A Memorable Trip on the Shinnecock Star
by George Jehn
(516) 728-4563
July 29, 1999
To state that this season has been a banner one for fluke would be an understatement. There have been many nice sized fluke had been taken, and a number were taken on board the Shinnecock Star. Along with my good friends Dave Richichi (you probably know Dave. He's the crazy guy with the vision to start this fantastic web site) and with fellow author and former Eastern Air Lines captain Skip Copeland, we decided to give it a whirl.
This day Captain John Capuano would be piloting the immaculately clean sixty-five foot boat. Kevin and Matt were the mates. The entire crew was most courteous and helpful.
John and co-captain Dot offer a very unique type of fishing. Although the boat can comfortably accommodate up to twenty-four passengers, they limit the number of anglers to twelve. Although the fare is a bit higher, this way there is always more than an ample amount of rail space and personalized service to insure a very comfortable day of fishing. The fare also includes all the necessary bait, as well as the use of a rod and reel, if you desire to use one. And we're not talking about some off the shelf, run-of-the-mill five-buck rig you can find in any discount chain store. The rods are all well-constructed, beautiful combination glass and graphite rods. You also have your choice of high-quality baitcasting or spinning reelÑor both.
We departed the dock at one o'clock sharp under partly cloudy skies, with a comfortable breeze blowing out of the southwest at about ten knots.
The weather forecast was for cloudy skies with just a slight chance of rain. John had done very well on the morning trip, taking a total of sixty-nine keepers. John also informed us that the morning fish seemingly preferred a green and yellow bucktail baited with a sand eel. Three or four anglers opted to use these, while the rest of us stuck to more standard rigs. Skip used a basic fluke rig, that is a two-ounce sinker with a trailer hook baited with a squid strip and sand eel. Dave and I opted for two-ounce silver bullets (see the previous screamingreel.com article on these fluke rigs that are almost beyond belief) baited with a sand eel trailer, along with a high hook feather teaser. We also baited the teaser with a sand eel.
Our first and it turned out only stop, was in Shinnecock Bay. On the short ride out Kevin and Matt prepared the squid strips and patiently explained to some fishermen how to work the bait and/or lure. This was necessary because there were anglers on board from places as far away as Chicago and some in the small, friendly group had only minimal or no previous salt-water fishing experience.
Before we knew it we arrived at the selected spot. Foregoing the normal horn to signal it's OK for anglers to drop their lines in the water, John instead uses a bell. Since we were fishing in water barely three feet deep, the fish must have thought that signal was a dinner bell, since the action started immediately. Almost before I knew it I had taken over ten fluke, three of which were nice keepers. Cries for the net were frequently heard from around the boat, and Kevin and Matt were kept quite busy netting and unhooking fish.
The fantastic action continued uninterrupted for approximately two hours, when the tide stopped running. After that it turned into more of a steady pick at the fish. Almost as if to demonstrate the value of the silver bullet, during the blitz Skip had taken seven fish, but only one keeper. About halfway through the day he switched over to a two ounce silver bullet with a dark green and shiny silver tail. That was when his personal non-stop action began. In the remaining time he took well over a dozen more fish, three of which were nice-sized keepers. Dave stayed in the wheelhouse chatting with John for much of the day, but nonetheless found the needed time to take several keepers, including the approximate four-pound pool winner! I wound up with four keepers and innumerable throwbacks.
The boat's total for the afternoon was over thirty keepers and probably five times that number of throwbacksÑnot a bad count! The angler fishing next to me commented several times on how good the fluke fishing is now, recalling how in his childhood you considered yourself lucky to catch one or two fish for an entire day's fishing. He was absolutely correct. This has been a good Ð no, make that an unbelievable year - for fluke. But as you know, nothing in life lasts forever. So make your plans to get out soon and sample some of this fantastic fluking while itÕs still red hot. Last year there was excellent fishing during the month of August.
If you want to spend a relaxing day on the water and also enjoy a unique adventure in fluke fishing, you will quickly discover that the Shinnecock Star is certainly a rising star amongst fluke boats. If you doubt that for even one moment, check out all the smiles in the photos accompanying this article.
The boat sails two trips daily out of Shinnecock Bay, leaving the Indian Cove Marina at 7am and 1pm. Call (516) 728-4563 for reservations, which are required. I'll see you on board.
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John and co-captain Dot offer a very unique type of fishing. Although the boat can comfortably accommodate up to twenty-four passengers, they limit the number of anglers to twelve. Although the fare is a bit higher, this way there is always more than an ample amount of rail space and personalized service to insure a very comfortable day of fishing. The fare also includes all the necessary bait, as well as the use of a rod and reel, if you desire to use one. And we're not talking about some off the shelf, run-of-the-mill five-buck rig you can find in any discount chain store. The rods are all well-constructed, beautiful combination glass and graphite rods. You also have your choice of high-quality baitcasting or spinning reelÑor both. We departed the dock at one o'clock sharp under partly cloudy skies, with a comfortable breeze blowing out of the southwest at about ten knots. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies with just a slight chance of rain. John had done very well on the morning trip, taking a total of sixty-nine keepers. John also informed us that the morning fish seemingly preferred a green and yellow bucktail baited with a sand eel. Three or four anglers opted to use these, while the rest of us stuck to more standard rigs. Skip used a basic fluke rig, that is a two-ounce sinker with a trailer hook baited with a squid strip and sand eel. Dave and I opted for two-ounce silver bullets (see the previous screamingreel.com article on these fluke rigs that are almost beyond belief) baited with a sand eel trailer, along with a high hook feather teaser. We also baited the teaser with a sand eel.
Our first and it turned out only stop, was in Shinnecock Bay. On the short ride out Kevin and Matt prepared the squid strips and patiently explained to some fishermen how to work the bait and/or lure. This was necessary because there were anglers on board from places as far away as Chicago and some in the small, friendly group had only minimal or no previous salt-water fishing experience. Before we knew it we arrived at the selected spot. Foregoing the normal horn to signal it's OK for anglers to drop their lines in the water, John instead uses a bell. Since we were fishing in water barely three feet deep, the fish must have thought that signal was a dinner bell, since the action started immediately. Almost before I knew it I had taken over ten fluke, three of which were nice keepers. Cries for the net were frequently heard from around the boat, and Kevin and Matt were kept quite busy netting and unhooking fish.
The fantastic action continued uninterrupted for approximately two hours, when the tide stopped running. After that it turned into more of a steady pick at the fish. Almost as if to demonstrate the value of the silver bullet, during the blitz Skip had taken seven fish, but only one keeper. About halfway through the day he switched over to a two ounce silver bullet with a dark green and shiny silver tail. That was when his personal non-stop action began. In the remaining time he took well over a dozen more fish, three of which were nice-sized keepers. Dave stayed in the wheelhouse chatting with John for much of the day, but nonetheless found the needed time to take several keepers, including the approximate four-pound pool winner! I wound up with four keepers and innumerable throwbacks.
The boat's total for the afternoon was over thirty keepers and probably five times that number of throwbacksÑnot a bad count! The angler fishing next to me commented several times on how good the fluke fishing is now, recalling how in his childhood you considered yourself lucky to catch one or two fish for an entire day's fishing. He was absolutely correct. This has been a good Ð no, make that an unbelievable year - for fluke. But as you know, nothing in life lasts forever. So make your plans to get out soon and sample some of this fantastic fluking while itÕs still red hot. Last year there was excellent fishing during the month of August.
If you want to spend a relaxing day on the water and also enjoy a unique adventure in fluke fishing, you will quickly discover that the Shinnecock Star is certainly a rising star amongst fluke boats. If you doubt that for even one moment, check out all the smiles in the photos accompanying this article. The boat sails two trips daily out of Shinnecock Bay, leaving the Indian Cove Marina at 7am and 1pm. Call (516) 728-4563 for reservations, which are required. I'll see you on board.