Bluefish blitz fires Shinnecock Inlet as bay water hits 68 degrees

The inlet is absolutely on fire right now. Water clarity is the best I've seen all season — that crystal-clear blue-green that makes you think you're fishing the Caribbean instead of Long Island. Bay temperatures hit 68 degrees this week, a solid four degrees warmer than the ocean side, and that thermal gradient is doing exactly what it should: stacking bait on the flood and holding predators on the ebb.

The bluefish showed up in force over the weekend, and I'm talking about real choppers — fish pushing 30-plus inches with shoulders like linebackers. They're blitzing hard on the incoming tide, especially that last two hours before slack. The 5-inch Yozuri Mag Darter has been my go-to when the blues are up and aggressive, but here's the key: when everyone else is throwing big plugs and you're not connecting, downsize. I've been switching to smaller presentations and getting bit when the guy next to me is watching his rod.

For the stripers mixing in with the blues, bucktails are absolutely deadly. Three-quarter-ounce heads with white Zoom fork tails, worked with a pop-pop-pause retrieve in the rip. I landed a 17-pounder on 10-pound test Monday night — fish hit way out in the current on the incoming. The trick is positioning: you need to be on one side or the other of the structure to get your bait down in that moving water. Cast into the rip and let the current do the work.

The night bite has been exceptional. I've been working the inlet from sunset through the first few hours of the ebb, and the bass are feeding aggressively in that 15 to 25-foot zone where the current breaks. Fifty-pound leader is mandatory — these blues will cut you off in a heartbeat, and even the stripers are showing battle scars from whatever's been chasing them around out there.

Back in the bay, the fluke action has been steady but not spectacular. The Ponquogue Bridge area is producing fish to six pounds on white Gulp Swimming Mullets rigged on three-quarter-ounce bucktails. Work them slow on the drift, especially on the outgoing when the current pulls bait through the bridge pilings. The fish are holding in 20 to 30 feet, and they want that bait dragged, not jigged.

Weakfish are starting to show at the bridge too — nothing huge, but keeper-sized fish that hit at dusk on small bucktails tipped with squid strips. The canal has been producing a few as well, particularly on the Peconic side where the water stays a degree or two cooler.

What's driving all this action is the perfect storm of conditions we're seeing. The light northwest winds have kept the water clean and calm, while the warming bay temperatures are pulling bait in from the ocean. The new moon earlier this week created strong tides that flushed fresh bait through the inlet, and now we're settling into a pattern where the fish can feed predictably.

Looking ahead, we've got a full moon Friday, which means big spring tides and serious current. I'm expecting the inlet to drain hard at sunset — that's when I'll be watching for the first real push of weakfish moving through. The thermal structure should hold for another week or two before the summer heat really kicks in and changes the game.

One warning: the big boat traffic through the inlet has been brutal. Charter boats and weekend warriors are running right through feeding schools without a care in the world. If you're working a blitz and see a boat coming, get your lines in and be ready to move. These fish spook easily in the clear water, and one careless captain can shut down a bite for hours.

The bite window has been consistent: incoming tide from two hours before high through slack, then the first hour of the ebb. After that, it's hit or miss until the sun drops. Night fishing remains king — if you can handle the inlet in the dark, that's when the biggest bass feed.