Had the 3 man Rob party out yesterday and despite 3 strong Fluke trips in a row to Montauk’ south side this one was a bit disappointing. With the steady 15kt SW breeze and a 3-4’ roll I thought our biggest challenge would be too fast a drift pattern when it turned out to be the exact opposite with the wind opposing the entire ebb tide cycle and a very slow drift.
On the first deep drop where I have taken several quality fish recently, Joe nails a nice 5# Fluke right out of the box. Then the drift slowed even more while Rob takes a decent 20” keeper. The resident Ling ad a few Sea Bass mixed in until the dreaded Dogs took over. After untangling a few of those messes we made a small shift to the east but did not find any better action.
So, following Friday’s pattern we moved inshore a few miles and had a brief spurt with 3 more keepers to 4# landed along with a few more keeper Sea Bass to 2.4#. Then that bite shut down as fast as it began. Tried several other normally productive drops in the area but the painfully slow drift was matched by an equally slow bite.
Tried to bail things out on the turn of the tide in the Elbow where we had a brief period of decent drift conditions before the breeze freshened further and we went to the opposite end of the spectrum with a racing drift. Only managed a few more short Fluke and a keeper Sea Bass before pulling the plug. Totals for the day in the box wound up being 5 Fluke and 6 Sea Bass.
Based upon my local intel it seems that while Friday and Saturday were both good days at Montauk almost everyone struggled with Sunday’s conditions. The fish are certainly there, just need the right conditions to catch them. Even our Fluke Mecca has it’s off days but that will not deter us from hitting it hard again on the next trip!
Captains Table Montauk Fluke Challenges
660 views·4 replies·by captmike28
J
Yesterday's drift on the South Side was indeed a PIA. I headed over to Cartwright on a short trip only to find it barren of fish, catching only one small sea bass before I quickly gave up. I moved north about a mile and slammed the sea bass, even in the terrible drift before heading home. That 3-4 foot roll was a bit unpleasant. Lots and lots of baitfish on the surface, including some massive bunker schools, but not much working them over. I would have thought some threshers and/or whales would have been on them at least.
DeckhandOriginal Crew42 postsSince 2019
I too noticed several large pods of bunker both Friday and Sunday while on my trips south of Montauk. In Friday's nice conditions not only did we slam the Fluke but we did see several whales working on the bait. A good friend told me that on their Fluke trip to the same vicinity Saturday they did land about a 50# Thresher.
As I said before, the fish are certainly in residence; we just need better conditons to catch em up!!
As I said before, the fish are certainly in residence; we just need better conditons to catch em up!!
CaptainOriginal Crew1,847 postsSince 2018
Saturday morning we had dolphins - the big grey ones (think: Flipper), not the little black "winter" versions, up on Cholera chasing bunker. Later on a school of bunker passed us in the tide, super-tightly balled up and I saw a bright metallic flash under them, except this flash was 3 - 4 times the size of a 30lb bass. It definitely was not a shark of any type. Had to be a decent tuna, no? You don't get to see that "inshore" 'round my parts very often. Or at all, for that matter.
CaptainOriginal Crew2,210 postsSince 2018
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