Fishing

My good friend Robert Cugini, who hails from Seattle, has served as a valued deckhand for many years when bay scallop season opens in early November. But lobsters are a different ballgame.

I know that the East End is a well-known hot spot. I realize that nothing stays the same, but I miss the more simple days when courtesy, respect, and kindness ruled the road and water. Is it too much to ask for today?

The recent heat wave zapped my energy for getting on the Rock Water and wetting a fishing line. But I sucked it up and checked on my lobster traps anyway.

After a good catch of bluefish, I steered back to port in Sag Harbor, but my engine stalled out a few minutes later. Not good.

The D.E.C. has announced changes to recreational fishing regulations to improve management of protected shark species. Plus, a record blue-claw crab hits the counter at Tight Lines Tackle.

In local waters there has been a decrease of kelp, much of which was typically found from the east side of Gardiner’s Island all the way to Montauk. A new project looks to change this.

Fishing-wise, things are much better than my 62-year-old body or my Jeep Wrangler’s transmission.

Blowfish are one of the tastiest local fish in our warming waters as we jump from spring to summer. They are one of the cheapest fish at the markets, too.

I was supposed to take my boat to check my lobster traps. It had been about 10 days. I also planned to do some diamond jigging for striped bass in Plum Gut. None of it happened.

The striped bass showed up en masse for their annual residency off Montauk on May 1. It was a true sign that spring had sprung for those who wet a line for the highly prized linesiders.

Dock to Dish, a restaurant-supported fishery cooperative founded in Montauk in 2012, has new owners and a renewed focus on getting fresh-from-the-boat seafood directly into the kitchens of restaurants across the East End and the New York area. And the fact that most of the owners are also fishermen doesn’t hurt.

It’s been sad to watch the demise of our local inshore lobster fishery. I’ve seen a clear downward spiral that’s been especially acute in the past five years.

The recent closure of the only tackle shop in downtown Montauk was a blow for fishermen, but all is not lost for those who wet a hook and line in Montauk. The Montauk Anglers Club, right near the Montauk inlet on East Lake Drive, is looking to fill the void left by the departure of Paulie’s by adding more tackle, bait, lures, gear, and services to its already well-stocked marine and tackle store. 

The question was whether I should stay in port on April 9 or put out my lobster traps for the season. Sounds simple, yes? But it wasn’t. Hear me out.

Hundreds of anglers were saddened to learn last week that Paulie’s Tackle Shop, operating in downtown Montauk for over 20 years, had closed its doors forever.

Out on the water for a last chance to catch some blackfish, The Star’s fishing columnist enjoyed some good camaraderie, and if the fish were to cooperate, so much the better.

The plight of our beloved scallop is a sad one. For five straight years, we have witnessed a summer die-off. Baymen never have it easy.

With the season for blackfish and sea bass concluding in a few weeks, our columnist headed toward Block Island on a trip organized by Bill Bennett of Sag Harbor. They enjoyed consistent action all morning.

“I honestly don’t think I missed a fish, as they were taking the bait with such abandon,” Joel Fisher said of the waters off Big Gull Island. “All were in the 14-to-17-inch range. It was a great way to end the season.”

The plan was to head out on a 90-minute ride to Block Island for blackfish, sea bass, and codfish. When boats were able to get out in recent days, the action was good, especially for blackfish.

Last November I landed one bushel of scallops on opening day in and around Shelter Island Sound. The next day, however, I struggled to land barely a quarter bushel. East Hampton Town waters will open to scalloping in two weeks.

Blackfishing has been tough of late, “but bass, blues, and false albacore are still running well in Plum Gut,” Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle said, and anglers have experienced blitz-like fishing for striped bass around the Montauk Lighthouse.

“Local spots like the Sag Harbor bridge, Nichols Point, and the black spindle rock pile outside the breakwater have been producing of late,” Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle said from behind the counter of his new establishment in Southampton.

Before the water turns to ice here on the East End, the local fishing scene seems to be holding up just fine. Bass, bluefish, tuna, sea bass, porgies, and blackfish are hungry and on the feed.

The closing of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor is most unfortunate. Small mom-and-pop, one-man businesses like Ken Morse’s establishment continue to be squeezed out because of high rents. It’s a troublesome trend that has become too frequent here.

“Yeah, the weather gods have not been cooperating of late,” Ken Morse at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor said of the slow fishing. “The winds were relentless, but it appears things are finally going to calm down.”

Just as Tropical Storm Ophelia ushered out summer, Ken Morse, the man behind Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor, is moving out — to Southampton.

There’s bad news for anglers in NOAA’s analysis of its annual recreational fishing survey.

If you fish in saltwater in New York and are over the age of 16, you must possess a free Department of Environmental Conservation marine registry permit. But now the marine registry may soon cease to exist, as the D.E.C. is considering a fee-based license for fishing in the state’s marine waters.

Jimmy Buffett, who had a house on North Haven, loved the waters of the East End, whether surfing, sailing, or fishing.