Perfect Day For Casting
The weather on Sunday morning was perfect for surfcasting - that is, sloppy with wind, rain, and plenty of white water. At the Montauk Lighthouse, and between there and the North Bar, striped bass in the 20 to 30-pound range hit all at once. But then it was over.
The time was between 6 and 7 a.m., and casters remembered seeing herring driven onto the rocks by surf and marauding bass. Then the bucktail lures with white pork-rind streamers started getting hit by strong fish.
In Fall Armor
By 7:30, hooded or cowled casters in their fall armor of standard foul-weather slickers, or the newer neoprene suits, thin wetsuit gloves, and boots with clamp-on, studded rock walkers, began staggering back to their cars under the weight of big fish.
Others, casting with one eye on the advancing surf, and one on the departing fish, redoubled their efforts into the southeast wind.
The small jetty at Ditch Plain remained peopled with casters throughout the weekend. Some of them reported catching mostly smaller bass.
"What a difference a day makes," one caster was heard saying on Monday morning at the Lighthouse. It was true, the wind had backed to the northwest and the fish had disappeared. But they had not gone far.
The Bass Were Thick
Fritz Hubner, captain of the Mistress Too charter boat, said that while fishing was uncomfortable on Monday during an all-day trip, the bass were thick.
He reported that two anglers caught between 30 and 35 keeper bass measuring 28 inches or longer, and many more smaller ones.
On Tuesday, a half-day outing with five anglers resulted in over 40 keepers. "Two fish weighed 28 pounds, the rest were teens," Captain Hubner said. He noted, as have the surfcasters, that the big fish, the ones in the 40 to 50-pound range, have yet to appear.
As a result, the leader board in the Montauk Locals surfcasting tournament has not changed. First, second, and third places are held by Bob Jones, Fred Kaulkstein, and Dennis Gaviola, for fish weighing 35.8, 34.8, and 33 pounds.
Gannets Are Diving
It's safe to assume that bigger fish will be caught between now and the end of the tournament in December. The gannets are here in flocks and are diving. They're diving on herring and other large prey species. The bigger bass cannot be far off.
Harvey Bennett of the Tackle Shop in Springs, back from a trip to the Midwest to retrieve two race cars he plans to refurbish over the winter, reports not many more bass or bluefish in the surf of Amagansett than there were in Ohio.
The Marlin V party boat of Montauk has called it quits for the season. The Lazy Bones, the Flying Cloud, and the Viking boats are still sailing, however.
The Cloud has been specializing in porgies and sea bass. The Bones is after bass and bluefish, and the Viking is offering trips for porgies, bass, and bluefish.