# 50242: Subject: ., New York

Submitted by capt Gene Kelly (ip 207.41.174.92)

• Fished on 9/29/2003

• Report received: 9/29/03

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Report:
September 29, 2003

Remember the year the baseball players went on strike and there was no World Series. Well, the equivalent has happened to the surfcasters, just at the start of their prime season. New York State has shut down all the parks after dark at Montauk Point because a mosquito that cause some kind of horse virus was found. That means that no access to the beaches from East Lake Drive to the Point and around to Camp Hero. They even had road blocks up so that you couldn’t drive to the Lighthouse. This is supposed to be in effect until the first frost, so unless there is a change, the East Coast’s best surfcasting is off limits probably until sometime in November.

The Locals Surfcasting Contest got underway early this year (September 15), and the leaders are posted up on the wall at Gaviola’s. In the wetsuit division, Fred Kalkstein is on the board with a 37 pound bass. The plain old surfcasters part is led by Bob Reich at 31.15 pounds, with Dennis Gaviola in second at 21.22 pounds and Bill Gardiner in third at 21.20 pounds.

This contest is only open to residents of the Town of East Hampton, and those who spend so much time fishing here that they may as well be residents. It runs until December 1, and if you think you are good enough to compete, you can sign up at Gaviola’s or Freddies Tackle Shop. If you’re not a resident, you’ll have to be approved by somebody in charge.

The charterboat’s striped bass contest will start October 1 and also run until December 1. This contest is open to anyone fishing on a participating charterboat, and is free. The captains pony up the money, and the lucky angler who catches the big bass gets the dough. This contest was started around fifteen years or so ago to drum up business after a year when we weren’t allowed to keep any bass, and when striped bass fishing wasn’t very good anyway. It’s hard to complain about the state of the striper fishery these days, so fewer boats seem to be participating than in past years. If a chance at winning real cash is important to you, be sure and check to see if the boat that you are fishing on is one of the participants.

I suppose now that it’s been on television and in the newspapers I can talk about the latest hot new method of catching stripers that is being employed here. Live scup, or as they are called by some, round eels! However, you should be warned that the porgies have to be of legal size (10”), and most of the ones that are being used are not.

The falsies seem to have finally taken hold here, but they are not being terribly cooperative. They are mainly in small and scattered packs, making them hard to catch, and the fly guys are still catching more bluefish than anything else.

Offshore, we finally have a genuine tuna season going on. To the south , from about the 450 line to the edge there are yellowfins and longfins, along with occasional wahoo, marlin and mahi. That slowed down a little by the weekend, but it heated up out to the east around the Dump, and as close as forty miles from the Point . There you have yellowfins, bluefins and occasional mahis. At both place all the action has been by trolling, but I hear that there are some draggers east of the Dump that have fish with them, and typically they work to the west, so we should be seeing some boats chasing them shortly. Everything has been a couple of weeks late this year, so hopefully the fall breezes will hold off as well, and we’ll be able to salvage some part of the year.

If you would like to have these reports sent to you directly, just drop me a note at CaptGene@MontaukSportfishing.com. And for more information about fishing in Montauk, you can give me a call at 800 280 5565 or check out http://www.montauksportfishing.com.

Capt Gene Kelly Montauk Sportfishing

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