New York Metro &
New Jersey

October 10th, 2003

In remembrance ...

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Due to the possible threat of Hurricane Isabel to the Long Island coastline and its mid-Sept. dates, the postponed Mercury Outboards Redbone @Large P.F.L.G.A. Montauk Redbone Celebrity Tournament has been rescheduled for October 21-23 at the Montauk Yacht Club Resort and Marina,
Though it’s "sold-out" with a field of 75-plus anglers, guides and celebrities, organizers say you don’t need to fish to help ‘catch the cure’ for cystic fibrosis.
The public is invited to join in for a silent auction that starts on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 21 at 1-5 p.m., and then again Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. when it closes.
Plus come and meet the celebrities at the dockside parties beginning at 3 to 5 p.m on Wednesday and Thursday.
The tournament is one of a multi-series of 24 Redbone celebrity events across the nation and internationally, all title sponsored for over a decade by Mercury. Each tournament has become increasingly popular with fishermen for its fun and camaraderie while simultaneously contributing to a great cause.

Entries went fast when word got out about how much fun the anglers had last year and the original September field grew to a sold out 42 boats. But with the hurricane postponement the field will be limited to 25 boats. Anglers paid an entry fee of $3,000 to fish with a celebrity, or two people are fishing as a team entry for $3,500. The entry fee includes a guide for the two days of tournament fishing and all meals listed on the social schedule.
Many of the guides who donate a day of their time are from the Professional Fly and Light-Tackle Guides Assoc. (P.F.L.G.A.) of New York, which has helped organize the event locally. Anglers, celebs and guides seek a "Nor’ East Grand Slam" of striped bass, bluefish and false albacore. All fish caught will be photographed and immediately returned to the water.

Among the many celebrities scheduled to participate are NBA Hall of Famer/Boston Celtic John Havlicek, one of the founding celebrities of the Redbone series; collegiate and NFL football great Dave Rimington and former New York Times executive editor Howell Raines and from the fishing world author/writer Nick Curcione.

Fleet Specialist will present a dinner and live auction after Wednesday’s fishing. On Thursday, Highland Asset will host a Long Island Lobster/Clambake Awards Party. Other sponsors include Bear Stern, Lehman Brothers, UBS Securities, Hamilton Trust, Montauk Yacht Club, Allied Domecq, Hell’s Bay Boatworks, Cape Fear Rods, Orvis, ESPN Outdoors and Lowrance.

Tournament winners in numerous categories will take home beautifully framed original and limited edition marine artwork from nationally known artists. Prizes will be awarded to the tournaments’ top anglers and teams in the spin and fly divisions. Awards also will be presented for the largest fish released in each target species and the largest number of fish released in each species.

In addition, the tournament's grand champion male and female anglers and the top celebrity angler will qualify to participate in the 2004 Rolex/International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Inshore Championship Tournament in the Florida Keys.

"Montauk is one of the most exciting locations we’ve added," said Redbone founder and tournament director Capt. Gary Ellis. "The enthusiasm of the guides, the New York financial community and the local Montauk community, takes me back to the start of our series in the Florida Keys. It’s really refreshing that despite the hurricane postponement we were able to get many of the anglers, guides and celebrities back for the new dates of this great event."
"The Montauk fishery is abundant. In the fall the fish move out of the bay and marsh to feed on the large schools of bait on the shore. You’ll be sight-casting to large schools of fish crashing bait. It’s remarkable to watch."

The tournament will combine artificial and fly said local guides and organizers Captains Scott Holder and Paul Dixon.
"We have some of the most extremely knowledgeable guides the area has to offer and each is donating a day for this worthy charity," said Holder chairman of the P.F.L.G.A.

Dixon added, "Most of emphasis will be on using artificial lures and especially flies, which is a relatively new but very popular style of fishing here."
For further information on the tournament, please call Susan Ellis at the Redbone offices in Islamorada, Fla., at 305-664-2002 or cell phone 305-664-7258.

In the memory of an old friend ...

I lost the SeaCraft last week. After a disturbing call from the marina I found her belly up, still tied to the pier ... After 3 awful hours of trying to right her and pull her out, there were no visible cracks and the water she held in her bilge stayed there until I pulled the plug. Both bilge pumps were wired and seemingly operational, and by inspecting the connections we determined that both the batteries were charged and hot ... A big mystery on how she went down and while by any means I can’t be certain, I suspect those nasty poachers who vandalized her last year might have had something to do with it. Although it still doesn’t make any sense to me. If someone were to sink her they would have had to take the hatch cover off, put a hose in the bilge and wait for her to fill up while keeping ahead of not one but two bilge pumps. Once the water got to the transom, removing the hose, putting the bilge hatch back down, and a step on the back end could have put her under, but I don’t think these poachers are that smart. And if they were trying to send a message they would have made it more obvious. Who the "H" knows ... I’m fairly certain at this point that I never will.

I must admit I’m sad. That boat and I had many good times together. She was old (19-years to be exact). She lived a darn good life and saw many big fish. She preformed like a champ in some nasty water and I even ran her smack into a green can at about 25-knots during one very dark night. She came off with only a ding. She died a brave and valiant death. She will always be remembered. She is survived by the "One More Cast II." A 20-foot Maritime Skiff that has some awful big shoes to fill. I will always remember her.

If anyone out there might have some insights on how this boat might have sunk, or have ever known of any SeaCrafts going down in this fashion, I’d love to here about it. I’m still really confused about how it could have possibly sunk.

Thanks for letting me get that out ... Now let’s get on to the reports:

The fall run continued to gather momentum this week as those extraordinary bass boils in Montauk became a daily occurrence. If you’ve never been to Montauk, you have to see it to believe it. And I can tell you first hand that right now the albie fishing out there is just about as good as it gets anywhere in the world. Other areas out east are hot with fish as well as this week’s cool weather has set the action at a quick pace. Moving west, the south shore is beginning to see more and more bass in the wash and the north shore is lighting up as well. Some big stripers moved into the New York bight this week and I had the pleasure of putting a few guys on some fish approaching the 20-pound mark. The albie fishing in the Bight has been off and on... One day they are there and you can hook 20 of them. The next day they are nowhere to be found. And then the following day they are back, but don’t seem to want any fly. In Northern and Central New Jersey the albacore seem to be much more consistent with Central New Jersey going off just about every day this week. There have been some fantastic bass blitzes as well according to the folks at Shore Catch. In Southern New Jersey the backcountry is beginning to fish like a typical fall as well.

Now is the time to start taking those sick days folks... With the cooler weather headed our way, things are only going to get better. More wind and rain this weekend, but hey, by now we’re use to that ... Go fish!

And don’t forget to email me your own reports. Tight lines all.

Tight Lines!

John McMurray

New Jersey

Captain Paul Eidman from Reel-Therapy checks in this week with a report from the Northern Section of New Jersey:

Hi John-
Fly fishing here around the hook continues to be really good at times and very frustrating at others. Unprecedented amounts of peanut bunker in huge schools abound in the river, bay and all down the shoreline. We still have plenty of Albies around, and the stripers have been in the wash from Sandy Hook to Shark river like gangbusters.
Gator Bluefish are scattered around with some of them pulling the Boga down 13 pounds.
I have dates available and am happy to arrange trips for those solo fly-folks that need a fishing partner to share with.
Catch em up!

From the central section, Captain Gene Quigley from Shore Catch Guide Service reports some seriously good fishing from the beach as well as the boat. Check it out:

John,

All that I can say about the fishing down here in Jersey right now is PHENOMENAL!

Bass blitzes all week in the surf with fish blowing through peanut bunker day and night. Seven to nine pound Albies outside slashing through rainfish all day long!

Had out Dr. John Yavorski today and we just crushed the fish -- bass and albies -- basically all you could handle. Yesterday's trip with Gary Heger and Dave Schreckenstein was just as good with bass and albies all day long.

On the beach scene our guides Shell E. and Darin have been cashing in on the awesome bass blitzes along the Monmouth County beaches for seven days straight. I know I keep saying this -- but this will definitely be a year to remember here along the Jersey Shore! And the est is still yet to come!

My Partner Captain Jim has been getting out for the afternoon bite and has been finding the same hot action. On one trip this week Jim had out Nils Eckhart of the Hudson River Fisherman's Association and his eight year old daughter Lexie and she landed her first big albie with help from her dad. They also had bass going nuts on peanuts along the beach.

Nice!!!

Moving south, Captain Bryan DiLeo from Iowa Fortune Guide checks in with a report from the Atlantic City / Ocean City back country. Check it out:

This week dished up some very good fishing. The trend for the week shaped up to be that the Bass were either there or not there but when you found them the
were numerous and quality is size. Most Bass through the week ranged in size to 31" /9lbs and very aggressive on the take. We also unfortunately had lost
several 33"+ fish that when hooked up would make it very clear that they were not going to come to the boat and after blistering first run and a short
battle would spit the hook nonetheless still very exciting and nice to see the larger Bass are on the move. Water temperatures dropped drastically last week to
54-61 and in turn really get the Bass moving throughout the back country and allowing us to stay on fish right into high sun midday hours for the 1st time
this fall. As honorable mention along with the Bass has been a good number of Bluefish in the 3-5lb range making short time of any bait or lure put in front
of then also providing some nice sideshow action.

Capt. Bryan DiLeo

As mentioned in the intro, a nice body of big fish moved into the sand bars and are feeding on larger than average mullet. We’ve been taking these fish at night on large poppers and big black deceivers fished just under the surface. The albies are hit or miss ... There was something about Sunday that really set them off. John Witt and crew had 14-albies all together and bass up to 36-inches in the AM. Jamaica Bay is beginning to come alive as well and plenty of schoolies and bluefish are in there feeding on the massive amounts of peanut bunker.

Captain Joe Mattioli from On The Bight Charters has been having some great days as well. Check it out:

Hi John

Stripers up to 8lbs have been blitzing peanut bunker and mullet in shallow waters right off ocean beaches, Blue fish are mixed in. The False Albacore fishing has turned on with fish busting up peanut bunkers and rain fish. The Fall run is underway, don't miss out! " I have choice dates Available"

Western Long Island

No official reports from Western Long Island this week, but word is that the bass fishing is picking up on both shores so give it a shot this weekend and don’t forget to send me a report ...

Eastern Long Island

I spent 4-days last week in Montauk and it was pretty darn good. So many albie hook-ups that I got sick of them and tried focusing on the bass.Still kept catching albies though ... The bass boils are becoming more and more abundant and if you’ve never experienced this phenomena you must do so, and you must do so right now!

Reel-Timer Bob Wilkanowski reports some pretty great action. Check it out:

Dave Berman and I had a great trip with Robin Calitri on Wednesday at Montauk. I think Dave caught about twenty Albies, and I caught 4. As if you don’t know already, they were pretty much everywhere all day feasting on anchovies, and Robin pointed out the zillions of peanuts in Lake Montauk on our way in.

Also reporting from Montauk is Reel-Timer Jim Tynan. Check it out:

Hey John, thought I'd send a report. Took a vacation week and towed the boat
out to Montauk. Had a mixed week including one of the best striper days of
my life (lost count and the smallest was 12 pounds), and a day getting
skunked. Lots of albies around, bass were hit or miss, and went on the
Viking Star for Tuna, Mahi and Tile. (yes I still baitfish sometimes) Saw
Richard Regan out there and his rod was bent over every time. I think he
just ties his line to the transom hook and lifts his rod. See you out in
J-Bay.

From the Beach, Reel-Timer James Wu reports that Montauk is in full bloom:

John,

Did a trip out to Montauk again, Sunday and Monday, and we had many stripers at the top of the tide in the rocks, including another 10-11 pounder that took my friend Mike into the backing, all requiring long clean casts. Stripers took sparse four inch flatwings and smaller bright deceivers as you laid out seventy to eighty feet of line, in daylight. Then the next day, we missed them as they hit the north side in the morning, as I understand has been happening throughout the nights until the sun comes up. Night fishing is likely the answer, so I'm tying up those 7 and 8 inch black flatwings that the bass and blues kill for. Friends going back out this weekend, and I'm clearing my schedule now, not now, I mean right now .

Farther West, Captain Don Kaye from Shinnecock Guiding Service checks in with this report:

With Albacore still our main targets this week, the stiff Southwest winds increased enough to make sight fishing and the swirls of surface feeding fish quite difficult to see in the 'chop.' Still lots of bait around. However, the heavy wind & surf clouded up the Bay waters so that it became necessary to explore the deeper channels in the hope that the fish could still see our lures. Aboard were Don Beane and Richard Cunningham for a lengthy voyage to find some productive waters. Finally, our efforts were rewarded with a number of hookups from some medium sized Striped Bass. The action continued until the current slowed and the winds increased again. Tough conditions but a fine finish. Capt. Don Kaye, Shinnecock Guiding 631-7288175

That’s all for this week. See ya out on the water!