Biting right now — August

Water is still cold this time of year but the first stripers show up in the harbor and along the flats as flounder move in thick over sand and mud bottom. We work jigs and bait rigs for tautog around the rock piles and pick up mackerel schools when they push through. Tuna, albacore, and mahi are not around yet, so we focus the trips on what is actually eating.

This is when the harbor really turns on. Striped bass, tautog, mackerel, and flounder are all running strong at the same time, and black sea bass and scup start showing up on the structure too. Bluefish and tuna are just starting to trickle in, so we spend most days chasing what is already peaking.

Striper fishing peaks again in June and black sea bass are thick on the reefs and wrecks. Bluefish push into the bay and the first tuna show up offshore, giving us a real shot at running both inshore and offshore trips in the same week. False albacore have not arrived yet, but everything else is firing.

Bluefish show up thick on the ledges and rips, tearing through bait and giving us steady action all day. Black sea bass and scup fill out the bottom bite on the structure spots, and tuna are starting to show offshore. Albies are still a few weeks out, so we focus on what is actually eating.

This is our best offshore stretch of the year. Tuna are pushing hard on the canyon edges and the local grounds, and we run long days chasing them when the weather lines up. Inshore stays loaded too, with bluefish still ripping and sea bass and scup holding steady on the reefs.

September is the month we build the whole season around. Stripers stack up on bait pushing out of the harbor and the albies finally arrive in force, ripping line on the flats and rips. Tuna are still around offshore and the bottom fishing holds up fine, so we can run whatever fits the day.

This is the month we build the whole fall around. Stripers and albies push through the outer harbor and around the islands chasing bait, tuna show up on the offshore grounds, and tautog stack up on the wrecks and ledges. We run mixed trips most days, switching between fly casting at breaking fish and dropping jigs on structure when the surface goes quiet.

Water is dropping and the bulk of the bait has cleared out, but stripers, tuna, albies, and tautog are all still catchable if we go find them. Bluefish, sea bass, flounder, mackerel, and scup have slowed way down and are not worth targeting on their own. We fish shorter windows around the tide and daylight and stay flexible on where the fish are holding.