NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY

Midsummer heat has come later than usual this year but the fishing has been steady across the region with anglers enjoying the benefits of masses of sand eels among other baitfish inundating our waters. Check out the photo of the big crab lodged in Brendan McCarthy’s bass’ throat. It might make you consider that crab fly next time you are on the flats. This good flats fishing won’t last too much longer so get out there before it’s over for the season. Those big bass will, indeed, eat just about anything. This leads me to ask: What is the strangest thing you have ever found in a striper’s throat or stomach?

Email reports, photos or stories to—> lionthefly@optonline.net

Until next time, tight lines and strong knots…

-Capt. Andrew Derr

EASTERN LONG ISLAND/PECONIC BAY/GARDINERS BAY

Captain Andrew Derr reports:

Water around home (Greenport) is starting to get a little warm so the flats action is starting to wain a little bit in the western reaches of my fishing areas. There are fish on them during the right tides but they are getting a little tougher to feed. Therefore, I have been pushing to the east a bit further where temps are hanging around 62-65 degrees and we are loaded up with sand eels, like much of our region. Plenty of good sized bass and blues in the 4-8 pound range. A lot of these spots (flats, humps, rips…) I have not fished since last year around this time. I love that the changing water temps expose me to so many different spots with their uniqueness and beauty. I’ll be fishing between Greenport and Fishers Island for the rest of the summer before heading off to Montauk in the early part of September for a couple of months.
Montauk Fall Run dates still available…

-Captain Andrew Derr
www.longislandonthefly.com
212.495.9062

Brendan McCarthy reported a week ago:

Had a nice past 4 days. Fished JBay Friday with Bruce from Nebraska. Nothing too big but pretty steady action on a super nice day. His first stripers ever, which is always cool. Saturday sightfished with Jim Hirsch in Peconic/Gardiners. Great weather, lotta fish to cast at, not a ton of eats. Good fun tho.

Sunday with Chef Kerry Heffernan. Cloudy till 10, amazing till 3 and then blowing 20 plus after that. Managed a bit more than a handful with sightfishing. 32 incher biggest. Cool take and all, as Kerry left it in em, kept just jumping the crab fly off the bottom and he didnt seem to be able to find it. Once we landed it, you can see why. Had a big Green crab in its throat and was blind in one eye. Kinda related to the guy as that is how I have been feeling with no sleep lately!

Bill Canavan and his brother Gerry came to fish Gardiners on Monday and had the most beautiful weather I have seen all year. Problem is there was not that many fish around. Ended up with only about 10 shots and very picky fish with it being so calm. Wind really kicked up at 2 or so. Got a easy 15 pounder in a foot of water on a pink sluggo. Threw it as a goof and it hammered it and ran for the channel. almost spool light spin reel but got em back to the boat and the “Hook” pulled. very hot fish. so I bitch about bad weather al of June, now it has been perfect and I dont really see the fish?>!?!?!?

Am soooo happy to say I am taking a week off with the kids and going to Vineyard with my skiff to fish. I really gotta wonder…First week I have taken off in the summertime in many years and cannot wait. Heard they are slayin..

Check out this photo I took of the Brooklyn sunset from out of my sunroof, it totally got a cool shot of the little striper I have on my Antenna. very weird!!

Lata,
Capt Brendan McCarthy
www.Urbanflyguides.com

PS- The FCA/Redbone Tournament is Sept 24 and 25 this year. Held at Montauk Yacht Club, It is a super fun catch and release tourney benefitting Cystic Fibrosis reasearch. A very worthy cause. and a great 2 days of fishing. If you know anyone that wants to guide or fish, let me know as myself and Gary Ellis the founder of Redbone are getting it together now and there are very few rooms at MYC at the old rate and you dont want to know the new rate!!

Also I want to say of anyone is looking to fish in the tourney or in Montauk in general, this is the time to plan as it bookings are really busy already, and hotels are going to be hard to find as well.  Talk Soon

METRO/J-BAY/BREEZY

7/23 John McMurray reports:

Going off…  In July?

Yeah man…  It’s been good.  Usually July is what we’d consider a slow month here, but during the last week we’ve had solid blitz action off the beach.  A body of fish, most of which are in the 30-plus inch range, seem to have followed schools of butterfish and squid in.  Each morning we’ve been turning the corner to find fish blasting schools of butterfish.

They’re eating flies, plugs and jigs, but we’ve been getting most of our larger fish (up to 36”) on poppers.  When they are blitzing like that you could pretty much throw anything at them though.  The blitz thing has been dying once the sun comes up and the knucklheads come out and run their boats over the birds.  But there has been a consistent pick of fish on some of the shallow bars, and there are some fish right around keeper size up against some of the better known structure.  We’ve been doing quite well throwing poppers and scoring quality fish on just about every trip.

There have been some sight-fishing opportunities on the back side of Breezy also, but it hasn’t been consistent, and usually when the forces of nature align, I’ve been stuck with the larger boat.  That’s because, as of late we’ve been focusing our energy gearing up to run offshore.  Unfortunately, every time we’re scheduled to go, the weather ends up not allowing for it.  Frustrating, but that’s the way the offshore thing works.

That said, we’ve run into some skipjack and bonito about 15 to 20 miles out before the wind has forced us to turn around and come back in.  While these fish aren’t in great numbers and thus are hard to target with fly or spin gear, their appearance leads me to believe that we’ll see them in real solid numbers in our inshore waters shortly.  So stay tuned and we’ll let ya know what’s happening on that front.

In the meantime, as I mentioned, the inshore fishing aint bad…  At least not for this time of the year.  And if you’re down with livelining bunker, there’s a ton of it out there and during those days I’ve been fishing solo, I’ve been doing pretty well with the larger bass.  So, give us a ring if you want to get out, and don’t forget to check out our website: www.nycflyfishing.com.

EASTERN LONG ISLAND SOUND

7/17 Capt. Catalano reports:

A nice fly rod striper from Capt. Vinny Catalano

Well it was an epic week on the flats!! With sun being out everyday and the tides being perfect i was expecting a solid week of fishing but the size of fish was the best part. Clients enjoyed sticking fish up to 36 inches and i was lucky enough to get out myself and boat a nice 42inch mid 20 pound bass that sucked up a crab pattern monday morning in less then a foot of water! If you like to fish the flats now is the time its RED HOT!

Thanks Andrew.

-Capt Vinny Catalano
Joeyccharters.blogspot.com
631-766-1695

WESTERN LONG ISLAND SOUND

7/19 Captain Robin Calitri reports:

Hey Andrew.  Hope all is well with you. Things are good here. Any word of Bonito off RI or Tuna in the ocean? BASSt, Robin

Oh how I love the variety that Long Island offers. My wife Caren and I took a quick spin on Csicagain on Saturday. While she read the paper I took a short fluke and a nice bass on the olive over white clouser in the protected waters of Northport Bay

After taking afirst place with 11 pounds eleven ounces of Large and Small mouths in Lake Mahopac in a Long Island Bassmasters tournament, I took fellow LIBer, Mitch Bernstein out for a Striper search mission. Mitch got a 26 inch beauty off the Norwalk Islands and I got a couple of heavy schoolies off Eaton’s The fish are on crabs and sand eels in shallow water.
Monday night saw Joel Weiss and Artie Greenberg slaughter the small Blues of LICO on topwater stuff. Artie finished the day with his first striper. Way to go judge.

I was treated to a couple of days with Captain Vinny Catelano. We poled one another around for many shots ant 10+ Bass in 2 fet of water. It is hard not to wet yourself when you see these wonderful torpedoes coming across a flat at you. Vinny is a pro at this flats game. I still have a few open dates and the Bonito should be starting any day.

BASSt,
Captain Robin Calitri,
LongIslandFlyFishing.com

(Editors note: in answer to Captain Calitri’s question about Bonito off RI, the Cape Cod Saltwater Fishing Report for this week has reports of the first bonito being taken off both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, so one would expect Block Island ought to start this week and the funny fish ought to show up of the RI coast some time in the next two weeks.)