Stripers Steady at Montauk as Midshore Bluefin Fires Up and Fluke Builds

What's biting

What's next

With 73°F water temps and a waning gibbous moon on July 5, the next several days should sustain the multi-species action On The Water documented heading into the holiday weekend.

**Striped Bass:** The Montauk striper bite has been described as keeping inshore anglers "plenty busy" (On The Water, July 2), and big fish were "feeding on a buffet of bait off the east end" as recently as June 25. With water temps firmly in the low 70s, east-end fish appear to be holding close to shore and feeding actively. Dawn and dusk windows around the waning gibbous will be most productive. OTW Surfcasting has highlighted the resurgence of rigged Slug-Gos as an effective surf technique, particularly where fish are staging on open beach structure without obvious bait. Bright-colored bucktails with scented trailers — covered in On The Water's 3-Way Bucktail rig feature — can be effective in the deeper rips of eastern Long Island Sound.

**Bluefin Tuna:** Midshore bluefin action was "on fire" as of the July 2 On The Water report, but the trophy class fishery (73"+ CFL) closed effective July 3, per On The Water. School and large school fish remain the target. If summer bait concentrations hold at the surface, this bite should maintain or improve — confirm current NMFS rules before heading out.

**Fluke:** The steady improvement trend noted in both the June 25 and July 2 On The Water reports suggests the summer flounder bite should be building through the holiday week. NY DEC confirms the season is open. Drifting with bucktail-and-trailer combos over typical LI Sound grounds is the standard productive approach for this time of year.

**Sea Bass and Scup:** South Shore reef anglers were finding sea bass on rigs and jigs (On The Water, June 25), and scup season is open per NY DEC. Regulatory changes on black sea bass are in effect this season — check current size and bag limits before keeping. Plan morning and evening trips around tidal pushes, particularly where current breaks concentrate bait over structure.

Context

July on Long Island typically marks the heart of summer's multi-species overlap: striped bass have largely transitioned off their spring migration routes and are staging along the ocean beach, outer reefs, and Montauk's rip lines. Water temps in the low 70s — buoys reading 73°F on July 5 — sit squarely in the mid-summer range for the region, a degree or two warmer than the conditions that tend to hold fish in spring feeding patterns, but still within the comfort zone for stripers and fluke.

Saltwater Edge (RI) noted in mid-to-late June that water temps along the Southern New England coast had been running "cool," holding striped bass and squid in place longer than typical for that time of year. The 73°F reading in early July suggests that cool regime has since broken — a transition that often triggers fluke to push to their summer grounds in earnest and concentrates bluefin where bait schools up on warming surface water.

Bluefin tuna appearing midshore in early July is consistent with historical patterns for Southern New England waters; the species typically pushes in through summer, with school fish accessible to day-boat trips out of Montauk. The trophy class closure (73"+ CFL) effective July 3, per On The Water, is a regulatory signal worth monitoring as the season develops.

OTW Surfcasting has also flagged longer-term concern over striped bass spawning success — a conservation backdrop that helps explain why size and slot rules on stripers have continued to tighten in recent seasons. Fish are clearly present and actively feeding at Montauk right now, but the population trajectory for future years remains a watchpoint for anglers invested in the long-term health of the fishery.

On balance, early July 2026 looks on-pace or slightly ahead of schedule for the summer push, with multiple species active across multiple depth zones and the midshore bluefin bite adding an offshore bonus that not every year delivers this early.