Montauk Fishing Reports - August 13, 2007

Submitted by Capt. Gene of Montauk Sportfishing - Includes Star Island Mako Mania shark tournament results plus inshore and offshore details

The shark huggers were out in force on Saturday for the Star Island Makomania Tournament. All eight of them, smiling and waving at all the cars driving past them on their way to see the “needless slaughter” of a half dozen or so sharks. They were there for all of an hour on Saturday, but not on Friday.

Before the captains meeting on Thursday there were thirty-eight boats signed up for the tournament, but they still wound up with sixty-eight entries. To me that is mind boggling, seeing as how the forecast was for conditions that would rate at least a six on Capt Phil Lewis’s old “hideometer”. And the forecast was right. The results are as follows;
1st Place Mako - SHARK TALE - 156 lbs

2nd Place Mako - SILVER FOX - 134 lbs

3rd Place Mako - CHAS’N TAIL - 114 lbs

1st Place Thresher - REEL GAMES - 171 lbs

2nd Place Thresher - REEL GAMES - 151 lbs.
The mako fishing is excellent right now. You’ll notice I didn’t say shark fishing. There are lots of makos around, but no big ones. Many are under a hundred pounds down to what we call “toenail clippers”

Way offshore the tuna bite is till OK, but you have to get below the 450 line, and you’ll do even better down in the 300’s. There is nothing in closer.

Inshore, the fluke bite died off a bit. It was red hot all week, and for the edible kind, but by the weekend it slowed a bit. It may have been because of the conditions resulting from Friday’s blow.

The striped bass fishing is either good or difficult depending on who you talk to. For the last couple of years we’ve had a slow period in July with fishing improving as we got a little into August, so hopefully things will start to get more consistent soon.

The recession that the charter boats are going through is getting fairly serious. Typically August is the busiest month, with September having the best overall fishing. When I had my boat I would often leave a day or two open during August just to be able to catch my breath, but nobody has to do that now with virtually every boat sitting at least a couple of days each week. Normally I don’t use a cellphone, but during the summer months I get a prepaid one and have calls forwarded from my regular phone to the cellphone when I am out. This year things are so slow, that I don’t even bother to carry the thing around anymore.

Montauk Fishing Report - August 6, 2007 - sharks, tuna, stripers, fluke

This report comes from Capt. Gene Kelly of "Montauk Sportfishing", includes inshore and offshore fishing reports for Montauk.

That was a crappy little bit of global warming early in the week. I went offshore on Monday and spent the whole day in the tower, something I rarely do, but it was the only cool place on the boat.

The offshore fishing is continuing pretty good, with a good amount of yellowfins and albacore, and a surprising amount of wahoo (that usually signal their presence by biting off your lure) and blue marlin. There are also lots of mahi. But, you have to make the run at least out as far as the 450 line. Anything much closer than that is probably a waste of time, although that can always change.

The shark fishing is staying the same, a couple or three blue sharks a trip, with occasional makos thrown in. Star Island is holding their Mako & Thresher Mania Tournament this Friday and Saturday. I wonder if the shark huggers will show up?

Inshore the fishing is improving, especially with the fluke. There have been plenty of fluke being caught all along, but this week the quality jumped up considerably with lots of folk catching their limits of eating size fish, and it doesn’t seem to matter where you fish. Pick a spot that has been good to you in the past and you’ll probably do OK.

Striped bass fishing is improving as well, with charter boats starting to come back with limit catches. Live scup are catching as is trolling. But be careful with the porgies. A couple of boats got ticketed again this week for shorties.