FISHING REPORT Aug 7, 2009
CAPT. KEN RAFFERTY
www.FlyFishingSaltWater.com
www.FishingEastHampton.com
JULY 31st ...Full-day ...Michael Salzhauer and Peter D'arcy ...Fly & Spin.
It was Friday morning, muggy and oppressive bloated with the potential for rain. It was the kind of day that promoted in-activity and forboedan thoughts, the calm before the storm. We left the slip on Michael's boat and headed on out to The Gull Island's in search of Striped Bass. The tide didn't have much push to it yet, almost slack and so I moved up close in between the boulders and kelp with peter casting a small swimming plug and Michael at the bow with the fly rod and a small olive-green/white pattern flie. Michael hooked up first with a nice fish that ran out some line and at the same instant Peter hooked up with a much larger fish. Both anglers were running around the boat, rod over rod, "stay away from the engines", tip up! Tip up! I yelled and my echo came back at us from the rocks around the lighthouse.
Michael's Striper was at the side of the boat as I slipped the net under it's body and lifted it aboard. It weighed in at 16 lbs. measuring 34 inches long. Michael released it as I lifted aboard Peters Striper .......... 20 lbs, 36 inches long.
Michael hooked up again but this fish got off, most likely lip hooked. We spent about a half hour with nothing biting, no swirls anywhere and no movement of tide and all the while Peter and Michael kept casting ......... all of a sudden Peter was hooked up again with another nice fish. I had to put the boat in reverse, back out of the boulders to follow this fish and in about ten minute we boated a whopping 31 lb. Striper. Peter also released this fish to catch again another day. We didn't find anymore action there and so we moved closer to the Race where we spotted thousands of Terns as far as you can see and right below them , breaking water everywhere were 6 to 8 lb. Bluefish. Both Michael and Peter landed about a half dozen or so each and then we headed into some calm water to eat lunch.
I then took us out to my Bluefish hole in hopes of catching some monsters! and sure enough they were there. Michael was in first and hooked up with a Gorilla Blue that nearly spooled his 9# reel and just as I started up the engine to follow the fish Peter hooked up. We were lucky that both fish headed in nearly the same direction. Once again they both had to run around the boat, rod over rod until I netted the first Blue, Michael's 13 lb. gull eating Bluefish. Peter's Blue was soon netted and weighed in at a "Man Eating" 16 lbs. Both anglers landed a few more fish each but not like those Gorilla's and so we called it a day.
AUG 1st ...Early Morning... John Mannix and Jeff Gwin ...Light Spin Tackle.
We headed out to my Bluefish hole to find them finning on the surface just like Bonefish just twice the size. Both John and Jeff were hooked up in no time at all. Big Blues jumping clear out of the water, blowing their gills, shaking their heads, trying to spit these large single hooks with no barbs out of their mouths. You have to keep your rod bent when hooked up. Keep the pressure on the line, no slack or else the fish will rush you and when the tension is off it will shake that hook out of it's head.
Both anglers played with these monsters for about an hour or two and then we headed to a spot for Stripers using live Eels. It took about 45 minutes to get a hook-up and soon after another. Both fish were about 12 lbs. and were released.
It got quiet there and so we headed back to the Bluefish and played catch and release for another hour.
AUG 2nd ...Morning ...Arik, Gabby and Elliot ...Light Spin Tackle.
It was like a replay of the morning before except there was no finning just big Bluefish hitting as soon as your plug hit the surface. We counted 20 Blues landed. These fish were in the 12 lb. class............. nice action.
AUG 3rd ...Morning ...Jim and Judy Bennett ...Light Spin Tackle.
The morning water was like glass and as we arrived on the spot those big Bluefish were all fining again. Jim and Judy couldn't believe their eyes, they had never seen anything like this before. They both sent out cast after cast with no results, these fish would just move aside as you retrieved your plug across the water. I tried swimming plugs, rubber fish, bucktails ......nothing! I figured we would give them a break and so I headed over to another spot and tried some live eels with no results, no Stripers home so we headed back to those Gorilla Bluefish.
They were still on the surface but this time both Jim and Judy had hook-up a couple of times but these fish shook the hooks. At one point I put on plugs that had two treble hooks on each with the barbs crushed down and still we had trouble hooking up. I suggested they cast out, retrieve a little, stop, and pop it once or twice and then repeat this action and finally the each in turn hooked up and landed one each. A 12 lb. and a 9 lb. This was the hardest fishing with the fish swimming right there in front of us I have had to do.
AUG 4th ...Morning ... Sean Patrick ...Fly-fishing.
With a nice calm morning and nearing a full tide I headed around to Eastern Plains Pt. and slipped in among the boulders. I don't suggest this to anyone who doesn't know the area, your hull can get severely damaged if a swell should come in that you don't see. At any rate I used my electric motors to guide us in and around these boulders looking for any movement between them. It took about 15 minutes or so and we both spotted a nice Striper at the same time. Sean laid out a sweet cast with a Sand-Eel pattern and began stripping . . . . . . . .we watched as the fish spotted it and moved up on the fly. It was one of the sneakiest moves I'v seen by a Striper, she came from behind the other boulder, met up with the fly ate it and took off zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz the reels line ran off and then went slack. The 10 lb. tippet broke off as it rubbed on the boulders. I forgot about this hazard but took care of it by putting on 9 ft of 52 lb. test fluorocarbon as the flyline and tippet combined.
Within 5 minutes Sean had another Striper hooked up and running. This time the line would hold unless cut by a 20 lb. Bluefish! With Sean reeling down on the fish and me motoring up on it we had it at the boat in about 10 minutes, it weighed 11 lbs. and measured 30 inches. We only hooked up with one more Striper there that was about 8 lbs. We sighted three others but they were moving from our right to our left in the sun line and seen us before we spotted them and were gone.
Sean and I decided to head out to the Bluefish hole and upon arriving found them finning again. I changed to a crease fly with intermediate line and Sean cast out and on his first strip, hooked up and 15 minutes later we lifted a nice 13 plus lb. Bluefish. He hooked up and landed a few more in the 10 lb. class but these Gorilla's are not really feeding. I believe their attacking these flys and lures just to get them to stop annoying them while their basking in the sun.
AUG 4th ...Late-day ... Riccardo Pavoncelli and his son Nicholas ...Light Spin Tackle.
This was the first day in a long while that I found lots of Bluefish in the Bay from a half mile out headed toward Plum Gut. They were just below the surface and as we planed across the water we could see them darting about and away from the boat. We stopped a few times and both Ricarrdo and Nicholas hooked up and landed Bluefish in the 6 to 8 lb. class, we repeated this over and over as I headed out to my Bluefish hole. There were no fish finning but I just knew they were here. I had Riccardo cast out a large surface popping plug and as son as it landed on the water it was taken by a Gorilla and the fight was on. These were 12 lb and better monsters, hungry and full of fight. Nicholas hooked up and the boat was alive with action. After a few hours of this the wind started picking up near 20 mph and we decided to head back in before a thunder storm broke out.
AUG 5th ...Early morning
Sean Patrick was back on board as we headed out to a flat in search of Stripers. The light wasn't the best but the tide was still low and that helps. We must have sighted about 8 to 10 fish that were just out of range before Sean had a shot. He laid the small Cockroach fly out in the path of a nice Striper as as it got close, he twitched the fly, once, again, the fish was on it and hooked up. It ran some, tired out and we boated an 8 lb. Striper. Sean had two more shots but no hook-ups before hooking up with a Blue on the flat.....................this is fun! it ran off like a Bonefish, Jumped and tail walked like a Tarpon and just never stopped until it cut through the line. I think it's still running!
Sean suggested we go out for those Big Blues for a while and then call it a day, we did and I think you know the story.
I am really happy these Big Bluefish have returned to my spot. I was beginning to think we were hit by a plague and I would actually have to hunt to find Gorilla's.
DUE TO THE LOWER PRICE OF FUEL AT THE MARINA'S, I HAVE BROUGHT MY CHARTER PRICES BACK DOWN TO $400.00 -FOR A HALF-DAY AND $600.00 FOR A FULL-DAY ... THESE ARE 2007 PRICES AND I HOPE IT HELPS WITH THE ECONOMY HURTING EVERYONE.
Capt. Ken Rafferty
www.FlyFishingSaltWater.com
captkenraf@hotmail.com