Out of Shinnecock, a kayak fisherman, a regular to the fishing scene, worked the waters near the Shinnecock Bridge last Friday before Hurricane Irene came knocking, starting about 3 a.m. It was the top of the tide and the action started quickly. In less than two hours, the angler had eight striped bass, but kept only one fat 33-inch fish, releasing all others to the pre-storm water.
Also out of Shinnecock, last Friday was young Sam Haber's birthday and his family and friends chose to celebrate on the private charter boat Hampton Lady.
Sam worked hard in constant motion for about 30 minutes fighting against the strength of a huge bull mahi-mahi. One family friend, Mr. Lee, also discovered a screeching rod and, grabbing it, working to bring in a "first" for the Hampton Lady. It was a wahoo, both long and muscular with glistening rows of sharp teeth which came over the rails. The family and friends sang their happy birthdays to Sam and had their own sashimi party on board the boat. I always enjoy awesome fishing stories with kids on the other end of the reel, especially when it happens on their lucky birthday.
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Out of Orient Point, Last week aboard the Orient Star II, Bob Henry and friends, including several out-of-staters visiting for the first time, fished on a very breezy pre-storm day. The winds did not hamper the ability of anglers to catch ferocious bluefish as the boat drifted off Plum Island. The birds overhead heralded the arrival of thick schools of big blues and those on board even managed to reach down deep enough to take some quality striped bass. The action was non-stop and most of the catch was released , leaving the inland visitors in amazement by the variety of the catch.
Aboard the Brooklyn Girl II out of Orient, a midweek fluke trip saw several doormat fluke come over the rails and several more anglers limited out on porgies and sea bass, while competing with the thickness of the schools of hungry bluefish following the striped bass below them. In the quiet before the storm, Steve had a 10.2-pound pool fluke and Jordan caught another fat 9.2-pound doormat flattie.
Scott Jeffrey of in Hampton Bays had a solid offshore report shortly before the storm, citing that the shark bite has slowed as it usually does this time of the year, but the mahi bite remained strong. "The tunas have moved to deeper water out near the edge and some bigeyes, yellows and a few wahoo have been reported with many blue and white marlin releases."
Since there has been so many incidences of quality fish both inshore and offshore this season, it will be interesting to see what Hurricane Irene has brought our way in the aftermath of her damaging power to our local waters. I heard many fishermen and fisher-women speak about getting out on the water, as opposed to heading back to work. I still enjoy the re-written version of the old fishing quotation: "Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach them to fish and they learn to call in sick." Kudos to the author who rewrote it!
