Fluke Bite Roars On Long Island As Bluefin Tuna Blitz Offshore

What's biting

What's next

With the full moon pushing stronger tidal swings through early August, expect the bite to stay active but shift around with the current — Montauk rips and South Shore inlets tend to load up on the moving water around dawn and dusk tide changes this week. The fluke bite that's "firing on all cylinders" per On The Water's July 23 report should hold through the next several days; summer flounder are typically most consistent from late July into August across the bays, ocean reefs, and Long Island Sound, and nothing in the current intel suggests that's slowing.

Offshore, the bluefin tuna spread OTW Saltwater described on July 29 — schools scattered across roughly 280 miles of water — points to a wide-open window for boats willing to make the run. If that pattern holds, expect trollers and jiggers (see On The Water's Tuna Ridge report on jigging tactics) to keep finding fish through the first weekend of August, though tuna schools can relocate quickly, so checking recent reports before committing to a long run is worth it.

The gator bluefish that moved in off Montauk in mid-July, per On The Water, should continue to provide a dependable inshore option, especially for anglers who struck out on stripers — bluefish currently carry no size limit and a five-fish bag per NY DEC's regs, making them a good fallback target.

Striped bass are the wildcard. The Montauk bass bite was already cooling as of the July 9 On The Water report, and DEC's recent enforcement action against anglers keeping over-slot fish suggests there are still some larger bass around worth targeting carefully within the slot. Expect the striper bite to stay on the slower side through early August before typically firming back up as bait pushes build toward the fall run.

Plan around the tide changes bracketing the full moon for the best current-driven bites, and check NY DEC's saltwater newsletter for mid-season regulation updates — scup and summer flounder seasons are both open now and black sea bass regs changed this year, so confirm current limits before keeping fish.

Context

None of today's environmental feeds returned buoy or gauge readings, so we can't compare this week's water temps directly against a typical late-July baseline for Long Island and Montauk — that's worth flagging plainly rather than guessing at a number.

What the angler intel does show lines up with a fairly typical mid-to-late summer pattern for the region. Summer flounder (fluke) season is open per NY DEC, and the bite described in On The Water's reports — strong from the South Shore bays and reefs into Long Island Sound — is the seasonal norm for this stretch of July into August. Scup season has also opened per the DEC newsletter, another on-schedule marker for the calendar.

The bluefin tuna push is arguably running better than an average year; OTW Saltwater's July 29 report describes schools spread across nearly 280 miles of offshore water and calls it among the best stretches of the season, a stronger showing than a typical midsummer lull often produces.

The striped bass side reads as roughly on-schedule too. On The Water's reporting shows the big Montauk bass bite that runs hot in spring and early summer beginning to taper by early July, the usual seasonal arc before bass activity typically firms back up heading into the fall run. DEC's over-slot enforcement action is a reminder that larger fish are still around even as the bite slows.

Overall: a fairly typical NY saltwater midsummer, with fluke and bluefin running strong and stripers in their expected summer lull.