Montauk The Way It Used To Be

Maybe my actual love of fishing flourished when, as a toddler, my father took me fishing on Lengthy Island for fluke, flounder, sea bass and porgies, or within the Catskill Mountains for trout. Every thing about the entire image fascinated me. Sometimes, my dad and mom drove to the South Shore at Hampton Bays and I watched the surfcasters endlessly casting and retrieving metallic lures. I wore the print off fishing magazines, particularly Salt Water Sportsman articles by Frank Woolner and Hal Lyman on the improbable surf fishing on Cape Cod. Names like Race Level, P-City, Nauset Inlet, Monomoy, and Nice Level turned indelibly etched in my thoughts. I additionally examine Montauk Level, and all its spots – magic names like Shagwong, North Bar, Jones Reef and “Underneath the Mild.”

My household drove out to Montauk for picnics, and I used to be awed by the great thing about the place. I by no means did any severe surf fishing at Montauk in these days, however that modified after I obtained my first automotive.

Again within the early 50s, the Montauk Chamber of Commerce ran a full-page advert on the again cowl of Salt Water Sportsman each month from Might by October. The advert confirmed a photograph of Montauk Mild and a constitution boat trolling a couple of mile offshore. It learn, “Should you fish, ultimately you’ll fish Montauk.” More true phrases had been by no means spoken. Again then, the variety of IGFA line class information held by Montauk was solely exceeded by the Bahama Islands.

My first surf-fishing journey to Montauk was in late October 1957. I arrived properly earlier than dawn on a Sunday morning. I rigged up and walked right down to Turtle Cove, simply west of the lighthouse. I shortly hooked a small bluefish on tin and made some extra casts earlier than I moved across the mild and labored my method north, making a dozen or so casts at numerous spots till it was full mild.

At North Bar, I hooked a small bass. I made my method south to Jones Reef, the place the tide was midway out by then. A inexperienced four-wheel-drive Jeep station wagon drove up—in these days, inexperienced was the one shade that it got here in—and three surfcasters exited the car. They promptly adorned their belts and jig baggage, and made their method out on the reef so far as waders allowed within the reasonable surf. Virtually instantly, I noticed three bent rods. The bass had been all good fish within the 12- to 20-pound vary. As a novice, I didn’t have felt sandals or metallic spikes, and as I made my method out on the reef, I stumbled and obtained drenched. Soaking moist, I began to forged, obtained a backlash (by then, I by no means backlashed – it will need to have been buck fever), picked it out, continued to forged, however obtained no hits. The threesome returned to their Jeep with two or three good bass every and drove off. With what I had simply seen, I knew I had found Nirvana, and my surf-fishing life would by no means be the identical.

The following twenty years had been great and thrilling occasions, and it solely took a couple of seasons to essentially be taught Montauk and turn into a “common,” as they are saying.

After I’d began fishing Montauk, standard reels had been the norm, however the late 50s noticed the arrival of high quality saltwater spinning reels. Fiberglass surf rods from Lamiglas and Harnel on the West Coast had been the primary decisions amongst Montauk surfmen. Most of us used the favored Lami 1165 clean, typically referred to as the “honey clean” on account of its shade. It was 11½ toes lengthy and had a medium motion—again then you can purchase it for $9. To the rod, I’d wind or tape three or 4 Mildrum stainless-steel guides and high it off with an agate tip. The butt part was wrapped in both neo-cork grips or neo-cork tape.

I most well-liked a skeleton reel seat to a traditional seat as a result of utilizing electrical tape to connect the reel gave me a a lot hotter grip in chilly climate. As for the reel, the French Luxor was the workhorse. It was a stable reel with a direct-drive cam, and was simply transformed to guide pickup. A few years later, Van Staal used this identical design. The Luxor was not waterproof, however its easy design allowed it to be taken aside, drained of saltwater, and re-greased in quarter-hour. This reel modified names to Crack within the 70s on account of a authorized dispute over patent rights in France, then stopped manufacturing round 1980. In case your Crack wore out and also you couldn’t discover black-market elements, your subsequent greatest guess was the Penn 704 or 706.

Again then, numerous manufacturers of monofilament had been used till Ande from West Germany appeared, and pink Ande turned the primary selection. For the fishermen who continued to make use of standard line, braided nylon, known as “squidding line” was hottest. Nonetheless, with the tendency for line to fray alongside Montauk’s rocks, some used monofilament although it was not as simple to forged. To chop the price of braided nylon, some surf-men used parachute line (a nylon used to weave a thicker strand for parachutes). It was made in New Jersey, was cheap, and forged properly, but it surely had a brief life on account of fraying.

I didn’t use a pacesetter, however like a lot of my pals, doubled the final 20 toes of line with a Bimini twist and added a snap swivel. After I burned the tag finish of the knot with a cigarette, the mono mushroomed to a clean floor and the Bimini hardly ever caught on any information throughout the forged. For probably the most half, I fished 20-pound check; nevertheless, I dropped down to fifteen and even 12 for an extended forged. Even with the final 20 toes doubled, this was a dangerous technique.

Night time fishing was primarily finished with Gibbs 2.5-ounce darters—there have been no needlefish plugs in these days—whereas the daytime lures consisted of popping plugs, just like the Atom Striper Swiper and the Gibbs Pencil, plus an assortment of tins, together with Hopkins and Kastmasters.

In my early days at Montauk, four-wheel-drive autos had been uncommon till the late 60s. You didn’t really want a buggy to fish “out entrance” from the sunshine to North Bar, but it surely did make it simpler to get from one spot to a different. A fish field was additionally a giant asset when one had 50 to 100 kilos of fish on a stringer. Keep in mind, there have been no limits again in these days.

For attending to Shagwong and the sand seaside, a seaside buggy was invaluable. Most of my pals and I slept in our buggies or station wagons in these days. A typical buggy typically was a two-wheel-drive Willys Jeep station wagon that, if no less than 8-10 years outdated, may very well be purchased for $100-$200. These autos needed to be fitted with the biggest tires attainable (the much less tread the higher) and deflated to 10 or 12 psi for seaside journey. This meant that the edges had to get replaced to deal with the bigger tires. Within the case of Willys, Chrysler rims match the lug sample, so we bought rims and tires from junk sellers for a couple of dollars every.

Tubeless tires couldn’t deal with very low tire strain with out the rim of the tire shedding the seal, so innertubes needed to be put in. To air up for normal highway use, I carried what was referred to as a spark plug pump – a tool that changed one of many engine’s spark plugs and related to a hose and the tire. I began the engine and the pistons pumped up the tires. It wasn’t clear air, but it surely didn’t appear to break the innertubes. Opposite to fashionable engines, the spark plugs again then had been very simply accessible. We didn’t convey our buggies dwelling till the top of the season in November—we’d park them behind fuel stations on the town.

Though I incessantly lament not having the liberty to roam that we as soon as had at Montauk, I usually rely my blessings. I’ve been up and down the East Coast to many areas that had been as soon as accessible and are actually both non-public or made off-limits by the very individuals who had been supposed to assist us, America’s residents. I used to be initially enthused when the Outer Banks, Cape Cod and Hearth Island turned Nationwide Seashores, pondering that non-public improvement could be curtailed. It was, but it surely additionally primarily shut the fishermen out, particularly on Cape Cod. The excuse was that sure people had been abusing the seaside and dunes, which was true, however fairly than punish the responsible few with heavy fines, seaside driving was prohibited for everybody.

We had been very fortunate that 90 years in the past, governor Al Smith made Montauk Level a state park. Moreover, Hither Hills State Park was based, and one other three miles of seaside, referred to as Napeague, was put beneath state management. The 2-mile stretch from the sunshine to Driftwood Cove on the South Aspect, encompassing Turtle Cove, Browns, and Kings Level, is now Camp Hero State Park. This space was once an Air Power base—a part of the early warning radar system throughout the chilly battle. At the moment, the Air Power gave fishermen full entry day and evening with a free move they issued. We did lose entry to three miles on the South Aspect (together with hotspots reminiscent of Caswells, Coconuts, Frisbies and Ditch Plains) on account of non-public dwelling improvement. Nonetheless, if you’re prepared and capable of do a variety of climbing, you’ll be able to stroll into these areas alongside the rocky seaside.

Shagwong, which was once a cattle ranch with an proprietor who gracefully granted us entry, is now a Suffolk County park—one other stroke of luck.

Again then, the bass fishing was greatest within the spring and fall, particularly the latter. There was sporadic summer season motion throughout northeast blows, however autumn was the time. I didn’t spend a variety of time on the South Aspect or the sand seaside, primarily as a result of the fishing was so good out entrance from the sunshine to North Bar. September and October noticed many daytime blitzes, however the nights produced much more high quality fish. Whereas North Bar and the sunshine had a couple of nights that produced “pigs,” fish over 40 kilos, the majority of what I referred to as high quality fishing produced fish from 15 to 30 kilos. On many events, most bass caught had been beneath 20 inches.

Round 1967, I started utilizing a wetsuit, having fun with the liberty to achieve a lot extra fishy water with out the priority of filling up a pair of waders. When fishing on Jones reef at evening carrying a wetsuit, “placing out” was a one-in-ten prevalence. Some nights introduced two or three fish; others eight to 10 “high quality” fish. I imagine the primary wetsuiter at Montauk was a gentleman named Alston Beckman, and he was adopted by Jack Frech after which Fred Schwab, all very fantastic fishermen. The primary two had been licensed fishing fanatics. A yr later, my good good friend Mike Damberger and I (and a couple of dozen others) switched to wetsuits, although they weren’t needed when fishing the lighthouse or the sand seaside areas.

Jack Frech made his personal plugs and gave me what he referred to as a “Montauk Darter.” It was a duplicate of the Gibbs darter, however weighed an oz. extra and was just a little thicker in diameter to provide it the identical buoyancy. It added about 30 toes to my forged, however was extra tiring to throw for hours on finish. I purchased an inexpensive wooden lathe and made some. I wish to say that the additional casting distance made a giant distinction, however in all these years, I can rely on one hand what number of occasions it made a distinction. Nonetheless, on these uncommon nights after I obtained a success within the first 5 cranks and all the opposite guys within the water subsequent to me couldn’t choose a fish, properly…I’ll always remember these nights.

It’s fascinating to notice how a lot bigger a few of the bluefish have gotten since I began fishing Montauk. After I was in highschool, a 10-pound bluefish was thought of humongous. The world document then was caught off Barnegat Inlet in 1945 and weighed 14¾ kilos, however that was damaged in 1950 with a 20-pound fish at Montauk. The document of 31 kilos caught in Hatteras stands now, however yearly Lengthy Island sees numerous numbers of blues between 20 and 25 kilos.

I ought to point out that weakfish had been virtually extinct within the 50s and 60s, however the 70s noticed a decade of a resurgence on Lengthy Island. I had many good summer season nights at Shagwong in that decade, however weakfish turned scarce once more within the 80s.

Beginning round 1957 and ending round 1963, pollock, a backside feeding fish caught primarily whereas cod fishing at sea, invaded the Montauk surf in Might, early June and once more in November. Hordes of pollock moved into the surf at Jones reef and North Bar. It was often at dawn or late afternoon to nightfall; at occasions, there have been acres of breaking fish hitting tins. Among the colleges had been made up of 5- to 7-pound fish, whereas others held 10- to 15- pounders; typically, pollock as giant as 27 kilos had been caught. In November, they often hit plugs at evening. It was nice sport, but it surely completely got here to an finish round 1963. Most individuals imagine that the Russian business fleet, which was legally fishing only a few miles from shore in these years, decimated the fisheries. In these years, there have been additionally some surf-caught pollock at Race Level on the Cape and in Level Judith, Rhode Island.

Within the 60s, there have been a number of surfmen who would car-top or trailer light-weight aluminum boats out to Montauk and surf launch them at Clarks Cove simply north of North Bar. The most well-liked boats had been both Starcraft or Duratech and had been powered by 10 or 15 horsepower outboards. On calm October nights, you can simply rely 20 to 30 of them. Many of those guys did very properly on bass, however I by no means obtained concerned in it. It was a copycat of what the regulars did at Provincetown on the Cape ten years earlier and died out when the federal government took over the Cape Cod seashores. Not solely did these Cape regulars take some very giant bass, however every so often they took faculty tuna, however that by no means occurred at Montauk. The tin-boat fleet additionally got here to an finish at Clarks Cove when the State Park authorities felt it was getting out of hand.

After the bass fishery collapsed within the early 80s, a moratorium was put in place and the fish got here again fairly robust. It recovered within the 90s and the primary decade of this century, however the surf image has dropped off within the final three or 4 years. It was once that when a college of migrating bass hit Montauk from Rhode Island, they stayed for every week or so. Once they departed south, they had been changed with one other faculty from New England, and so forth, for a lot of the autumn. The previous couple of seasons, nevertheless, There have been solely had 4 or 5 days of excellent surf fishing for bass at Montauk. In July and August, the boats do very properly fishing for stripers as a result of they aim a mass of resident bass which have been simple to find with fashionable electronics.

There was a really noticeable change in seaside circumstances at Montauk. The rip at North Bar is basically gone and False Bar is just not what it was once. Jones Reef has modified, and never for the higher; aside from on a lifeless calm evening, the circumstances beneath the sunshine make fishing within the water on the decrease rocks nearly unimaginable. Fishing the ocean wall above these rocks makes touchdown a superb fish a two-man operation. One can see how dramatic these modifications are when landmark rocks such because the “Twin Rocks” on the mild, “Weakfish Rock” on the bluff, and the “Massive Flat Rock” off Evans are now not three toes out of the water at excessive tide, however are actually invisible. I’m no geologist, however this proves that these rocks are sinking into the ocean backside. It might probably’t be defined by the rising sea degree, which is barely a matter of inches on this century. There may be nonetheless loads of good water out entrance, however regardless of being a rocky coast, it has modified considerably.

Nowadays, the principle group of surf-men nonetheless selecting giant bass at Montauk are these wetsuiters swimming at nighttime out to rocks 300 to 500 toes from shore – on the south facet at Kings and Caswells. Discovering these rocks at evening takes a lot daylight reconnoitering and these guys deserve their success. Even that group, nevertheless, was doing a lot better ten years in the past.

With the lowered success nowadays, I’ve observed that many “regulars” are to not be seen anymore. I can solely assume that a few of them are fishing their native waters, whereas others could have gone to a ship—some could have even taken up golf. To the latter two classes, I can solely say that they had been by no means actual surfmen! A good friend of mine, an excellent surfcaster lamenting about how crowded Montauk was, stated, “What this place wants is a few actually unhealthy years, and that may do away with the crowds.” Poor fall runs however, I fish on. I now not fish in a wetsuit, and at 79, I can’t navigate the rocks properly anymore, so I keep on with the simpler areas. However, I nonetheless fish. It’s in my blood!

In the present day, I spend most of my time on conservation issues. I’d like to see the following technology benefit from the fantastic fishing that I did. It’s discouraging that the Chesapeake Bay has skilled solely two good spawning years within the final decade, however I hope for the most effective, and I’m deeply grateful for the great years I skilled.

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