Fishing Report for Manhasset Bay

and Western Long Island Sound

(and where ever else I may be fishing)

The following reports are geared towards fly fisherman.

They are also a good indicator of what is going on out there for any type of fishing.

Exciting news from Atlantic Outfitters, we now have stand up paddle boards (SUPs) available for rental seven days a week!  Contact the Shop to make a reservation on the weekends.

Weather for the weekend looks great, which is excellent for boating but not so great for fishing.  Middle of the day the action will be slow.  High sun makes for slow fishing so try and go in the evening or early in the morning.  Water temperatures are in the mid 70’s in the sound and the high 70’s in the Bay.

Atlantic Outfitters has fresh bunker!  The Western Sound does not have much around, it was not easy to get.

Tides for the weekend:

Friday, July 29, High tide is at 10:45 PM.  Low tide is at 4:49 PM

Saturday, July 30, High tide is at 11:25 AM and PM.  Low tide is at 5:46 AM and 5:37 PM.

Sunday, July 31; High tide at 12:01 PM.  Low tide is at 6:21 AM and 6:24 PM.

The Manhasset Bay is jammed with snappers right now.  It is a great time to take your kids fishing.  Try to hit it as high tide for the best snapper action from the shore.  Use a snapper popper, small spoon lure, or long shank hook baited with spearing (minnows) with a bobber about 12” above your hook.  When fishing with lures for snapper reel your lure in quickly giving small tugs from time to time to get the most strikes.  At night the snappers are under the lights eating everything in sight.  Water quality is great right now so you can see the snappers feeing at night on stray cinder worms and other white bait.

Again, fluking has been great in Manhasset Bay and in the Western Sound.  Reports from Plum Point and East of Stepping Stones reef off Kings Point have been good.  Good numbers are being reported but not a lot of keepers.  Spearing and squid strips on Spro bucktails are always a great bet.  High-low rigs with a spearing and peanut bunker on them have also been doing well.  Atlantic Outfitters was finally able to get some peanut bunker.  We have them in the shop and in the bait machine out front.  Don’t forget the limit on fluke is 3 fish at 20.5”.  Watch out because the DEC is out there checking.

Striper action has been slow.  Warm temperatures and a lack of bunker have made for mediocre fishing.  Early morning and dusk have been the better times to be out there.  Bunker chunks in deeper water have been bringing in some fish but there haven’t been any great reports lately.  The run of larger fish has ended with the departure of the big schools of bunker in the area.  We have fresh bunker in the shop but had to get it from the South Shore because of the lack of it in the Western Sound.  There are still lots of schoolie size stripers around and they are hitting Smack-its and Storm swim shad.  Other soft plastics are also working well but the snappers keep chewing them up.  If you get out early in the AM try throwing a Smack-it or Pencil Popper around the rocks off Barkers or Hewlett Point.  Keeper size stripers like to lurk in the shallows in the AM.

Bluefish have been blitzing on spearing in the Sound.  Look for flocks of gulls working the surface to get in on the action.  Don’t motor right in on them, you will scare the fish off.  Keep your distance and cast to them or go upwind, turn off your engine, and drift down into the action so as not to disturb the fish.  Motoring up on them and chasing the birds around only spooks the fish and ruins the fishing.  Blues may be voracious but they are not fearless and the noise of a boat engine will scare them off when they are feeding on spearing and other small fish.  Keep it quite to prolong your fun.

Porgy fishing has been great.  Big fish are being taken off the points and rocks from Great Neck to Matinecock.  Minimum size for Porgies is 11 inches with a 10 fish limit.  Clam chum, sandworms, and clam strips have been the ticket.  Porgies are another great way to get your kids fishing.

Fly fishing, clousers and deceivers in chartreuse and white and olive and white have been working well.  You will feel snappers tugging at your fly all hours of the day.  If you want to have some fun get a 6 or 7 weight line and catch some snappers.  Use a fly with a small trailer hook (size 6 or 8) in its tail. We have them available in the shop.  Night time, around 8:30 to 9:30, as the tide is coming in stripers have been working in the lights eating left over cinder worms and white bait.  The action has been great until the tide gets near its peak; then the snappers are taking over.  If you can get to a dock with spot lights on it check it out.

Fisherman’s tip:  If you are going out on a boat it is best to look at a chart and learn the basic rules of the road.  There have been a large number of boaters hitting rocks over the past week because they did not pay attention to navigational markers.  If you don’t have a chart and are unsure remember Red Right Returning as a guide for passing/ rounding a navigational marker.  What it means is that as you are returning into a harbor or heading West on the Long Island side of the Sound you should leave Red navigational markers (nuns, bells, and rock piles with Red markers on them) to your Right (Starboard) side.  So again, when coming into a harbor leave all Red navigational aids to your Right (Starboard) side.  Don’t forget, Red-Right-Returning.  If you still aren’t sure, slow down, look around for another boat, and follow them as a last resort.  They may not know either but if you follow in their wake and they make it odds are pretty good you will also.  Don’t have a chart, go to:

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12366.shtml

You can view the detailed nautical chart of our area.  Don’t try and print it, it is a full sized chart that is roughly 3 foot by 3 foot.

For live reports, tips, etc. call Atlantic Outfitters at 516-767-2215 or check the website www.atlanticoutfitters.us.  You can also find us on Facebook, just search for Atlantic Outfitters.
Tight lines,
John
Atlantic Outfitters
405 Main Street, #2
Port Washington, NY 11050
(516)767-2215