montauk 12/9

[mattmiller]

fishing this morning was amazing untill the end of the outgoing, both shagwong and the rips off the point.i saw the biggest fish of the year,we hooked up some good fish,but due to tardiness we only caught the last 3/4 of the tide. no blues of course they are long gone,water temp 48 degrees. i would upload pics if but i cannot get it to accept jpg.it ain"t over untill.....matt

[mattmiller]

that was the last 3/4 hour of the tide,we had a few good fish, nothing under36in.fish were had on sinking lines with big herring flies and intermediate with large white/chartreuse decievers.fish were under gulls and diving gannets, i understand that fish were being caught from early morning. after the tide died there was no sign of fish or birds even well after the incoming started to run.if the water temps stay in the high forties this could continue way after the end of the season.matt

[Bob Parsons]

this could continue way after the end of the season.matt
Is there a specific season for stripers in NY? Here in Ma the season ends when you can't catch anymore fish.

[SamRiley]

I was hoping to make it down that way at least once this season but with this weekend weather..... :mad: :confused: :rolleyes:

[JGH]

Is there a specific season for stripers in NY? Here in Ma the season ends when you can't catch anymore fish.

I think the official NY striper season ends Dec. 15; it's only catch and release after that.

[mattmiller]

yes thats right the striper season ends on the 15th,with catch and release after that.i can remember catching fish after the season ended in the past,ln fact one of the other guides out here went out and caught fish the day after christmas a couple of years ago.i have said before that there seems to be a myth that the fishing on the east end of long island ends in early november at the latest,i happen to think that the striper fishing in montauk and the surrounding area is the best in the north east and some of the best fishing is to be had in november or later as demonstrated by the quality of the fishing yesterday, both in quantity and size. yesterday was a day when fish at 30lbs ++ were a real possibility for fly fisherman,not just a nice idea.matt

[peter mac]

Hey Matt,
I couldn't agree more, I fish Montauk june through November and have had the best concentration of BIG fish days in late November.........
Peter Mac

[bdowning]

Great stuff. Seems like Montauk and Jersey are getting a good dose of fall run this year. In RI, most of those bigger fish were well offshore, although there were plenty of small fish inshore. Also saw a few late fall herring in the breachways for the first time in years, but no bass on them when I was there.

-bd

[fmw]

Agreed as well that late season is awesome. Aside from big bass, the late fall, with the diving gannets, tornadoes of gulls and massive rafts of sea ducks, really gives you the feeling of huge amounts of life on the move.

Don't know how myths started . . . I think fly fishers for some reason think its over when albies leave. In reality, in late October, the real fall run hasn't even started yet.

Agreed also -- and not to start a flame war with the New Englanders -- but Montauk (and Long Island in general) seems to have way better fall fishing than places like the Cape, Islands, Boston, etc. Seems like those places died for the year two months ago, yet Montauk -- which is not that far from those places -- is still going bonkers. A pretty amazing run if you think that big schools of big blues started up there way back in mid-August this year and -- except for the stretch of wind from mid-Oct to early-Nov -- it hasn't slowed down since. That's a four month blitz.

[mattmiller]

well the fun is certainly continuing,shagwong was rocking for most of the outgoing, huge flocks of gulls and gannets crashing everywhere, the bass sometimes clearing the water chasing the herring.my client had his best days striper fishing ever, together with his best fish ever-a little over 26lbs on the boga-.the point looked like it was going to bust open but never got as good as shag,anyway there were 5-6 ft waves on the rips.i was going to pull my boat in a couple of days but for the moment i will leave it in untill it"s over.matt