Montauk Super Slam

[Wild Bill]

Terry and I fished Montauk this week. Mon and Tues it blew hard and the waves were big going around Montauk Point but the fishing was good. The weather the rest of the week was spectacular. There are more albies at Montauk this year than last year at this time. At times there were loads of them available. They did get picky at times and rejected most of our offerings. At other times they were feeding ravenously.

Wed afternoon the albies were ignorant for our crease flies. It was neat seeing them smash crease flies on top.

I caught my first Bonita on a fly. They are pretty fish and fun to catch but do not have the bull dog power of an albie. The albies ran a little bigger than years past. Not quite as big as NC fish but some 10 to 14 pound fish.

The Redbone Tournament was on Thurs and Friday which made the guides who are normally sane a little crazy. For the most part the "combat fishing" Montauk is noted for was not bad at all. I have gotten to know a number of the regulars and communication is pretty good.

The bass are starting to gather. Terry and I fly fished for albies most of the day but then fished for bass and blues in the evening and into dark using diamond jigs and dropper flies. Terry caught a couple of dandy bass.

We encountered one striper blitz with our flies. Blues were in abundance and I have to do some more tying before returning to Montauk. There were too many albies and bass mixed with the blues to use wire, so flies were sacrificed. We found use for floating, intermediate and deep sinking lines. You really need all three rigged and ready to take full advantage of the opportunities of Montauk. There are no fly shops in Montauk so you need to have backups for everything.

I got to test out my new Calcutta 401 CTE and it measured up just fine with two 10 pound blues fighting on a rig with a jig on the bottom and a fly up about 20". The five ounce jigs were a bit much for my Avid MH casting rod, so I picked up a Lamiglas 6' 6" Triflex jigging rod rated for 15 to 30 pound test. This rod proved to be just the thing for handling big blues and bass two at a time. One brute broke my 100 pound test leader. I was definitely horsing the fish to see what the rig would take. The reel and rod did fine as did the 20 pound Fireline. There are some 40 pound plus bass being caught trolling and live lining porgies. I suspect I had a one of those guys on. I most likely could have landed what ever it was had I not been "testing" my tackle to the limit.

Montauk gets big and is to be respected for sure, but it is a fun place to fish and offers up a nice variety of fish. Bill M and I are going back Oct 14 for another round.

Hot flies for us this week were the Crease Fly, "Albie Whore", Pearl Necklace, 4" all white Clouser, and Tutti Fruiti.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/dawn.jpg
Heading Out as the Sun Pops UP

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/albie4.jpg
This Albie Ate a Big White Clouser

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/blues.jpg
Tackle Testers Two at a Time

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/tz3.jpg
Terry with a Montauk Albie

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/bonita2.jpg
Beautiful Bonita on the Fly

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/lhalbie1.jpg
This Albie fell for an "Albie Whore" Fly

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/tz.jpg
Terry Jigged Up Two Nice Bass Like This One.

[JGH]

Good stuff. I was out there last Wednesday and did pretty well on Albies. For part of the day they were pretty spread out -- a pop here, a pop there -- and difficult to feed. I stuck with different sized epoxies, and in hindsight should have swtiched up to something different. Looks like you had success with a crease fly.

[Wild Bill]

JGH-

There were times the albies jumped all over the crease fly and other times they ignored it. When they liked it, they all liked it. I think that was Wed afternoon and evening. Other times white or pearl flies worked best for us. A bud fished Montauk this morning and a white bunny fly like the Jamie Boyle Bunny Bonita was really hot for them. I need to look into that fly and tie some for our October trip.

[rhodyflyguy]

Looks like you guys had a great trip!
also, this might sound weird, but what is a Pearl necklace? I don't want to google that one.

[Wild Bill]

guy-

It is all flash. I am rushing to get ready for a bay trip tomorrow. Have not totally cleaned up from Montauk yet. Will try to post a pic after I return.

If you know what an "Albie Whore" fly is, a PN is similar but has dumbbell eyes and no hackle.

First saw the PN at Harkers ten years ago. It can be hot.

[jrzfly]

Nice report as always Bill, we had agreat trip as well for the short period of time we were there.

Ian

[Wild Bill]

guy-

Finally catching up from too much fishing. Is there such a thing? These flys would photograph best against a very dark background. I did not have any but I think you can make them out. These are my last two of each and are shop worn. I need to tie a bunch more for my next trip.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/albie-whore.jpg
The albie whore has no dumbbell eyes but has two hackles. It is also tied with bucktail.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w111/wildbill99/pearl-necklace.jpg

The pearl necklace has small dumbbell eyes but no bucktail. It is pearl krystal flash, flashabou and estaz.

[itsmoderating]

Great to read your report. Fishing in the NYC Metro area has been mostly blues mixed size small to back-breaks w/ a few school bass in the mix. Recently Bonita & Albie have shown up off Breeze Point the bite has been running hot & cold.
Welcome back to NY
IT'S

[Wild Bill]

Thanks IM-

Have not fished the Raritan/Breezy Point area since June. So much water, so little time. Montauk is a special place this time of year. My second trip Oct 14 will be the latest I have ever fished Montauk. I hope it is not too late. I hear about wild bass fishing in Nov during the herring run, but I am fishing south by then.