Fishing on the North Fork of Long Island the last few years traditionally begins around May 1st. In years gone by I used to fish in early April for flounder around Shelter Island and the Peconics. However, that it now just a memory.
I had missed my first trip on the Nancy Ann out of Orient Point for flounder, and the report from my friends was of a great day fishing in the Sound. Now, it was the day before MotherŐs Day. Recent reports were of inconsistent flounder and fluke catches and the first signs of striped bass in Plum Gut.
I touched base with Captain Rich Jensen a few days before the trip and we decided to try for flounder in the morning in the Sound on the flooding tide and then head for The Race to try for striped bass. I had a full boat of 14 people. No problem with that many people fishing for flounder. However, when we would switch to bass it meant fishing "round robin" to allow everyone a turn.
We left the dock at 6 AM to catch the flood tide in the Sound. It was clear and sunny with a slight east wind. As I busily rigged up my rod and several of my friends, the anticipation ran high. I like to make up my own rigs. For flounder I use Gamakatsu #4 bait holder hooks snelled on 30 lb leader about 14 inches long. I rig two hooks tied in tandem with each hook adorned with a 1.5 inch yellow tube. They are called "squirts" and are used for crappie fishing. You can buy them from Cabelas or Bass Pro. But most tackle shops carry some version of them.
We fished mussel bait and chum. The flounder fishing was a slow pick of decent size fish up to 2.5 lbs. and by 10 AM everyone had a least 6 keepers and several shorts. We had about another hour of tide left to fish. At 11 AM we would start for The Race and have the ebb tide with us. The flounder bite really slowed down as the tide slackened. Captain Rich decided to try to drift to see if we could pick a few more fish before packing it in. On the second drift I had a tremendous hit with the line taking off like a shot. Everyone, including me, said it was a striped bass. But the fish kept diving for the bottom after its initial run. It made four runs for the bottom before we could get a look at it.
To our surprise it turned out to be a 7 lb. spawning female blackfish that was full of eggs. Well, that made my day. Back it went. We all thought about all the great fall blackfishing to come later this season.
Precisely at 11 AM we headed for The Race and had at least an hour to run before we would start to fish. That would give us all enough time to change over our tackle and have some lunch. As we ran east in the Sound past Plum and Gull Islands this beautiful day and with great company, all was right with the world.
This was the weekend of the perigee tides. The strongest tides of the spring.
We would be using a three-way rig fishing bucktails tipped with a strip of pork rind. The three-way rig is composed of a large black three way swivel.
One eye of the swivel you tie to your main line. To the second eye is tied about five feet of #80 mono to which is tied a 1.5 ounce bucktail with a 7/0 hook. To the third eye of the swivel is tied about ten inches of #80 mono and a sinker loop to hold a 12-14 ounce sinker. I like to use an improved clinch knot to tie the rig.
I rigged several rods with different color bucktails since bass sometimes have a preference for a certain color. On this trip white or bright green were the hot colors.
We would be fishing the ebb tide, drifting into the face of the rip. The Race is a channel between Fishers and Little Gull Island. The bottom structure is primarily rocks that starts out at a depth of 300 feet and rises to about 30 feet at the top. We start our drift at the 120 foot depth. The bass take up station on the bottom along the face of the rip. To fish the rip, the boat is taken down tide. When the boat stops everyone drops their rig to the bottom. When the rig hits bottom you immediately raise your rod tip, engage the reel and take up three turns. Since you will be drifting up the wall, you must constantly feel for the bottom by lifting the rod tip and taking up turns on the reel. Any bump on the line you immediately raise the rod tip. It could be a fish or the bottom. If itŐs a fish, he will take line. If itŐs the bottom, than raising the rod tip will prevent you from getting hung on the bottom.
Our initial drifts produced a few fish. The tide was really moving and the fish seemed to be biting in a zone directly in front of the rip. Captain Rich said the bite would really heat up about 1:30 PM and we had an hour yet to go.
We continued to pick away at fish for that first hour. They ranged in size from 27-34 inches. As the clocked passed 1:30 PM the bite picked up. We started to get multiple hook ups and the fish were getting bigger. I even had two fish on one drift. About 2:30 PM Dick, who was positioned amid ship, and Harvey, in the stern, had strong hits and their line really smoked off their reels. Ten minutes later two sparkling 25 lb striped bass were being led to the net.
Since it was a late bite, Captain Rich stayed a little later. We ended up with 16 keepers and as many shorts. Everyone caught fish. As a matter of fact, I was coaching a friendŐs wife, since it was her first bass trip. She put three keepers in the boat. I had made her a flounder rod for the trip and now she wanted a bass rod as well. No rest for the weary.
As we headed west back to Orient everyone commented on what a great trip it turned out to be. For me, any time I can get out on the Nancy Ann with Captain Rich and my friends on a fair weather day is a great day for me, whether the fish are biting or not.
Give Orient Point a try this season. There are several excellent charter boats and the Prime Time party boat out of Orient Point Marina. There is also the Peconic Star out of Greenport that fishes this area. You will not be disappointed.
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