Albies push through the Sound and Montauk as fall run builds

What's biting

What's next

Expect the false albacore push to keep building through the week as the waxing gibbous moon pulls bait out of the back bays. Montauk's tide runs to a low near midday with the next high around dawn, while the Sound sits on the opposite cycle, high near mid-morning at Kings Point, so anglers can chase moving current on either side of the Island through most of the daylight hours. Fluke should keep thinning out of the inlets as they finish their seasonal exit; the window on what's left is likely to tighten as more fish slide offshore over the coming week.

The striper picture is the one to watch. If the cooler, northerly-wind pattern Saltwater Edge is tracking to the north extends down the coast, look for Long Island's bass action to firm up over the next several days as bait gets pushed toward the beaches. With a weekend ahead and the fall run properly underway, boat and surf traffic should build accordingly around the moving tide.

Context

This sits right on the seasonal calendar for Long Island and Montauk. The false albacore run typically builds through late September as baitfish clear out of the back bays and Sound ahead of the fall cooldown, and fluke traditionally wind down their inshore presence in this same window before the season closes. A striped bass bite that's slow to start but turns quickly once nights cool is a familiar pattern for this stretch of coast this time of year, not a sign anything is off.