This previous weekend, over 170 surfcasters gathered on the iconic Montauk Lighthouse for Mr. Poseidon’s annual Montauk Fishing Striper Problem. Held from Thursday, October 17, to Saturday, October 19, this 3-day, catch-and-release match drew anglers from throughout the Northeast, together with Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This was the third yr Mr. Poseidon held the match and noticed the most important turnout so far.
I placed on my press hat and departed round 4:00AM in the direction of The Finish to doc the occasion.
Anglers competed in a best-of-10 format, with the grand prize of $5,000 awarded for the angler with the longest striped bass. There have been additionally competitions for longest solid and most correct solid, the place 1st place winners each took residence $1,000 in prize cash.
Juan Gonzalez claimed the highest honor with a 43-inch striper caught on the primary night time of the match with a Smokey Joe coloured Tremendous Strike darter. “I used to be fishing that North wind, casting so far as I might into the rips through the outgoing tide,” he advised me. Along with profitable $5,000 money, he earned his title on Mr. Poseidon’s epic trophy, plus a customized winner’s jacket, which options an embroidered OTW brand together with different supporters of the match.
In second place was former Montauk-resident and well-known YouTuber Wealthy Janitschek AKA Fishaholic. Wealthy positioned a 42-inch striped bass that very same night time round 2:45 AM on a pencil popper, incomes him $2,500.
The Third place striper, measuring at 38.5 inches, was caught by Rob Prepare dinner for a $1,000 payday. Rob caught his fish on a Tremendous Strike Needlefish with a really sluggish retrieve through the finish of the incoming tide.
Rob Prepare dinner posing together with his Third-place Striper
‘Delco’ Joe Pinto (@Delcotackle) took residence 1st place within the longest solid competitors utilizing a customized Delcotackle rod alongside together with his Van Staal VS200 spinning reel spooled with 80-pound chief tied by way of double-uni-knot to 50-pound braid mainline, dumping a solid 165-yards out. He even had a damaged information through the competitors! “I needed to maintain true to what I fish and nonetheless pull the win,” Joe advised me.
Alejandro Encinas (@pescandoennuevayork) received most correct solid, nailing a site visitors cone dead-center with a bucktail from 65-yards away!
Montauk Fishing Report
Surfcasters reported considerably difficult situations and loads of ‘rat’ sized stripers. On Thursday, the morning chunk was sluggish however ultimately gave option to peanut bunker blitzes that harkened again to the outdated days of Montauk. They didn’t final lengthy, nevertheless.
Friday noticed a Northern blow, with wind gusts as much as 20mph. That, mixed with Supermoon tides, had waves reaching the bluffs and prompted flooding at Hither Hills, which made entry troublesome and delayed the casting competitions till the tide moved out.
In fact, I received out to do some fishing myself that morning earlier than work, sharing a tide with Cody Mann (@morefish_lessworries) on the North facet of the lighthouse. We solid tins and bucktails into the white water the place “bird-nadoes” have been terrorizing bait faculties simply out of attain. After an hour with no luck, we headed again to the parking zone to fulfill up with different anglers who have been fishing across the level. That’s the place I bumped into my buddy Dylan Jewell of All Island Surfcasters.
I spoke to Dylan to get his tackle the fishing: “The primary two days have been blowing fairly good out of the North and Northeast. The bait was pushed tight to the seashore which created some superior blitzes from the North-facing facet of the lighthouse. On Saturday night time the fixed wind introduced in a number of seaweed which made situations a lot more durable,” he advised me.
A mixture of bait was round, and Dylan reported: “There have been peanuts getting pushed on the seashore, and my buddy on the boats stated he had whiting, weakfish, and spots on the market.” All through the day, I hit up spots throughout the Southern and Northern shores of Montauk and located the identical scenario. It appeared like a large belt of birds and bait fashioned across the total level and would get pushed in with the tide.
“Diamond jigs and poppers have been the important thing through the day, whereas at night time we caught just about all of our fish on Darters,” Dylan stated. I’d additionally heard of excellent success throwing needles and pencils from a number of different surfcasters that have been competing, and there have been loads of anglers throwing the basic bucktail and trailer mixture from the rocks through the day.
The anglers I spoke to that morning had it of their minds to hit the ‘Intercept Factors’ – as Invoice Jakob of the Montauk Surfcaster Affiliation places it – at Shagwong Level, False Bar, and naturally the bottom of the Lighthouse. Many of the motion was taking place through the peak incoming and outgoing tides when the water was nonetheless comparatively excessive and transferring quick.
Retaining Surfcasting Alive in Montauk
Whereas the fishing tradition in Montauk has modified, occasions like Mr. Poseidon’s match assist preserve the custom of surfcasting alive on this once-sleepy fishing city. The variety of individuals has grown every year since its inception, and Mr. P appears dedicated to creating it higher every year. Many appreciated the competitors and camaraderie that got here with it, myself included.
You’ll be able to study extra about Mr. Poseidon and his match by testing his YouTube channel, the place he incessantly goes stay.
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