish are here and in shallow water. Now is a great time to target large-size blackfish from the shore. Come see me at Montauk Anglers Club and we’ll get you set up for surfcasting stripers and blackfish.