Some of you were wondering why I haven’t updated the blog in quite some time so here are a few of the reasons.

First, I wanted to fish a season long 2017 tourney which precluded professional anglers from entering so I opted to take a year off from guiding in order to comply with the rules.

Then, in 2018/2019, I traveled extensively and mainly used my Instagram page (Montauk_Outfitter) as a substitute for blog entries, etc.  Feel free to follow.

Bringing us to the present day, I am up and running and have begun blocking out dates for those looking to book a surf or kayak fishing charter with Montauk Outfitter.    All gear provided if you don’t have surf fishing gear or a kayak.  Please obtain your NYS Marine Salt Water fishing license available for free online or at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The fishing action started two weeks earlier this year and lots of great reports are coming in.  Bait has shown up all over and bass have been caught from NYC to Block and on the North and South shores of Long Island.

More to follow and tight lines and screaming drag to all.

Lets start with September. September fishing wasn’t great on the striper front but there were a few select days and nights that places lit up. On September 25, 2016, the Fisherman Magazine and the New York State Parks hosted its annual 2 day Montauk Classic Surf Fishing Tourney for Bass and Blues. While the weather was finally great for the tourney this year, the fishing wasn’t stellar. On Friday night, most of the leaderboard fish came in. Unfortunately, I was out of town for my cousins wedding and got back to MTK on Sat afternoon which meant I had to hit it hard. In the bass division, friends Larry Welcome and Mike Coppola had some 20 something pound bass for 2nd and 3rd with John Millici in first with a 27 pounder. In the blue division, a 13 plus was in the lead with a 12 and 10lb in second and third. During the tourney, Tommy P and I hit some sand beaches where we caught a mixture of bass and blues on tins and bucktails. Nothing huge but happy we found some fish on the Ocean that looked too calm and devoid of birds and bait for miles. We picked up bass in the 28” in range which were all quickly released. We fished some spots on the Northside and again came up with smaller bass and blues but nothing insane. On Sunday Am, I tried the sand beaches again to no success and to wrap it up the tourney, we fished back on the Northside and watched the birds chase bait in and out of casting range. About to call it a tourney and saying goodbye to Tommy, I noticed a gaggle of birds chasing bait well within casting range at one part of the beach. I immediately hopped in the truck, drove a few hundred yards and casted a pink super strike little neck popper as far as I could towards the action. First cast went unanswered and the second hit the sweet spot. It just felt right and at that instant, I noticed a wave coming towards the lure and Bammm, big blue on. I was saying, please don’t drop this fish, it’s a good fish, please don’t drop. During the battle, I felt one hook pop out and knew I had one treble remaining in. As such, had to finesse fight this fish and not muscle him in and the hook out. So, took my time and tired him out until he was on the beach. The BOGA said over 11lbs so I loaded the fish into the cooler and off to Paulies,( the weigh station for the tourney), and it hit the scales at 11.08 to move and remain into 3rd place. (Thanks to Ray and Sue for working around the clock at Paulies). Was stoked to take third since like I said, it was a weekend that wasn’t loaded with fish and had a lot of casters packing it in before the tourney ended. Another one in the books and thanks to Fred and the Fisherman, the Parks, the volunteers and the other winners. Congrats also to fellow surf guide Bill Wetzell who won the catch and release aspect of the contest.

Moving into late Sept /October, Albies have been all over and crushing rain bait. Bass and blues have been mixing in as well. One morning, Rich (Fishaholic Fishing) and I drove around and sort of came upon a massive blitz of blues smashing a pod of bunker at the shore edge. See Fishaholic TV on you tube to watch the amazing video of bunker at our feet and 16 pound blues chasing and shredding them. Rich placed his camera underwater and shot some rarely seen before footage. After catching several 16 pounders and also losing a few lures, we moved on and hit a few other spots around town just to mix it up. As for the nightbite, and as many of you heard, the lighthouse lit up for a few nights and big bass arrived with the heave from the East. Congrats to Ben McCarron for landing a 55 Pounder which has him in a solid lead for the Montauk Surfmasters’ Fall Tourney Wader Division. Awesome fish in tough to fish conditions.

On Monday October 10, Jimmy from St James came out at 5am and we started points North since there was a strong North wind coming from Conn. With 5 foot whitewater waves rolling in and 30mph winds pushing them all morning, it was a site to see and also fish in. Not entirely comfortable but with enough head gear and jackets and gloves, we were good to go. A few sharpies to my right were catching up small bass on light bucktails as I was going for the Koww on a superstrike bottle plug and Jimmy was throwing a green 2 oz bucktail for limited action on our first ten casts. THEN, I look over and see Jimmy fighting what looked to be a hefty fish in the whitewater. He took his time, didn’t muscle it in and landed a nice 20 plus pound Striper. His personal best from this particular sand beach. Congrats James on a job well done. Later that day we decided to meet up with Mike C on the sand and got a call that the inlet was exploding with activity. That’s not a call I get often as was probably the first time a diehard said, gotta get to the jetty asap. Upon arrival, about 30 anglers were on the westwall and several rods were bent. Nicky B was out there catching em up, Mike C nailed a few and Rich J was in on the action. Between the beach and the jetties, a pod of anchovies / rain bait was being tormented by bass, blues and albies once again. This lasted about 3 hours and many of us caught several bass up to 10 pounds with an occasional blue and albie for some. Awesome day to say the least and as the sun set, the bite slowly faded away with many happy anglers walking to their buggies. Until the next report, tight lines and screaming reels. See you out there and please check our photo gallery for pics of the adventures. Mike

This past Sunday, I got to Kayak fish with Andy. As you may recall, Andy won the Montauk Outfitter half day Kayak Trip raffle at Bill’s Surf Rats Shin Dig. Bill Wetzell is a friend and a fellow surf fishing guide and has a nice website that lots of dedicated surf casters have joined. At the end of the surf fishing tourney, Bill has an awards event and raises money for kids in need. Check it out as it’s a great thing they are doing. Back to Andy, well after he won, I asked him what he would like to target. He mentioned Weakfish and my first thought was that we don’t kayak fish too many of them up in Montauk so I will have to do my research and find some out on the East end as I have friends who target them on the North Fork. Well, research I did and the Peconics kept coming up of course which prompted me to recon a few weeks back and find out about a few more spots. I also was also told to try areas in Greenport and Shelter which is exactly what we did. So, Friday comes along and Andy and I met in Sag Harbor and then took the ferry over to Shelter Island. Just love it over there. Farms, peacefulness, quiet neighborhoods and lots of waterviews, etc. We found our launch point in the middle of nowhere and had at it. Right off the launch, the water was whipping and dropped to 40 feet and then to 80 plus in some spots. We yakked all the way to Bug Lighthouse and got some good pics. We tried various tactics for Weakies but the conclusion was that while they were there a few weeks ago (no pun), they may have cleared out as we didn’t land any. It happens. However, all was good since we learned some new spots and studied the tides and currents and channels and eddys and boats, etc. Since we used the some of the same tactics as we do for Fluke, we did well on that front. I caught a few and I know Andy caught more than me as his net was always deployed as I looked over. Good Job to him. All in all a good day until we heard on the radio that a storm was coming over from Connecticut so we finished the trip after 6 hours and avoided the rain, etc. I know many kayakers don’t bring marine radios out on the water with them but I strongly reco the West Marine Horizon Marine Radio which is a hand held radio that floats and has channels to speak to your buddies, channels to hear the marine weather and emergency buttons in case anything goes wrong. Right up there with life jackets and Kayak flags which are a must have for Kayak fishing. Tight Lines friends.

Been a few weeks but here I am with lots to talk about. Where to begin is the question? Well, on the surf front, my friend Matt from Pittsburgh visited Montauk and we found some toothy critters to bend the rods. Mostly cocktail blues on the Northside which are always fun in the sun. While he was out and figured he would stay in paradise longer than planned, he helped me pick up my newly used boat in East Hampton which is a 23 foot Wellcraft Walkaround fishing boat with a 200 E Tec Engine. While I am passionate about surf and kayak fishing, I have been on boats most of my life so it was time to upgrade to something that could properly handle what Montauk throws at it. After we picked it up and drove it to Montauk, we found some schools and blitzes along the way and picked up a mixed bag of fish. Pics to follow and so far been catching a lot of nice size fluke and seabass. 

On the tourney front, me, Mike E and Danny B fished the Montauk Marine Fluke Tourney. While we did well and caught several nice fluke, we didn’t finish in the top 3. 

 On the gear front, I picked up my new VS 200 from Ken at Tightlines and put it on the Lou Caruso rod I won. Havent used her yet and waiting for that special moment when things start really cracking off for the fall. Soon. 

 Who else? What else? Wayne S came out and we put some of his new gear to the test. Checked out a few spots and worked on casting and gear selection and all and before we knew it, Wayne had a few fish under his belt. Mostly blues but good enough for a hot summer day. 

On the kayak front, I did the never ending kayak paddle/peddle from Little Peconic Bay to Noyak Bay in search of some weakies. Well, finally found my spot and caught a weakie before the wind really shifted and sent me on my retun trip which took 3 hours since wind and tide were in my face. I chalked it up as determination to accomplish what I sought to accomplish. A weakie off the yak in the peconics. Looking forward to another weakie run this week when Andy, who won a charter at Surf Rats Ball, comes out on Friday to catch a bunch off his yak. Have yak, will travel. 

Two weeks ago, Dan from East Hampton joined me and since we waited a weak for the bad weather to clear, hit it hard at our rescheduled date. 630 in the am Dan got right into the birds diving on bait with blues mixed in. This happened for a solid hour before we went west and hit some backbay spots for more bird activity, but limited fish under them at that moment. We also checked out some various beach spots in East Hampton and did some general recon in preparation for the fall run. Dan was stoked to have landed a bunch of fish right out of the gate and used a variety of lures to get it done. (Bucktail, Tins, Poppers). Last but not least, this past weekend was the Salem Bay Striper Shootout. Had a great time and a few guys from my Kayak club fished hard and won some awards as did one of juniors who took second place In the youth division for her 25” striped bass caught and released from the kayak. Congrats to the winners, etc. 

As for me on the yak, I caught a nice striper off the yak during the full moon on a large tube and also caught a few during the Salem bay event on East Coast Da Tube tubes. 

 Well, that sums up the last two weeks but like I said, I will post some photos. Tight lines and screaming reels out there. Be safe.

Surf Rats Ball had their year end shin dig and the proceeds from the raffles for the nice swag prizes were donated to a kids charity, so thanks to Founder Bill Wetzel for hosting a great event and tourney.  Thanks also to rod builder for Lou Caruso for donating a custom rod that I won in a raffle. The 10.4 one piece surf rod  is sweet and was built just for the surf rats ball tourney. As the rod was made for a 200 VS, i ordered a VS from Ken at Tightlines Tackle in Sag Harbor, which is where they had the shin dig.  Ken was generous enough to donate a nice hefty gift card as one of the prizes.  I  not only thank him for doing that but since I won the prize, I went back to his shop to order the VS 200.  Congrats to Andy for winning the prize I donated which is a half day Kayak charter on the East End.  Pretty stoked for a good day on the water with one of the prize winners.

On the fishing front, Mike and Sarah from Pittsburgh visited Montauk and Mike and I caught the mixed bag.  From the yaks, we caught blues and fluke on the Northside.  From the surf, we fished one of the points and caught some bass and blues as well.  We then did some clamming and bbqed the natures bounty of clams we dug and a few lobsters we ordered. Great time.

Also in June, James and Danny came out and wanted to get in on the bluefish action.  So, we hit some north side spots and they were good for about 12 toothy critters each before heading to town to try a few montauk ales.  As James is a fly fisherman by trade, he did a great job getting to know his xmas gift surf gear gifts  his wife bought him.  For me, Fishaholic and I had a few good days on bigger blues surfcasting.  My best of the season thus far is a 14 plus pound bluefish I caught on a yellow pencil before a healthy release. All on video.  What a fight.  Caught dozens of smaller blues and a few bass mixed in but no real daytime linesiders.

In July, Wayne the teacher came out and also put his new gear to the test and got in on the bluefish action, took some great photos for his class and got to see some sites around Montauk.  He can’t wait to get back in the suds.   On the Yak front, hit hampton bays with Jeff and Lou and after dropping an eel into the water for some light trolling, hooked into a bass which gave my yak the hamptons sleigh ride.  Caught and released, I think she was a 15lb or so.   The guys caught some fluke and blues before the wind turned gnarly and we called it a day.  On the western sound front, hit the nite bite closer to the city and got into another 15lber which I had to handling due to my real getting jammed up with a second line. Nonetheless, a healthy release after a few pics which i will post soon.  Out in midsuffolk and Northshore, the bunker bite has been hot.  I have been busting out my new fly rods and practicing when I can.  In fact, I hit two rivers in Vermont several times.  The Battenkill near Manchester Vermont which is close to Orvis Store and the Black River which is close to Okemo.  While I don’t have pics of any fish to post, I do have some good scenic shots to share. If anyone has a few shots to share, email me and I can place them on the website somewhere.

For now, waiting on some weather to clear and will be back at  it whether is is surf, yak,boat or fly.  Peace out and Tight  Lines.