The direction you want to go during the August heat is east. “Whether it’s striped bass, bluefish, fluke, porgies, sea bass, or tuna, the fish now prefer to be in cooler, deeper waters,” said Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor.
The direction you want to go during the August heat is east. “Whether it’s striped bass, bluefish, fluke, porgies, sea bass, or tuna, the fish now prefer to be in cooler, deeper waters,” said Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor.
I had done some fishing a few days earlier at Jessup’s Neck, and the bluefish were hungry, taking full advantage of my four-ounce diamond jig. I had my fill of fish, so I got on my motorcycle.
“It’s been a great season thus far,” Harvey Bennett, former owner of the Tackle Shop in Amagansett, said of blue-claw crabs. “They are large and plentiful. More people need to take advantage of it. Blue-claws are the best to eat.”
If I truly wanted to catch a fluke, for all practical purposes I would need to hop aboard one of the several fine party boats that set sail from Montauk, which are significantly closer to the more productive fishing grounds.
The fishing for fluke has continued to deteriorate in Block Island Sound where dozens of boats used to drift their baited hooks on a daily basis in summer. Looking at my log book on the ride out, I noted that I had made two trips last summer and we failed to land a keeper. Not good.
The popular Montauk Grand Slam charity fishing tournament will be held this weekend at Uihlein’s Marina in Montauk. At 5 p.m. Sunday, the tournament will crown Capt. Frank Braddick as the Fishing Legend of the Year.
“Definitely, the better fishing has been out at Montauk,” Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle said Monday. “The bass fishing remains solid and there are acres and acres of bluefish between 10 and 18 pounds roaming around.”
Lots of bass between 30 and 50 pounds continue to be caught and released off Montauk. Finding fish in the new smaller slot size has been a challenge at times. Plenty of bluefish are mixed in too.
Given all of the supersize stripers now in Montauk, it’s still not too late to enter the popular Montauk Surf Masters Spring Shootout, which concludes on July 9. Bigger fish are clearly on the feed here.
“A lot of big bass to over 50 pounds are around,” observed Capt. Savio Mizzi of Fishhooker Charters. “Fishing is literally off the hook.”
Out in Montauk, anglers for striped bass and bluefish are returning to the docks with sore arms. Porgy fishing has also been consistent, with fish up to three pounds.
“Oh man, there are striped bass and bluefish everywhere,” Paul Apostolides said from behind his countertop. “The action has been truly fantastic. More people need to take advantage of it.”
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