Swells, Winds A Damper For Fishing

Mother Nature has not been very kind to inshore fishermen lately.

Winds and big swells have put a serious damper on several of the inshore fisheries that had been showing signs of a red-hot denouement to the summer season and kept the offshore crews at bay as well, even if the pelagics they hunt are unbothered by the tumult on the surface.

Fluke fishing should be hitting its stride this month, but if there’s anything that turns out the lights on the fluke bite it’s a hurricane swell. Three of the last four weekends have seen big swells from storm systems, and fluke fishing has suffered dearly.

With just two weekends left in the season, fluke aficionados and party boat captains are praying for a break in the pattern to allow things to settle and let the fluke get good and fat for their move offshore. The squid are close to the beaches so all the ingredients are there. Keep your bucktails and Gulp! close at hand.

Hurricane Larry’s swell last week was a major weekend-killer for other fisheries too. Even with the stiff north wind, the brown water from the ocean pushed into the bays and well into Block Island Sound, putting a total kibosh on the striped bass and false albacore fishing that got an early start this year but has sort of been sputtering to get rolling ever since.

I was along for a tour on Saturday that covered the waters from East Hampton to Montauk to Fisher’s Island to Orient and back again and saw little more than some fleeting glimpses of hard tails beating the surface.

When the swell is as big as it is, surf fishing is done. The only hope is that the swell will leave a few scars in the beachhead as it retreats — magnify some of the bowls and points that weathered the calm of summer.

And there is hope! Last year’s fairly good run of striped bass along our beaches began right about this time and on the heels of a couple hurricane swells and major westerly blows.

A few chilly nights last week, a dash of summer warmth on Sunday and Monday, could be just the thing the striped bass that have been holding in the Montauk rips need to get their tails in gear and start working their way westward. Lord knows there is plenty of bait to draw them that way.

The offshore scene is rife with opportunity. There are bluefin and yellowfin within fairly easy striking distance whenever the seas allow and the eastern canyons were still producing yellowfins that have not been seen in our waters in a long time — with sickle fins that look like they belong on Hawaiian ahi. Pretty amazing opportunities if you are lucky enough to be among those with a ride over the horizon.

Whatever your fancy, catch ’em up. See you out there.