6/23: 3 Mile Harbor AM

[Tuna]

Fished from 6 to 8 am. Things are slowing down in the morning bite here (most years it dies by July, and it looks like this year may be no different).

I managed a small blue and some bass, but the hit rate was down and the average bass size was also since a few weeks back. Spoke to someone who fishes there regularly and he confirmed the morning's results - some bass left, but definitely slower. One nice thing, though, is the harbor was packed with bait - good sign for things to come.

There must have been a tournament, as I saw a larger number of guides from the area - looked like they went to register around 7 and had clients/tournament participants on board by 8.

After fishing, I went to test drive another boat. I ended up loving the Whaler I rode (22 foot Dauntless). Gonna decide over the next day or so which way to go (Whaler or Steiger) and pull the trigger one way or the other early in the week.

I am planning to take some time off leading to July 4 - hope to get the last stages of the North Haven/Shelter Island flats fishing (which also usually turns off sometime in July) - assuming the sun cooperates.

[joshr]

Peter--

You are right....we were off to a tourney Sat. morning when we passed you. It was the event to raise money for Boys Harbor that Blinken coodinates every summer. A tough fishing day, although some nice fish were taken. But no sun for the sightfishing. I had the tournament sponsors -- Dewars -- as my charges. We were fast out of the gate with a blue and a bass within 15 mins of the start (bass was a 21" schoolie taken in 18" water on the Belle Estate flat...one of my favorite spots), but we couldn't find any fish of size. We ended up with 4 blues and two bass...nothing over 22 inches though! Alas. Rafferty's sport won almost every category. They headed up to the ruins and got into big fish in the morning (including a 33" bass and two blues 32" and 34"). That's one problem with this event: if you want to fish flats, there's almost no way to compete with the guys who head to the rips. But fun was had by all. And the Harbor is a great cause for which over $10K was raised.

You're gonna buy that Whaler aren't ya?

;-);

Josh

[fmw]

Josh and Peter: I seemed to do much better fishing the dawn/dusk bite. Friday p.m. at Sammy's Beach and Sat. and Sunday early a.m. at Devon. Caught 5 or 6 fish each session. Did not notice a decline in size. Although I only had 22"-24" inch fish at Sammy's, saw keeper size fish taken and spoke with the guy who lives there who I always see and he told of getting fish in the low thirty inch range during the week. One thing he had mentioned to me that I noticed is that he stated that things are best there when the wind is from the south. On Fri., when it began to shift a little to the east, the bite immediately stopped. Sat. morning at Devon was a spectacular show with fish doing the "tipping" thing with their head in the sand and tail flopping out of the water. Size was 22" to 25". Sunday was not the same show but better size: 24" to 29". This bite was very early: 4:30 to 5:00. Josh, thanks again for the tip on the Devon area as each of the four times I've been there has provided good action, with fish tight to the shoreline.

[jpuris]

Great reports! This was the first weekend I did not hit the Devon area.....sounds like I missed some good stuff. I stayed closer to home and spent my time around Sagg Main. Fri, Sat, Sunset....Many bass 28'-30' and one weakfish 28"...

[Tuna]

Josh -

You got a long email from me, but the short form is I'm 50-50 right now. Didn't plan it this way, but thinking I was going to buy a Steiger sure sounds like its bringing the Whaler price down, something I'll be reality checking this afternoon by phone with the Whaler dealer.

They are both expensive boats, though, so I'll decide on the boats themselves and what I see doing in them. Probably pull the trigger Tuesday.

fmw - Cool! You saw tailing bass - haven't seen them since am flats fishing in Shinnecock. See 'em often at Devon pre dawn?

[fmw]

Of the four times I've been to the Devon area this year (which is the only four times I've ever fished there), Saturday was the only time I've seen the tailing -- which I guess was the rooting up of sand eels. On all four occasions, however, the bass were literally right at the shoreline. On Sunday the shoreline activity was less pronounced, perhaps due to a surfcaster 50 yards down the beach from me who was wading out instead of standing on the shoreline.

[Tuna]

I think you are right (that the bass are after sand eels when they tail in the morning). The way I had it explained to me is that sand eels burrow in the sand at night - the bass then sometimes get them on the way out in the morning. Made sense when I saw it, as the ONLY thing I could get them to hit was a sand eel pattern.

Regardless, it is a cool thing to see.