Montauk Fishing JournalMontauk, New York

Guide · October 1, 2026

Montauk's Fall Fishing Calendar: What the Boats and the Beaches Target, September to December

A month-by-month look at what Montauk's party boats schedule and what surfcasters chase from September to December, built from the boats' own 2026 schedules, NYSDEC's current seasons and seasonal writing from On The Water and The Fisherman.

By Montauk Fishing Journal editors

Every fall, the fishing at Montauk shifts from the summer bottom fish to the fall migrations. The best public record of that shift is the trip schedules Montauk's own boats post. A boat doesn't advertise a blackfish trip in August or a fluke trip in November. So when the Viking Fleet, the Ebb Tide, the Miss Montauk II, the Fin Chaser and the Lazybones say what they'll sail for and when, they're telling you what the season usually looks like from this harbor.

This calendar puts those posted 2026 schedules together with the state's current open seasons and some of the better seasonal writing about Montauk. It's a planning guide, not a forecast. Weather has the final say every year. The Viking Fleet's alerts page, for example, listed all trips cancelled Friday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 27, "due to the Nor'Easter" when we checked it on Sept. 27.

How to read this calendar

  • Boat schedules below are quoted from each operator's own website as they appeared on Sept. 27, 2026. Operators change trips on short notice. Check with the boat before you drive out.
  • Seasons and limits come from NYSDEC's Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations page, which on Sept. 27, 2026 said regulations "were last changed on May 12, 2026 and are subject to change at any time." Always check NYSDEC's current page before you keep a fish. Our regulations primer explains the rules in more detail.
  • Surf patterns are drawn from named, dated articles by On The Water and The Fisherman. We credit them where we use them. Nobody on our staff fished these waters for this piece.

September: summer species hang on, fall species arrive

Fluke are still open, but leaving. NYSDEC's fluke (summer flounder) season runs to Oct. 15. From Aug. 2 the minimum size is 19.5 inches, with a three-fish limit. The boats say so on their schedules. Miss Montauk II's schedule page (last updated Aug. 14) says it is "Full Day Fluke Fishing" and that "Fluke Trips run through October 15th." Ebb Tide posts a 1 p.m.–5 p.m. half-day fluke and sea bass trip, and a three-quarter-day "Jumbo Fluke & Seabass" trip it describes as running to "find the Jumbos as the fall migration begins." NOAA Fisheries explains why: summer flounder "migrate back offshore in the fall," and their offshore spawning "peaks in October and November."

Block Island bottom fishing takes over. By September, several Montauk boats run long trips across to Block Island for porgies and sea bass. The Viking Fleet's fishing-trips page lists "Porgy & SeaBass Trips," sailing daily 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., billed as "Block Island Fall Jumbo Porgies & Knothead Sea Bass." The Fin Chaser lists a "Block Island Fall – Sea Bass, Porgies & Blackfish (in season)" trip for Sept. 1 to Nov. 15. Ebb Tide ran a Block Island full-day fluke and sea bass trip on Mondays and Fridays "through September." The regulations help explain the timing. NYSDEC raises the black sea bass limit from three fish to six on Sept. 1. For anglers on licensed party and charter boats, it raises the scup (porgy) limit from 30 to 40 from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31.

False albacore and small bait. In On The Water's Sept. 24, 2026 Long Island report, Montauk fly and light-tackle guide Capt. Pete Douma of Windward Outfitters called it "the best week of albie fishing we have had yet," with 3/4-inch bay anchovies as the main bait. That matches the long-run pattern John Papciak described in On The Water's "Montauk Fall Run Survival Guide" (2018). He breaks the surf season into three periods. The first, Labor Day to Columbus Day, "tends to feature mullet, snappers and bay anchovies, the latter fueling those famous daytime blitzes," with action often near the lighthouse on both the north and south sides.

Offshore, while it lasts. Viking runs multi-day offshore trips from Montauk. Its report for Sept. 15–17 describes a 60-hour tuna and mahi trip on the Viking Star with yellowfin "in the 60-80 pound class," plus mahi and four swordfish. The same post listed another 60-hour trip for Sept. 29. Viking's fishing-trips page said its Fivestar split-charter "Tuna Trips" were "Available until Oct 9."

October: squid, blackfish, and the fall run

Squid at night. Two Montauk boats schedule evening squid trips for October. Viking's night squid trip "will begin October 2." Ebb Tide's "Squidinator" sails "Daily, Starting October," 6 p.m. to midnight, weather permitting. Ebb Tide's site describes spring and fall in Montauk as producing "one of the largest Lolligo Squid migrations in the country." That's the operator's own description, not something we measured.

Fluke close; blackfish open. Under NYSDEC's current table, fluke season ends Oct. 15. The same day, tautog (blackfish) open in what NYSDEC calls the NY Bight Region, which is every marine district water outside its defined Long Island Sound Region. The limit there is four fish at a 16-inch minimum, through Dec. 22. (The Sound region opens Oct. 11 with a three-fish limit.) The East Hampton Star's Sept. 24 column reported the same split. The boats line up behind it. Ebb Tide lists "THUNDERTOG Full Day Blackfish" trips "Daily in October," 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Viking says its "Blackfish & SeaBass" trips begin Oct. 23, sailing Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Its Fivestar "Blackfish & Sea Bass Trips Begin Oct 17."

Deeper-water trips. Viking's "Coxes Ledge Special" (12 hours) begins Oct. 24 and sails Wednesdays and Saturdays. Miss Montauk II says it fishes for cod in fall and winter "in places like South West of Block Island, Coxes Ledge, and Wrecks," and that cod show up mixed into its full-day fall bottom trips. NYSDEC's cod season opened Sept. 1 (23-inch minimum, five fish).

Striped bass from the boats. The Lazybones, which runs two half-day trips a day, says it fishes "Fluke in the summer and diamond jigging for bass & blues in the fall." Miss Montauk II says it fishes for stripers "in the fall months," with diamond jigs by day ("normally a 6 or 8 ounce") and eels or clams at night. NYSDEC's current ocean striped bass rule is a slot of 28 to 31 inches, one fish, open April 15 through Dec. 15. The state requires non-offset inline circle hooks when you fish for stripers with bait.

Striped bass from the beach. Papciak's second period, after Columbus Day, "is more likely to feature sand eels moving inshore, and peanut bunker (and possibly adult bunker), all generally moving west toward the Town Beach or further toward Hither Hills." Matt Broderick's October 2025 piece in The Fisherman, "Tides of October," follows a similar bait sequence along the coast: mullet early in the month, peanut bunker and anchovies through the middle, and "by mid-to-late October, sand eels dominate many beaches from Montauk to Jersey." Papciak also calls a strong northeast gale in early October "a signature North Side blitz scenario." Our surfcasting guide covers access and safety at the Point.

A date to know. New York State Parks lists the 2026 Fred Golofaro Memorial Montauk Classic Bluefish & Striped Bass Surf Fishing Tournament for Oct. 3–4, 2026. Fish must be landed from shore anywhere from the westernmost tip of Napeague State Park east.

November: the long Block Island days

Ebb Tide keeps its blackfish trip going "Daily in Early November" (5 a.m. to 1 p.m.). Then it switches to a November trip called "ROCK BLOCK – THUNDERTOG & SUMO SEABASS," 5 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., targeting "Blackfish, Sea Bass, Scup and whatever else we can find lurking in the briny deep of Block Island Waters." The Fin Chaser's posted Block Island fall season runs to Nov. 15.

The science explains why these trips go farther out as the month goes on. NOAA Fisheries says scup "migrate south and offshore in autumn as the water cools, arriving by December in offshore areas where they spend the winter." Black sea bass likewise "migrate offshore and south in the fall." The East Hampton Star's Jon M. Diat put it in plain terms on Sept. 24: "Porgies and sea bass are schooling up for their respective migration offshore."

On the rules side, the party/charter scup limit drops back to 30 fish on Nov. 1, per NYSDEC.

From the beach, Papciak's third period, Veterans Day to Thanksgiving, "often still features bunker." He adds that by mid-November many surfcasters "are keeping an eye out for the arrival of herring near the lighthouse."

December: the seasons wind down

NYSDEC's current table closes ocean striped bass after Dec. 15 and NY Bight tautog after Dec. 22. Black sea bass (six fish) and scup stay open through Dec. 31. Cod remain open under the Sept. 1 – May 31 season. Miss Montauk II says its winter cod trips "are normally 5am - 4pm and are Limited" and require a reservation. Montauk Point State Park's page notes that surfing is allowed there from Dec. 15 through March 31. That's worth knowing if you fish the Point in winter and find you have company.

The calendar at a glance

MonthWhat Montauk boats schedule (as posted Sept. 27, 2026)Key NYSDEC dates (as of Sept. 27, 2026)
SeptemberFluke (Miss Montauk II, Ebb Tide, Lazybones); Block Island porgy and sea bass (Viking, Fin Chaser); offshore tuna and mahi (Viking)Sea bass limit 6 from Sept. 1; party/charter scup limit 40 from Sept. 1; cod opens Sept. 1
OctoberNight squid (Viking from Oct. 2; Ebb Tide); blackfish (Ebb Tide; Viking from Oct. 23; Fivestar from Oct. 17); Coxes Ledge (Viking from Oct. 24); stripers and blues (Lazybones, Miss Montauk II)Fluke closes after Oct. 15; NY Bight tautog opens Oct. 15 (4 fish, 16")
NovemberBlackfish and sea bass at Block Island (Ebb Tide "Rock Block"); Fin Chaser to Nov. 15Party/charter scup limit back to 30 from Nov. 1
DecemberWinter cod (Miss Montauk II, by reservation)Striped bass closes after Dec. 15; NY Bight tautog closes after Dec. 22

What changes the calendar

Two things push this calendar around every year: wind and water temperature. On Sept. 24, 2026, On The Water's reports from around Long Island were waiting to see whether a multi-day nor'easter would jump-start the fall run. Its author wrote that the wind should "cool water temperatures down and get bass active." Nobody could say ahead of time what the fishing would look like after the storm passed. Cost can matter too. In the same Sept. 24 column, the East Hampton Star's Diat reported diesel at $8.23 a gallon at his local club and said he "would not be surprised" to see fuel surcharges. That's his forecast, not a policy any Montauk boat had announced as of our check.

For this week's conditions, see our weekly roundup. For live tide predictions from NOAA's Montauk station (8510560), see our Tides page.

How we reported this. We compiled this guide on Sept. 27, 2026 from the operators' own websites (Viking Fleet, Ebb Tide, Miss Montauk II, Fin Chaser, Lazybones), NYSDEC's regulations page, NOAA Fisheries species profiles, New York State Parks, and named seasonal articles in On The Water, The Fisherman and The East Hampton Star, all linked below and all checked that day. Nobody on our staff observed fishing on the water for this piece. Schedules and rules change, so confirm with the boat and with NYSDEC before you go. If you run one of these boats and something here is wrong, tell us and we'll correct it and note the change.

Sources (all accessed Sept. 27, 2026)

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