Twing.com - interesting new community search

There's an interesting new search site available for people looking for more fishing reports in Montauk and elsewhere. Since many reports are posted in bulletin boards (forums, bbs, etc.), this site searches only that type of content across many communities.

The site is called Twing and it just went live in "beta" recently. Here's an example of a query I ran for Montauk fishing. The goal of the site is built into the tagline: Twing - Search and Discover Communities.

Searching or browsing the directory will show you that it has a wide range of discussions available across multiple verticals. Fishing is only one topic available that is near and dear to my heart :-)

(Note: Yes, I do work for the company so drop me a note if you have any suggestions. But remember, it's in beta so work continues...obviously.)

Montauk Fishing Report - August 21, 2007

From Capt. Gene of Montauk Sportfishing. Thanks to him for the weekly updates! This report includes inshore and offshore fishing reports...

We had a little taste of fall on Saturday with a fairly strong little north wind. Only a few boats got out in the morning, but most were able to get the afternoon in. I always expect the first sign of fall the last week of August or so, but it’s here early this year.

Long range boats heading out towards the edge are coming back with mixed reports. Sunday afternoon I spoke to two captains just back. One had a mix of albacore and yellowfins, ten in all, and the other one mahi. If you go over them you catch, often in multiples. If you don’t, you don’t. The blow on Saturday mixed the water up considerably lowering the water temps down as low as 68 degrees or so. Otherwise everything else is the same, with all the action below the 450 line.

Shark action remains fairly steady with a good amount of small makos being caught daily along with some bluesharks. Most of the boats are fishing east of the Butterfish Hole and inside of the 750 line, and they are seeing a fair amount of draggers out there as well. A couple of giants have been brought into Montauk this week, all from southeast of Block Island.

Inshore things remain a little picky with both the stripers and fluke. Trolling seems to be producing the best bass, although there are some boats catching on the live scup or by bunker dunking. But there just don’t seem to be a lot of bass around, and boats have to work pretty hard to put a trip together. Fluke fishing is producing a lot of fluke and some very nice ones, but it seems that the fluke population has been pretty much picked over. There doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of edible ones left.

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.

Montauk Fishing Report - July 16, 2007 - MBCA Shark Tournament

This report brought to you by Capt. Gene of MontaukSportFishing. It includes the results from the MBCA shark tournament.

Threshers rule!

The MBCA had its charity shark tournament (six $1000 awards to local college gowers) and it was all threshers all the time. One 108 lb mako was weighed in and no blue sharks, along with eight threshers ranging in size from 143 lbs to 518 lbs. The following are the results;

#32 ADIOS Thresher 518 lbs

#15 DOUBLE HEADER Thresher 515 lbs

#20 HURRYUP Thresher 425 lbs

#29 JOY SEA Thresher 364 lbs

#25 ARC ANGEL Thresher 355 lbs

#5 TUNA TANGLER Thresher 250 lbs

#5 TUNA TANGLER Thresher 202 lbs

#3 RIDGE RUNNER Thresher 143 lbs

#1 FINEST KIND Mako 108 lbs

Overall the shark fishing has been excellent with three to four fish being caught about average, mostly bluesharks, but there have also been hammerheads, a tiger along with the usual makos and threshers being caught. And, more and more school bluefins being seen every day, as well as some being caught. Nice sized fish too, forty to fifty pounds.

Inshore, the fluke fishing is great, even if the eating isn’t. Lots of fish in the rips with lots and lots in the almost keeper size, along with occasional eating size fish.

Bass fishing is kind of up and down, with no rhyme or reason. One tide it’s great, the next it’s difficult. Parachutes and the big tubes are doing the job for the wire liners, but more boats are using the live scup. Bigger but fewer fish are on the baits. Also, I heard about the DEC checking out some boats for short scup, so be careful out there.

Montauk Fishing Reports - Inshore/offshore - July 9, 2007

A call-in fishing report to me from Colin was an interesting one. He was using bucktails (with rind) in Fort Pond Bay looking for Striped bass, but started catching fluke! A lot of fluke! Within a couple of ours he had about 20 with many being "close" to keeper size. Thanks for the report colin. Send your pictures next time.

Anyone can submit reports to me at info@fishingmontauk.com

The following is from Capt. Gene Kelly of Montauk Sportfishing. He recaps the offshore shark and tuna bite, as well as, the inshore action.

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I usually post these reports on Monday morning, but a last minute decision to go fishing changed that.

Offshore the waters are in the mid to upper sixties and green, with eelgrass floating in it and as many inshore birds like terns and seagulls as shearwaters and petrels. But there are sharks too, with enough bluesharks still around to provide action along with occasional makos and threshers. Tuna sightings though are very few and far between.

The last of the early season shark tournaments is this weekend, being held at Star Island on Saturday and Sunday. This is sponsored by the Boatman’s and Captain’s association, and most of the proceeds go toward college money for local kids. It looks like you will be safe from the sharkhuggers, so stop by and buy something.

Inshore things are going well. If we had last years fluke regs it would be great as there are lots of fish less than an inch short around, especially out in the rips.

Bass fishing is steady, with trollers and live baiters doing well. Everything is working, but catches are kind of up and down, with some days and tides better than others. But I guess that’s fishing.

Montauk Fishing Report - July 2, 2007 - shark tournament results

The following montauk fishing report is brought to you by Capt. Gene Kelly of MontaukSportfishing:

I guess the shark huggers have decided that they have done enough to stop the “cruel shark tournaments”, since they were no where to be found at the Marine Basins tournament this weekend.
There were plenty of sharks though. Ninety-seven boats fished and weighed in eighteen threshers, five makos and a number of bluesharks. The following are the results;
LARGEST SHARK OVERALL - 519 LBS - THRESHER - TRUCE
1st Place Mako - 299 LBS - ULTIMATE
2nd Place Mako - 224 LBS - TUG N TOW
3rd Place Mako - 172 LBS - CRACKED OAR
1st Place Blue( tie) - 264 lbs - WHASSUP
1st Place Blue ( tie) - 264 lbs - OFF DUTY
3rd Place Blue - 256 lbs - ON THE EDGE
1st Place Other - 519 lbs - THRESHER TRUCE
2nd Place Other - 490 Lbs - THRESHER - PANCHO
3rd Place Other - 465 Lbs - THRESHER - FINCASTLE

Overall the number of sharks being caught each day has dropped off as the main body of bluesharks are moving east, but the threshers and some makos will be here for a while now. It would be nice if there were more makos, but what can you do? Now that the bluesharks are moving out, I can go shark fishing. The owner of the boat that I run would rather sit and wait for one exotic than catch a bunch of bluesharks.


Inshore, things are progressing nicely. Bass are being taken with regularity by the trollers and the scup dunkers are starting to take their share. The fact that there are guys fishing with live porgies is an indication of how good the porgy fishing is. For the last couple of years that kind of fishing didn’t get started until late July or so.



I finally found some doggies while trying for seabass at Rocky Hill, but they sure aren’t around like they have been for the past couple of year, thank God. Guys drifting in the Frisbees area have been doing OK with a mixture of fluke and seabass. And at times better than just OK. It’s just a matter of being there at the right time, mainly on the flood tide. Out in the rips there are fluke, but for me it’s not would it should be as far as numbers are concerned.


I was checking out the EEZ line on the GPS and made a pleasant discovery. The west end is around 14639-43869, but then it shoots north, instead of curling to the west like I assumed. This means that the Alaska Rips are in state waters. That’s one of the main places for late fall bassing and if it was out of bounds would have really hurt.