Freeport, NY Fishing Report & Live Conditions

Freeport, NY fishing report

Freeport sits at the heart of some of Long Island's most productive inshore water. Spring kicks off with striped bass moving through the back bays and along the oceanfront as water temperatures climb through the 50s, followed by the first bluefish showing up slashing baitfish near the inlets. By summer, fluke dominate the bay bottom while black sea bass stack up on nearshore wrecks and hard structure just offshore. Weakfish and kingfish slip into the shallower grass flats and channel edges in warmer months, though weakfish have been sparse in recent years. Come fall, stripers and blues surge again, often feeding aggressively, before tautog claim the rocky structure and jetties through the cooler months.

In the back bays, fluke stack on channel edges and dropoffs — slow-drifting a bucktail tipped with a Gulp or strip of fresh squid along the bottom is the standard and it works. Work the jetty rocks and inlet structure with soft plastics or chunk bait for stripers and blues on moving tides, especially the last two hours of the outgoing when bait concentrates in the current. Tautog want green crabs fished tight to the bottom near structure, period. Incoming tide pushes clean ocean water into the bays and generally improves clarity and feeding activity. Once water temps push above 72 degrees, focus earlier and later in the day when fish are more active and closer to the surface.