East End Fishing Report: June 26, 2026 — Montauk Bass Bite Stays Red Hot
The Bottom Line
Striped bass are still the headline out east, and it's not close. The Montauk bite has been flat-out epic — fish to 50 pounds being caught and released, day and night — while fluke, porgy, and sea bass have finally started to perk up after a stretch of nasty wind. If you've been waiting for the inshore stuff to wake up, this past weekend's calmer weather was the turn.
Striped Bass — Still On Fire
Striped bass fishing has been about as good as it gets. Out at Montauk, daytime crews are casting diamond jigs in and around the Lighthouse, while the nighttime bite has been producing personal-best fish in the 30-to-40-pound class and bigger. Capt. Savio Mizzi of Fishooker Charters, a light-tackle guide out of Westlake Marina, called it "red hot" with fish to 50 pounds — and that's no exaggeration.
The Montauk party fleet has been cashing in too. The Ebb Tide Princess with Capt. Anthony D'Arrigo has been putting fares on phenomenal night bass, with plenty of double-digit landings, plus a mix of bass and fluke on the daytime runs.
Closer to home, there are some real giants prowling the bays after dark — if you want a shot at a true cow, the night tide in the back is worth losing sleep over. Bass have also been holding around Three Mile Harbor and along the ocean beaches, where dunking clams has had the edge lately.
Bluefish
Bluefish are running well alongside the bass. At Montauk the stripers have been showing on the surface while the blues hang closer to the bottom. Gerard Drive has been kicking out blues for casters, with bigger fish mixed in among the smaller ones.
Plum Gut & The Race
Don't sleep on the Gut and the Race — both have been loaded with bass and blues. Drifting three-way bucktail rigs or slinging diamond jigs through the daylight hours has been the ticket. The action runs all the way from the Peconics eastward to Plum Gut.
Fluke, Porgy & Sea Bass
The inshore sinker-bouncing crowd has been grinding through mixed results, but the calmer weekend weather flipped the switch. Fluke fishing improved noticeably and the porgy bite came back strong. Casters have been picking scup off Gerard Drive, and the southwest side of Gardiner's Island around Cherry Harbor has been holding good numbers of bigger scup when conditions let boats anchor up.
Sea bass remain a mixed bag — they've been slow to fully show on the nearby grounds — but the trend is heading the right direction as the water warms.
Blowfish in the Harbor
A few blowfish have started showing in Three Mile Harbor — always a welcome sign and some of the best eating around. Weakfish, meanwhile, are still scarce.
Offshore
Way offshore, the deepwater grounds have been producing. The Viking Starship with Capt. Steven Forsberg Sr. wrapped a multi-day trip with coolers full of golden and blueline tilefish, pollack, hake, and cusk — Brian Martin topped the pool with a 35-pound tile, and Mike Bunch boated a 68-pound bluefin tuna for the edible pool. The canyons are heating up, so tuna reports should only build from here.
On the Calendar
Mark it down: the 2026 Montauk Grand Slam inshore charity tournament runs July 18–19 out of Uihlein's Marina on West Lake Drive. Anglers chase a grand slam of fluke, sea bass, bluefish, and porgy, and this year's Montauk Fishing Legend of the Year honor goes to Capt. Tom Herlihy of the Herl's Girl — a well-earned nod to a hard-working member of the fishing community.