Sunday 9/29

[BIGE]

The day started with the Regulator 26 across from me pulling in to the slip at 8:45 and telling me it was too rough. Now, I'm thinking Mako 21 vs Reg 26. Better head for Gardiners.

Frank arrived at 9:00 and we headed left. Nothing. Fort Pond. Nothing. Tobaccolot. Nothing. Bostwicks. Nothing.

"Well, let's throw the sinking line in the rip. We're a long way from the point." Nothing.

As we decide to head east we see a forked tail, then two, then they're everywhere. Lost one, hooked on, lost one, then they were gone.

Headed east and found the small schools of 3-4 fish scattered. Very difficult and frustrating. Every drift seemed to be wrong by 30 ft. We make the classic blunder... we leave fish to find fish.

Drive all the way back around the light. Didn't see one fish all the way around. Brutal on the south side. Went all the way to Caswells but it was just too dangerous to get in close. Couldn't see any fish anyway to we grabbed lunch in Turtle hoping something would develop. Nothing did.

Swung back around to Shag and headed north into the fleet. Some decent action with lots of small schools here and there. Did this for a couple hours then decide to check Oyster Pond and North Bar again. Nothing there. Headed back to the fleet and things were moving closer to shore. Probably 15 boats packing tighter and tighter as the fish move in. Some tempers began to flare.

Around 4 Frank mentions that the guides should be heading in soon. The action is getting progressively better. At 5 they exploded. Albies thick and everywhere. Multiple hook-ups and there were only 4 boats left. It was beautiful. Turned a long slow day into a great one.

The moral... stay 'til sunset.

Rich

[fmw]

Thanks again Rich for a great day on the water. I owe you one.

What looked like possible grim day at the start, including a stiff northeast wind, a chill in the air, a rough chop and what looked like could be no fish, turned into a great day in the last hour or two with a huge blitz, wind that had died down completely, no boat traffic and a beautiful sunset.

After 5:00pm at Shagwong, the albie blitz covered what seemed to be many acres. Probably akin to what Tuna and a few others described at Shagwong about two weeks ago. Towards the end we had a "triple" -- meaning Rich hooked up, then I got one on before he landed his fish, then after he landed that fish but before I landed mine, he was hooked up again.

It definitely pays to stay until sunset. No reason to rush back to the city when HBO reruns the Sopranos throughout the week.

[joshr]

A lot of seasons I've noticed that by late Sept. for the next few weeks there is a steady late afternoon build towards sunset. Gotta love it...action gets hottest after most boats split. Glad your persistence paid off. Wish I'd been out there, but, alas, was stuck in the City this weekend.

--Josh

[AndyF]

Nice report. Sounded just like one of my trips--until the last paragraph.

I stayed in the city this weekend too. I did see fish, though. For the first time in the three years I've been living near the East River, I saw fish busting on the surface. (I've seen two dead bodies, garbage, trees, some cool boats, lots of birds, fishmermen, but until now never any fish.) For about two hours between 72nd and around 60th streets there were some nice sized fish busting the surface in groups of about 6-10 at a time for brief but aggressive feeds. Couldn't tell if they were bass or blues from where I was but if I had a rod at home I would have been tempted to try to throw something at them!