Fly Fishing for Stripers: Tips from the Montauk Masters

The autumn run in Montauk is one among legend. It’s on the bucket lists of anglers all over the world and has etched reminiscences of a lifetime for individuals who have skilled it. Acres of blitzing stripers popping up right here, there, and all over the place alongside false albacore, whipping the water to a froth as they decimate faculties of bay anchovies. It spikes one’s adrenaline earlier than a line is even forged.

It’s how that line is forged that makes for 2 utterly totally different experiences. So far, the handfuls and dozens of stripers and albies I’ve caught whereas working and gunning has been on a light-weight spinning setup deploying Lethal Dicks and epoxy jigs of all colours and sizes. It’s arduous to assume that one thing may prime a screaming drag and bent-over rod below an excellent blue fall sky. Nevertheless, ask a fly caster or information fishing those self same waters and blitzes, and they’ll swear there’s.

Proof that it by no means will get previous exhibited by Paul Dixon after an epic chunk in glass water.

Attempting to throw a fly is a humbling expertise for freshmen. Combating muscle reminiscence and being in touch with the road all through the forged aren’t straightforward hurdles to beat. I’ve been fortunate to fulfill and turn into buddies with many fishermen through the years, and some outstanding guides and fly guys have taken me below their wing.

The information/angler relationship is similar to a caddy and golfer. The scorecard could say 150 yards to the inexperienced and have you ever reaching for a 7 iron, but the caddy fingers you a 9 iron. He is aware of the pitch on the finish of the green, and that the inexperienced doesn’t look downhill however is. Go forward and hit what you need, however the membership you’ll be reaching for on the subsequent shot is a sand wedge to get out of a brutal bunker in the back of the inexperienced.

Let me introduce you to some of those anglers who pioneered this disruption of types within the fishing world and some which have taken the ball and are working with it.

John Abplanalp

“Draw on previous expertise”

John realized to fly fish within the late Nineteen Sixties after taking his first casts in freshwater streams and lakes on a protect his household owned some 200 miles northwest of Montauk. It was vastly totally different from the offshore fishing within the Florida Keys he loved with buddies. As thrilling as chasing marlin and different pelagics was, the inshore flats of the Keys grew to become his ardour. Some 20 years after casting his first fly for pike and trout, recognizing stripers on the flats of Gardiner’s Bay on a flight to Montauk modified all the pieces together with his fishing.

Extra of a pioneer than a information, John and buddies stalked spring bass cruising the flats, going via trial and error with the flies they used to entice a striper to chunk. He noticed the similarity between trout and striped bass being opportunistic feeders, which translated to a big selection of flies that would “match the hatch.” The best was a crab fly thrown utilizing floating line. Not having the ability to cowl sufficient water when wading, he grew to become one of many first anglers to start poling a flats boat within the shallow waters of Montauk’s north aspect. Nevertheless, there have been extra bass, and greater ones, in waters that wouldn’t combine effectively with the bow of a flats boat.

fly fishing for stripers - John Abplanalp — John Abplanalp was one of many first anglers to make use of a flats skiff to fly fish for stripers within the shallow waters of Montauk’s north aspect.

In 1994, he heard a couple of skiff on the market that had a bow rail. This function would develop the waters he and his buddies may goal on the south aspect of the lighthouse. The vendor was Paul Dixon. There was extra speak of fly-fishing technique than there was negotiating, such because the artwork of casting, the grind of training that artwork on grassy fields when not on the water, the essential observance of what bait species have been being consumed by stripers. As John and Paul’s friendship began, so did the rise of saltwater fly fishing in Montauk.

Paul Dixon

“Apply”

Thought of one of many Montauk OGs, Paul has been fishing because the late Eighties, making use of methods used when fishing the flats of the Florida Keys. Each John and Paul started fishing the flats round Montauk, Orient Level, and Fisher’s Island. Flats fishing stays doable within the fall, however is best within the spring when clear days and good sunshine expose bass working the shallows in gin-clear water. Spring or fall, they discovered that the best fly was a Clouser Minnow mimicking a shrimp or crab profile.

As soon as fall rolled round and the blitzes started, the best flies acquired smaller to match the hatch of anchovies, spearing, or no matter else was current. Immediately, Paul doesn’t depart the dock with out a number of choices—from his line choice to fly choice. Spending nearly each fishable day on the water from late April via November, it’s what he’s seeing that dictates his technique for a visit.

High guides and captains at all times come ready for adjustments in climate and bait patterns. Sporty circumstances like this typically find yourself being a few of the fishiest days.

The monster he helped create typically rears its head as the primary phrase of blitzing fish makes the rounds. On an excellent fall day with loads of bait, bass, and albies, you’ll lose rely of what number of boats are working and gunning across the level. That’s when Paul likes to seek out his personal fish and never comply with the group. One side of Montauk that makes it an angler’s paradise is its construction. Boulder fields, peninsulas, and coves hardly ever fall right into a black-and-white rationalization for a way water strikes on the flood or ebb tide. Baits get pinned in areas and boulders block the fiercest circulate of a moon tide, giving shelter to stacked-up stripers ready to ambush passing prey. Paul’s capability to arrange a drift that may very well be a half mile lengthy simply to get a couple of casts for a minute or two of that drift has been an enormous a part of his success.

Whereas Dixon is ready for all situations, those with a novice on the bow embody a fly rod with floating line on it. He doesn’t depend on his fishfinder very a lot as a result of when you’re marking fish, you’re previous them, or they’ll have moved by the point you circle again. Within the 20- to 30-foot depths he typically fishes, it’s quite common for bass to be feeding within the prime third of the water column.

Somebody who has been placing within the time on the seaside or a grassy area, not simply casting however engaged on line administration (which Dixon says is crucial factor), may have the best shot at success when introduced with a chance off Montauk. The very best anglers by no means lose contact with the road and by no means need to seize at it.

Exhibiting up after training casting and being able to belief the voice behind you whereas on the bow is what makes for an epic catch. As Dixon says, “When you get invited to play Augusta, wouldn’t you be hitting buckets of balls as a lot as you possibly can earlier than the precise tee time?”

As a lot because the apply and eventual proficiency is important, you continue to need to hearken to the man on the wheel. Bass assault a fly in sure methods, and Paul’s a long time of studying that habits is obvious within the instructions he barks to the bow.

“I’ve realized extra about easy methods to feed fish from sight-fishing than the rest, and all of it applies to large fish.”

Tim O’Rourke

“Grasp the mindset”

Captain Tim O’Rourke, like John Abplanalp, had his first expertise in fly fishing in contemporary water, upstate close to Syracuse. He’s mastered not simply the strategy of fly casting but in addition the waters round Montauk, although he’s nonetheless studying. O’Rourke views fly fishing as a sport and says, “By no means cease studying or getting higher, like some other sport.”

Likening the stance and movement of a forged to that of a lacrosse participant, it’s a visible that’s one among his most vital instruments with a novice on the bow. Out on Montauk’s waters, there’s a peace that embraces you in case you let it. Taking a breath and clearing your head is what Captain Tim says is one among his only instruments for newbie fly-fishers on the lookout for step one in getting on a fish.

As soon as a beginner is in the appropriate state of mind, issues at all times fall into place with O’Rourke’s deep, tender, gravelly voice directing casts from 9 o’clock to three o’clock, with the bow being 12 o’clock. For a setup, he believes a rod like a Sage Maverick is among the simpler rods for newcomers, however the line he makes use of reinforces to a newbie—via a visible—that drives the concept house. An intermediate line is his go-to as he feels it helps develop and enhance casting. Utilizing Rio Stealth Flat Professional, the coloured line segments are fairly efficient in seeing how a lot line is out with the intention to begin a forged and provides on the spot suggestions on how far a forged has gone.

When Tim O’Rourke is educating a newbie easy methods to obtain the right mindset for fly casting, he recommends a deep breath, an athletic stance, and visualizing the forged.

It does take greater than respiration workout routines, although, to get these casts into waters with stripers. When asking Tim what he’s on the lookout for in deciding on a spot to fish, he in contrast scouting fly-fishing grounds to the identical scouting a surfcaster does: water motion and the construction that’s chargeable for it. The arduous buildings throughout Montauk are a relentless versus the shifting sands of the open seashores. Simply as I carry a deal with bag with a dozen choices for various bait profiles and circumstances whereas surfcasting, so does Captain Tim.

Lots of the flies he ties himself, and the important fly for him is a Clouser. Armed with totally different sizes and shade schemes, he says it’s the best fly anybody, together with freshmen can use. “You’ll catch extra bass on a Clouser Minnow than some other fly. It’s the bucktail of flies.”

Craig Cantelmo

“Decelerate”

The outsized smile and boisterous voice of Craig Cantelmo is difficult to overlook. Primarily identified for his function because the face of Van Staal, he’s additionally one of many prime fly anglers and guides round.

As severe as he’s in regards to the model that’s the usual for surfcasting, so too is he about fly fishing, fly tying, and rising the pursuit and keenness in freshmen. It’s not a fishing methodology you possibly can simply present up for, and he calls it a disservice to the angler himself to not have put the time in to have the ability to throw a 40-foot forged. He factors to heat summer time days as an ideal alternative to stroll the seaside and apply casting.

Sight-fishing the flats of Montauk and surrounding gin-clear waters by fly rivals nearly any fishery up and down the East Coast and past.

Essential parts of the forged for him embody beginning with the rod tip low and never parallel to the water. Whereas he factors out the double haul as an important talent to develop, it’s additionally the water haul that’s crucial within the technique of studying the artwork. That is when a forged begins with the fly within the water, which forces the forged to begin with the rod tip low. The strain of the water on the fly prompts the rod and provides that on the spot suggestions of feeling the rod loading.

The largest fault Craig finds in these new to the game is their velocity, not the dearth of it. Whether or not it’s within the casting movement itself or as soon as landed, a fly is usually stripped completely too quick. He factors out that when working a blitz of feeding fish, ripping a fly via them is a idiot’s errand. There’s solely about 30 to 40 toes you’ll need to work, and ripping the fly via that zone briefly time won’t ever let you land a fish with something greater than dumb luck.

The gradual and calm movement, connecting with the texture of the rod, is what will get new fly casters to progress. Floating line is Craig’s first alternative within the fall as most takes are close to the floor, although circumstances and talent typically name for intermediate line. He identified to me that after you have some proficiency in casting, hardly ever does the angler have the identical proficiency in strip placing. A typical newbie’s mistake is to boost the rod excessive within the break up second after a chunk. What must be taking place is to level the rod on the fish and make a pointy tug of the road in your stripping hand. As soon as the road has cleared the deck and some other obstacles, you possibly can slowly elevate the rod. If all the pieces goes proper and the fish gods determine to smile on you, you’ll land it and lots of extra.