No keepers but nice days

[pequa1]

Yesterday watched a skimmer fly at top speed millimeters off the water with his bill open. (My Hurricane is a Skimmer128) and I had never seen a skimmer on the hunt before.
Actually except for untangling some ignoramus's discarded fishing line from one that was drowning last year, I had never seen another. Then as I started to fish, I saw swirls and splashing. Paddling over to investigate, I realized it was a pod of probably juvenile dolphins, the third year in a row I have seen them in the backbay, mere feet off the houses. Just a couple of healthy shorts, a big hit on an old plastic Scampi leadhead, and an exciting battle with a whatever on a year old snapper filet I had saved from the barbecue last week when SWMBO went out with the "girls" again. Today it was not a single bite, despite many passing boaters saying they were "seeing" fish on their electronics. (I eschew electronics, bait (except livelining a snapper when I can, pedal boats, and for Pangaroo, pontoons, lol.) I did not see a single boat move a net this morning and none stayed long in the backbay either. Oh well, next time.

 

[Pangaroo]

Yesterday watched a skimmer fly at top speed millimeters off the water with his bill open. (My Hurricane is a Skimmer128) and I had never seen a skimmer on the hunt before.
Actually except for untangling some ignoramus's discarded fishing line from one that was drowning last year, I had never seen another. Then as I started to fish, I saw swirls and splashing. Paddling over to investigate, I realized it was a pod of probably juvenile dolphins, the third year in a row I have seen them in the backbay, mere feet off the houses. Just a couple of healthy shorts, a big hit on an old plastic Scampi leadhead, and an exciting battle with a whatever on a year old snapper filet I had saved from the barbecue last week when SWMBO went out with the "girls" again. Today it was not a single bite, despite many passing boaters saying they were "seeing" fish on their electronics. (I eschew electronics, bait (except livelining a snapper when I can, pedal boats, and for Pangaroo, pontoons, lol.) I did not see a single boat move a net this morning and none stayed long in the backbay either. Oh well, next time.

Fluke haven't been concentrated inside Jones this year for some reason. A fish here, a fish there. The Northwest side of the Meadowbrook Bridge on an outgoing tide was always the go to place for Fluke when it was slow elsewhere but now there's something on the bottom that takes my rigs far too often. Feels like an underwater cable , I feel the line moving along something.
According to the Fresh Fishing Reports on NY Angler, there's a really good run of bluefish that are feeding on bunker. Both Fire Island and Jones Inlet .Any truth to that ??
On the way back to Wantagh Park I saw a big Brown turtle off my bow that quickly dove when he saw my boat approaching . I was going about 12 knots and he saw me in time, some guy going 35 knots in his stinkboat would've run over that turtle. I wish people would slow down in the bay. Too many people drive boats like cars.

 

[george]

Fluke haven't been concentrated inside Jones this year for some reason. A fish here, a fish there. The Northwest side of the Meadowbrook Bridge on an outgoing tide was always the go to place for Fluke when it was slow elsewhere but now there's something on the bottom that takes my rigs far too often. Feels like an underwater cable , I feel the line moving along something.
According to the Fresh Fishing Reports on NY Angler, there's a really good run of bluefish that are feeding on bunker. Both Fire Island and Jones Inlet .Any truth to that ??
On the way back to Wantagh Park I saw a big Brown turtle off my bow that quickly dove when he saw my boat approaching . I was going about 12 knots and he saw me in time, some guy going 35 knots in his stinkboat would've run over that turtle. I wish people would slow down in the bay. Too many people drive boats like cars.

Hey Panga, that's been the story for all of us this year. Hands down, the worst fluke fishing I've ever seen.

 

[pequa1]

can't explain the north shore but I wonder if all the sonar activity and pounding the windmills in had any impact (pun intended)

 

[george]

Yeah, I don't believe in coincidence either. I fished that area a few times with Pete on a tough moon. Never that bad. We didn't catch that one keeper until the very last drift. We had one drift after that because we had the keeper, but it was bad. Could the windmills themselves have changed current or something? I don't really know, but it's turned out to be a tough season.

The only thing that makes me think it's got nothing to do with that is the fact that there are no fish. There are no fish in Montauk. There are no fish on the North Fork. There are none.