outdoors

Nature Notes: Welcome, Stranger

Larry Penny
Perhaps during no other time in the history of modern man have so many people from so many countries and territories been on the move to seek new lands in which to live. This is the age of emigration and immigration, born of choice, vocational...
A Fish Tale for the Ages

Wet a hook in the bay and you might find a porgy or other commonly caught fish at the end of your line. But lurking below are visitors from afar, waiting to turn your ordinary day of fishing into a fish story of a lifetime.
Following My Father’s Lead

David Kuperschmid
The love of fishing is a gift that’s passed down from parent to child like a family heirloom. With Father’s Day around the corner, let’s honor dads that have placed a rod and reel in the hands of their sons and daughters and given them the...
Nature Notes: Superlative Montauk

Larry Penny
I’m not a world traveler, but I’ve been around. If I had to name my 10 favorite places of the thousands I’ve spent time in, Montauk would be very close to the top of the list.
Nature Notes: It’s a Jungle Out There

Larry Penny
Shucks, only 12 more days before the days begin getting shorter and the nights longer. You might say that’s the zenith of activity for each new year. After that things start going downhill.
Ghosts of Gardiner’s Point

David Kuperschmid
This time of year large striped bass take temporary residence in the rip that forms between Bostwick Point at the northern tip of Gardiner’s Island and Gardiner’s Point Island, where the crumbling remains of Fort Tyler, known locally as the Ruins,...
Nothing Beats Chartreuse

David Kuperschmid
Open a fisherman’s tackle box and you’ll see lures of every imaginable color. But what color catches the most fish?
Nature Notes: More Whales Lost

Larry Penny
On Wednesday an odd couple, mother and near neonate, sadly washed up on the Shagwong beach west of Montauk Point near the opening to Oyster Pond. No unidentifiable Montauk Monster this time, but rather two very identifiable pygmy sperm whales as per...
Fly Away, You Casters

David Kuperschmid
A perfectly executed fly cast is a thing of beauty. It requires an athletic synchronization of hands, arms, and torso, which looks deceptively easy when performed by an expert such as Lefty Kreh. But give it a try and you’ll find that, as with any...
Nature Notes: Whence the Whistlepig?

Larry Penny
How much wood could a groundhog chuck if a groundhog could chuck wood? It’s not quite as much of a tongue twister when you substitute another name for the species.
Boats: Cents and Sensibility

David Kuperschmid
It’s said that the two best days in the life of a boat owner are the day the boat is bought and the day it’s sold. While there is much truth in this running joke among boat owners, the laughs haven’t discouraged many from joining their ranks.
Nature Notes: Vicarious Birding

Larry Penny
We don’t think of trees as flowering plants, but they are. Oak flowers are just past peaking. The male flowers, called catkins, have shed most of their pollen and are dropping shriveled and brown en masse.
Nature Notes: The Eagles Have Landed

Larry Penny
After achieving a historic low in the 1960s, owing to wide use of DDT and other pesticides, the Long Island osprey populations have bounced back and are still rising. But the increasing number of cormorants and seals in our waters since the 1990s is...
Actually Treasuring the Fish

David Kuperschmid
Catch or release? That’s the question every angler must answer when a hooked fish is finally in hand.