The opening of bay scallop season in state waters on Nov. 3 was a particularly sad day for me.
As I drove over the Lance Corporal Jordan C. Haerter bridge from North Haven to Sag Harbor at 6:30 a.m., I tamped my brakes and took a long glance to the north and east at the great expanse of waters that are the Shelter Island Sound. The wind was down and the waters were benign, but there were no boats to be seen in the vast distance. It should not have been that way.
Instead of dropping my eight iron scallop dredges into the water from Rock Water that morning, I was headed off to play tennis in East Hampton. Outside of when I was in college in Buffalo back in the early 1980s, it was probably the first time in many years that I did not venture on the water to dredge up the savory bivalve on opening day.
Even when I worked in Manhattan for several decades, I always made sure I was on the water on opening day.
I even once persuaded my boss, who was the chairman and C.E.O. of a Fortune 100 company, to delay issuing our quarterly earnings report for a day or two just so I could dredge up some scallops. He thankfully acquiesced. He was a very good and understanding man, and he loved scallops, which didn’t hurt.
While I enjoy tennis as a daily regimen, going for scallops for nearly 60 years has been a passion for me while growing up out here and for so many before me. Yet, over the past month or so, I heard the dire predictions from several baymen and marine specialists. It’s not worth any effort, they all said.
I took their words to heart. Baymen are an extremely secretive clan, but it was obvious from their whispers that I’d be better off focusing on my tennis game instead.
And they were right. From my property on the east side of North Haven, I saw nary a boat all that day or for the week that followed. The one boat I did witness was pulling up and rebaiting conch traps.
In years past on opening day, it was like the historic Gold Rush with probably over 50 boats and makeshift skiffs scouring the bay bottom in front of our house. The boats were everywhere, as were the scallops.
Those days are long gone. The everfewer hard-core baymen today have written off scallops as part of their yearly income.
At this juncture, I don’t see our bay scallops returning to their former prominence. While my dock-raised oysters continue to thrive, scallops are a much different story. They are much more fickle and extremely sensitive to the conditions that Mother Nature serves up.
East Hampton Town waters opened on Monday. There too, the outlook is dour. Three Mile Harbor may have a few, and Lake Montauk may hold a decent set as it has for the past few years, but it’s not going to be a bonanza.
I’ve heard that a decent number of scallops have been dredged up in Shinnecock and especially in Moriches Bay off to the west. How long that catch will last is unknown. Probably a week or two.
Up in Nantucket, the commercial scallop season also opened on Nov. 3. There, baymen can retain five bushels per person. The landings were good, if slightly down from last year. That said, Sayle’s Seafood market on the island was selling them for $26 per pound. That’s a true bargain price in my book. Over on the North Fork, where they have been available for purchase in limited quantities, the price has neared $50.
I’m hopeful that the tide will turn, and we see a rebound here at some point. Until then, my dredges will remain in the basement.
The fishing scene, which is much brighter than the scallop scene, has rebounded when the winds have slacked off.
Sam Doughty of Amagansett snuck in a trip for blackfish on Saturday morning before the winds picked up. He landed 10 keepers off to the north while only retaining his daily four-fish limit. He said the action was excellent. I wish I’d been along for the trip.
Striped bass? They remain plentiful in the rips off the Montauk Lighthouse, all the way along the beach westward to Shinnecock. Surfcasters have also done well.
Those who sling slim diamond jigs in the rips or from the beach have seen consistent action, including a good number of keeper slots. Hopefully this will continue for the next few weeks.
The half-day party boat Lazybones, which sets sail from Montauk, has done exceptionally well for its fares when drifting in the rips off the Lighthouse when conditions allow.
Capt. Michael Potts of the charter boat Oh Brother! out of Montauk reported the fishing was superb near Block Island on Saturday. “The action was great,” he said. “We had an especially great flurry where all the fish were keepers. It was nonstop, with most being keeper-sized.” Note that anglers can only retain four fish over 16 inches per day.
The action should remain solid through the Thanksgiving holiday, especially in deeper waters. Fish up to 10 pounds have been landed lately.
As of note, blackfish make for a fine Thanksgiving dinner feast. It’s not always about the turkey.
Fishing tips, observations, and photographs can be sent to [email protected].