Enjoyed an absolutely spectacular weather day off Montauk yesterday with my long-term regulars, Matt, Jenn, Chef Nader, and his friend Will. With the challenges we all face this Fluke season it was good to have one of my most experienced crews aboard.
Started off on the flood tide on my favorite south side drop and we are quickly attacked by hordes of Sea Bass, a common theme this season. Jenn puts 2 keepers in the boat before the other guys can blink and then Matt hits pay dirt with the first keeper Fluke a plump 20” fish. The typical short parade of Fluke and Sea Bass begins and we spend the next 90 minutes doing a lot of sorting. Will briefly catches fire and adds 2 more keeper Fluke in the 20-21” range along with another Sea Bass for the box before the action dies.
I move further south and while the Fluke and Sea Bass short action returns, the next 90 minutes only yields one more keeper Fluke and a couple of keeper Sea Bass, one of which Matt landed that was a very healthy 19” beauty!
I got some intel of a decent bite at the point so we head back north and while the action was pretty fast, with more short Fluke and a keeper Sea Bass the current really started to scream. So, we finished the day tight to the beach, and with a lot less current and the fishing became manageable again. Matt landed his second keeper Fluke of the day a solid 22” fish. Then Will takes the best fish of the day, a 24.5” beasty that tips the scales at 5.1#. He also nabs one more keeper Fluke at 19.5” and the crew finds another Sea Bass or two for the box. So, final tally for the day winds up tying our best trip to Montauk this year during very challenging times;7 keeper Fluke and 7 keeper Sea Bass out of 100 fish decked! As a bonus we also landed 8 of the largest Scup I have seen in a long while with a couplie well over the 3# mark. Mate Tom, my ace in the hole, does another masterful job of cutting the fish as we head back to port on a calm sea. Many thanks to the entire crew for a very special day at Montauk!
Capt. Mike
