The autumnal equinox occurred on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. Fall is officially here. However, you really didn’t need a calendar to know that. All you had to do was check the direction of the wind.
Unlike in summer, most days now are seeing wind from the northwest, north, and, most recently, from the very gusty northeast. The days of it blowing from the warmer climes of the south are in the rearview mirror.
Other notable actions and observations abound that have also signaled the change:
For one, we bought pumpkins to display on our front porch two weeks ago. The patio furniture and lounge chairs have been returned to the darkness of the basement. My tomato plants have been pulled out and the hummingbirds that sipped sugar water at my feeder are long gone. The ospreys, too, are mostly gone. I have also removed my spring and summer fishing gear off Rock Water. My list goes on and on.
Fishing is quickly changing with the diminishing daylight hours. Fluke are swimming quickly off to their winter abode near the continental shelf. Porgies and sea bass are schooling up for their respective migration offshore. A few straggler weakfish and blowfish remain to the west in the Peconics, but with these blustery winds, they too are packing their bags.
“Yeah, the seasons are quickly changing on the water,” agreed Ken Morse, the owner of Tight Lines Tackle in Southampton and Sag Harbor. “But the false albacore have moved in and are scattered about. Some stripers are starting to reappear, and bluefish are roaming along the ocean beaches. There’s a lot of bait in the water, so I’m hopeful we will see a good fall bite in the surf.”
Blackfish anglers are chomping at the bit. The season for the tasty, hard-fighting tautog commences on Oct. 11 in Long Island Sound with a three-fish limit. Elsewhere in New York waters it opens on Oct. 15, where four fish can be retained. Blackfish have to be at least 16 inches in length in both areas to be kept for the dinner table.
“It should be a good season for them when it opens,” added Morse. “Folks are getting ready.” Morse also has plenty of green crabs in stock, a favorite bait that blackfish love to munch on.
When the weather allows, the offshore fishing has been fine. The Viking Star out of Montauk returned on Friday after a 60-hour trip. The fares landed plenty of yellowfin tuna ranging up to 80 pounds while trolling, chunking, jigging, and on surface poppers. Plenty of mahimahi were also caught, as well as four swordfish. It was a mighty fine catch. Weather depending, the next trip departs on Tuesday.
Closer to shore, the dank and dreary weather on Sunday afternoon did not dampen Sebastian Gorgone’s upbeat report on the local fishing scene. The owner of Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton smiled and said that “fall is here and it’s getting fishier by the day.”
Gorgone remarked that plenty of bluefish, along with some false albacore, are running along the ocean beaches, but that some larger striped bass have begun to appear in the bays and harbors.
“Snapper are nice sized now and the fishing has been great, with a lot of bait around,” he added. “Porgy fishing is still good and some fluke have been coming in from the Louse Point area.”
But the talk of the town of late has been the recent sharp spike in the price of fuel at the dock. Anglers have begun to notice a slimmer wallet after filling up and are muttering words not suitable for publication.
At my local club, diesel fuel has jumped to an eye-popping $8.23 a gallon. Ouch! Industry experts seem to be in agreement that it will only continue to rise.
I would not be surprised to see party and charter boats include a fuel surcharge on top of the regular fare soon. Boats in other ports beyond Long Island have already started to implement one.
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Fishing tips, observations, and photographs can be sent to [email protected].