President's Newsletter.
December 2007
Ah yes! Montauk in the Fall
I had been hearing about it for years. I read about it in “The Moon Pulled Up An Acre of Bass” by Peter Kaminsky. I saw many pictures and videos on it. This Fall I had the opportunity to experience it myself.
Montauk in the Fall is truly a fly fisherman’s dream come true.
We, my fishing partner Peter, guide David Blinken and I, left the dock about 8:30 AM and headed towards The Point. It was an overcast morning and remained so for the rest of the day with a thin fog pushing in from the west which encapsulated us by mid-afternoon. David checked out a few spots on the way out and found a few small pods of Bass from which we took some schoolies in the 20- 24 inch range. Most of the morning was like that as we worked our way around to the north side taking schoolies from isolated pods. The Albies were there too but were playing hard to get. David kept putting us one school after another but the fish were just not cooperating. Peter did manage to hook a nice one though that was estimated in the 12-14 pound range and peeled a considerable amount of backing from his reel. This continued till lunch time when our casting arms got a much needed rest.
After lunch, conditions slowly started to change. The tide shifted, the wind, which had kicked up a bit in the late morning, now settled down. Blues, in the 10-12 pound class showed up with a vengeance, the Bass pods became more frequent and larger and contained bigger fish. We were now catching Bass in the 25-30 inch range. And, the Albies finally got hungry.
Then it happened! An Albie took my fly. There was a short period of time, maybe two or three seconds, from the time I felt the hook up until the Albie started it’s run. During that time it was as if we said to each other “ok, what’s next?”. The Albie obviously had a plan, but this being my first encounter with a little tuny, had none. As it turned out I didn’t need one. David, with a big grin said, “..you are not in charge, the fish is, so just let it go until it decides to stop. Then, you can start bringing it in”. About 15 minutes later, after a few more runs and some bruised knuckles I reeled it close enough for David to get hold of the leader and bring the fish on board. I nice one estimated at about 14 pounds.
The fishing got progressively better as the time passed. There were now really big pods of fish containing a mix of Bass, Blues and Albies. Before the day was over, both Peter and I had Montauk slams. I caught my personal best Bass, about 32 inches, which grabbed the fly just as I was pulling it out of the water to make another cast. My back was to the fish and I thought I had hooked the boat until the striper headed for the bottom.
We left the water about 5 pm with fish still all around us. What an awesome sight! The ride back was quiet as we rested our tired arms and relished those not soon to be forgotten, recent memories.
Keep em tight!
Bill
Ps. At our next meeting, on January 9th , David Blinken will be with us. As you know, David is a long time member of the Salty’s, guide exrordinaire, and he has never disappointed us with his slide presentations. I personally am looking forward to this one.
There will be a short business meeting prior to David’s presentation. I encourage you all to attend as we will be setting the club’s agenda for the coming year and your input is vital.
Also, this is the first issue of the newly revived ON-LINE DOUBLE HAUL newsletter.
As you will note it is a little sparse. I expect that as the year progresses, it will fill up. Therefore, if you have a story to tell, like a past fishing trip or a favorite destination please write it up and submit it. Maybe you have a tip to share with us or know of a new, interesting and informative website; then tell us about it. Photos are especially welcome.
If they don’t make the newsletter there will be room on our new website which is under development and will be available soon.
Send all submissions to our gmail account at newyorksaltyflyrodder@gmail.com.
A Happy and Healthy New Year to All
Bill