My Weekend Surf Casting in Montauk

Stagger_Lee

Stagger_Lee

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What a f’en zoo ….

Got into Montauk late Friday afternoon. Met up with my friend, his bud and his father (Montauk surf-caster for 42 years), at the camp site in Hither Hills park … right on the ocean and my first time camping since I was a kid tho this was in camper not a tent and I had a pullout couch … my speed lol.

Shot the #censor# for a lil over a beer or two and we head to the beach to get me comfortable … only fishing I have EVER done is the Fly Fishing over the past 18 months. Got the casting down in 5 minutes but have some fly fish habits as to what I do once the fly (lure in this instance) hits the water. First rod they put me on was heavy, the reel was high end and I tangled it up. They put me on an easier, lighter rod, which was more my preference and I was all good ….. of course they had fun ragging on the ‘rook’ all weekend. Fished (practiced) for a few hours, back to the camper for some beers and out to diner to eat, drink and watch the USA MNT officially qualify for WC 2014.

Woke up very early Sat AM, coffee and bfast to go and we were off. Drove to abt 4 different spots (Montauk has tons, and tons of spots to surf cast) and fished each area for abt 1 hour and we all got nothing. We also spoke to a bunch of fisherman at these spots and nothing at all as well. By 12PM we were spent and needed lunch. Montauk is a great small beach town with a ton of offerings to eat from quality inexpensive food to high end that caters to rich and famous that spend time on the east end of LI.

We met his dads friends at a local pancake house and we shot the shinola for 2 hours. These guys are too Montauk fishing as many of you guys are to FFishing in Pa and other areas. I found it very interest that the striper fishing has been really poor excluding a few spots … which we needed to find and yes … they have spot burn issues. Very few blitzes that past few years and there are different and very strong views as to why they are seeing a small striped bass population as years past. Anyhow .. nice enough guys cause they new my buddy and his dad for years, otherwise they would’ve never told us where to go. They spoke very quietly and put us on a spot where we were bound to catch fish as they have had success there the past 2 days.

Got to the small lot that wasn’t that crowded and we took the 45 minute hike on a nice trail and got to a really nice, remote area along the shore. Decent amt of fishermen there but surely not even close to the what I witnessed early or the complete madness near the lighthouse where we didn’t fish but just drove bye. Walked abt ½ mile east and set up shop. White buck-tail was the call and we cast, and cast, and cast and got nothing … nada. Meanwhile this guy next to us (maybe 25 yards from us) was hooking on what seemed every 3 casts. We spent a good 2 hrs in the area, moving up and down the beach to different spots, nothing. As we headed back to the trail end to get to the lot we saw a couple of my buddies dads friends and we talked .... we were using a 1 ½ buck tail which he said we needed BUT we had white tails and everyone with action had red tails .. that made the difference. These guys were all nice BUT IMHO, if I met a fly fisher, not even one I know but a stranger, and we were shooting the shinola on what was hitting and what wasn’t … no doubt that they would give us one or two of the flys that were working … or at least that has been my experience. No one offered and I didn’t ask but maybe it’s just cause they are New Yawkers .. lol. Off to one of the local fish shop to get red tails (I think they called’em pork grinds), got diner, drinks bed.

Got up Sunday but not as early as the prior day, finished up our hike and we were casting by 7AM. Third cast boom … got my first fish from the surf. Similar to nymphing in a sense that you don’t see anything but you feel it. Nice fight in those striped bass and I ended up getting four that am all around 12 – 15 lbs … headed home yesterday arnd noon.

All in all had a blast but a few things from Stagger

1) All weekend constant wind of abt 22 MPH and 30+MPH gusts .. made casting a challenge

2) Those cats in wetsuits that go abt 50 – 100 yrds out to fish on rocks are ‘nutz’ but that is where the big fish are ... I admire their nutzy-ness getting whacked by big waves what seemed every few seconds.

3) Enjoyed surfcasting and will defiantly do it again BUT FF for tout and SMB > surf casting …. I love the beach, and maybe it was that it was so windy, but there is something to be said about chucking fly’s and the subtle sounds of a fresh water stream. I will FF salt down the road in one form or another down the road

5) The amt of people in Montauk to surf cast is insane … the two parking lots (BIG LOTS) near the light house full and 90% of the vehicles were fishermen .. INSANE

4) Next time I drive 200+ miles for a weekend it will be west to hit up some of Pa’s big spots to fish for trout

5) If there are any surfers on the board … never realized what a popular destination Montauk is for surfing BUT some of the surfers are complete schmucks … I saw tons of words btwn fishermen and surfers .. lol

6) People come from all over the country and globe to fish Montauk … I met a few from out of state who were very disappointed in the conditions and the amt of fish

7) All in all a great weekend and really enjoyed my 1st fishing trip weekend
 
cool. sounds like a good trip and i'm glad you got into fish eventually.

fall fishing is very day and spot specific - mobility and flexibility is the key, right along the coast. unless you have days to standaround and wait it out like the mostly retired locals.

based on this years run so far, you were a little early - the fish are late.

next year they'll probably be early LOL.

great report - thanks for sharing
 
Stagger_Lee wrote:
What a f’en zoo ….

Well, it's not like we didn't warn yuh. :lol:

Glad you had a good time. Stripers in the 12-15lb class are a nice day of surf fishing and nothing to sneeze at. I love Montauk and wish I could make it there this year.

It's a unique and amazing place (to put it mildly).
 
Yea .. no shinola Dave. Tonight I'm going to try to get my pictures loaded up and post some here. The one zoo picture I took was a picture of the parking lot near the famous light house ... it is the most eastern part of LI and where most go to fish .. 2 lots packed with fishermen
 
On Tuesday, Oct. 29, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Striped Bass Management Board will be meeting. Given your new interest in stripers and what you heard about catches being down, you may be interested in what actions, if any, the Board takes at this meeting following a report on the stock status or other related striped bass population topics from the striped bass technical committee representative. It may interest you that Pa. has a seat on that Board despite Pa's being "small potatoes" in the striped bass world. Nevertheless, Pa's vote counts as much as that of Maryland or Massachusetts, for instance. Keep an eye on the ASMFC web site for news releases about striped bass following the meeting www.asmfc.org.

Pa has representatives on other ASMFC technical committees and Boards as well, including American shad and River Herring, American Eel, and Atlantic Sturgeon.

The PFBC staff is not just all about trout.
 
good to hear Mike,

I hope the CCA, ASWF etc. can help on PA's support pressuring VA over their size limits, and other states re commercial limits on their menhaden harvests which are lobbied hard by Ocean Harvest for their fish oil omega supplements...

its a migrational fishery, we gotta fix all of it to fish any of it.

my radical position is that we have to fix the menhaden problem or otherwise make stripers a gamefish - the rec fishery is three times the commerical north of NJ.

figures.
 
Not sure how truthful BUT there was lots of talk by the rec surf casters of commercial and charter boats and the increase of their allowance over the past years.
 
the funny thing is I just got done writing a paper for my bio class about menhaden stocks. I truly think people underestimate the importance of these little fish. one adult bunker can filter up to 4 gallons of water a minute some say seven. the commercial fishery is not good but I don't think its that huge of a deal. the only problem is that the guys catching them are keeping the big spawners. 35 inch plus fish.
 
Pa. has no role on the Menhaden Board of the ASMFC.

As for the recreational harvest vs the commercial harvest of stripers, the harvest is much higher in the recreational fishery.
 
Mike wrote:
Pa. has no role on the Menhaden Board of the ASMFC.

As for the recreational harvest vs the commercial harvest of stripers, the harvest is much higher in the recreational fishery.

1. shame.

2. yeah, as i said, about 3 x times the size. without the ability to help the bait - which is what the migration follows, we anglers have to take responsibility for our actions.

for 8 plus years i've seen Canal anglers **** and moan about decreasing numbers of 'big fish' whilst them and their buddies take two a day of anything over 30".

i think some old hands are coming round to the idea of a 'slot' though - two between 22" to 26" and thats it, but the sponsors and charters want to keep landing the 40/5lb+ fish that are nearly all female breeders....
 
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looks awesome. your gonna have to hit jersey and some stripes with a fly. it gonna happen any day now.

regards to stripers yea I would love to see a slot limit put into place. I mean the majority of the fall run is made up of bass that are just at 28 or under. the down side is I think it would hurt the population of resident fish. 25 to 32 would be an a good slot. enough meat to get a meal out of the fish and they are a ton of them. and only two fish. lets be honest is a fish is 35 plus inches it not as tasty as a 28 inch fish IMO. i don't keep bass often but when i do they are just keeper size.
 
If you feel strongly about your concern regarding the harvest of mature female striped bass (large fish) write or email ASMFC. one question is: would your fellow anglers support this?
 
Mike - the vast majority of my fellow anglers who fish the surf or the Cape Cod Canal etc want things as they are.

they'll probably moan until we get a moratorium and still wrongly blame the commercial fishery.

I've emailed and signed petitions but the ASMFC is not going to listen to anglers who can't agree among themselves, particularly when they face political opposition from government in the Southern Midatlantic states.

 
Here's a great video from FishIdiot's favorite, secret spot taken a few years ago by Bob Popovics:

 
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