Harvey Bennett with a nice false albacore.

Go Fish

Last weekend's weather was not a fisherman's friend. Winds blew at 25 to 30 knots and kept most fishing boats at the dock. Some hearty souls ventured offshore and returned with catches of tuna. This week the winds are expected to ease a bit so offshore boats will go out.

Southampton Town's surfcasting contest last Saturday, October 13, was a bust due to the winds but Paulie's Tackle Shop surfcasting tournament in Montauk produced results. The winning striped bass, caught by John Curra, weighed 41.88 pounds, and Stephen placed second with a 36.66 striper. In the bluefish division, Gary Krist won first place with a 14.06 blue and Mark Malenski placed second with a 12.89-pound bluefish. Paulie says the surf fishing was excellent last Saturday afternoon from Montauk west to Napeague beaches.

Boats trolling tubes off Montauk Point are catching striped bass weighing up to 23 pounds plus lots of bluefish. The water temperature is dropping and, as the bait fish begin to move out of the bays into the ocean, offshore fishing should continue to improve.

Harvey Bennett of Amagansett's Tackle Shop was shooting sea ducks off Gardiner's Island last Monday when he noticed fish breaking water near his boat. He always has a rod aboard, so he quickly caught a false albacore, some bluefish and a keeper-sized striped bass. His friend Sam caught a 23-pound striped bass in the surf at White Sands Beach on his first cast while all the fisherman around him were catching bluefish.

Ken Morse of Tight Lines Tackle, Sag Harbor, reports surf fishing for bluefish and striped bass on the open beaches has been good. There are schools of bunker (bait fish) in the Long Beach area being chased by the blues and bass. Fisherman lined up along the shoreline snagging bunker with gang hooks which then attracted and caught the feeding bluefish. Ken also said large bluefish were caught off Jessups Neck.

East End Bait & Tackle in Hampton Bays tells us porgies, sea bass and blackfish are at the wrecks and reefs off the Shinnecock inlet. Bluefish and striped bass are biting in the inlet on live eels and fresh clams, and stripers and blues are being caught around the Ponquogue bridge. There are porgies still around Robin Island biting on clam chum.

Linda at Jamesport Bait & Tackle says there are plenty of striped bass and bluefish being caught on trolled lines in Plum Gut. Long Island Sound has blackfish and porgies at Horton's Point and Orient Point. Linda said there are still some weakfish off Rogers Rock in Great Peconic Bay.

Steve at Wego Fishing Station, Southold, weighed in two large striped bass of 40.6 pounds and 45.05, caught on bunker chunks in the Sluiceway east of Plum Island. A large blackfish of 11 pounds was weighed in at Wego and one boat brought in 15 blackfish caught with green crabs. Steve said boats fishing the Race and Plum Gut caught striped bass with bucktails.

A report just came in of an 844-pound mako shark caught in the Gulf of Mexico off Destin, Florida. A group of anglers on a charter boat fishing in the Destin Fishing Rodeo tournament for grouper noticed the 11-foot shark. The charter captain put a two-foot amberine on large hook as bait. The shark grabbed the bait, and it took three men an hour to exhaust the shark and bring him to the boat. They secured him with tail ropes and lashed him to the transom, bringing the shark back to port.

- Rich Firstenberg ( YeOldeSalt@aol.com)

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