Despite the name of this column that has run for so many decades in The Star, I have to admit that I’ve not been on the water much this year.
Next year, I will promise myself more time on the water. I’m crossing my fingers that I will be able to drop my numerous lobster traps into the drink by late March. I’m looking forward to a fresh start. Stay tuned.
Russell Drumm, a great friend who authored this column for many years before his passing almost a decade ago, would be admonishing the writer of this column for the past nine years for my lack of effort this year. “Get out and fish,” he would have said. And he would be right.
Drumm sadly passed away at the age of 68, a year before I began writing this column following retirement from my professional career. His writing meant a lot to me year after year when I picked up this paper hot off the press every Thursday morning. Drumm’s words were always an inspiration.
“Rusty had a true feel for fishing and what life out here was like,” reminisced Capt. Harvey Bennett, the longtime former owner of the Tackle Shop in Amagansett. “He was a very close friend, and I pick my friends carefully.” Bennett said he had spirit and a sense of humor “like no other.”
“From the day I took him and his father shooting for coot and I saw the bond of a father and son and the love that came with it; it was beyond special,” Bennett said.
“He was a great writer and he loved the water and being in the field,” he added. “Few were finer.” I could not agree more.
Rusty’s tales, reports, and various experiences always lured me to this very column for many decades. (Pun intended.) Beyond the front-page headlines, his column was the first thing I read every week. He always captured pulse on the waterfront.
To this day, I still enjoy rereading his columns of years gone by on the internet. Check them out. They are truly timeless.
My neighbor down the beach from me on North Haven, Jimmy Buffett, was close friends with Drumm as well. The musician loved to fish and surf with him. They had a true bond.
“Rusty surfed the huge surf of Indonesia and stared at the stars at night at Montauk,” Bennett said. “As well, fiction and fishing go hand in hand. On those days when there was no report to be had, he would call me and say what do you have? And I would say nothing, and his answer was that he’ll make something up and I’ll call you back in 10 minutes. I loved the guy.”
So did I.
As for the local fishing scene, while bass and bluefish remain on the scarce side out at Montauk, blackfish now reign supreme. Porgies and sea bass still abound, but anglers are increasingly focusing on the toothy, tasty blackfish — a.k.a. tautog — since the season opened last week.
Over at the Ebb Tide II, an open boat that sets sail from Montauk, Capt. Anthony D’Arrigo, reported a great start to the season. “Some folks do better than others, but we’ve had a ton of action as well on shorts, sea bass, and porgies. The only nuisance was the dirty water that seemed to keep the larger brutes hiding. Over all, it’s been a steady pick with some waves of crunching that got multiple meals in the box. It’s a great start to the season.”
D’Arrigo added that his night excursions for squid, which depart the dock at 7, have been extremely productive. “The jumbo squid are now here,” he said. “It’s been a real steady pick.”
“It’s been tough for guys to get off the dock, but the striped bass are still here, more locally than they have been, but most are still at Block Island,” said Will Cornacchia at the Montauk Anglers Club on East Lake Drive. “Sea bass fishing is steady, with bigger fish still up on the edges in 80 feet of water. The opening of tog season was exceptional, with several recreational boats from our marina limiting out.”
Over at Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton, the owner Sebastian Gorgone was equally enthused about the hot start for blackfish.
“Yeah, the blackfish are chomping down big time on green-crab baits in shallow water off to the north at Plum Island, Gull Island, and Fishers Island,” he reported.
Anglers report that the best action has been in 15 to 25 feet of water. As the water continues to cool down, the blackfish will relocate to deeper depths before their winter of slumber.
Fishing tips, observations, and photographs can be sent to [email protected].