Outdoors

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.

East Hampton is downright lucky to have a population of saltmarsh sparrows, birds that are vulnerable because of their dependence on a habitat that shrinks with every centimeter in sea level rise: the salt marsh. The sparrows themselves are not so lucky: they've lost 75 percent of their population since 1990. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is assessing whether the bird should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

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.

This is the best time of year to observe chimney swifts locally as they burst through the skies over our villages. You’ll never see a chimney swift land, or even come close to street level. In their daily circuits, they can fly 500 miles a day in pursuit of something like 12,000 flying insects.

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.”

Three weeks ago, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and its Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board voted to approve an emergency measure to lower the maximum striped bass size to 31 inches. The current “slot” regulation in New York allows anglers to keep one bass between 28 and 35 inches in length per day. However, there has been pushback from local political representatives on the reduced slot for the highly-prized striper before the New York Department of Environmental Conservation moves forward with a formal ruling.