It has been two weeks since the first fish was caught on island and while the average size remains small, the fishery has really begun to fill up and get interesting. In the last three days striped bass have been caught on the North Shore, in Madaket Harbor, around Tuckernuck and off of Brant Point. There was even an epic bass blitz in the mooring field off the boat basin.

On top of the bass, anglers have been catching mackerel off of the docks at the boat basin and just outside the Jetties. And perhaps the most exciting catch of the last few days was a gorgeous weakfish caught by Alex Rezendes.

Bottom line, the excitement right now is so infectious. Two weeks ago we were getting texts and phone calls every day from anglers, now we are getting them every hour.

As to what to use, there are no secrets out there, Albie Snax still seem to be the most popular, but many anglers are using small poppers and the hot new lures this year are stick-baits that act just like Albie Snax below the surface but are a hard bait. This time of year, always have your favorite lure ready to go, but with the clarity of the water and the active fish, this is when you start playing with new lures so you have options when fish start getting picky.