5/16/2011

There was one day early this past week (I forget what day it was), when the fishing was
great. Everybody had their limit of fluke in the six to eight pound range. And around the
Point there were plenty of bluefish. Not much in the way of bass though. Then the next
day, there was a bit of an easterly breeze and everything shut down.

On Saturday, the few charterboats that got out were on all day trips, which are usually
spent half the time on bass and the other half on fluke. But, the fishing wasn’t really good
enough for that. The BREAKAWAY had eight keeper bass on Saturday, but the other
boats I checked on only had one or two, but they split the day and also had a couple of
fluke that made the grade. Boats that stuck with the fluking all day were better off, with
limits of nice fish. Sunday was a much better day, at least for the stripers with fish
nearing twenty pounds being taken. There was lots of bait around and it looks like the
bass are finally in for real.

The DEC has gotten the registry system up and running, and you need to sign on to fish
legally in New York waters, unless you are fishing on a charter or head boat, even if you
are from out of state. But it doesn’t cost anything except the time to get online and do it.
Go to https://nyfgisales.appsolgrp.com/fgnyia/html/index.jsp and just follow the
instructions. Don’t worry about the indication that you have to pay with a credit card. If
you only apply for the marine license, the fee is $0.00 and you don’t have to enter any
credit card info.

Early in the year I mentioned that Capt John Demaio would not be coming back to
Montauk until mid July at the earliest, but that’s not going to happen. His boat, the
VIVIENNE was sold this week and left town, so I guess John is officially retired. Capt
Ken Bause sold his PEGGY S as well, so he is also retired.

Another institution here in Montauk that has retired is Salivar’s Restaurant. it is not going
to open this year. There was a time that it was open either on the bar side or diner side
twenty-four hours a day, all year long. Now it’s closed. there is a rumor going around
that the property was sold to the same people that own the infamous Surf Lodge on Fort
Pond.

I’m hearing a lot about captains having problems renewing their captain’s licenses. The
problems seem to be due to medications they have been prescribed and they have to jump
through all kind of hoops to get the job done. It took one captain almost a year to get his
done and it was all over his prescription for Avadart. There is a years grace period to
renew the license after it has expired, but you are not supposed to operate a boat for hire
during that period, so it’s getting to be a bit of a problem.


If you would like to receive these reports directly, drop me a line at
captaingene@montauksportfishing.com