Photos by Richard Lewin Professional Photography (soniboy@aol.com)
We got lucky with Hurricane Erin, but our beaches will take a battering. Surfers are going to have some giant swells to deal with. The fish got a few days off and hopefully after the storm passes through, it’ll get the Striped Bass moving back our way. The water got so warm the Bass kept moving east to stay in the cooler water.
Baitfish have been plentiful all around the point and down the south side, even to the north. There is not going to be a shortage of feed for when the Blitz starts. Bluefish have stayed around all summer long, because they are more adaptable to water temperature changes, feeding heavily on the abundant bounty of bait. Bluefish are a great fighting fish and are a blast on light tackle, but get a bad rap because they are oily and have a lot of dark stronger meat. I’ll let y’all in on a little secret. Bluefish meat is high in Omega 3 fatty oils which is very good for the immune system and fighting off cancer, same as Salmon but at much lower costs. When you fillet Bluefish, with a sharp knife carefully shave out the dark meat that is exposed after removing the skin. Granted there is some waste, but it’s worth the effort. Another trick that will blow you away. Take the skinned fillets, lay them in a baking pan, set temperature to 250 degrees to partially cook it, not totally cook it. Take out of the oven, let cool, then pick out all the dark meat, all of it! Now get your best Crab cake or Codfish cakes recipe and make your fish cakes with the Bluefish meat. You will not believe how delicious they are!!!
More good news and that’s on the Fluke front. Granted, they are not “jumping in the boat,” but if conditions are right and you find an area that is holding fish, you can get a limit. Always look for the baitfish on your bottom machine and a decent slope that should get you some results. All of the popular spots are holding fish just have to pick through the million Black Sea Bass that are so endangered!
The Offshore report is excellent as well. This is the season of the Big Eye Tuna for sure. Some anglers reporting that they are catching more Big eye Tuna than Yellowfins! Atlantis Canyon, west Atlantis, the Cove, basically wherever the temperature breaks are located. Loads of Mahi-Mahi are on the Lobster gear High Flyers.
School Bluefin Tuna were very cooperative inshore at 16-24 miles until NMFS closed the fishery down. Still have plenty of season left and hopefully the school Yellowfins will move in closer.
Don’t miss out on yet another stellar fishing season out of Montauk…truly the Fishing Capitol of the World.
~ Peter Joyce Jr., Chief, Montauk Fire Department
https://www.montaukfiredistrict.org/