Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
I was looking for a thread to add my summer observations to. This one seemed appropriate. I have been fishing the big M consistently for about 20 years, Summer and Fall. Last Fall was the worst one since I started keeping logs. I was hoping this summer would turn out better for we who fish the Point at Montauk and the night tides at different places there.
I have gone out there for the last 2 weekends. My results are not encouraging. Each weekend my biggest fish were only in the mid teens. First weekend I managed 2 teeners to 15 lbs. Last weekend I managed 1 thirteen pounds. There were a few small schoolies and bluefish. All on the night tides, into sunrise. And a few bluefish as well.
According to my logs the 2nd week of June has consistently been a point where the action starts to heat up.
We have water temps around 67 degrees there right now, and it has been as low as 61. This is good temperature for bass and they should have been there in greater numbers. This concerns me. I am hoping things will turn around for the fall but am not optimistic. The boats are doing well out in deeper water. We have had a lot of small whitebait run through the Point and the fish should be there but they are not.
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
Written by Capt Gene Kelly
8/13/12
When the boat next to you isn’t sailing that’s a recession and when you aren’t sailing that’s a depression and right now things are pretty depressing for the Montauk charter fleet. Friday and Saturday are always the busiest days (Sunday traffic scares a lot of people) and when I made my early morning check this past weekend there were a couple of boats still tied up that shouldn’t have been. And this is August, normally the busiest month when most of the established boats would normally be sailing every day unless they were blown out. And now, most are lucky to get in four to five trips a week.
I run a charter service and most of my calls come after potential clients have gotten tired of calling boats only to find out they are booked. Back in the early spring I was getting inqueries which is very unusual so I thought that this would be a better year than last year, which was a pretty poor one. But I guess as all the poor economic news developed, people started to change their minds about how they were going to spend their $$$.
Now most of my calls are from individuals looking to join in with others on a shared charter, which we used to call a “splits” until they became extinct. Years ago when I started out splits were very common and all the old timers remember Tuma’s Tackle Shop where Mrs. Tuma would coordinate things. You’d hang around in front of the shop until she would call you and give you six anglers to take out. Nowadays there is no central booking agency where that can be done. All the charterboats are getting calls from singles or doubles that want to join up with some others on a trip, and undoubtedly every day at least one trip could be put together.
As I always say when I hear guys moaning and groaning about the business; “It could be worse, I could own a boat”.
As for the fishing, you could check back with last weeks report. It’s pretty much the same. There are a good amount of makos around and if you go sharking you will probably catch - and release - one. Tuna fishing is nothing to get excited about
On an overnighter you will probably catch a couple of yellowfin and maybe a bigeye, but what is considered a good catch these days would have been considered a poor one a couple of years ago.
Inshore striper fishing is still tough and Southwest Ledge isn’t looking as good as it was. Bottom fishing is good for porgies and sea bass and OK for fluke.
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
williehookem
Written by Capt Gene Kelly
, but what is considered a good catch these days would have been considered a poor one a couple of years ago.
Inshore striper fishing is still tough and Southwest Ledge isn’t looking as good as it was. Bottom fishing is good for porgies and sea bass and OK for fluke.
Capt Gene knows his sh*t, one of the best out there.
some boat reports from this weekend -
Montauk bass - "Fished from 9am-1 pm yesterday and had 2 stripers around 15 lbs. Didn't see much else happening; seemed pretty quiet."
Montauk boat - "We fished 4 Hrs Friday and 7 Hrs Saturday and only boated 1 Blue fish. Probably 200 hundred boats in the fleet and we saw very few fish boated.
I am sure the fish will show up Sunday since I am not fishing. "
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
I think what happens is a lot of the folks who go up there have been fishing less than 10 years. True the older guys are there but in recent years I have seen a lot of newer guys in the 20's come up. For some of them it is their first time. some don't even have korkers which can get dangerous if you try to follow the fish as they move. In my opinion the fishing at Montauk 10-15 years ago was much better. We would have sustained blitzes all day. There would be many 30 and 40 lb fish. Today an 18lb fish is considered a trophy. That is because a lot of these younger folks just don't have that perspective, of the Montauk of years past.
They don't have any bass in their area, they take the long ride, they catch over 10 fish in a day and it's epic. I can understand the enthusiasm but my past 2 years at Montauk I have not done as well as previously.
This year there was no sustained spring surf run at Montauk. That was the first year in a long time that happened. That makes me very concerned for the future of striped bass. I know the young folks won't understand it, many of them are calling this year epic. I was there on Sunday and got one short bass at 5am, fished till the afternoon, and left. I heard it got better on Monday, but as far as epic I would call that an extreme exaggeration, unless you just started fishing. Ask Vito Orlando if it's epic fishing for this fall, and see what he tells you.
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
Another lame spring in Montauk?
The first week of June is when I usually start going up to test the waters.
Some guy posted this report...the waters don't look too full of bass yet. Last year was the same it seemed like the June surf bite never really got started except for the few bigger fish that were caught on eels at night. Hard to figure out why. The report -
I fished the North side and South side this past week with limited results. 1 fish released at 30 lbs. Had a few rats too.
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
on the verge of being wiped out again each year they get smaller and smaller as year classes are decimated just like last time
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
finchaser
on the verge of being wiped out again each year they get smaller and smaller as year classes are decimated just like last time
I completely agree with this statement.
Went to Montauk last week and fishing was poor. Managed a few small bass and one 10#. I have been making this trip the same time every year for 20 years and never fail to catch bass in the 20# class from the surf. This is the first year I did not achieve that. There was a distinct lack of whitebait.
Re: Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?
I hope I am not stepping on any toes here. We did catch some bass in montauk this weekend. It was mostly centered around the 5-7 and 7-9pm times. The rest of the time we went fluking. All boat fish to 23lbs on diamond jigs. From what the capts at the dock were saying it has just heated up.
I would agree that there are not a lot of bass to be caught in the daytime. Thats why we fished for fluke during sunlight. It was also very crowded. Would probably not make that trip during a holiday weekend again.