Montauk

[sidelock]

My time is flexible & I intend to travel on weekends & fish monday to friday. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that a bonita you are holding in the pic ?

[sidelock]

oldfielder beat me to it !

[mrobertson]

correct you are

you get a mix of albies and bonita. You also run into some of the biggest bluefish you'll find on the east coast. Last year some of the blues we caught tipped the scale over 14 pounds......big ole brutes

If you have the week open, that is your best bet. I would plan to arrive on a sunday, get settled, and start looking to fish on monday or later.

One thing very cool about Montauk in the fall..........TIME doesn't really play much of a factor...... i.e. - there is no reason to be out there at O dark thirty. Sleep in, get a hot breakfast, and work your way outside.

If eeling is your thing, lots of that goes on there as well. I've only ever fishing with fly and light tackle artificials.

http://www.snowflycharters.com/

he runs a 23 seacraft up there for fly fishing trips

[sidelock]

Does the moon phase & tides have any significant influence on the albie/bonito bite ? Any preference ?

[mrobertson]

Be honest with you - i've never paid attention to the moon phases in Montauk. We always just pick a window, load up, and go. Honestly though last year we just got lucky. The absolute only way the trip was a success was because the fish were so close to the harbor. It was just too rough to get anywhere.

[sidelock]

Any fishing reports for Montauk ? I'm sure there are a few owners on this forum that fish the area.

[oldfielder]

Crushed big bass all weekend. No real blitzes around but plenty of albies popping up. The new moon tides and the ground swell would have made an 18 very dangerous in the rips but fishable in some more protected spots. Problem is the big fish were all hanging out in the elbow rips.

[sidelock]

Thanks for the report. Are the ground swells predictable in advance & if they are, how far in advance (days) can they be forecasted ? I am preparing to get down there in my 18' when the blitzes are in full swing & I want to monitor the conditions & hopefully pick a favorable window that will maximize the oportunity to utilize my boat to the fullest.

[oldfielder]

You need to watch the storms that keep lurking way out to the south and east. When the surfers get excited out there you can usually expect some sporty conditions. They weren't crazy swells this weekend- very long period. It's just when you combine them with the right moon/ tide/wind that things start to get interesting. I'd love to tell you the water is predictable out there, but it's not something that's easy to say. Choppy days are not so bad. Big swells either. Put them together and you enter the washing machine anywhere near the rips.
The main problem is the sheer volume of water emptying over a tremendous amount of structure within a few miles of the point. It's what makes the fishing so good!
You can read the swell and wind pattern on the NOAA buoy off Islip- the Montauk one has been down for a while. they have a pretty good app for their buoys.