Fluke Bite Roars Across Long Island as Bluefin Push Inshore

What's biting

What's next

Expect the fluke bite to hold through the next several days. Multiple South Shore and West End reports describe a bite that is broad rather than isolated, from the bay water worked by the Captree Fleet to the ocean structure fished by the Fishfinder II and Laura Lee Fleet, and nothing in this week's intel suggests that is slowing. Anglers should note the recreational fluke minimum size steps up from 19 inches to 19.5 inches in August, per Captain Dave III in Sheepshead Bay, so keep a ruler handy on marginal fish.

Offshore, the bluefin bite should keep building. White Water Outfitters and Bay Park Fishing Station both describe bluefin from 40 to 55 inches within 15 to 40 miles, with yellowfin starting to show closer to the 30 mile mark per White Water Outfitters, and Tyalure Professional Tackle in Rye reports the canyons already loaded with yellowfin and bigeye eating jigs and poppers. If that pattern holds, boats willing to run the extra distance this weekend should find bigger tuna classes mixing in.

Bonito are the wildcard to watch. Tight Lines Tackle on the South Fork reports bonito showing to the west of Shinnecock and is hopeful they push into the inlet within the coming week, a pattern worth checking daily since bonito arrivals on Long Island tend to happen fast once conditions align. Snappers around the Southampton docks are growing quickly per the same shop and should keep improving through August, a reliable bay option for anglers fishing with kids.

Striped bass timing stays a dawn and dusk game for now. Fishing East Coast Bait and Tackle in Little Neck says the best bite in Manhasset and Little Neck Bay has come after 7 p.m. through dawn on live eels, and River Bay Outfitters expects that pattern, cooler morning and evening tides, to keep producing along the North Shore, South Shore, and back bays into the coming week. Anglers working the Montauk surf per Tight Lines Tackle should stick with tins early before the sun gets high.

Porgy and sea bass should stay a dependable fallback across the Sound and North Shore beaches if the marquee bites go quiet on any given day, with Rip Tide III, Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle, and WeGo Bait and Tackle all describing steady action this week.

Context

Early August on Long Island typically means fluke and porgy carrying the fishery while striped bass fishing shifts into more of a night and structure game as inshore water warms, and this week's intel lines up with that pattern closely. The fluke bite described across the South Shore, West End, and North Shore, with the Captree Fleet, Ebb Tide, and Fishfinder II all reporting strong numbers, reads as typical or slightly better than a normal early August, especially with the recreational summer flounder season already open and the size limit stepping up to 19.5 inches this month per Captain Dave III.

Striped bass, by contrast, look patchier than the fluke and tuna bites this week. LI Outdoorsman in Oceanside reported no striped bass sightings at all, even in the back bays, a notable gap against East River and North Shore reports of steady eel action after dark. That kind of split, some pockets holding fish while others go quiet, is not unusual for the West End in summer heat, but it is worth watching alongside the NY DEC's ongoing striped bass sustainability messaging in its recent newsletters.

The bluefin bite reported 15 to 40 miles offshore, with yellowfin and bigeye already showing in the canyons, reads as on the earlier and stronger side for this point in the season, based on how many East End and North Shore sources are describing it independently. Bonito have not yet been confirmed inside Shinnecock, only reported to the west, so treat that arrival as pending rather than active. No buoy or gauge data was available this cycle to compare water temperatures against a typical seasonal curve.