Long Island’s Best Fall Run in 60 Years

The nearshore ocean was loaded with giant 5- to 8-inch sand eels in late summer season 2013. Most surfcasters knew it, as we noticed see gulls choosing them out of the wash on tough days and we caught fluke with bellies filled with them. In September, as I pulled in fluke—some bigger than 20 inches—from Jones Seaside and Robert Moses, I questioned, the place are the stripers and blues?

Fall Runs Previous

In fall 2008, a number of huge colleges of stripers shuffled alongside Lengthy Island seashores feeding on sand eels. The everyday fish was 18 to 22 inches lengthy—doubtless fish from the 2003 and 2004 12 months lessons. The recent motion started on the South Shore in October, when the primary mega-school moved via the ocean trough, adopted by a smaller however nonetheless enormous faculty of quick fish that prolonged the fishing into December.

In 2010, a single mega-school of 24- to 30-inch stripers moved via, creating a superb and long-lasting fall run for Lengthy Island surfcasters. Throughout a lot of that run, there have been only a few fish to the north and south of Lengthy Island.

In 2011 and 2012, good fishing by no means materialized alongside the South Shore, however New Jersey had fish from late fall effectively into the winter.

The autumn runs of 2008, 2010 and 2013 had been very completely different in comparison with historic runs of stripers. Though previous salts know this, newcomers to the game might not respect the variations between conventional runs and up to date ones. Traditionally, when stripers had been at peak abundance, waves of migrating fish created flurries of quick motion adopted by lulls, with the fishing ending in December when a final faculty of small schoolies ran the seaside.

In fact, the species of baitfish accessible impacts the specifics of the autumnal motion. Plentiful giant sand eels fueled latest runs, whereas peanut bunker dominated the Nineties, and bay anchovies and peanuts dominated the Eighties. If we go farther again in time to the Nineteen Fifties and 60s, mullet was maybe an important fall bait.

Traditionally, mullet migrated in late August or early September, pushed by a nor’easter or robust chilly entrance. The mullet colleges had been giant, and resident fish adopted them out of the bays and into the seaside troughs. Mullet blitzes had been widespread and frequent. Someday in October, the mullet migration ended and a lull set in, adopted later by extra blitzes when young-of-the-year weakfish, bluefish, blowfish, and kingfish migrated. The stripers we caught later had been Chesapeake fish that had summered off Massachusetts.

Though the autumn of 2013 featured bigger mullet colleges than I’ve seen in a number of many years, the run was over in 5 days, not 5 weeks. As well as, with fewer resident stripers these days, the motion was mediocre. Why are there so few resident fish at the moment? For one, the striper shares are down, and second, there may be intense stress on those that spend the summer season on Lengthy Island. A long time in the past, there was little stress on these fish as personal fishermen and boats for rent focused flounder, fluke, porgies, kingfish, black sea bass and bluefish. Briefly, anglers had extra selections.

A Sluggish Begin in 2013

Anglers are optimists by nature, so we appeared ahead to a greater run than the earlier years because the 2013 striper season approached. Optimism light shortly, nevertheless, when strong spring fishing did not materialize. In reality, surf fishing was spotty for many of the 12 months in Montauk and on each the North and South shores. Solely the diehards had been in a position to persuade a number of high quality fish from Montauk’s south-side rocks and the South Shore inlets. Most surf fishermen merely stopped fishing between late spring and early autumn. Though I culled a number of good fish from passing mullet colleges, for essentially the most half, I had the seashores to myself.

October’s Glimmer of Hope

After the September run in Montauk flopped, the deflated hopes of surf anglers improved when a giant faculty of stripers arrived alongside jap seashores together with Shinnecock and Smith Level Park, following a four-day nor’easter in October. Good fishing highlighted the storm’s first two days, however erosion flattened the seashores and put the “lip” far off the wash line. I labored Smith Level with an 11-foot rod and 3- and 4-ounce bucktails, however my lure’s time close to the lip was transient and thus fishing was a decide.

At this level, western seashores had been nonetheless barren, in order I continued to journey east to Shinnecock in late October, a pal clued me in to some nice construction. I used to be amazed to search out swatches of black water that I first thought had been weeds. Nonetheless, when the weeds swam proper after which left, I noticed I used to be sand eels. Quickly, sand eels sprayed as stripers rolled, swiped, and sucked them in. I hurried to my truck and dressed.

Once I returned to the seaside there have been a couple of dozen anglers casting to the seen stripers, however nobody caught a fish for 2 and a half hours. I adopted the breaking fish up and down the seaside, however caught nothing. Ultimately, the dense bait colleges broke up and I figured that was it for the day. Nonetheless, I stored fishing. Surprisingly, as soon as the bait broke up the anglers started to catch fish. My pal and I managed a dozen fish apiece, together with a number of within the mid- to higher teenagers. At this level I had real hope for November, however by no means dreamed that the primary 18 days of November could be the very best run of stripers I’d ever recognized—quick, candy, however extremely popular!

November to Keep in mind

For me, it began on November 1 with a robust storm—not a nor’easter, however south and southwest winds that gusted over 60 miles per hour, with little rain. Round 1:00 p.m., the winds backed off to twenty to 30 miles per hour and I headed to a South Shore seaside with good construction. The seaside was empty as I walked west towards a productive level. Nonetheless, strolling right into a 30 mph west wind sucked the breath from my lungs and had me leaning at a 45-degree angle into the wind. I’m not a younger man and that effort fatigued me, so I ended about one-third of the best way. I made a solid in the course of nowhere simply to go just a little time whereas I caught my breath, and was shocked by a strong hit. Quickly, I beached an 18-pound striper. All charged up, I stored casting, however extra casts produced nothing, so I resumed my trundling to the west.

As I appeared on the 10- and 12-foot waves that rose and collided over the construction. I licked my chops, but I nonetheless had no thought of what was about to happen. Within the hours earlier than darkness, I caught 26 stripers, and 16 of them had been between 10 and 28 kilos. I have to admit, combating the waves, battling the fish, and releasing fish in crashing surf took its toll on this previous salt. I appeared to the east the place my truck was parked and questioned whether or not I had sufficient power to get again to it. The empty seaside intimidated me—if I faltered, there was no assist close by. Oh effectively, I believed, at the least I had the most effective surf days of my life! Typical! It is a surf rat’s angle even when the rodent is 71 years previous. We’re all hopeless, you realize. Generally I believe I’ll die within the surf.

The subsequent day was just a little calmer, the sky blue, however the fishing continued and I loved one other nice day with stripers to 32 kilos. I questioned how lengthy this might final. The reply to that query turned out to be 18 days earlier than the mega-school moved on. There have been nice days, good days, and choosy days relying on the climate and wave exercise, however we caught fish from the identical mega faculty for 18 days. The share of fish bigger than 10 kilos was startling. I’ve by no means seen the likes of it. In 16 days of fishing, I caught 178 stripers and 132 had been bigger than 10 kilos. The variety of fish weighing within the excessive teenagers was additionally wonderful, and fish within the 20s weren’t briefly provide both. Simply as in 2008 and 2010, the mega-school consisted largely of what was left of the 2003 and 2004 Chesapeake 12 months lessons. We should always do not forget that in every succeeding 12 months there are fewer and fewer fish remaining from these 12 months lessons. This actuality darkens our future.

I fished with 2-ounce bucktails more often than not, however wanted a giant tin and tube on a number of days when the fish had been effectively off the seaside. Nonetheless, I caught greater than 90 p.c of my fish on a bucktail with pork rind. Clearly, the common measurement of the fish caught on bucktails was bigger than these caught on tins and tubes.

I had by no means skilled a run like this one in 60 years of surf fishing, and I doubt I’ll ever see it once more. That incredible run of stripers was a fortunate results of a confluence of things: a giant storm, trillions of huge sand eels, calm climate following the storm, and good timing by the massive faculty of stripers.

We should take higher care of our coastal striped bass inhabitants. Traditionally, it’s a part of Americana, and for anglers who dream of striper blitzes or catching that elusive 50-pound trophy, it’s engrained within the cloth of our sport and our traditions. Hell, it’s infused into our souls.

From the November 2014 Situation of On The Water