Smooth Dogfish (non-target)

The summer dogfish of the Long Island bays and Sound; it often grabs chunk baits meant for bass. Listed so you can identify it. Not a target. No fin spines, blunt crushing teeth.

Season in Long Island

Peak months: Jul, Aug.

Bigelow and Schroeder: at Woods Hole they arrive in May and withdraw in late October or November; commonly enter shoal harbors and bays. Atlantic Shark Institute: often found in Long Island Sound, moving closer to shore and north in summer. OTW Long Island reports: many dogfish taking bass chunks at Northport and on Captree boats in August 2020, big dogfish at Northport in July 2026. (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

Summer bays, harbors and the Sound on any bottom bait, especially crab and chunks.

Bottom, from the surf zone to the bays.

Handling

• Rough skin
• Strong twisting

Keep it in the water if releasing; unhook with pliers or cut the line close to the hook.

Keep or release

Usually released. New York lists smooth dogfish as a shark that may be kept under the shark rules.

Typical: unknown. Large: Mature at about 3 ft; a few reach about 5 ft (Bigelow and Schroeder). Atlantic Shark Institute gives about 3 ft and 15 lb as the maximum..

New York (marine waters) limits

• Minimum: Allowed large sharks (tiger, blacktip, bull, lemon, nurse, spinner, blue, porbeagle, common thresher): 54 in fork length. Great, scalloped and smooth hammerhead: 78 in fork length. Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth: no size limit
• Maximum: none
• Bag: One shark per vessel per trip, plus one additional Atlantic sharpnose and one additional bonnethead per angler per trip
• Boat: One shark per vessel per trip
• Season: No closed season listed
• Prohibited (take or possession prohibited): Atlantic angel, basking, bigeye sand tiger, bigeye thresher, bignose, blacknose, Caribbean sharpnose, dusky, Galapagos, longfin mako, narrowtooth, night, oceanic whitetip, reef, sand tiger, sandbar, sharpnose sevengill, shortfin mako, silky, bigeye sixgill, bluntnose sixgill, smalltail, whale, white
• Do not fish for or target prohibited sharks; trying to catch one counts as pursuing it. If caught, a prohibited shark must stay in the water and be released immediately without undue harm. Applies to vessel and shore anglers
• Non-stainless steel, non-offset circle hooks required with baited hooks for sharks (spiny dogfish excluded)
• Shore anglers: no baited hook on a metal leader longer than 18 in total length; baited hooks may be deployed only by casting with rod and reel; no chumming from shore with anything other than mollusks or crustaceans
• Wire or bolt cutters must be immediately available to release sharks that are not being kept
• Sharks may be taken only by rod and reel or handlines retrieved without mechanical means
• A shark that is not being kept may not be removed from the water: its entire length stays in the water with gills submerged
• Landed sharks must have heads, tails and fins naturally attached; no finning; recreational anglers may not sell, trade or barter sharks or shark pieces
• Federal waters (3 to 200 miles) require a NOAA Highly Migratory Species (HMS) permit, which is vessel-based
• Shark minimum size and possession table last changed Aug 27, 2025; shark fishing regulations table last changed April 17, 2024

Last checked 2026-10-17. A summary, not legal advice; the official rules win. New York State DEC fishing regulations.

Sources

• Bigelow and Schroeder, Fishes of the Gulf of Maine (online text): smooth dogfish (Official source)
• Atlantic Shark Institute: smooth dogfish (Official source)
• On The Water: Long Island and New York Fishing Report, August 13, 2020 (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Long Island and NYC Fishing Report, July 23, 2026 (Angler knowledge)
• NYSDEC Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations: size, possession limits and seasons (fish table last changed May 12, 2026; shark table last changed Aug 27, 2025) (Official source)
• NYSDEC Recreational Shark Fishing: permits, prohibited sharks, shore angler rules (last changed April 17, 2024) (Official source)
• NYSDEC Best Practices for Saltwater Fishing: striped bass and shark circle hook requirements (Official source)

All the fish of Long Island