Hit and Run Bluefish Blitz in Montauk
OCTOBER 10&11, 2009
Finally. It’s on.
After weeks of rumor and hope, including reports of no fish, fish just out of reach, here-and-there fish, the fish finally blitzed the beach in Montauk this morning (Oct. 11). I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for a hit-and-run bluefish assault complete with splashing tails and squawking gulls. In the abbreviated action, I landed three bluefish and took one home for the table.
Until now, October has been the pits for surf fishing–virtually since the last week in September. Yom Kippur was a major disappointment compared to Rosh Hoshanah, and I was gleeful that the online reports confirmed I missed nothing in the surf while I was walking the streets of Paris with Natalie the first weekend of the month.
Earlier this week, I took advantage of the mild fall weather and prowled the ocean beaches in a bathing suit and t-shirt until winds picked up to over 40 mph and turned Wednesday into a total blow out Still, only rumors of a few fish on the Montauk town beaches with the only keeper size bass being snagged at night.
On Saturday morning, I diligently joined the fray on the town beach and took one cocktail bluefish in front of the village motels before moving down to Gurney’s where I plucked a 22-inch bass from the surf.
Small blues and bass on the Montauk Village beach have been the only October action in the surf.
Both were taken on a 1 ½-oz. Kastmaster with a white bucktail. The fish weren’t showing, and the birds were only cruising and circling. But the fish autopsy later confirmed that sand eels were abundant. Saturday afternoon the winds were down but the action was all offshore. I gave it up before dark.
Sunday morning, with only a short session possible before I returned up island, I joined a sunrise Conga line of at least 200 surfcasters lining the shore from the Surfside Inn overlook to the far eastern limit of Montauk village. The surf’s heavy chop and sweep from the day before was gone. And despite the sizable crowd on the beach, it was eerily still and quiet. Every now and then a pole bent in a slow pick of small fish—bass and blues. At 7:01-ayem the first golden rays of sunshine shone on a cloud of birds over deep water to the east off Dead Man’s Bluff. Then the sky darkened with another swarm of gulls, this one west of the Surfside Inn.
My casts were sure, but not productive. Still, I stood my ground and with a change of lures to a 2-oz crippled herring, I was able to get more distance. Not that I needed it; a tiny cocktail blue hit this lure right in the wash. And in the time it took to land this fish and deposit it in the cooler, the blitz took shape. First came violent tail splashes well beyond casting range. Then the birds moved over the fray. A few bent rods to my left told me the fish were moving in. And then the splashes were within casting range. I hurled my crippled herring into the fray. Nada. Now poles were bent right and left of me. Still, I got zilch. I switched back to the lighter-weight Kastmaster, which seemed to do the trick. Bumped twice, then a hit, but no hook up. Another cast, and I was on. This was a decent size bluefish, but I couldn’t leave the water for fear of losing my spot. Casters trying to zero in on the blitz, which was directly in front of me, had already mugged me. So bluefish #2 was released to swim another day. A few more casts, a few more bumps and then another solid hit. This bluefish was the largest of the three. But again, I released it, vowing to keep the next fish and retire shortly, as my 8am deadline was approaching. Burt there wasn’t another fish. The action moved back offshore beyond the breakers as quickly as it came in. I hunted the shoreline to the west, but all were quiet and docile, a fall beach stroller’s dream.
The Sunrise Conga Line in Montauk Village, Columbus Weekend '09
I arrived home happy with my tiny cocktail bluefish, and with high hopes that the season is about to hit full stride—just in time for the arrival next week of the Red Hill Capos, who are coming back to try and repeat history from 2008.
Looks like it was a beauty of a weekend. Glad the fish finally woke up for you. Love, love that conga line!!!