Fall Bonanza Of Fish
The sun's direct rays were at right angles to the Equator at 2 p.m. on Sunday, which is a cosmic way of saying that summer is gone and fall has arrived. Because of our weather-challenged summer months, fishermen are not likely to go quietly into the cold.
Nor is there reason to, what with a local striped bass population as large and healthy as it is, and stories and fish like those that came off the Blue Fin IV charter boat on Friday.
"We missed the New York State record by one pound," Capt. Michael Potts said of the 613-pound thresher shark his charter, Michael Willman, fought on Friday afternoon 25 miles south of Montauk. He brought it to the boat after a two-hour, stand-up battle. But that's not the whole story.
Mystery Fish
The day began closer to shore with the Willman family quickly catching their limit of striped bass before heading offshore. When they got there, the sharks were waiting. The action began almost immediately, according to Captain Potts. In quick succession, those on board hooked four large blue sharks in the 250 to 300-pound range. Then an odd-looking creature - half shark, half unicorn - swam into the Bluefin's slick.
Upon closer inspection the mystery fish turned out to be a blue shark run through with a swordfish's sword. The sword, broken off, had penetrated the bottom of the shark during some unimaginable battle and passed up through its back right behind the head. It seemed otherwise healthy, and before long took a proffered bait.
While the unicorn was being fought on light, 25-pound test line, the bigger reel started to whine. The thresher was on.
Just Shy Of Record
"He went off fast. I had to get the engine started to chase him down. They were fighting sharks on both sides of the boat, then the big one came close and it looked like a 16-foot thresher, so we cut the other off. Too bad, because we wanted to bring it in to show to the scientists," Captain Potts said.
The chosen shark turned out to be within one pound of the state record for threshers and the biggest shark to be brought into Montauk this season. In 1994, the angler's father had landed the Blue Fin IV's largest catch of the season - an 851-pound bluefin tuna.
Speaking from offshore via his cellular phone on Monday, Captain Potts reported "red-hot" striped bass fishing using live eels. He said those using bunker (menhaden) chunks were catching fish, but slower. This had not been the case the day before.
Bunker Chunking
A trip to the rips off Montauk Point aboard the Point Break on Sunday yielded four keeper bass (over 28 inches long) within an hour using the bunker chunking method. Striped bass are not unlike dogs, as one local angler put it. That is, they come when they're called. One chunks from an anchored boat. Pieces of bunker are slipped over the side.
The hook is secreted in a similar-sized chunk, and the line, with a relatively light weight, is allowed to drift in the company of the other chunks. The bass graze on the chunks, often coming toward the surface, until they find the hook baits. Bunker hook-baits are also used from the beach by surfcasters, especially in the fall when the bigger fish begin to arrive.
In the meantime, the rock perches in front of the Montauk Lighthouse have been getting an increasing number of surfcasters eager for the fall bass bonanza. Word has it they have not been disappointed on recent mornings. Harvey Bennett of the Tackle Shop at Skimhampton reported a bluefish blitz along the ocean beaches "from Wainscott to White Sands" on Tuesday morning.
Rush For Bait
There are large schools of false albacore and bonito off the Point feeding on one to four inch anchovies - a saltwater fly fishermen's dream come true. On Sunday, the little tunas could be seen flying clear out of the water in their rush for bait. Best to go after them with someone who knows the ropes. They have extremely good vision and are not easily fooled. Once hooked, however, a false albacore weighing under 10 pounds fights with all the will and passion of its larger relatives.
Paul Dixon of Dixon's Sporting Life at the Red Horse shopping complex in East Hampton said he was using small epoxy flies to mimic the "rain bait" - one to four-inch anchovies in this case. Certain species of small prey species are called rain bait because they clump together in a tight mass at the surface when danger appears. This gives the surface a dimpled look as though it were being rained upon.
Mr. Dixon said that, on Sunday, fly fishermen fishing from his five light-tackle charter boats - now operating from the Montauk Lake Club - hooked more than 100 false albacore and bonito. The most effective fly has been the "Mystic Bay Hardbody Shiner." Those using light spinning gear are taking the little tunas on Deadly Dick lures.
Montauk's Viking Starship party boat got into some bigger tuna over the weekend. What was supposed to have been a two-day trip lasted half a day once the Starship got on the grounds. Yellowfin tuna in the 50 to 150-pound range were so plentiful that anglers had caught their fill after 12 hours of fishing.