*********************************
April 23: Winds S10 Air: 82 Water 48:
Took my first surf trip of the season yesterday (4/22) to Little Neck Bay where
there was a 50 pounder caught by a boater on Thursday. Lot of bunker jumping way out of
reach and there were a few small bass on them as a kayacker managed a few small fish.
I
ran into several fans of the shows like Masher Mike who was fishing bloodworms with no
hits and no fish for his efforts from 11 to 3:30 p.m. Physical therapist, Tom was his
name, did catch a pair of small 12 inch bass using a small tin with a yellow feather just
a 100 yards south of the foot bridge, where I set up and took the skunking for the day as
I fished from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Jaiem Fleischmann used the long wand to catch a few small
bass as he fished way to the south in front of the reeds on the muddy bottom. Dave W. from
Valley Stream showed about 2 p.m. and lasted an hour and a half as the bite was just not
happening. The night chunking here last night put forth a couple of small bass, sub keeper
size, on chunks and a few run off's and that's about it.
May 30:
I hit the Atlantic Beach suds around 5:20 a.m. this morning (5/30) and threw a
pencil popper for 15 minutes to catch a 1 pound...maybe a 2 pound bluefish. That was
it. I
spent 35 minutes trying to snag my 2 ounce pencil popper after my line broke.
I did see
one angler around 6:30 catch a small bass on a clam. It is now 7:05 a.m. and I may go back
at low tide this afternoon.
May 31: Winds E/SE 10 to 15 weater Clear wiht weed
starting
I hit the stones of Atlantic Beach this afternoon between 1:45 & 3 p.m.
I
caught a keeper, had another bump or two and stuck the hook into two others...all on
1-ounce white bucktails with yellow rind. east winds 15 or more, clear water but weed was
starting to move in. No action on poppers or bombers...just the bucks.
June 20 / Father's Day:
I hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this Father's Day
morning at 4 a.m. and just walked in the door at 7:45. Looked like an
October day...not that I am rushing my summer away...but the winds were NW15
or less but gusting more once in a while and I saw a ton of bait along the
six or seven jetties I worked over. Small bait with terns diving on them,
shad on the spearing and then after sunrise the bunker schools appeared and
some of them were being mauled. I worked pencil poppers in the bunker
schools...the few times they were close enough thanks to some groups of
boats cutting each other off trying to position themselves on these
schools...and worked big metal lipped swimmers, small metal lipped swimmers
and the only fish I raised was on a shad colored Knucklehead popper in a
small rip tight to the jetty. Water was just as brown as I expected after a
hard NW of 15 to 25 most of the afternoon Saturday and overnight, but was
"browner" the further west I went towards Atlantic Beach. On the way home
the tide was flooding and the water was gin clear in some spots as I walked
east homeward. If it turns SW as it should this afternoon...I will be on the
rocks at 3 a.m. Monday...see you there.
Sept. 2 / N 5-10 / Calm, weedy &
surfer waves
I fished the stones in East
Atlantic Beach this morning (9/2) from 5:45 to 6:45 a.m. Nothing doing. The
water looked good and was the right color, but the surfer's delight waves
were a pain in the rear as the NW at 10 kept the wave face up and pounded
the jetty at points and the weed got worse as the hour went on. I did see
some bait in the water and what looked to be glorified snappers on them and
did raise a few of them on a blue/silver Cotton Cordell pencil popper but
they were too small to take it...or they cold have been weakfish the way
they rose to slurp bait off the surface like a trout in a pond.
Sept. 7 / SE 15-20 / Wild, rainy,
some weed and great color
I
hit the
stones in E Atlantic Beach Wednesday (9/8) morning from 5:45 to 7:30 and
scored one 25 inch bas on knucklehead and raised another on the same lure,
but cold not get a touch on anything else. Water was perfect...wild and
windy and a great color....just too warm and the southerly winds pushed some
weed and jelly fish in but it was very fishable was still so at noon when I
took a swim just before the skies opened up. Still not a lot of fish, or
large fish out front yet, but that will be changing soon.
Sept. 8 / SE 15-20 / Wild, rainy,
weed and brown color
Sept. 9 / S then SW 30 all day. Water brown and winds turned NW at night 20
knots
Sept. 10 / NW20-15 / Clear blue skies...water like MUD
Sept. 11 / NW 5-10 / Big waves,
water better color, not great but much better than yesterday.
I
hit the
stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 5:45 to 7:30 and caught
nothing. Did see what looked to be the first signs of mullet, I did raise a
few small blues of 1 to 2 pounds. One on a Knucklehead and one on a pencil
popper. Also saw some very small bait being chased out front of the jetties
which was reachable, but no fish. Lots of nice white water around
jetties and I actually should have seen better life. Should be better
tomorrow with one more day of settling.
Sept. 12 / NW 5 / 4 to 5 footers,
water beautiful and loaded with mullet.
I
hit the
stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 5:45 to 8 a.m. and mullet were
everywhere as soon as it was light enough to see. I had a small bass of 22
inches or so right away on a Knucklehead popper, then had many, many hits
but no hook ups. Threw everything in the bag including the 1-ounce blue
danny swimmer and I had several fish knock it into the air, had several hit
it and almost grab the hooks. Caught a small bluefish on it finally and most
of the action seemed to be with bluefish not bass on the bait in the wash.
Lots of mullet in the wash and far out off the jetty as well. Some jetties
had bait at the tip and it seemed as if only one or two bluefish were on
each school as they seemed to be harassed bit not too badly. As the dun got
high about 7:30 or so the hits just stopped and the fish were still active
and the bait remained where it was and was still be being pushed but not by
anything of any size or substance. I just hope the water is not too
warm where her larger bass just stay in the bay and don't come out with the
mullet as has happened in the past.
Sept. 13 / S or N 0 knots / no
waves / like a July morning. Too beautiful water and I know nothing was
going to happen.
I
hit the stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 5:45 to 7 a.m. and
mullet were present, but not in the numbers I saw in days prior. I knew by
the day this was not going to happen but I did happened to catch three
bluefish, which if weighed together might have totaled 2 pounds...maybe!
Took the day off and laid in the sun like it was July...a GREAT Beach day
and hit the water for swim a dozen times.
Sept. 14 / E-NE-SE 10 to 15 knots
/ choppy / clean water:
I
hit the stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 5:45 to 7:15 in what I
thought were sure to be fish producing conditions. I threw everything in my
bag for only one small 20 inch striper that was of course on the east side
of the jetty kin the sloppy white water. I tried on top of the jetties first
and then used bucktails in the slop and along the middle beaches in stead f
the jetties which is how I how I caught he line bass. No signs of bait
anywhere.
Sept. 15 /
NE 10 to 12 knots / calm / incoming clean water:
I
hit the stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 5:45 to 9 a.m. in what
I
thought were sure to be fish producing conditions....and it was! Best
morning of the fall so far for me. I had four bass between 6 to 6:30 a.m. on
chicken scratch A-Salt Bombers, then had a fish or two every half hour or so
till 9 a.m. Tim O'Connor of the East Rockaway Anglers fishing club showed up
around 6:15. By 9 a.m. I had totaled nine stripers caught, one small snapper
blue caught and I raised quite a few fish and Tim had two or three bass
caught and raised a few and lost a nice one. The early a.m. fish came tight
to the jetties on the chicken scratch A-Salts and as the morning wore
on...black and silver became the hot color. I noticed this because fellow
surf rat Odee caught a fish or two on a black/silver Redfin. My other fish
came on black/silver Crystal minnows before I started raising fish in the
middle of the beaches on the 2-ounce blue/silver Cotton Cordell pencil
poppers while Tim raised and caught on the Yozuri poppers. The bite was on
for about 45 minutes on these poppers in the white water of the sand bars in
the middle of the beach.
Sept. 16 /
SW 10 to 12 knots / choppy / incoming semi-clean water:
I
hit the stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 9 a.m. and had a
pair of bass and raised a few others along with a small snapper blue
Sept. 17 /
SW 10 to 15 knots / choppy / incoming weedy water / horrible water color on
the morning shift:
I
hit the stones in E Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 7 a.m. No signs of
life except for a bass that free jumped next to the jetty...when I was ready
to call it quits...so of course I stayed another half hour and nothing
happened. Weed was a real pain.
Sept. 17 /
SW 10 to 15 knots turning E at 12/ hard sweep starting / incoming weedy water
/ horrible water color on the afternoon shift:
I
hit the stones at 4 p.m. and Mike Martino joined up with me about 4:45. I
had no life and either did Mike until about 5 p.m., then I raised seven or
eight fish on the small Redfin in red/white and Mike raised a couple on a
small popper. I finally caught a fish and hooked two others. We both had to
leave but things were starting to happen.
Sept. 18 /
E 15 to 20 knots going to 25 / hard sweep / incoming weedy water / Rain and
thunder by 8 a.m.: I
did not fish this morning.
Sept. 20 /
NW <10 going 10-15 after 8 a.m. / start of incoming water
/ nice color:
I
hit the stones at 6 a.m. and found fish with my second cast. I had three
schoolies and a small bluefish on chicken scratch A Salt Bombers between
6:05 and 6:20, then headed west and worked each jetty for at least one and
sometimes two or three fish. White pencil poppers took one and the rest on
the small 5-inch jointed red/white Redfins. Also raised at least another
half dozen schoolies.
Sept. 21
:
NW 0 going 5 after 8 a.m. / slack bottom & start of incoming water
/ nice color:
I
hit the stones at 5:30 and lasted till 7:45 a.m. I only had
two fish...one on my first cast at 5:30….20
inches and the other an hour later that was 25 to
26 inches and both came on minnow plugs. The fist on the chicken scratch
A-Salt Bomber and the other on the red/white
jointed Redfin. My buddy Mike Martino had a small bass
about 20 inchers and two snapper blues on red/white Rapala. Went back this evening and winds were
SW 5 to 8 / end of outgoing to slack bottom / nice color:
I
hit the stones at 7 to 8:10 p.m. and caught one small 1 pound blue and a
small 22 inch bass. The blue on a red white jointed
Redfin and the bass on a 1-ounce metal lip swimmer. very warm and humid like
a summer day.
Sept. 22 /
NW 5 going 10 after 8 a.m. / end of outgoing / nice color / Big waves:
I
hit the stones of East Atlantic Beach at 5:45 and lasted till 7:15 a.m.
I had
five raised fish, two bumps and two fish
caught, both very close to keeper size and one most likely was.....all on
the purple holographic Knucklehead popper. The fist popper bite for me in a
long, long time. No bumps or strikes on plastic, A Salts or Redfins.
Sept. 23 /
NW 5 going 10 after 8 a.m. / end of outgoing / nice color / Big waves:
I
hit the stones of East Atlantic Beach at 5:45 and lasted till 7:15 a.m.
I had
five raised fish, two bumps and two fish
caught, both very close to keeper size and one most likely was.....all on
the purple holographic Knucklehead popper. The fist popper bite for me in a
long, long time. No bumps or strikes on plastic, A Salts or redfins.
For the rest of my reports on a daily basis, check out my 2004 Fishing Logs
in the left hand border or Click here.
Sept. 24 /
No wind /3 hrs into outgoing / ok color / Huge waves / smooth glass ocean:
I
hit the stones of East Atlantic Beach at 5:45 and lasted till 7 a.m.
I
only had one rat bass of 20 inches on a chicken scratch
Bomber in tight on the south side corner pocket of the one jetty I was able
to get on. Three hours into the outgoing and I could not get on any stones
in E. Atlantic Beach...had to walk to ABC Club for the fist jetty fishable.
Huge waves, two different current directions around the jetty tip...looked
great but dangerous...tried everything in my bag including bucktails to no
avail.
Surfer's delight today! For the rest of my reports on a daily basis, check out my 2004 Fishing Logs
in the left hand border or Click here.
Sept. 27 /
No wind /3 hrs into incoming / great color / Huge waves / smooth glass ocean:
I
hit the stones of Atlantic Beach after jumping onto the roof of a club and
then jumping on to the dunes because they have again locked the gates at
night. I will rectify that this week. Any way...I did manage two schoolies
on the eastern side wash on poppers right behind a huge boulder diverting
current direction using Knuckleheads. No other bite or bumps.
Sept. 30
/
No wind / almost high tide (?) / horrible color / waves not bad...a few
rogues / jetties nearly covered and full moon in the west sky:
hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning and lasted about a half
hour. Ocean looked good with a few rogue waves still left over but the water
color was hideous and some annoying weed as well. No signs of life at all. Went back this afternoon around 2:15 p.m.
around the bottom of the tide and the first two hours of the incoming with
SW 10 knot winds, clouds and spurts of light rain. Perfect conditions! Mike
Martino met me about then and we hit five sets of stones in E. Atlantic
Beach and found fish on most of them. We caught all schoolies and had three
fish each using plastic shads. I caught mine on Riverside Mystic Minnow
shads in pearl/pink and Mike used a storm. We also caught a fish each that
were both very close to keepers using poppers from the beach, not on top of
the jetty, but casting them on an angle to the front of the jetty and ran
them in along the east side where all the rips in EAB seem to be this year.
I also raised another half dozen fish and Mike raised a pair besides the
fish we caught.
Oct. 1: S/SW 5 / almost high tide (?) / horrible color
/good looking wave action and back piece of full moon in the west sky:
I
hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 8 a.m. I caught a
small schoolie on a popper in the rip along the side of the jetty at 6:10
a.m., had another small rat bass or two. Mike Martino came down as we caught
nothing the rest of the trip.
Oct.
2 /
S/SW 15 / almost high tide (?) / horrible color & lots of trash debris in
water / good looking wave action and back piece of full moon in the west sky:
I
hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 8 a.m. I caught a
32 inch keeper on a popper in the rip along the side of the jetty at 6:10
a.m., had another small rat bass or two and then found a few 1 pound
bluefish and that was it. No real action after 7 a.m. in cloudy, windy good
looking conditions. Still can't really catch from top of the jetties, all
fish on sides of jetties and had to cast from shore to catch. Went back this afternoon around
1 p.m. and fished till 2:30 in mostly cloudy conditions, winds S/SE 15 and
riled up good looking rips just as this morning. No signs of life.
Oct.
3 /
NW 15 going 20 or more / nice color, some weed, no waves,
no white water anywhere, water very warm in high 60's:
I hit the Point Lookout beaches this morning from 6 to 8:30 a.m. with Mike
Martino and ran into surf vets Ron Hoff and Barry Schwartz. Very little bait
if any, no wave action, no white water. Mike caught a small 22-inch bass on
white popper and I caught a 1-pound bluefish on a blue popper and that was
it!
Oct. 5:
S/SW 5 / clean and clear water / calm and
glassy...like a June morning:
I hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning
from 6 to 8 a.m. I caught nothing! Where are they?
Oct.
6 Montauk Trip: /
SW 5 / gorgeous color, waves,
white water, water very warm in high 60's:
Made the annual pilgrimage to
Montauk
with Mike Martino (10/6) for the
famed blitz action that we have
had each and every time we have
been there. Today, it wasn’t to
be. Arrived at 10:30 a.m. and
went to Turtle Cove. There were
about 100 casters lined up, with
no real fish action happening.
An occasional pod would break,
and many casters would do the
run, but the fish were on small
bait and not interested in
plugs. Rich and I decided to
walk west towards Camp Hero to
avoid the crowds, but nothing
doing there for us, either. Fish
were being caught, but not in
the typical fashion we are used
to seeing.
Went back
to Turtle Cove, which was quiet
by then, too. So, off to the
North Side. Again, we were also
trying to move away from the
crowds at Turtle which are
shoulder to shoulder,
waiting…..casting……waiting…After
seeing someone hook up with a
small blue on the north side, we
decided to hit town for an important wader repair and a
quick slice of pizza. After
accomplishing both goals, back
to the point we went,
rejuvenated and expecting the
afternoon to light up. We played
mountain goat for a bit, hopping
down the rocks, casting for some
time. Rich raised a good fish in
the white water in front of the
light, but he didn’t hook up…he
was actually giving a quick
pencil popper lesson to a new
friend we met on the rocks.
As the
afternoon wore on, we still had
nothing to show for the effort.
Back towards Turtle we went, and
counted over 50 people waiting
for the fish to show up. As we
walked, more kept coming.
Because we had to head back for
business reasons, we decided to
cut the day short at around
4:30. However, as we got close
to the home front, we decided to
hit Robert Moses Field 4 to give
it a shot. A good southwest was
blowing in our face, and the
water looked beautiful, but to
no avail. We casted through the
last of daylight and called it
quits.
This was
the first skunking at the hands
of the Montauk gods for us, but
we have one more trip planned
this fall. Maybe we’ll get lucky
then. Want to mention new
friends and Fishing Line fans
Joe and John with whom we had
some laughs and pretzels, and
all of the other guys who
stopped to chat.
Mike Martino
Oct. 7: S/SW 5 / clean and clear water / calm and
glassy...like a June morning:
I hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 8 a.m. I caught
nothing! Where are they?
Oct. 8: S/SW 5 / clean and clear
water / calm and glassy...like a June morning:
I hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 8 a.m. I caught
a small bluefish of 1-pound and raised two small bass on Knuckleheads. No
signs of life anywhere...where are they?
Oct. 9: SW 12 / horrible color
/weed on some beaches:
I hit the stones of E. Atlantic Beach this morning from 6 to 7 a.m. I caught
not a thing. Weed and not much signs of life at all. Poor fishing.
Oct. 10:
NW 20 to 30 knots did not fish
Oct. 11:
NW 20 to 30 knots did not fish
Oct. 12:
NW 20 to 25 knots did not fish
Oct. 14: NE 10 to 15 knots, Gin
clear water, waves but no white water. Great water! I
had to get out of Long Beach today (10/14) since I hadn’t caught a
fish down here in a week and any fish I have heard reported caught were tiny
schoolies on clams. So I hit the road around 8:15 a.m. and looked at the
beach in Point Lookout…weeded out! Went to Jones Beach Field 6, water looked
good…only one or two anglers leaving with nothing to report. So I hit Robert
Moses around 9 a.m. and bounced around the parking lots looking and speaking
with for fishermen and scouting out the beaches with the binoculars. Water
was gin clear at all beaches, fields 5, 4 & 2. No weed and no waves or white
water with NE 10 to 15 knot winds. Water is still very warm. I settled on
the west end of Field 2 at RM and started walking east and casting my way
down the beach I would say around 9:30 or 10 a.m.
Working my way east I was working red/white jointed
Redfins, pencils, little neck and Knucklehead poppers and my favorite white
Atom Jr. metal lip. I finally saw a pair of schoolies following y Atom into
the wash but they would not take it after five casts. I put on the small
Redfin and wham…I had two schoolie real fast and one jumping clear out of
the water in the wash. I went back to the smaller metal lip and the Atom
again no takers so I kept on going east. Got closer to the Needle and found
another schoolie. Around 11 a/m/I hot this nice looking point on the west
side of the Needle and working the Redfin had a few follows but caught a 26
inche4r on the Atom as the waves were starting to form on the point and some
spots of white water were starting to show as well.
Working my way back west…working wide open and clear
water between structure points, I drilled a 38 inch, 23 pounder on the Atom
just in the wash and was able to see the big girl follow the lure and see
the big shadow strike as well as it was almost to shallow for her. This was
at 12:15 p.m. and I had no hits or follows the rest of the day and left at
1:40 p.m. The skies were dark and cloudy, sprinkles of rain and I could see
everything in the water because of the cloud cover. After I caught my fish
the sun came out some, it got brighter even when the clouds showed again and
I could not see into the water because of the brightness and the bite came
to a sudden stop. Total: Four bass caught, one keeper
38 inches 23 pounds.
Oct. 15: NE 5-10, clean water, huge waves. Winds
turning SE 10-15 around 10 a.m. and S 20+ just after noon: I hit Robert
Moses Field 2 around 8:15 a.m. and found a huge ground swell, large waves
and the waves, while still an hour and half away from high tide, washing up
and over the crown of the beach, flooding the soft sand of the beach and
backwashing it into the water and taking your feet out from under you and
near impossible to fish. I then want to field 4 and found an area where it
was okay to fish but nothing was going on at all. I met a retired LIRR
worker who was chunking who had lost two quality fish in the dark and had
nothing biting for the last three hours. He did mention all the action on
these beaches has been steadily towards the bottom of the tide.
He also mentioned he caught a keeper bass that took his
chunk that had four (4) 3-ounce inkers and a 5-ouunce sinker stuck in his
gullet and several long lead rods in the anus into the intestine. How anyone
thought they were going to win a tourney this way was beyond the both of us.
More on this later. Anyway I stuck it and once the
tide turned and I got some outgoing water I could see some of the bars in
front of Field 4 starting to produce white water. I used an Atom Jr. to
produce a few small schoolies tight to the crease of the beach and another
couple on white bucktails with a white trailer also tight in the wash.
I met a couple of real nice guys in Joe and Chris
Laundry here at Field 4 who run a juicing company. They said the action has
been good here at Robert Moses this last week to 10 days with the middle of
the outgoing tide and the bottom of the tide producing the best. They each
caught a few schoolies on white bucktails as well. They also told me about a
keeper bass they caught that also was stuffed with sinkers and lead rods
They kept the fish and the rods from the intestine, but said the flesh of
the fish after cleaning was soft and mush...what the heck is going on here?
Around noon the action at Field 4 slowed and I said
goodbye and went to Field 2 where I had the 23 pounder the day before and as
soon as I got there the winds turned S at 20 knots the bite was on big time
with only about 2 hours left in the outgoing tide. I produced nearly another
seven schoolie bass on whild wind and wilder water, still very good color
mind you, and caught them on bucktails, but then switched over to the 6-inch
Bomber Long A plug in white flash with red head and the only color working
the last two days has been white. I finished the day with a dozen or more
bass, no keepers but great action in short spurts of time.
Oct. 16:
W/NW 25+ knots did not fish
Oct. 17:
W/NW 25+ knots did not fish
Oct. 18: W/NW 15 turning SW 15 sunny bright, thin
clouds by 4 p.m.--should have happened!
I fished the area west of Jones Beach Field 6 area this afternoon (10/18)
from 1:30 to about 2:40 p.m. and was not impressed at all by the look of the
beach. It is FLAT! It had a decent slope if you want to fish at high water.
I was there with only a couple hours of outgoing left and it was flat with
only one point that I could back to the east but to the west of Field 6 was
not good. Went to Tobay since we got it open for non residents and this
beach looked GOOD with great structure, bars and holes...several of them! I
spoke to a few anglers who fished all day chunking. One had a 10 pound
bluefish and released a 23 inch bass while another chunked most of the day
for a pair of cocktail blues. I ran into Bob Gabriel who said the last week
or two they have been working here and at Gilgo with plenty of 3 to 6 pound
bluefish on the chunk. I stopped at Point Lookout on the way home around
4:30 and saw tons of birds working the West End 2 jetty. I could not tell
from my angle at Point Lookout if they were close enough to cast to, but
there were boats in the inlet working on them and I would imagine it had to
be the many, many bluefish in the 2 to 4-pound class that have been here for
while.
Oct. 19: E/NE 20-25+. Hard cold winds, wild surf,
heavy sweep, dropping tide.
I took a chance and worked the Robert Moses beaches on Tuesday (10/19)
between 3 and 6 p.m. bouncing back between Field #2 and Field #4 in the hard
E/NE 20-25+ winds. Sometimes you can really walk into some awesome fishing
and there were five or six other surfcasters with the same idea. The surf
was still pretty clean with no weed and very little brown color and I was
actually quite pleased with the water color. The sweep was worse than I
thought it might be and even working the 2 ounce bucktails, 3-pounce poppers
etc was difficult, but I could fish it. The best choices were the obvious
with the 3-ounce bottle plug doing well to hold water and the 6-inch Bomber
Long A did a surprising job as well. Spurts of rain came every once in a
while, but it was mostly E/NE winds that made the job difficult and no, I
did not have single bump, bite or fish. The beaches between field #4 and the
Needle were carved up pretty good with a sharp cliff most of the way and the
beaches at Field #2 looked much, much better. All the points with great
white water that held fish last week were tough to fish in the sweep but
alas…no fish were to be found at all. Same goes for the other six anglers I
spoke with.
Oct. 20: NE 10-15. Heavy sweep, last hour of
outgoing or so.
I ran down to the Montgomery St. jetty in Atlantic Beach this evening
(10/20) around 5:15 p.m. and lasted about 15 minutes as the water a horrible
color and weedy. Winds were NE 10- to 15 knots and there was still a heave
and waves at the jetty.
Oct. 21: NE 20 to 25. Heavy sweep, horrible color,
huge surge of water.
Did not fish
Oct. 22: NE 20 to 25. Heavy sweep, horrible color,
huge surge of water.
Did not fish
Oct. 23: NE 20 to 25. Heavy sweep, horrible color,
huge surge of water.
Did not fish
Oct. 24: NE 20 to 25. Heavy sweep, horrible color,
huge surge of water.
Did not fish
Oct. 25: NE 15 to 20. Heavy sweep, horrible color,
huge surge of water.
Did not fish
Oct. 26: NE 10-15. Heavy sweep, horrible color, huge
surge of water.
I hit the beach at Robert Moses Field 2
this afternoon (10/26) around 3:30 a.m. The water color was horrible and
near brown to black in some spots. The waves were not that huge but there
was some surge of water on the beach today and with hours left until high
tide, the water was easily going right to the dunes as it has for the last
couple of nights. The waves would break at the crease of the beach and then
wash up 60 to 80 foot to the top of the beach and nearly take your feet out
from under you and nearly did to me as well. One minute the piece of beach
you were standing on was bone dry, two waves later 3 foot of water...very
weird and pre-hurricane like. No fish, no hits, no bait but we did see way
out in the ocean many, many, many fish breaking water and you couldn't have
reached them with a rocket launcher.
Oct. 27 NE 10-15. Beautiful color, some surge of
water/excellent conditions.
I fished on Wednesday (10/27) from 3 to 6 p.m. at Riis Park, Ft.
Tilden, the back side of Tilden and started looking at 59th St.
and 125th St and no signs of life and never raised a fish. The
water was gorgeous with great structure at all these beaches but never saw a
fish…very strange. Large waves but better than it had been with clean water
and a strong undertow.
Oct. 29: S 10-15. Great color, great sructure, text
book!
I fished on
Friday (10/29) from 3 to 6 p.m. at
Robert Moses Field 2 & 4 with
text book water and conditions and no one anywhere
raised a fish. The worst fall of my life so far!
Nov. 1. N/NW
20-25.
I hit Sunken Meadow today (11/1) from 4:30 to 7 pm.
in howling NW 20 to 25 winds,
gusts probably higher. Thought the bait would be pushed up on the
beach...not today. It wasn't until dark we saw the bait
(spearing) get slammed in very shallow water inside the mouth of the
Niss River and only saw one tiny schoolie caught by buddy
Joe McQuillan. Though we say a fish or two caught
form the other side though.
Nov. 2.
SE/S 10-15:
I hit the Robert Moses
Field 2 at the pavilion at 2 p.m. Right off there were birds and bait in the
wash. The birds and fish started here and took me to the pencil and back
again. Steady fish till 5 p.m. Turns out this area was hot now for 36 hours! Monday afternoon the
fish showed at Robert Moses Field 2 around 2 p.m. The action was mostly with
bluefish 3 to 6 pounds with a few brutes at 10 pounds or better and some
short bass. This bite lasted till an hour before sundown. The bass caught
were shorts in the 22 to 26 inch class. Buckies took more bass and poppers
or tins took more bluefish. The chunkers also picked at the fish and the
night shift chunkers caught keeper bass here.
Tuesday
(Election Day) the fish started off at Field 2 again in the sunrise slot
with no great fishing, but a steady pick according to Tom O'Neill of West
Islip who gave me his report in person at sundown. Mostly bluefish again
with scattered bass of schoolie size. An angler I met at 2 p.m. said
bluefish to 10 pounds were at Field 2 again this morning around 9 a.m. and
that lasted an hour or so. The fish showed with birds and bait in the wash
in the afternoon around 2 p.m. at the Pavilion and the action lasted till
sundown with mostly all bluefish but a good number of bass.
While this was
not a blitz day with bait and bass at your feet or falling out of the waves
like last year's legendary Jones Beach blitz, this was fantastic fishing
with a good steady pick and steady catches for hours! The best of the year
so far. Poppers like Polaris' and pencil poppers took more bluefish while
bucktails took mostly bass and tins caught both. Blues 3 to 5 pounds, an
occasional 10 pounder. Bob the "English Muffin Man" had plenty of blues and
bass on bucktails before he had to run off to give a golf lesson at 4:30
p.m. The back side of the Sore Thumb also had excellent action Election Day
and there were fish at Gilgo, mostly all blues Election Day morning as well.
Joey "Butts" and his son had close to 10 bluefish on the chunk in just a
couple of short hours at the east end of Field 2 today as well.
Total...too many fish to count...dozens.
Nov. 3.
NW 20-25-35 / Gale warnings:
I hit the Robert Moses
Field 2 east end with Joe McQuillan in the wild gale warning winds this
morning at 5:45 a.m. With some light now showing, we proceeded to raise
plenty of fish, all bluefish. We walked and fished poppers and tins to the
Needle and back again. Finished with eight bluefish between us, 4 to 12
pounds. The winds were whipping and the 2-ounce polaris poppers just skimmed
across the surface and the fish loved it that way. No signs of bait.
Finished around 9 a.m. and hit fields 4 and 5 with no action. Called it
quits at 9:30 or so. water was clean and slightly weedy at your feet in some
spots but it was starting to brown a little with sand and winds whipping
everywhere.
Went back this afternoon at 2 p.m. expecting the same wild water but
dirtier, "browner" water. To our surprise, the winds were more north at 20
to 25 with a few gusts, gale warnings were still up, but the water was flat,
a slight chop, no wave action and GIN CLEAR! Who knew? Either way this was
not good. I was contemplating what to do when Joe Gullo of West B&T in Long
Beach called to say the bass and blues were in with the bunker at Lincoln
and National Blvd's in Long Beach. I jumped in the car and hit the beach on
Long Beach at 3:10 p.m. to find acres of bluefish 1 to 4 pounds everywhere
as far as you could see in either direction. Birds everywhere as Joe
McQuillan and I proceeded to catch fish on "every cast" till dark.
Nov. 4. NE/SE 5-10: Calm and low tide...started in E. Atlantic Beach
and last 40 minutes only raising a small blue...went back to the scene of
the crime form yesterday and as expected the birds showed on Pacific Blvd
and then Lincoln again in east Long Beach. I had a half dozen bluefish to 10
pounds or so on Pencils and large metal lips. The switch was flipped
and the action dropped dead after the start of the flood tide. Watch out at
noon or 1 p.m. at high tide and the dropping tide!
Fished again
in the same east Long Beach area from 11 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. I will call it a
slow to steady pick at times with bluefish to 4 pounds and at times late in
the wind and rainy day, steady schoolie bass of 3 to 5 pounds (24 inches).
Ran into Atlantic Beach Benny (FDR) and the Capt. Morgan posse with JimJet
and Machete as they used Kastmasters and buckies to catch a decent number of
each. Mikey (nite lite) came down around 3 p.m. and had bass and blues for
an hour as well. Winds were S/SW at 25+ and rain was stinging...but it was
great...not too cold either. Lots more to come!
Nov 5: NW 40 to 50 knots did not fish.
Nov 6: SW 25 to 30 did not fish.
Worked today,
Blues showed in afternoon at Long Beach Rd and made their way to Atlantic
Beach in a hurry, showing here at 4 p.m.
Nov. 7: SW 10 going to 30 in the afternoon: Hit the jetty in EAB at 6 a.m., birds came with the
sunrise and it was small bluefish 1 to 2 pounds. Saw birds to the east,
found them at Magnolia and I went further east to Pacific Blvd. where the
blitz was on. I only had it for 45 minutes or so but it was bass and blues.
Keeper bass mixed with small blues and fish to 20 pounds were seen and two
28 inch keepers were caught by an angler who lives in the apartments there.
He fished from 6 to 8 a.m. and had 20 to 30 fish and a keeper.
Fished this
afternoon and started in east Long Beach again where there was not much
going on. I ran into a friend of my sister, Dave Walsh who had the hot hand.
While several of us stood around casting and retrieving, he had a spot along
side the side the jetty at pacific where he caught several small, schoolie
bass. The winds came on and on and on today with easy 25 to 30 knots SW
winds. Incredible and what was really surprising was the water in the east
end of Long Beach and the middle of town looked like mud! Usually a SW
west and incoming tide gives us clean and clear water, but this mud and
starting to get weedy. Saw some birds, but they never came inside of the
first breaking wave on the bar.
Had a
network of surfcasters today with cell phones keeping us all informed. Dave
W. of valley Stream, Benny of Atlantic Beach, Mike from Valley Stream, Mike
(skipper) of Long Beach and we were al letting each other know where the
fish were, the birds, if wee caught anything and it all worked out for the
best as we found the fish and clean water in Atlantic Beach for the
afternoon outgoing. Lots of 3 to 8 pound blues in the wash chasing bait,
schoolie bass around the jetties and pockets on the bucktails. Worst thing
was carrying 40 pounds of lures in the bag, when we could only use today
toady because it was so windy...bucktails and tins! I did not have a very
good day overall for the amount of birds and fish I saw caught. I may have
had a dozen combined fish all day.
Nov. 8 NW 25 to 35, water clean and beautiful.
Went back to the scene of the crimes from yesterday.
Pacific Blvd. etc and there were billions of birds everywhere...only 2 miles
off in the ocean. The winds of the NW at the speed they're blowing, pushed
more water off the beach so with two hours of the outgoing left, it looked
like dead low. Water again is clan and clear everywhere through Long Beach.
High tide around 3 p.m., so I will start fishing this afternoon around 1 to 2
p.m. In hot the beaches around 2 p.m.. and it was a slow pick, but did find
a good bite in Atlantic Beach thanks to friend Mike of Valley Stream who put
Bob Carrick and myself on the fish from 4 p.m. until dark as we had peanut
bunker in the wash being crashed upon by schoolie bass an very few large
bluefish to 8 pounds or better. We managed two keeper bass, one for Bob and
one for myself as we caught non stop action till dark when it mysteriously
shut down. Thanks Mike!!
Nov. 9 NW 20 / water clean and beautiful.
Took the morning off, but hit Robert Moses at 1 p.m.
and walked into non stop bluefish action at Field 2 with blues 8 to 12
pounds! Insane and caught them on everything I wanted to have fun with.
Where is my TV crew when I need them. Kept at this for an hour and a half
and decided to take a ride to Field 4 with friend Bob Carrick of Bay Shore.
We got to Field 4 and found some birds and the action kicked into high gear
here. We now proceeded to catch blues to 18 pounds mixed with blues 3 to 12
pounds as these gorillas were feeding on the hooked fish we were fighting be
they blues or schoolie stripers. We caught insane action on bas well with
some keeper size bass in there and Bob had a 20 to 25 pounder as 1-ounce
Danny's were the ticket for bass although blues took them too. Joe McQuillan
of Seaford, Larry of West Islip, Chris and Randy Laundry were in on it as
the action was literally non stop on giant blues and awesome bass action
till dark. It shut down at dark as al the beaches these seem to be doing.
Nov. 10 NW 5 to 10 / turned SW at 5 to 10 in
afternoon / water clean and beautiful.
Hit
Robert Moses at daybreak with a one man camera crew in tow...where are the
fish you need them. It was the complete opposite of yesterday where we
couldn't buy a fish! I did manage a schoolie bass on a knucklehead, another
on a Gummy Shad and four bluefish on four different lures. The water was
flat calm, gin clear like the Bahamas and the fish very finicky and picky. A
very slow pick on plugs ALL DAY with the bait guys doing just slightly
better.
Nov. 11 Veteran's Day: SW 25 to 30 / 18 knots around
11 and back to 20 to 25 in the afternoon: water clean and beautiful:
The Robert Moses beaches came alive again on Veteran’s
Day (11/11), but only for the morning shift. It was complete mayhem as it
was on Tuesday, with an identical report of blues 10 to 14 pounds, a big
majority of them 8 pounders with schoolie bass and some teen size bass mixed
in with hundreds of schoolie size stripers. Some weakfish were caught as
well. It started about 5:30 a.m. or so and lasted till about 8:30 to 9 a.m.
at all the fields in RM. The afternoon bite was a far cry from this as we
heard all the fields at Robert Moses did not come back to life really at all
with a slow pick of blues for angler’s efforts.
Long Beach and Point Lookout as well as Atlantic Beach
were on fire on Veteran’s Day (11/11/) as birds and waves of fish came
though virtually all day. As long as you fished, walked and fished or drove
from area to area you found fish! Most if not fish were schoolie bass with
very few keepers on Vet’s Day, but you had some beaches that were all bass,
the beach right next to you on the other side of the jetty all blues, the
next all 8 pounds blues and the next 22 inch bass. Kastmasters and Fiord
spoons were the best way to go. It started at daybreak in 30 knot winds and
the bite was on fire until the winds cut back to about 18 knots around 10:30
a.m., then the bite stopped. At the bottom of the tide all heck broke loose
and lasted till dark as winds were now back at 20 to 25 SW and bucktails or
Kastmasters all worked wonders.
I was out in this at 8 a.m. and the
bite was ferocious in the wind with Kastmasters and bucktails and I did raise
some real quality fish on metal lips around 10 :30 or so and then the wind
dropped from 30 knots to 18 and the bite just stopped. In slightly over 2
hours I had over 2 dozen fish on Kastmasters and buckies. It picked up on
the bottom of the tide around noon and I got back out there for another hour
long wave of fish blitzing in the wash and came back around 2:30 to meet my
good friend Assemblyman Joe Saladino who came down to fish. We had Joe
into fish from the moment he walked onto the beach with Kastmasters and
bucktails. First the wash was hot then we hit the jetty and Joe was probably
high hook between myself, Bob Carrick of Bay Shore and his friend Tom and
they came from Suffolk County because Moses did not set up for the afternoon
bite and neither did Jones Beach Field 6. All out insane bite most of the
day in howling winds. It shut down at dark and this is a weird year as the
bite on all the beaches if you are not fishing bait dies at dark.
Nov. 12: NE 20 COLD drizzle miserable Water
beautiful: lasted about 45 minutes with Joe Gullo. No signs of life, no
fish, no birds. rained hard later in the day and no fish. Mike VS had four
schoolies 4-5 p.m.
Nov. 13: NE 25 to 30 COLD snow showers, cleared
early mornign and NW 25 Water brown...did not fish.
Nov. 14: NE 15 going 20 chilly, water still slightly
brown.
Nov. 17:
I hit EAB. this morning (11/17) for an hour or so between 6:15 and
7:15 and saw no signs of life and had no takers on anything I threw.
Bombers, Danny plugs or Knuckleheads or pencils.
Nov. 19: 65 degrees, no wind no waves...like
springtime. Clean water:
I started in
EAB behind my house and found a schoolie or two on tins in a school of bass
that was ready to light up but they moved east too fast when a boat got in
on them. I then hit Atlantic Beach this evening (11/19) around 3:30 and
found some fish in the wash down towards the Silver Point Jetty Pocket. What
a long walk, but luckily found a few 16 to 22 inch bass in the wash chasing
anchovies and peanut bunker before I had to walk all the way. Many small
fish and they were actually too small to take a 1-ounc Danny swimmer. I
switched to the Knucklehead to get the "waking" action and a pop and that
was enough to catch a half dozen fish. They were very finicky and selective
with all the bait in the water
Nov. 24: 55 to 60 degrees,
cloudy, E/SE 10 to 15 a.m. / SE 20 p.m. with rain. Water great!
Tuesday was super day on the sand beaches of Nappeague and Hither Hills and
all the way to Nappeague La. as well. Herring in the wash and bass from 20
to 41 pounds were caught morning and afternoon. Pencils and poppers were all
working with fish rolling around your feet and not many anglers there
either. What a difference a day makes as there were hundreds of anglers on
these beaches Wednesday (11/24) and all chasing fish up and down the
beaches. Some action at Nappeague La in the morning, but most of the action
was at Nappeague State Park and the fish moved east all the way past Hither
Hills and into the County beaches.
There were bass 20 to 35 pounds caught mixed with a few
giant bluefish and spitting up whole herring. Gannets diving everywhere and
insane action…for the fish as not all anglers were hooked up. It was
sporadic fishing with some anglers like Big Eddie “Bass Blitz” scoring 20
fish for the morning session and others close while others only had a few
fish. The fish were moving east fast and in and out off the beach. While it
could have turned into an all out blitz…it did not as you could see a couple
of anglers hooked up while more were definitely not. It was exciting though.
This action died way east of Hither Hills as I said past the county beaches
around 10:30 to 11 a.m.
The afternoon session was mostly a bust although it had
the makings of an all out blitz. Nothing was happening as anglers cruised al
the beaches from main Beach to Nappeague La., toe Atlantic Ave., White
Sands, Nappeague State Park etc and nothing was happening. Birds were
working on the outside bar but with low tide the fish were not coming over
the bar. They finally did around 2:30 down around Indian Wells and they were
moving west and very fast as it was 90% bluefish and big ones into the teens
again. The birds and fish were mainly off the beach and watching 100’s of
anglers make a few casts and jump into the cars to drive ahead of it…for
hours this went on…again only a few were hooked up…was quite amusing…and yes
I was part of it.
If you were right in the middle of the action and the
fish were close enough, you caught bluefish. Those lucky enough to score
bass from shorts to 20 pounds did so with heavy tins like Hopkins 3-ounce
because they needed the distance and the weight to get the tin down.
Kastmasters and Graves were not heavy enough for this today anyway. Lots and
lots of people and lots of trucks on the sand beaches. This lasted till 4:15
or so and when it was over the fish have traveled almost to Mecox as it had
moved 5 miles or so west. It was chaos as tucks were moving every where as
were hundreds of anglers.
Joel (IOC) Antonelli caught a fish or two and showed us
how to backstroke in the wash, Bob and Tom, the Thomas’ Muffin Men” scored a
few fish on tins while Eric (Big Foot) was AWOL for the last half hour in
the dark and Tom and crew finally found him waling back the 5 miles only to
get picked up for the last 100 yards.
Thanksgiving: SW 25 plus gusting to 30. Water color great...unfishable
because of run over and rough water. Hit the Robert Moses Field 5
lot about 6:15 a.m. knowing full well it was probably going to be
unfishable, but what the heck…always great to speak with other anglers on a
great day like Thanksgiving. Winds were SW 25 and better with gusts to 30.
Water was gorgeous…could not ask for better color and the roughness was not
that much an issue except for the tide washing up and over the top of the
slope and that was a little treacherous to some surfcasters. May have been
more fishable on the bottom of the tide. Met Bill Casey, a pupil from the
West Islip Surf class this past October and a nice fellow Matt from Yonkers
who were working the beach to no avail as well. Ran into Larry from West
Islip and both Chris and Joe Laundry. Met a few other nice gents over at the
Sore Thumb which had been hot, but was filled with weed this morning. I did
see one 5 pound blue and a small bass come up at Field 5 between 6:30 and
7:45 a.m. Other than this it was dead. Fished over at the Sore Thumb it was
all weeds. Tomorrow in the NW 25 they will bite for sure!
Dec. 5: SW 20 plus turning West, water brown and some weed, dirty:
Just got back (10 a.m.) from hitting the Rockaways this
morning (12/5) and I did catch fish. A slow pick with a flurry here or there
as the birds were in thick from about 86th St to 100th St. Winds were easy
20 knots SW turning West and the water was very brown with some slight
"ticks" of weed. At times there were fish in the wash, but most of the time
they were on the bar as it was low tide and not enough water on the beaches
here to allow them to come in tight and stay. They were on the move west,
then east and back west. I caught a keeper and a few shorts. Dave W and Mike
from Valley Stream each had a half dozen or so fish as well on tins and
plastics.
Spotted birds at Suicide form the
house around 2 p.m. and ran down to the jetty. Got there in about 6 minutes
and the birds were already three jetties east of there. I got two jetties
east of there only to find they passed me already. I then tries another five
jetties east of there around Vernon and when I got out of the car they were
already a jetty east of me again...mind you this is taking all of 5 minutes
so far since I first arrived at the Suicide Jetty. I went back to Troy and
waited for them. The arrived about 10 minutes later and we never got a cast
to them as they moved out of range as soon as they reached us. A boat named
the outlaw drove through them and that was that and they never formed again
and my afternoon session was over...all in a span of 25 minutes...at most.
Dec. 14: NW 15 to 20, 35 degrees
and cold. Extreme low tide and choppy: I got the call from
Mike of Valley Stream around 3:30 p.m. who was on the west end of the Long
Beach boardwalk that birds were on the beach in west Long Beach and Atlantic
Beach this afternoon (12/14). When I looked with the specks from behind my
office…there they were…birds, herring and bass. I hit the beach in E.
Atlantic Beach around 3:50 p.m. and fished till dark. I used a 2 ounce
Kastmaster and caught a few fish, but with the extreme low tide at this time
of day I kept hanging up on the sandbar. I borrowed a shad bait from Mike
and caught a few more schoolies and a 30 inch keeper about 15 minutes before
dark. Textbook style…I kept working the area after the birds moved to the
west and caught the keeper on the outer bar using a shad bait worked slowly
across the bottom. Most of the fish we caught were in the wash and rolling
at our feet feeding on small and adult herring and small white bait which
the herring were working on. Finished with a half dozen fish.
Dec 15: W 25 knots & cold 25 degrees.:
Water clean and riled up and too cold to fish. I
finished up yesterday with some nice action last in the day and my last
keeper for the season just under the wire. If it warms up some there will be
more action in this area for sure.
Dec. 16:
W 20 :knots and water clean and riled up.
Still tons of birds in this area and the action has not stopped. caught some
more fish this afternoon on the Kastmasters and gummy shads with no fish
larger than 18 inches for me.
Dec. 17: NW 15 to 20, Cold maybe 35 to 40
degrees. Water calm and clean: Got a call there were keeper bass and
plenty of schoolies caught today all though Atlantic Beach on bucktails.
Most of the action was from 11 a.m. to about 1 p.m. and I caught a few fish
in the afternoon behind the house lasted in the day on the Kastmasters and
gummy shads.
Dec. 18: NE 5 to 10, Cold maybe 35 to 40 degrees.
Water calm and clean: I found birds working off the Atlantic Beach area
around Genesee, but when I got there they had moved east to Vernon from
Montgomery and were moving in an out fast. Did get a flurry or two and
caught a few schoolie fish with hook from a few friends being 10 to 15
fish for the day but a few keepers were caught over the course of the day as
well. This action should continue through Christmas. Gummy shads, bucktails
and Kastmasters would work.
Dec. 19: NE 5 to 10, feels warmer today in the
40's: Water calm and clean and miles of birds are stretched as far as
one can see from behind the house to the west as and if I had a boat
in the water I would be catching fish on every single jig for hours.
