Montauk - NorEasters and White Water

[DarkSkies]

Took a a ride to Montauk after fishing with the Stripercoast crew. I wanted to see what it would be like with the winds forecast to 40 or 50 mph, and see if there was fishable water. :scared:

I had a very interesting trip on many levels. I met some of the surf fishin icons I already know. :HappyWave: I also met a bunch of great people that maybe are not that well known, but incredible fishermen nonetheless. :thumbsup:

You won't see a lot of these guys on the internet, they have better things to do with their time. ;) Instead, they love to fish, and fish they do, as much as they can. Since I got there on a Friday, you get a better chance to have conversations before the weekend crowds start drifting in. I met more guys there with 40 and 50 years of fishing time under their belts than I could ever meet in one area of Jersey or NY.

Montauk is truly mecca, the Sportfishing capital of the world, as they call it. :heart:

I'll try to load in some of the pics and videos I took to give others who may not have gone, just a taste of what it's like.

Hope ya's like em!

7633

[DarkSkies]

Where else can you meet and hang with guys whose names sound like they came out of a Pulp Fiction story? :laugh:

Guys with colorful sounding names like Lilco Joe, Willy Young, Jack Yee, Gary the Toad, Paulie, Bullsh** Steve, John the Baptist, Pauk Melnyk the skishing king,.....Zeno, Bill "Eels" Wetzel, and tons more of the colorful surf characters we all know and admire....

And regular people like Tommy from Jones, Al and his girlfriend from Queens :HappyWave:(nice cownose ray, Al), Mark, Joe, Bill, Bob, Vinny, Angelo, Debbie and Carol, Giovanni, etc, etc, who don't care about fame or fortune they just wanna chance at one or 2 LARGE!


7634



Gary the Toad and Paulie

7635







Here's Jack lookin good as usual. Yet, he just had surgery. When ya see him, ask him why. :don't know why: If you used to smoke, and don't anymore, maybe ya can tell him how your life is better now. Watch out, he's got a mean right hook! :laugh: And the man does take the most awesome pics, none better than Jack's pics of Montauk. You can go here to buy them or keep up with the day to day events.
http://www.jackyee.com/
Nice to chat with you for a bit, Jack. :HappyWave:

7636

[DarkSkies]

This was shot at the E Hampton beach, awesome surf! :dribble:

6563962

[DarkSkies]

7676




Great south side area. :thumbsup: The winds on Fri were 40+, so some of this video is hard to understand. Also, I may have said it was a hurricane in one of these videos instead of a noreaster. My bad. :embarassed:
6564990

[DarkSkies]

Another beautiful south side area. Winds were pretty strong here too, hard to understand my narration.

6565544

[DarkSkies]

There's been controversy about surfing the north side of Montauk lately. There are a lot of people who feel very strongly about this. I wish everyone would try to get along, but this isn't always possible in this world. :kooky:

From my limited perspective and the surfing spots I saw on the south side, it seems like the surfers have a lot of space to call their own. Some awesome water here.....

7637

7638

7639

7640

[DarkSkies]

7641

7642

7643

[DarkSkies]

There's a reason this is boldly proclaimed on a sign by the golf course. You can catch fish for 12 months of the year from boats sailing out of Montauk Harbor.


7644

7645

7646

[DarkSkies]

7647

7648

[DarkSkies]

7650

[DarkSkies]

Fishin, fishin, and more fishin. ;)

7651

7652

7653

7654

There's a guy who you might hear at the end of this video, he asks if he can jump in front of me. I kind of gave him a hard time about it, here's why: we had about 200' of fishable space, there were only a few of us fishing. He had good water on either side for 20' to the left or right of me. I wouldn't have minded if he jumped in the rotation, in fact I told him that after he set up to my right.

But asking to jump in front? :kooky: I was fishin for 30 mins, took a 3 minute break to stand back and film that footage. What the eff, if someone else was in that spot when I got there I would have just set up somewhere else. Maybe that's just me, either work yourself into the rotation, or don't.

No one's perfect. I make a lot of mistakes myself. Why is it ok to crowd someone? It wasn't like the fish were jumping out of the water. :don't know why:
6566397

[DarkSkies]

7656

7657

7658

[DarkSkies]

7660

7661



Just one of the things that was working, 2 oz buck with rubber. An old timer told me there are no hard and fast rules. One guy tries something that everyone else thinks is crazy,, and that guy gets the fish. I had a guy tell me a story about him fishing bunker in Turtle Cove at night last year as some of the other guys laughed at him. They stopped laughing when he got a 30. :eek:
:learn:
7662

[DarkSkies]

7663



This guy was climbing on the rocks like a monkey. No korkers, he was going in the crevices at low tide for the lost bucktails and plugs. There is no plug or fish that's worth your life. :kooky:
7664

7665

[DarkSkies]

Some of the NJ club guys.
7666

[SharkHart]

Is it my eyes??? I dont see anything :laugh:

[DarkSkies]

Nothing to report, no fish in Montauk, hence the blank posts. ;)

I'm uploading the vids and pics now, check back in 2 hrs. Lotta raw video, I have to start learning how to edit. :embarassed:

[DarkSkies]

7673

North side rough surf

6566185

[DarkSkies]

6566763

[jigfreak]

You put some cool videos up Dark. I am not too sure if I would have ventured down the rocks with those waves crashing like that. I hope you have on all the necessary gear.

[DarkSkies]

Jigfreak in that post #19 I was talking about the waves layin down. That's because I'm an eternal optimist when fishing. :laugh: About 45 secs after I put the videocam away a huge header came and knocked me down.
As for gear, even korkers are not enough to keep you safe, you gotta watch the sets, see how they're coming in, and count the duration. The closer they are (duration) the more dangerous it is.

Also, I tape my Korkers on with duct tape. You can't have too much duct tape at Montauk, and you can't have too many bucktails, the rocks are hungry. ;)

[wish4fish]

:clapping: :drool:awesome job on the pics dude that looks like the best water. let me know when yur going next time ill split the gas with ya!

[jonthepain]

thanks for the vids! it's just like being there.

[voyager35]

I have never fished Montauk from the rocks or sand. It's a lot different looking at them from a boat. Your report gives an in your face view of things. Nice report and pictures, thanks for sharing.

[7deadlyplugs]

:clapping: Awesome surf!!!:dribble::fishing:

[cowherder]

:eek: :lookhappy: :wow:Wow those are some amazing videos, the surf looks beautiful and scary at the same time. Thanks for posting them up. Any fish reports for us, dark?

[storminsteve]

Thanks for posting them up. Any fish reports for us, dark?

Yeah, where's da fish!!!:HappyWave: :D

[Frankiesurf]

No fish in Montauk.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Yup, what he said, no fish in Montauk. ;)

[plugaholic]

I never had the opportunity to fish Montauk. In the vid's it looked like there were some birds working. I would have thought the weather would have pushed the fish into the surf. Can anyone give some info. on why there was no fish there at that time?

[DarkSkies]

Plugaholic, I should have said "No fish in Montauk, that's what PM's are for". It's kind of a joke, no offense was intended. :HappyWave:

Like the famous line from Fight Club. :lookhappy:

Since the beginning of the summer, fish have been taken at various places. There is more inconsistency than consistency there. The place is known for producing fish in blitz conditions, but those conditions are not completely happening yet. It is a very tough place to fish, and many get discouraged.

Think about it, if you were guaranteed to catch a fish there every time you went, what would the challenge be? And isn't it more of a challenge to catch fish when they are NOT blitzing? Frustrating yes, but also rewarding. :learn:

The best advice I can give you is to go up there and try to learn one spot at a time. There are many, which produce at different times and tides. Throw in a weather pattern like a noreaster, and there will be certain areas that will be on fire, while others will be barren.

If you are serious about learning on your own, try to go on a weekday, when a lot of the regulars are fishin. Get yourself a night sportfishing pass so you can park in the lot. Try to have respectful conversations with the regulars there, carefully asking for advice.

What works for me is I try not to focus on asking about spots so much as how to best fish an area during certain conditions. That's what I respond to best when people ask me. I do tend to ignore people when they're only looking for a spot, and I think you will find that at Montauk as well.

There are also some great guides, Bill Wetzel for surf fishing, and Paul Melnyk if you are ever brave enough to take it to the next level and try skishing.

Many say Montauk is a place fulled with elitists. I don't know if I agree with that. Maybe on the weekends or tournaments, people are sometimes less friendly. Every time I go there I make some new friends.

So, go during the week, fish the low light hours until you are comfortable enough to fish in the dark, and ask respectful questions. People will help you, if you know how to ask the right questions, and genuinely like other people.

And PM's can help too. Check yours, I just sent one. :thumbsup:

[plugaholic]

Plugaholic, I should have said "No fish in Montauk, that's what PM's are for". It's kind of a joke, no offense was intended. :HappyWave:

Like the famous line from Fight Club. :lookhappy:

And PM's can help too. Check yours, I just sent one. :thumbsup:

agi8PUmlAKU


Thanks for the pm explanation and help, dark. :fishing:

[DarkSkies]

Thought some of you folks might want to see what the first noreaster at Montauk was like last year. :)

[pescador29]

beautiful!

[DarkSkies]

Now that Monty is hooked on Montauk, here's something to whet his and others appetites. :HappyWave:
Is that enough white water for ya, "Rocky"? :ROFLMAO

[stormchaser]

Nice videos and picts. Thanks for sharing.

[rockhopper]

Fishin, fishin, and more fishin. ;)

7651

7652

7653

7654

There's a guy who you might hear at the end of this video, he asks if he can jump in front of me. I kind of gave him a hard time about it, here's why: we had about 200' of fishable space, there were only a few of us fishing. He had good water on either side for 20' to the left or right of me. I wouldn't have minded if he jumped in the rotation, in fact I told him that after he set up to my right.

But asking to jump in front? :kooky: I was fishin for 30 mins, took a 3 minute break to stand back and film that footage. What the eff, if someone else was in that spot when I got there I would have just set up somewhere else. Maybe that's just me, either work yourself into the rotation, or don't.

No one's perfect. I make a lot of mistakes myself. Why is it ok to crowd someone? It wasn't like the fish were jumping out of the water. :don't know why:
6566397


Great action and still pics ds. Do you know the guy in your video about 20 feet to the right of you? I could swear that is Rob Koch one of the northbar bottle darter company guys.

[seamonkey]

Awesome videos makes me want to go fish there someday. Thanks for sharing.

[DarkSkies]

I could swear that is Rob Koch one of the northbar bottle darter company guys.


Yep that's Rob. Just to clear things up, the guy who tried to cut in front of me while I shot the video is not Rob. After I barked at him he jumped in to my right and jumped over to mug Rob. (without even acknowledging that Rob was there). Rob rolled his eyes, looked at me, as if to say "Can you believe this guy? Really????" :don't know why:
I know some may be offended because of my honesty and gruffness. I'm not gonna change that. When something needs to be said to someone who has no manners or self awareness of mugging other fishermen, I'm gonna say it. I try to be diplomatic at first but sometimes there is just no reasoning with some selfish fishermen out there.

There are now more guys and gals fishing the surf, than there are surf spots. The exception is lately, when many out there have given up bass fishing save for a small group of us. If I want to fish somewhere, I try to think if my fishing will impact on others, (this includes surfers, spear fishermen, bathers, etc) who were there first. The first group to an area should always get consideration, (unless they clearly shouldn't be in that area.) This is just my experience and opinion.

A little respect goes a long way. I have no tolerance for people who can't seem to grasp that. My fishing is too important to me. I need to be out there regularly, for my sanity. :thumbsup: :fishing:

Glad ya's liked the videos and pics. Thanks for the kind words. :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Jack Yee is on the first page of this thread. hought some might have an interest in seeing and reading about him again......

I did a mini interview the last time I saw him in Montauk, in 2009. I regret that I haven't seen him since then. He was truly a character as some have said. A good man, one who lived life on his own terms.
I wish you could still be around with us, Jack...but unfortunately we can't predict when God will take us from this world.......
to be in eternal life with Him...All the more reason to be grateful for the time we have on this Earth.......

RIP Jack....my deepest condolences and thoughts to his friends and family......
See ya on the other side.....

[williehookem]

Jack Yee is on the first page of this thread. hought some might have an interest in seeing and reading about him again......

I did a mini interview the last time I saw him in Montauk, in 2009. I regret that I haven't seen him since then. He was truly a character as some have said. A good man, one who lived life on his own terms.
I wish you could still be around with us, Jack...but unfortunately we can't predict when God will take us from this world.......
to be in eternal life with Him...All the more reason to be grateful for the time we have on this Earth.......

RIP Jack....my deepest condolences and thoughts to his friends and family......
See ya on the other side.....

T&P and rest in peace