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Today's fishing reports
Montauk Bass Bite Cools as Fluke and Bluefin Heat Up
The big striped bass bite off Montauk is beginning to slow down, according to the July 9 Long Island and NYC Fishing Report from On The Water, but keeper fluke are showing up in stronger numbers from the South Shore reefs and bays into Long Island Sound. Just a week earlier, On The Water noted the Montauk bass bite was still keeping inshore anglers busy while midshore bluefin tuna fishing was "on fire," and OTW Saltwater's July 8 offshore report confirms tuna action remains hot from Maryland into New England. Surfcasters chasing bass are leaning on live eels and glidebaits after dark, per recent OTW Surfcasting gear rundowns, while fluke anglers are working bucktail and Gulp combos over the reefs. NY DEC's saltwater newsletters confirm summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass seasons are open, with striped bass regulations in effect, so check current limits before keeping fish. Expect the pattern to keep shifting as we move deeper into the summer doldrums.
Wabash smallmouth and walleye settle onto summer weedlines
Bob Jensen's July dispatch for Fishing the Midwest captures the moment well: the 2026 open-water season is in full swing, and anglers working weedlines are getting bit while those who don't add the technique are missing out. On the Wabash River, that pattern is showing up in smallmouth and largemouth keying on vegetation edges, and a companion piece from Mike Frisch at the same outlet notes that a well-placed moving bait over emerging weeds - paired with a freshly sharpened treble hook - is turning near-misses into keepers this month. No fresh NOAA buoy or USGS gauge readings came through for the Wabash or southern Lake Michigan today, so treat flow and water temperature as seasonal norms rather than a live reading until the next data pull. Walleye should be shadowing those same weed edges as the water holds summer warmth, while Lake Michigan perch typically scatter into deeper, cooler water through mid-July heat - a seasonal pattern, not a local report, since no source flagged perch activity this week.
Chesapeake stripers face summer heat as croaker, spot bite steady
No fresh buoy or gauge readings and no Chesapeake-specific field reports came through this cycle, so this update leans on typical mid-July Bay patterns plus what's trending in nearby Mid-Atlantic waters. By now, Chesapeake striped bass fishing usually slows as surface temps push into the 80s, and warm-water release mortality becomes a real concern, pushing captains toward deeper structure, early mornings, and evening tides rather than midday soak sessions. Spot and croaker are typically the Bay's July workhorses, providing steady bottom action on bloodworm and squid rigs over hard bottom and channel edges, and nothing in the available intel suggests that changing this week. Flounder should be picking up too: per The Fisherman — Southern NJ, back-bay flatties just to the north have turned aggressive on minnows and Gulp baits as water temps stabilized, a pattern that tends to arrive in Chesapeake waters on a similar timeline. Check state regs before harvesting.
Arkansas smallmouth bite heats up as summer tournaments roll through
A Phoenix Bass Fishing League event on the Arkansas River, weighed in July 11 near Sallisaw, Oklahoma (per MLF News), is the freshest sign of how active the Arkansas River system has been through mid-July. Closer to home, Arkansas native and MLF pro Spencer Shuffield used his latest MLF News column to call this stretch of summer the best time of year for smallmouth, describing a lifelong pull toward the state's river smallmouth fishing, a good signal the bronzeback bite is a top target right now. Water-level and temperature readings for the White River gauge (USGS 07263620) were not available at press time, so plan around typical mid-summer patterns rather than a specific flow number. Largemouth anglers working ledges, weedlines, and brushpiles in the summer heat can lean on the same deep, current-dependent patterns reservoir and river fisheries elsewhere are reporting this week. Trout and catfish reports were absent from this week's feed, so those are shown at typical seasonal activity levels. Check state regs before harvesting.
Snook and trout bite heats up along Panhandle beaches
Gulf water temps are pushing 89°F at NOAA buoy 42012 off the Panhandle shelf, and the shallow-water bite is running hot right along with it. Coastal Angler Magazine's latest "Hot Summer Snook and Trout" report has linesiders and speckled trout stacking up in the passes and tight to the beaches this month, workable on both live bait and artificials. Cobia are still cruising behind bait pods and under working sharks per Coastal Angler Magazine's cobia feature, though the spring push has faded into more scattered summer activity typical for July. Winds are light at both offshore buoys, around 9-11 mph, with air temps near 86°F and no wave-height or tide data reported this cycle. Redfish stay a dependable year-round target in Panhandle backwaters through the summer months. Scallop season continues drawing boat traffic toward Port St. Joe, per Pensacola Fishing Forum chatter, consistent with Florida Sea Grant's active scallop-sorting guidance for the season.
High flows reshape Delta patterns as summer bite settles in
The USGS gauge near Freeport (site 11455420) is reading roughly 97,700 cfs, a notably elevated stage for mid-July on the Sacramento River system that feeds the Delta — that kind of push usually means stained water, stronger current seams, and fish tucking tighter to structure and eddies than they would in a typical low-summer-flow year. We don't have a Delta-specific angler report in hand for this cycle, so today's read leans on general seasonal patterns for the Sacramento-San Joaquin system rather than fresh dock talk. Striped bass tend to stack on current breaks and drop-offs when flow spikes like this; largemouth bass typically slide into tules and slack backwaters to get out of the push; sturgeon and catfish generally stay catchable on bottom-fished bait regardless of flow. The waning crescent moon favors low-light and early-morning windows. Check a current Delta-specific report board before you head out, and expect murkier water than usual for the date.
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