Montauk Fishing Reports

INSHORE

All around, it was the best week for fishing in Montauk we’ve had so far this year from freshwater to saltwater and inshore to offshore. It seems like the only fishermen not catching fish are the surf casters.

The striped bass fishing has peaked for the summer season. During the flood tide, and on the day of the new moon, diamond jigs were extremely productive for catching slot-sized fish. Throughout the week, bigger fish were caught on a variety of bucktails and the Nomad Squidtrex 95g in Cali Red. I caught fish up to 40 lbs. Captain Savio of the Fishhooker said he was catching fish upwards of 55 lbs on snap-jigging bucktails. This is about the longest I’ve seen the striped bass stick around Montauk. Hopefully, they’ll stay all summer.

The fluke fishing is now quite good. For fluke tackle, I can recommend the best setup for catching keepers or for targeting the largest fluke in the area. My customers can attest to this after using my hand-tied rigs with a specific color of Gulp. My custom setup will increase your chances exponentially to limit out and catch a monster!

The porgies are here in full force, you’ll have no problem catching your limit of jumbo XL fish. I have been doing very well with the porgies using none other than the Nomad Squidtrex.

Black seabass fishing has really improved. I caught my first keeper on the grub/jig head combo and finished up my limit with the Nomad Squidtrex 95g in Glow.

OFFSHORE

Tuna fishing has been insane! We’ve been seeing several fish over 100 pounds in multiple species! A few bigeyes and yellowfin came in and tilefish, bluefin, and even a wahoo were weighed in in the past week! Giant bluefin fishing remains active with many fish from 300-500lb being retained commercially. We expect the scales to remain busy as this week kicks off the Montauk Canyon Challenge. Our walls have just been restocked with shipments from Chatter Lures, RonZ, and Jinkai. Stop in to gear up!

The beautiful, mid-summer water has been pushing in masses of bait of all varieties. You’ll see foot-long sand eels, squid, Boston mackerel, horse-eye mackerel, bunker, and much more. All of the predators are out to feed. You’ll find gigantic striped bass on these schools of bait from East Hampton to 3 miles south of the Block Island wind farms.

In Montauk, the striped bass over 50lbs have arrived – this was to the joy of many anglers who shattered their old PB records. Now is the time to catch the striped bass of a lifetime! If you’re a surf fisherman, put the time in now. The best time to go this week is after midnight for a shot at your PB!

There are some XXL black seabass around, but that will change very soon. They will be on the move to Montauk with the new moon coming. Fluke fishing is the best I’ve seen in a long time. The party boats are crushing it, with nearly a dozen double digits landed since last week for the fleet. There are also a few porgies around. They are all of the XXL variety with more flooding in every day.

The bluefin tuna bite continues to impress offshore – way offshore. The yellowfin bite has picked up, and the same goes for bigeyes. Chatter Lures sidetrackers and splash bars have landed most of these fish along with Nomad DTX minnows, specifically the 220 size in pink/purple colors. The smaller yellowfin are being caught on the troll, the bigger YFT are on the chunk. Bigeyes are also eating the Wolfpack Ahi Heads with soft plastic tails.

Come see me at Montauk Anglers Club tackle shop where we offer an incredible selection of tackle at competitive prices.

Everything seems to be improving from inshore to offshore. The striped bass fishing remains consistently good with lots of slot-size fish being caught, as well as a handful of overs – some are 50 lbs!

The bluefish have moved in making it a little more difficult to catch your striped bass. My biggest recommendation is if you get on the bluefish – move! Once they get charged up, there is no stopping them or getting through to the striped bass, they are just too aggressive. Let’s not hate on the bluefish though, the thresher sharks are here and that’s one of their favorite baits!

Fluke fishing has picked up with some decent fish to show for it. The hot color this year is blue! Blue fuze gulp – as we mentioned in yesterday’s report – has been the ticket (we just restocked) to produce some keepers. With the influx of sandeels of the XXL size, more fluke will be coming in. The porgies have arrived, with people getting their limits of jumbos! Clam and squid are the bait of choice for them. You can’t forget about the Nomad Squitrex! They’ve been hard to keep on the shelf. The first time I fished with it I caught every available inshore species in Montauk.

Surfcasting has been incredibly tough. We are almost on week two of tough surf fishing, only those who are putting the time in are getting what they are looking for.

Offshore bluefin tuna has been phenomenal! Chatter Lures side and spreader bars are the ticket to success. They aren’t very far away, now is the time to get out there and get your limit of beautiful bluefin tuna.

The sharks have finally arrived in Montauk; with Mako shark, thresher shark, and blue shark in the mix. Come into the shop and I will set you up with the ultimate shark-catching set-up. These are only available upon request. Built to give you an edge over those who don’t have one, they are a must-have for shark tournament fishermen. I’m here Monday through Friday from

6 AM – 2 PM. The shop closes at 6 PM.

Grab a pack of spearing and feed our dock pets (striped bass from slot size to 30 lbs are here!). See you soon soon.

– Captain Chris Albronda

Follow @montaukanglersclubtackle and @montauk_fishing for live updates

Update: The MACM tackle shop will be the first tackle store to carry the new Chatter Lures 24″ Side Tracker Wingman Bars in purple, calamari, green, rainbow, and zucchini. Stay tuned for when they arrive!

Inshore fishing continued to impress and improve, and offshore fishing is just starting to heat up. Bluefish now outnumber the striped bass, making it difficult to get to the stripers, especially with the new moon tide. The hardest parts of the tides are the most effective time to catch the striped bass and avoid the bluefish. According to the fluke party boats, fluke fishing is improving daily, with more keepers landed every trip. Now is the time to get out there for the fluke-oholics. Grab some Gulp, squid strips, or bucktails of any size or color to reel in the fluke. The porgies are still in Cherry Harbor. They will soon flood the point and stick around till the fall. 

The inshore bluefin tuna bite has produced a rough average of 30–40” fish with some fish up to 60” being caught on the troll. The Chatter Lures side trackers, and spreader bars are catching most of those fish! We have the colors you need in store. And if you’re looking for a shot at a giant, we have the ballyhoo and Joe Shutes to land one. The Ronz 10″ tail in sandeel paired with the 5oz head has been a very popular combo, as well as the Chatter Lures/Ronz 3oz chute.

The Thermocline came in yesterday morning with a 105 lb bluefin! Bite was at first light using a Chatter Lures 19” spreader bar in sandeel. They saw a ton of sand eels, a few whales, and not too many fish – except the one they caught! 

The surfcasting scene was very tough this week. Some more devoted fishermen took to their zodiacs and patrolled the shallows for giant bass. The first reports of squid have finally come in. They weren’t the best reports, but it was better than nothing. 

Come to the tackle shop for the most up-to-date fishing information you can find and get geared up to get out there on the water and crush some fish!

– Captain Chris Albronda

Follow @montaukanglersclubtackle and @montauk_fishing for live updates

The fishing is getting better every day. All kinds of bait have been passing through, from butterfish and squid to bay anchovies and spearing. The first batches of bunker have arrived down the beach, along with whales, dolphins, larger striped bass, and masses of bluefish. The giant bluefin tuna are also in tow – more on that below. Light tackle fishermen used bucktails, slow-pitch jigs, live eels, flutter spoons, and the Nomad Squidtrex for striped bass and bluefish. Also, check out the Tsunami 9″ Pro Flutter Spoon for landing striped bass. Wire fishermen did well with umbrella rigs and parachutes.

The bluefish have invaded. Make sure you’re hugging the bottom to pass through the bluefish and reach the bass. Keep your retrieves low and slow for your best shot at a striper.

Fluke fishing has been heating up and fishermen are landing some big ones, along with tons of shorts. It’s shaping up to be a great season on the fluke grounds. Hopefully, the gigantic black sea bass will stick around for the opening day (June 23). Try the Nomad Gypsea Jig for landing sea bass. The giant bluefin tuna were out exploring last week. The bait and birds were everywhere from the tip of the hole to Tuna Ridge. If you were lucky enough to find the whales, you found the giants. Follow @montaukanglersclubtackle and @montauk_fishing for daily tackle reports.

Update: The MACM tackle shop is now stocking Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon. It is the thinnest diameter fluorocarbon on the market right now and Chris’s favorite leader to use anywhere in the world. We have it in 30lb and 40lb, as well as a handful of other Seaguar products and fluorocarbon.

The larger caliber striped bass showed up with fish in the mid-40s making an appearance and being caught on a variety of different methods from trolling wire, live Bait, surface lures, and vertical jigging. The bluefish have showed up in full force making for action-filled trips. The porgy fishing has picked up a little bit closer to home, the fish are being caught in Cherry Harbor by the bucket-full. The squid has still not made an appearance The bluefin opener produced some decent-sized fish up to 72”. Fluke fishing is getting better every day with more and more keepers being landed, and some bigger fish making an appearance. All of the tackle listed above is available for purchase at Montauk Anglers Club Tackle Shop.

It was an awesome week of fishing in Montauk, especially with the striped bass. During the full moon fish up to 30 pounds were caught in the surf while fish in the 40s were caught from the boat. Fish are chewing on a variety of lures, the most effective being flutter spoons. The stripers were mainly feeding on butterfish and bay anchovies. You can figure out where they are by the size of birds diving in the water. If there are terns, they are diving on anchovies and if there are bigger common birds, they’re eating butterfish. In other news, plenty of double-digit fluke were caught this week and lots of keepers and shorts were chewing. Montauk Anglers Club tackle shop recently received an order from Super Strike, as well as loading up on a variety of bucktails and teasers to go with them. Come check us out and hand-feed the striped bass while you’re here.

It was an exciting week of fishing in Montauk. With tons of anglers hitting the surf from town to North Bar there were reports of slot-sized striped bass, and a mass of bluefish provided anglers with nonstop cast-after-cast action. At the elbow, both the trolling and the light tackle boats were very successful in catching bass. Not as many slot-size fish were available as the week before, but there were enough to get a limit. There was a mix of short and oversized stripers. The fluke fishing has picked up with some bigger fish showing up, including an 11 lb fluke! You have to work for your keepers but it’s happening! Come check us out at Montauk Anglers Club Tackle Shop and get geared up with everything you need from lures, bait, rods, and reels, and get expert knowledge on what’s happening in Montauk.

This week proved to be even better than last week, the striped bass fishing for this time of year is as good as I’ve seen it in the past 30 years. With all sizes available up to 35lb class, and a mix of very large bluefish, it doesn’t get much better than this. You can get them feeding on the surface or mark them and drop slow-pitch jigs and diamond jigs on them. There was a steady flow of fluke to be caught, most of the fish were keepers. From the surf, especially at night bigger fish are being caught on top water lures. The majority of the fish were caught near the lighthouse. During the day, the SP Minnow bone color has been very successful. Come see me at Montauk Anglers Club tackle shop to get the latest news on the bite, and all the gear you need to make it happen.

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

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.