On July 27 at daybreak, I went to check my lobster traps off to the east, but before we ventured forth, I wanted to do a bit of fishing on the east side of Gardiner's Island. Fluke and sea bass were the intended quarry. My expectations were very low. I will explain further below.
The ride on the Rock Water took a bit over an hour as we cruised at a slow and steady 12 knots. A cold front had crossed the area the day before, and it actually felt a bit chilly as I idled down on my diesel engine to prepare for our first drift.
The gentle breeze that emanated from the north was most refreshing. This has been a summer that's bordered on Amazon-like, with heat and humidity that have been most unpleasant. I'm counting the days until fall. It didn't help that the air-conditioner at home had been on the fritz for over two weeks and I would work up a sweat while lying on the living room couch. As my wife, Terie, will attest, I was getting increasingly more cantankerous by the day.
With the Rock Water stopped and some fresh squid and spearing in hand, we lowered our baits into the water. In the great expanse of western Block Island Sound, there was only one other boat wetting a fishing line. And I know why.
The east side of Gardiner's Island used to be one of the most popular and successful areas for fishing, especially for fluke during the summer months. On a typical summer weekend morning there would easily be 50 to 70 boats on the drift. Charter and party boats from Montauk and beyond would also frequent the area, but not anymore. It's been a true dead zone for many years now. And that's most unfortunate.
Looking back at my logbook, I noticed that two high school buddies and I had caught 48 fluke on Aug. 2, 1982, in that very same area. We did not put any in the bucket, as we were in catch-and-release mode. The action was nonstop. The fluke were everywhere we tried.
The three of us aboard last week fished for almost three hours, and only landed four fluke, but all were well below the 18.6-inch minimum size limit. And while we caught a good number of black sea bass, they too were all undersize.
"Okay, enough of this," I said to Terie and Ray, my crew of two, as I reeled in my bait. "Let's check the lobster traps. Anything has to be better than this."
I started up the engine and steered off to the northwest. However, about 10 minutes in I received a low-voltage alarm on my GPS screen concerning my batteries. Not good.
My 25-year-old boat has been breaking down more frequently as she continues to age. This year, in particular, has been a rough one for the Rock Water, and my checkbook.
Terie has implored me to have a new boat built. I'm beginning to think she may be right.
Thankfully Ray, who worked as a mechanic for the Hampton Jitney for nearly 30 years, was aboard that morning. He suggested that we shut down all of our electronics to help preserve what power was left in my twin batteries. My alternator was the likely culprit.
Our trip to the lobster traps, a scant two miles away, would have to wait. Our goal now was to get back home without any assistance of towage. We were about an hour away from my dock and had our fingers crossed that we could make it.
Thankfully, we did, and it was a huge relief. After further analysis, it was determined that my alternator had indeed failed.
I finally retrieved my lobster traps a week later after the new alternator was installed. The catch was pretty good. We culled out 15 lobsters that were a mix of hard and soft shells, rather typical for this time of year.
Even better, Rock Water did not experience any breakdowns for the entire trip. Whew!
As for fishing, it appears that the farther east you cast a lure or bait, the better the action. Out at Montauk, the prolonged run of small bluefin tuna upward of 30 pounds have kept rods consistently bent and anglers smiling.
Farther inshore, porgy and sea bass fishing has remained strong. "But striped bass have slowed up of late," said Franks Wade at Westlake Marina in Montauk. "It's a bit of the summer doldrums for them right now."
Wade added that fluke fishing "remains a bit iffy" as well. "There are quite a bit of fish being caught, but most of them have been shorts."
Farther to the west, Sebastian Gorgone at Mrs. Sam's Bait and Tackle in East Hampton said striped bass and bluefish are still being taken at Plum Gut. "Three-way rigs with bucktails or diamond jigs have been the ticket," he said. "In addition, blowfish and kingfish can be caught near Clearwater and near Three Mile Harbor. Fluke can be had near Frisbees off Montauk and triggerfish have shown up in the warming waters nearby as well."
—
Fishing tips, observations, and photographs can be sent to [email protected].