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Fortunately, there is still a lot of good fishing ahead of us. There have been spotty bluefin reports and striped bass off Montauk this week giving anglers a ray of light while they cross their fingers for the herring run which will bring the largest bass of the fall. The waters surrounding Jamaica Bay are still loaded with bait and a lot of stripers. Jersey is fishing great as well with anglers expecting the season to run into January. There are big chopper blues and a lot of bass in the 20"-30" class with some bigger fish mixed in for those that patiently pick away at them. It is far from over folks. So, hit it while you still can and be ready for the herring run which has come during the second week of December, two of the last three years. And everything has been a little late this season. I know that I haven't pulled my boat yet. Time will tell. Signing off for the last time of the season. In the meantime, keep your rods bent and your lines tight. Thanks again for a great season. -Capt. Andrew L. Derr 631.477.6065
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I'd like to start by thanking all of our readers and all of the captains for their involvement and their contributions to the reports this past fishing season. I know that in many parts of the region, the fishing is still going strong but this will be our last report of the year as well as a wrap-up to the entire season. We have had so many great anecdotes, insights, and photographs over the course of the season. It has been a pleasure for me to sift through them each week. 
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Western Long Island
Fly fishing in the Western Sound has been a little slow for the past few weeks with many anglers focusing their efforts elsewhere. It isn't over yet though. Hempstead harbor has had some striped bass but the fish are I'd like to thank Captain Tom. Cornicelli of Back Bay Charters for all of his reports from across our region. Here's a picture of one of the incredible bass he teased up to a fly this summer. The same goes to Ken Coutlangus of Frequent Flyer Guide Service. Both have provided invaluable reports for us and have included great pictures of some true bruisers. |
a little deeper. That said, there have been some decent fish right around that 28" mark along with a lot of schooloies. Bluefishing ha declined recently but there are still some mixed in with the bass.
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Eastern Long Island
Fishing off of Montauk has been a bit spotty but there have been some decent bluefin reports with a few reported catches in the past week or so. The fish have been spotted pretty close to shore but nothing really substantial that made me want to drop everything and go. I have not given up yet and have the feelers out for anything that sounds slightly promising. There are bass around as well. They have been predominantly on the south side and feeding on bunker. Herring are about, but not in great numbers. It may still happen though. I have heard reports of fish to the north that could show here if the herring thing really happens. It isn't over until its over so I have yet to winterize the boat. I remember catching big bass on herring last December 17th, so I have hung my hopes on that. We would alos like to thank sponsor Jim Levison of Double Haul Charters for all the great photos documenting the Summer's flats fishing around the Montauk. |
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New York Metro
What a long strange trip its been! When I think back to early April when new put the boats back in the water it seems like ages ago, and at the same time yesterday, it's funny how that goes. We start with Stripers and we end with Stripers. In between we had some the fishing ranged from red ho to “what happened” but all in all another great year in the NY Bight! As for the False Albacore fishing, it was one of the best in many years with a new boat record of 17 landed in one day by one angler! We really should remember how good the fishing really is right here in NYC and never take it for granted. Being able to catch giant Striped Bass up to 50 pounds, monster Bluefish that pull like Pit Bulls on a As for this weeks report, the end of November is shaping up to be one of the best in a while. Double digit Stripers everyday and some real nice fat ones every so often, have been keeping us out even when the wind won’t cooperate. Large amounts of Sand Eels and “peanut bunker” are the main forage, but the Herring can’t be far behind and then the big girls will show up. Last year we went right into the New Year catching Stripers and hope to do so again for 2008, nothing is better than ringing in the New Year catching 50 Bass on fly, as we did last New Year's Eve. I want to thank all of my clients for another great season, my 10th as a guide and wish all a happy holiday season, until next spring…Peace, Capt. Frank Capt Chris Hessert (http://www.manhattanfly.com/) reports: Hey Andrew, Captain David Azar reports: In the 2007 season I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of new people and even got to catch some new fish, like a big spanish mackerel and loads of bonito that were around in the Jamaica Bay area for 2 straight months! Again this year the spring striper run was spectacular with many fish over 25 pounds, Even the bluefishing was special this year with fish over 10 pounds very common. But without doubt the highlight of the year was the amazing run of false albacore we had, far and away the best many of us have ever witnessed. Not only |
Well, I guess I can write this off as a pretty good season… But I have to say we’re see less "trophy" size bass each year. We caught a lot of good fish but those bass above 20-pounds were few and far between. I know there are some localized schools of big fish in Montauk and under the bunker in Jersey, but the lack of those roaming larger, older fish worries me greatly. Hopefully it was just an off year or two. However, it doesn’t take a genius to see the stacks of dead "keepers" at any marina on any given day to see that there's a lot of killing of large fecund females going on. Only time will tell I suppose. So in short, Jamaica Bay was pretty good in the spring. I managed to stick a few nice ones on poppers up on the sod-banks, which is without-a-doubt the most fun way to fish bass. Our fall Jamaica Bay run was okay, but didn't seem to last as long as it usually does. Still, we had a few spectacular days. This was the best albie season in my neck of the woods in recent memory. The bonito run this year was pretty sick also. Unfortunately, not skipjack this year, but the daily presence of bonito more than made up for it. The verdict is still out on the late season bass run. We're seeing some good fish here and there on the ocean side but I'm hoping we're gonna get a run of big fat slob bass when the herring show in force. That should happen any day now. I’m planning on keeping the boats in this year into January unless we get some serious weather that would require me to pull them. Be sure to check the website every week or so where we will continue to post reports. 
Hey Andrew, thanks for a great year of putting together our reports, I have enjoyed your thoughts and friendly reminders to post, thanks and all the best for the coming new year! 
short leash, Weakfish, that rival any freshwater Trout in a beauty contest and tasty Fluke only minutes from downtown NY … awesome. Being able to use the same boat to run just two hours offshore and catch hard fighting Tuna fish not to mention white and blue Marlin, as well as dozens on Mahi, Mahi…priceless. We are truly blessed. I know many places in the U.S. call themselves “the sport fishing capitol” of whatever, but I’ll put NYC up against any other for length of season and quality of the fishery. 
June/July with decent size. The high point was the Bonito/Albie action, which was really very good...speaking to guys that have been fishing these waters much longer than I have, chalked this season up as probably the best for the tunoids. Had 10/15 Bonito/Albies days ALL the time! (Aug, Sept, Oct, even part of Nov). The early near offshore action with Mahi, BFT was sub par, the Bonito/Albie action filled that void, big time. The summer to fall water temps did not make a very smooth transition, water temps fell quickly.
50/100s taken very close to the shore line and a good # of sightings too.
The fall run is far from over, and has been excellent so far. We have been catching large quantities of school stripers every trip out, and there are plenty of bigger fish available to fly rodders as well as light tackle anglers. Weather permitting I will continue to run charters until mid-December. Contact me for open dates.
were the numbers of fish unusual, their average size was way bigger than what we usually see in the New York Bight, with the average albie approaching 8 pounds with several going over 10. While as of this writing the season is not over, it has been a special one, and a big thank you goes out to all of you that came out fishing this year, it was a pleasure having you aboard. May the coming year be one of peace, understanding and even better fishing! Hope to see you out there.
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New Jersey
Capt. Gene Quigley (www.shorecatch.com) reports: Andrew - First let me say that is has been a pleasure to be a part of Reel-time again this year. We want to thank all of our clients for supporting us this year and hope to see everyone next season. With that said our bass season is just starting to get really good here. We still have tons of BIG blues and have not even begun to see our runs of bigger bass. Like last year, I think it is going to be a "December to Remember" and a January that we will never forget. All we need is the Herring back and the Game is on. This week the fishing was again outstanding - nothing of any major size, just ALOT of bass in the 22 to 30 inch range taking flies with a vengeance. Classic conditions with topwater blitzes. Here are a few shots from this week. Overall our season was a major success. In the spring, we had yet another famed BIG bass run with fish in may and June from 20 to 50 lbs. As most of the bigger (40 & 50 Lbers) bass were taken on conventional gear, we still has a great deal of 20 to 30 lbers on the fly. Offshore things got off to a great start - the bonito run was epic, Dolphin fly fishing breathtaking, and the albie fishing heart pounding. Way offshore we had a tremendous season with Yellowfin and White Marlin. Catching these fish in the fly is ultra challenging, but when you do hook up, man is amazing! In 2008 we will be really focusing on Yellowfin and Marlin is our new 34 ft center console!!! The fall started with a bang as massive schools of big blues crashed our beaches - talk about fly rod heaven!! Hi Andrew, this week was great for all my clients as we had mega bass numbers and monster blues all on the fly. Birds, bait, and fish everywhere. It was awesome with hook-ups all day long! It was another great season for our clients with blitzes like this characterizing most of the fall! Some other highlights were we had a good showing of 30 pound bass again in the spring and some nice mahi on our midshore grounds. Thanks to Reel-time for some great reports!! See you at the shows, have a great winter, Capt Jim Capt. Kevin Halek of Shorecatch Guide Service reports: Sunday: Capt. Kevin Halek |
Hey Andrew, Saturday the fishing inside of Sandy Hook over to the Navy Pier was 
