The fishing for the period of July 27 to August 9 has been very good overall but if you are a striped bass aficionado it has been fantastic.
It is unusual for bass fishing to be this good in the middle of the summer. There are large schools of bunker (menhaden) outside the inlet and they are the favorite food for big striped bass. Some days are better then others but for the most part it has been outstanding fishing. In the past week I have tallied over 70 striped bass on charters with most fish averaging 25 pounds and the largest between 30 and 35 pounds. On August 3, I fished with Brad Brown, Lloyd Taft and the actor of fame Stanley Tucci and we beat up on the fish. We boated about 25 bass up to 35 pounds. The next day I fished with John Dall for a half day and we had 15 bass to 30 pounds. It thinned out later in the week after the blow on Thursday but there were still fish around. On Friday with Brad Brown and friends Willie and Ryan we had one nice fish of 22 pounds and broke off a couple of others and missed a few. On August 7 with Steve and Adam Becker we had two nice fish of about 25 pounds. That day, things got slow with no bass but lots of bait. The bass must have moved on but the bait is still there in big numbers and I am sure another good bunch of bass will find them shortly.
Fluke fishing is OK but not great. The water east of the inlet did get clean and there are some fluke to be caught. I fished it on August 8 but had only one keeper. The new regulations call for fish of 18 inches or better and three per person per day. It wasnít good fishing but the dogfish seem to have disappeared. The bay is pretty hot and dead except for bottom fishing. There is a good porgy bite in the Sore Thumb and lots of short fluke that make for fun fishing.
Weakfish are scarce with only a couple caught on eels at night around the inlet. I think this will improve when the snapper blues start to move for the inlet in which case live-lining a snapper will probably find an nice size weakfish along the South Beach.
Small bluefish are pretty abundant around the inlet in the early morning and evening.
On August 7 I saw the first schools of false albacore chasing bait just outside the inlet. This is fun fishing and I intend to work it this coming week. A small “Crippled Herring” with a 10-pound test fluorocarbon leader on a rapid retrieve will catch these elusive little torpedoes. If you hook-up you had better hold on to the rod. This fish is one of the top fly-fishing trophies in the Northeast.
Offshore fishing is solid with lots of sharks and tuna from 15 miles on out.
Crabs and snappers are now plentiful around most of the piers on Fire Island and the Mainland.
FISHING TIP OF THE WEEK
When fishing schools of bunker for bass it is often more productive to use a chunk of bunker rather than a whole live fish. Bluefish which are usually also chasing the bunker will slash the bait into pieces and the bass will wait below and vacuum up the chunks. If you offer a chunk, you will probably catch more bass than bluefish.

FISHING FACTS OF THE WEEK
Estimated number of longline hooks set annually worldwide ñ 1.4 billion.
Estimated number of sea turtles killed on these hooks ñ 250,000.

Good Luck and Good Fishing!
Captain Al Lorenzetti
Skimmer Fishing Charters
631-661-2112
www.skimmeroutdoors.com