Stripers in Diapers Rule!
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24-25, 2009
It was Family Weekend at Diane’s college in Northampton, MA—so she traveled to the beach for visit with us there. A much better idea than the alternative.
Diane came to fish but the only action she saw was through the lens of her vintage Canon SLR
Diane and I went out both weekend mornings to search for the elusive stripers, but all we could manage was a couple of schoolie shorts. Diane never even donned her waders, even though we were fishing on the sandy beaches of Montauk village. Instead, she shot photos for a school project.
As per usual, all we found was a slow pick of small fish—all bass—ranging in size from 20 to 27 inches. If there was a 28-inch keeper walked off the beach, I didn’t see it.
On Saturday, the weather was unseasonably warmish with temperatures in the 60s, winds SW that kicked up pretty good as the day progressed. We had rain showers morning and afternoon. I got my short bass around 8am on a sandbar at the east end of Montauk village.
Diamond jigs sized A17 with green tubes have been consistently deadly on the small bass that have dominated the Montauk surfcasting action this season
We searched the rest of the morning for some hotter action, but nothing ever developed. We took the afternoon off. On Sunday, we fished a very abbreviated session from sun up to 9am. I got one perky short on a diamond jig, in the same place I fished the day before. Lots of other short bass taken. No blues sighted.
To date, this has shaped up as one very unusal and disappointing season in the surf.