Montauk Sportfishing Report 7/7/03

[Capt Gene Kelly]

July 7, 2003

It seems like the offshore fishing is starting to finally get a little
interesting. It's no longer
unusual to hear about a mako being caught, and more an more of the boats
going sharking are
spending a little time trolling for the football bluefins that are splashing
around, mostly on the
east side of the Butterfish Hole. In addition, the DORADO made a day trip
out to the edge, and
although he didn't bring back any tuna, he did score with some mahi.

The MBCA is holding it's annual shark tournament at Star Island Yacht Club
this weekend. This
is the only tournament that is not a money maker. All the proceeds are
donated as scholarship
$$$ to local students, or to other charities. Fishing will be on Saturday
and Sunday.

It appears that it's not necessary to travel south of the point to catch
sharks. A local bayman
found a great shark in his pound net this past week. The fish was only two
hundred pounds or so,
but it caused quite a stir, since the trap was located back in Gardiner's
Bay, not far from some
swimming beaches.

Thank God for the striped bass. I remember years ago when bass fishing was
in a slump and
we'd say that about bluefish. Nowadays, bass fishing is a close to a sure
thing as you can get,
with the charter boats all taking their limits with regularity. The big
tubes are starting to work as
well as the bucktails, especially for larger fish.

The bass are starting to hang out in the inlets now as well. Early this
morning I was down at the
jetties watching some small bass cavorting on the surface, and during the
week down at Devon,
where the boat that I run is docked, I was flipping fluke skins into the
water, and watching a
fifteen pounder suck them down.

The bottom fishing is still a bit of a disappointment. You can catch plenty
of fluke out in the
rips, but you have to keep the ruler handy. There are some good ones around
though. Percy
Heath had one that weighed in at fourteen pounds this week, but don't ask
where he caught it.
It's surprising to see so few boats on the south side, but the fishing has
been far from hot down
there. It's finally pretty much free of the dogfish, but it's also pretty
free of everything else as
well. You can find patches of small seabass, but if you want decent ones,
you have to fish where
there aren't a lot of them.

If you would like to have these reports sent to you directly, just drop me a
note at
- (anti-spam) -.spam. And for more information about fishing in
Montauk, you
can give me a call at 800 280 5565 or check out
anti-spam://www..spam.

--
Capt Gene Kelly
Montauk Sportfishing - Tropical Fishing Adventures