6/16/08

The Star Island tournament was over the weekend, and the fishing was pretty good, real good for bluesharks, with a lot
of boats getting two dozen to the boat each day. The tournament normally has around 250 boats in it, but this year there
was a little less than two hundred.

The results are as follows;
1st Place Overall - REEL CRAZY II - 353 lbs Thresher
1st Place Mako - PREDATOR - 241 lbs
2nd Place Mako - LADY FIN - 230 lbs
3rd Place Mako - BLUEFIN - 222 lbs
1st Place Blueshark - MY MATE - 264 lbs
2nd Place Blueshark - BREAKAWAY - 256 lbs
1st Place Other - REEL CRAZY II - 353 lbs Thresher
2nd Place Other - WHY KNOT - 298 lbs Thresher

The largest shark caught, a four hundred something tiger was late to the scales and disqualified. I thought they were
protected but I was wrong, and am glad I was. Imagine the uproar from the shark huggers it some bloodthirsty shark
hunter brought back a shark that they could say was actually on the endangered list.

Inshore the fishing is good, except when it comes to culling out keeper fluke from the throwbacks. Its pretty
discouraging to have to throw back three pounders when Jersey boats can keep fish half that size. I travel over Hither
Hills to get to the boat I run every day and its surprising how few boats are fishing on the south side. Going west I can
see any boats fishing at New Ground off the campsite or at the Parachute Drop. So far this year I saw two boats at the
Drop on one day, and just over the weekend one boat at New Ground. Coming back to the east, I can see any boats
fishing as far east as Frisbies, and rarely do I see more than one or two. Those are prime fluke grounds, but I suspect the
cost of the fuel is affecting how far anyone wants to travel.

Striped bass fishing is pretty good as well, but there seem to be quite a few shorts around, so there is some culling in that
fishery as well.

The surf guys seem to be doing pretty well with the bass, at least the “sharpies” are. Paulies held its first spring bass
tournament over the weekend. George Lang won a Van Staal 250 reel with a 38.48 lb bass. His son Brian took a 52.72 lb
bass but was not in the tournament.

If you would like to get these reports sent to you directly, drop me a line at captgene@montauksportfishing.com and I’ll
put you on the list.