How about a sandwich on a rock at Montauk Point?
OCT. 7, 2010: Hi Fred: By way of introduction, happily I am MDC’s father-in-law. I have been following you for sometime now and I have really enjoyed your comments and observations. I have drowned a few worms myself. I will be in Montauk, tomorrow, Oct. 7, and would like to take you to lunch. Thank you, best wishes. Carl G.
Dear Carl:
Thanks for the invitation. It would’ve been a pleasure sit down and get acquainted at John’s Pancake House. However, the bite was on real good this week and I was fortunate enough to have a two mid-week days to take advantage of the fine weather and the good fishing. Best not to leave the beach all things considered. I’m sure you’d agree.
Stripers blitzed the rocks at Brown's; October surf fishing is heating up in Montauk
Fish were blitzing everywhere around the point on Wednesday. I slept in and missed the dawn action on the northside. But the fish were just getting warmed up on the ocean side when I got there mid-morning for the outgoing tide. I spent virtually the entire day at Turtle Cove where the fish blitzed in and out, back and forth, between Brown’s and the Lighthouse jetty. Brought my lunch, you know. There was a short lull at the tide change and then it started up again even hotter. At one point in the afternoon, the stripers were at our feet. A few keeper bass were taken from the blitz. But more times than not, aggresive bluefish were quicker to the lure. The lazy stripers were content to inhale spearing and even smaller bay anchovies: the tiny white or rain bait beneath the voracious blues. I wound up with six decent sized choppers for the cooler.
I was back early on Thursday. But the morning did not produce. In the afternoon, after I ran into you on the street in Montauk—was that an amazing coincidence, or what?—I was mesmerized by wild striper blitzes off the Lighthouse and Scott’s Cove. The fish were out of surfcasting range, but they kept the mosquito fleet of fly-casting boats real happy. I waited in vain for a repeat of the prior day’s action in TC. Finally, I succumbed to the hike to Brown’s, mounted a rock and managed one 26-inch striper on a bucktail from my slimy perch. Blitzes came and went but the fish were very finicky. Poppers and tins pulled right through, bouncing off fish with nary a bite. The longest casters hurled bucktails and banged fish in a slow but steady pick until sundown. October is humming.
Should you come back to Montauk, be sure to let me know. We’ll take a few sandwiches down to Turtle Cove, North Bar or wherever the fish decide to show.
Best Regards,
Fred
PS: Thanks for the book, Striper Chronicles.