captmike28
Well-Known Angler
Took full advantage of this past weekend’s excellent summer weather and the fishing was super solid on my two charters, both local and long range.
Saturday’s crew consisted of Ricky and his work buddies, Jake, Dom and Phil, who also brought along his 7 y/o son Trey. LI Sound Sea Bass were our first target and seconds after I dropped Trey’s rig to the bottom to show him how to work the tackle his rod doubles over with a keeper Seas Bass. This was his first experience outside of lake fishing and he was thrilled, to say the least. As the tide began to slow the bite kept building steam and we easily limited the boat in just of one hour. The last few drifts gave up some real quality fish with 6 falling between 3-4#. BTW, those LI Sound Sea Bass really love Lobster as evidenced by the shot of a really nice double header!
The guys wanted a real workout next so we headed out to the Race. The Bluefish were certainly there in good numbers, but the new moon tide was really ripping and the guys had a little trouble getting accustomed to our 3-way bucktailing technique. Still they landed about a dozen decent sized Blues up to 10# and certainly felt the challenge of this very physical style of fishing. We had hoped to see some Stripers but a mid-day trip in the August heat is not the best time for the Bass. Nevertheless, the crew went home with big smiles on their faces and plenty of tasty filets in their bags.
Sunday found a patchwork crew of my regulars looking for another shot at Montauk Fluking. Sal, Frank C, Frank G. and Chef Nader made up my all-star team for the day. First hour near the end of the ebb at the Elbow gives up just 3 small keeper Fluke before the tide dies and the birds took over.
So, off to my pet drops on the south side looking for the real quality fish I know live there. First 20 minutes were slow with a few shorts, but as the tide picked up steam the bite began to build to a nice steady pick. No real blitzes but plenty of action with the healthy shorts and a nice keeper or two on every drift.
First a few 3-4# fish find the box, then the big boys came out to play. Frank G., who had the hot hand with 6 keepers for the day himself, gets things started a solid 5 # fish. Normally I fish very little on a charter as my first responsibility is always my clients. But with a very experienced crew, I had a chance to slip my line over the side a couple of times and one was particularly exciting. I got that nice solid thump form a big Fluke and as I am about half way up realize it is a real quality fish. Nader volunteers to take care of the net job but he reaches for my smaller net. As the fish nears the surface, he makes an attempt to stuff the fish in the small opening and it’s obvious it won’t work. The Fluke dives, stirps off another 30’ of line and I tell Nader to grab the big net for the next attempt. This time the fish skillfully swims right over the top of the big net opening and again makes another dive for its freedom. On the third attempt this Fluke did something I have never seen before, it actually launched itself like a rocket, straight up into the sky, so high it actually cleared my gunnel! Sal, who was fishing on the opposite side of the boat, said he saw the fish clear the rail!! Thankfully, Nader was perfectly positioned this time and makes a “Willie Mays style basket catch” on the fish’s descent. I have seen some interesting netting challenges over my lifetime but that was really wild! The fish tipped the scales at 7.75# and wound up being the top Fluke of the today.
After all that excitement we went back to work and the quality of the next several keepers was very consistent with most falling between the 5-6# range. Close to the end of the trip Frank G., with his fancy “Fluke Flashing Blade” style rig, lands a 7.2# beauty for the second largest fish of the day. End of the day tally found us just one fish shy of a limit on Fluke with half of the keepers between 5-7.75# and 10 nice Sea Bass to top off the box. Overall, this wound up being our best trip to Montauk so far this season.
Hard to believe it is almost the end of August. While the Fluke season does run through the third week of September, realistically getting the weather windows to make this run start to get trickier the closer we get to the close. So, if you still want another crack at some of the best fluke fishing on LI now is the time to act.
Capt. Mike
516-317-5423 cell
Saturday’s crew consisted of Ricky and his work buddies, Jake, Dom and Phil, who also brought along his 7 y/o son Trey. LI Sound Sea Bass were our first target and seconds after I dropped Trey’s rig to the bottom to show him how to work the tackle his rod doubles over with a keeper Seas Bass. This was his first experience outside of lake fishing and he was thrilled, to say the least. As the tide began to slow the bite kept building steam and we easily limited the boat in just of one hour. The last few drifts gave up some real quality fish with 6 falling between 3-4#. BTW, those LI Sound Sea Bass really love Lobster as evidenced by the shot of a really nice double header!
The guys wanted a real workout next so we headed out to the Race. The Bluefish were certainly there in good numbers, but the new moon tide was really ripping and the guys had a little trouble getting accustomed to our 3-way bucktailing technique. Still they landed about a dozen decent sized Blues up to 10# and certainly felt the challenge of this very physical style of fishing. We had hoped to see some Stripers but a mid-day trip in the August heat is not the best time for the Bass. Nevertheless, the crew went home with big smiles on their faces and plenty of tasty filets in their bags.
Sunday found a patchwork crew of my regulars looking for another shot at Montauk Fluking. Sal, Frank C, Frank G. and Chef Nader made up my all-star team for the day. First hour near the end of the ebb at the Elbow gives up just 3 small keeper Fluke before the tide dies and the birds took over.
So, off to my pet drops on the south side looking for the real quality fish I know live there. First 20 minutes were slow with a few shorts, but as the tide picked up steam the bite began to build to a nice steady pick. No real blitzes but plenty of action with the healthy shorts and a nice keeper or two on every drift.
First a few 3-4# fish find the box, then the big boys came out to play. Frank G., who had the hot hand with 6 keepers for the day himself, gets things started a solid 5 # fish. Normally I fish very little on a charter as my first responsibility is always my clients. But with a very experienced crew, I had a chance to slip my line over the side a couple of times and one was particularly exciting. I got that nice solid thump form a big Fluke and as I am about half way up realize it is a real quality fish. Nader volunteers to take care of the net job but he reaches for my smaller net. As the fish nears the surface, he makes an attempt to stuff the fish in the small opening and it’s obvious it won’t work. The Fluke dives, stirps off another 30’ of line and I tell Nader to grab the big net for the next attempt. This time the fish skillfully swims right over the top of the big net opening and again makes another dive for its freedom. On the third attempt this Fluke did something I have never seen before, it actually launched itself like a rocket, straight up into the sky, so high it actually cleared my gunnel! Sal, who was fishing on the opposite side of the boat, said he saw the fish clear the rail!! Thankfully, Nader was perfectly positioned this time and makes a “Willie Mays style basket catch” on the fish’s descent. I have seen some interesting netting challenges over my lifetime but that was really wild! The fish tipped the scales at 7.75# and wound up being the top Fluke of the today.
After all that excitement we went back to work and the quality of the next several keepers was very consistent with most falling between the 5-6# range. Close to the end of the trip Frank G., with his fancy “Fluke Flashing Blade” style rig, lands a 7.2# beauty for the second largest fish of the day. End of the day tally found us just one fish shy of a limit on Fluke with half of the keepers between 5-7.75# and 10 nice Sea Bass to top off the box. Overall, this wound up being our best trip to Montauk so far this season.
Hard to believe it is almost the end of August. While the Fluke season does run through the third week of September, realistically getting the weather windows to make this run start to get trickier the closer we get to the close. So, if you still want another crack at some of the best fluke fishing on LI now is the time to act.
Capt. Mike
516-317-5423 cell
,, all stay well,,catch them up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
