Bass Leave Town
It's all over but for the dinner, awards presentation, and traditional roasts scheduled for Sunday at the Harvest restaurant in Montauk. The Montauk Local surfcasting competition for striped bass ended on Sunday undramatically, with only the occasional small bass caught at the end. Richie Michaelson won for the second year in a row.
The winning fish was small compared to those in past years, and even compared to the 40 and 50-pounders reeled ashore this year by non-contestants.
Mr. Michaelson's winner was a 37.5-pound bass caught back on Oct. 20. Second and third places were captured by Atilla Ozturk with bass weighing 34 and 33.5 pounds. This year, in addition to a cash prize, Mr. Michaelson will take home a custom-made trophy he will relinquish when dethroned, if that ever happens.
Bye, Bye, Bass
He has reportedly offered his fellow competitor Dennis Gaviola special thanks for tipping him off about the good fishing the day he caught the winning bass. The catch put Mr. Gaviola, then in third place, out of the running.
Tickets to the awards party cost $30, which covers an open bar, buffet, and entertainment. The event starts at 4 p.m.
It appears the last cold snap spurred the bass on their migration. Charter fishermen reported a slow pick early this week after a summer of unparalleled bass fishing. The Lazy Bones party boat called it quits yesterday after her anglers succeeded in landing only one bass the day before.
The action has not slowed overall, however, with bottom species reportedly taking up the slack.
Good Eating
Capt. Michael Potts of the Bluefin IV took a party of bottom fishermen off the coast of Block Island on Saturday - passing the bass rips along the way - to get to the bottom dwellers. The result was 22 cod in the two to six-pound range, and a number of sea bass. The latter is considered one of the best eating fish in the ocean.
Bob Valenti of Multi-Aquaculture, a fish-buying company on Napeague, explained that a strong market existed for sea bass year round, with higher quality fish being sold live during the spring, summer, fall, and early winter.
Lots Of Waste
They are caught near shore in traps or by commercial pinhookers during these periods. When the ocean temperature drops in midwinter, sea bass migrate to deeper water. They're on their migration now. Offshore draggers catch them in winter, increasing the supply and reducing the price to dealers.
However, the price of sea bass tends to remain high for the consumer looking for fillet because the species' ratio of meat to waste (bone and skin) is not profitable. The bass are most often gutted, scaled, and then steamed or poached, and are much favored in the Asian and Asian American markets.
Sea bass are a favorite of Frank Chen, the chef at Montauk's Wok 'N' Roll restaurant, who will cook up a fisherman's catch of the day. He has reportedly been winning raves for his striped-bass-head soup.