After a very long, cold, and snowy winter, anglers were chomping at the bit to drop a line in the water this spring for some much needed outdoor recreation and relaxation. For many though, including this chronicler of all things fishy, the fishing scene has unfortunately been rather lackluster for several species.
Other than striped bass, which have shown up in great numbers and sizes, those on the prowl for bluefish, weakfish, fluke, squid, black sea bass, and blowfish have been mostly met with rather slim pickings. My own ventures in and around Shelter Island and beyond have resulted in a meager number of some keeper-size porgies that barely covered the bottom of my bucket. Even the usually abundant sea robin have been elusive. Where did everyone go?
“Every season is different,” observed Capt. Harvey Bennett, the former longtime owner of the Tackle Shop in Amagansett. “Other than stripers, it has been a rather slow start this season, but that should quickly change as the water temperatures get higher.”
Thankfully the start of summer is just around the corner on June 21, and that may result in better fishing.
That said, while Saturday was a complete blowout, with 50-knot gusts out of the north, I had planned to venture forth to test my luck on a much more benign Sunday morning aboard Rock Water. Porgy and fluke was the intended quarry, but at this point any tap or tug on the fishing rod would be most welcome.
Alas, my plans went awry, as I suffered a miscue while preparing dinner on Saturday night. The old saying that one should never catch a falling knife is most wise. In this instance, my left foot expertly caught the sharp end of a knife that slipped out of my grasp. Being barefoot and on blood thinner medication, bandages aplenty were needed to stem the bleed. Dinner was going to be late and fishing needed to be rescheduled for another day.
For those able to venture out on the water, Sunday was indeed a beautiful and successful day.
Striped bass fishing continued to be phenomenal at Montauk and the bluefish finally made their debut. The secret to success: trolling umbrella rigs or bucktails and slinging diamond jigs off the Lighthouse.
Capt. Dave Marmeno reported a nice day of porgy fishing aboard the Viking Starlite on Sunday. “The porgies were biting and this was probably one of our better days this season, with most anglers going home with pretty full buckets. We started the day in shallow water, but heavy seaweed pushed us into deeper water, where we found a good bite and had nice catches.”
Farther west, Sebastian Gorgone at Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton, was hoping for continued better weather and improved fishing.
“The waters around here have been colder than normal this season, but that should change shortly,” he said. “Bass have been on the ocean beaches and in and around Three Mile Harbor. And Gerard Drive has some small bluefish for casters, but some bigger ones have started to show up.”
Gorgone said that if you are on the hunt for porgies, Cherry Harbor, on the southwest side of Gardiner’s Island, is the place to be. “Quite a few boats have been anchored up there and are picking up a decent amount of large scup when conditions allow.” He added that a few tasty blowfish have also begun to show up in Three Mile Harbor.
Even farther west, Ken Morse, the proprietor of Tight Lines Tackle in Southampton and his satellite location on Bay Street in Sag Harbor, agreed about the excellent striped bass fishing. “Bass fishing has been incredible for weeks and weeks,” he said. “But what’s been weird is that it’s mainly large fish that have been here, with very few school-sized fish. There’s been no fish between 12 and 20 inches.”
Morse said that the ocean beaches all the way to Montauk have been productive. “I’ve seen fish up to nearly 50 pounds landed and released. And the action is just as good for boaters in the Peconics all the way eastward to Plum Gut.”
He said he saw an uptick on local porgy fishing on Sunday, but that weakfish, fluke and bluefish remain scarce. In addition, sea bass have been very slow to show on the nearby grounds.
“With the cold and miserable weather we’ve had this spring, it’s made for a weird season so far,” he observed. “As for striped bass, usually the small stripers show up first well before the large ones move in. But that was not the case this year despite the cold water. The first bass I caught in early May was over 35 pounds. That’s just crazy.”
—
Fishing tips, observations, and photographs can be sent to [email protected].