Surf Fishing: Be patient
Montauk surf fishing is about as good as it gets anywhere. Honestly,
I can count on one hand how many times I didn't see any life in the
water while fishing from land. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty
of times when nothing hit the hook on my pole.
Let me clarify something. This section isn't just about "surf"
fishing, it's about fishing from land. That could mean the surf, a
jetty, a dock or any other place you can drop a line it. The great
thing about Montauk is that we have all of those places wrapped into
one town and each one can produce fish. (Here's a good place
for my disclaimer. While I enjoy surf fishing, fishing from a boat
is more exciting to me. It produces more fish and I love being on
the water. I surf fish when I don't have a charter and want to be
on my own. Surf fishing is a solitary experience.)
Let's start with the most popular...the surf. Montauk is, literally,
surrounded by fishing grounds considered surf. However, there are
specific places that generate the most striped bass and bluefish,
the most popular of the surf fishing species. Generally speaking,
the surf fishing season is spring and fall. You can still catch fish
in the summer, but more fish are caught in the other two seasons.
Places
Obviously, Montauk Point is a place you must try if you are headed
for the surf with pole in hand. The point has different places and
it can take you a while to walk them if you try to hit them all (map
of surf fishing locations to come later). Starting from the south,
and working my way around the point, my favorite spots are: turtle
cove, the rocks and false point.
My favorite place is known as the Ditch Plains area. If you go to
"Ditch", head west to the cliffs. Working your way east,
the spots are "the beach", the jetty and the flats after.
I've been fishing the Ditch area since I was a kid, staring at birds
working the water, while, occassionally taking my eye away to look
at a pretty girl.
Even further west, there's the Nick's beach, by the Royal Atlantic.
And, way down is Gurney's. During the month of November, you could
hear reports of huge bass pounding the beach in each of these south
shore places.
On the north side, we have several different fishing opportunities.
First, remember, stripers and fluke do run through Montauk Harbor.
If you can find a place off a dock, toss a bucktail or live eel in
and see what happens. I know a guy that consistently catches Stripers
off of one of the private docks in the fall.
On the far northeast, Gin Beach is a hot spot for the RV's. There's
plenty of fishing to be done there as well. By Gosman's you can fish
off the pier for blackfish, blues, striped bass, porgies and fluke.
Further west on the north side you have Culloden and Fort Pond Bay.
Gear
It depends on what you are fishing for and when. Generally speaking,
while fishing for stripers or blues, bring a 8 - 12 ft pole, good
reel with 15lb test, some bucktails, castmaster tins, standard poppers
and swimmers, and appropriate hooks. I'm partial to bucktails since
they have been the most productive for me.
One note: When fishing from the surf, be careful! Too many people
are hurt, or even killed, if they don't take the proper precautions.
Ok, I'll keep adding more content, but let's move on to my favorite
section, boat fishing (page 3)
