Healing, Reeling in the Surf
On Friday, Surfers Healing came to Montauk once again. Israel (Izzy) Paskowitz and his band of Hawaiian surfers travel the East Coast each year visiting popular beaches to take autistic children surfing. Parents travel hundreds of miles to give their kids a day in the waves, an experience that calms and delights them more than just about any other, they say.
Surfers Healing was founded by Israel and Danielle Paskowitz. Their son, Isaiah, was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. Like other kids with the diagnosis, he suffered from sensory overload. Paskowitz, a former competitive surfer, realized the ocean calmed him. One day, he placed his son in front of him on his surfboard and took him surfing. The experience had a profound effect on Isaiah and a surprising therapy was born, one Paskowitz and his team of expert surfers now share at an increasing number of Surfers Healing camps each year.
On Friday, a father peered through the telephoto lens of his camera. It was trained on his daughter and her mentor in the waves off Ditch Plain, Montauk. “She’s smiling,” he said in a way that spoke to the scarcity of smiles in their lives. They had driven from Buffalo to attend the Surfers Healing camp first at Lido Beach, and then Montauk.
The sight of these kids, obviously focused and thrilled as they ride shoreward, held upright by their Hawaiian helpers, captivates and humbles those watching from shore. “He rises by lifting others.” The words of Robert Green Ingersoll come to mind, although those who attend Surfers Healing each year might argue that a whole community rises.
It was a beautiful sunny day. Small waves, perfect for the event, rolled shoreward as least terns hovered and pecked at the surface here and there, evidence of fish feeding below — lots of fish. It is September after all, the time when fishermen break out their surfcasting rods, fly rods, kayaks, and small boats to hunt the great variety of fish that feed close to shore.
On Saturday, I paddled my kayak off of Ditch Plain toward a small cloud of birds hovering about 100 yards from shore. I probably should have brought my casting rod, but I chose a small boat rod instead. I held the butt of it down with my legs as I trolled a silver lure that I hoped would not be taken by too big a fish. I did have a line tied to the rod, but you never know.
As I paddled into the birds, the sun lit a school of bluefish. Blues flashed around and under the kayak, feeding on what looked like the white bait, a generic term for any of a number of small, shiny prey. Zzzzzzzz, came the fulfilling sound of line being stripped from a reel. The kayak is large enough so I’m able to swing my legs over and sit on it as though it were a dock or a river bank, Huck Finn style.
The bluefish took line and jumped clear of the water three times before allowing me to grab the leader and boat it. Bluefish have sharp teeth, of course, so the task of retrieving the hook must be done gingerly, especially in tight quarters. It got me anyway.
The fish was eaten that night, with a “fine Chianti and fava beans”. . . just kidding, it was a beer and Boston-baked.
As I worked to extract the hook, my eyes caught sunlight reflected off fish moving faster than the blues. They were either false albacore (notoriously unappetizing) or green bonito, also called Atlantic bonito, delicious sushi-style or on the grill. I’d heard they were around. Not likely I’d catch one trolling. They usually react to shiny lures or flies retrieved quickly.
The next morning, Lawrence Cook, former New York City fireman and the man behind the annual Archaeology Fest held at the Second House headquarters of the Montauk Historical Society, beached his kayak and walked up the beach with a green bonito in one hand, a fat porgy in the other. The bonito was filleted on the spot, and hunks of breakfast sashimi were handed around. This year’s Archaeology Fest will begin on Oct. 4.
Maybe it’s my imagination, but it seems there is a greater variety of fish close to shore and in great numbers this year. What’s come to be called the “mosquito fleet” of small boats has invaded the waters around Montauk Point in recent days. So far, surfcasters have watched schools of fish just beyond their casting range, but this will change. The Montauk SurfMasters Tournament began at one minute after midnight on Tuesday.
Mike Vegessi, captain of the Lazy Bones party boat, was stepping from the Bones on Monday evening and reported that fluke fishing continued to be productive on both the north and south sides of Montauk. He said a 12-pounder was weighed earlier in the day. The season ends on Sunday, after which the Lazy Bones will chase striped bass. Me too.