Montauk!

Dusty, John, Luke, and I fished day two in Montauk. We started off with a few albies early. When the tide slacked we moved a little deeper and caught all the bluefish from 10-16 pounds we wanted on jigs. They were bruisers! Lots of triple and quadruple headers. We also had huge sea bass to five pounds. So every time you dropped down you were rewarded with a huge bluefish or an enormous sea bass. Pro Tip: Since braid has been in use most anglers use too heavy of line. The benefits of braid are thinner diameter for the same pound test when compared to mono and no stretch. Use the lightest braid possible for best results. We landed dozens of blues to 15 pounds on ten pound braid.

Blues and Sea Bass

Dusty, Luke, John, and I fished today in Montauk. It was a beautiful day. We had a few albies, all the 10-15 pound blues we wanted to reel in, and a bunch of sea bass up to five pounds. One sea bass was 22 inches long. All on jigs and metal. Absolutely incredible.  Pro Tip:  The size of your jig head matters. Use the lightest jig head possible that will still reach the bottom.  

Blues and Amberjacks

Fished with Rob on Tuesday evening for blues and amberjacks. We lost count of the number of fish we caught. They bit on poppers and jigs and there were times we had two fish on the popper on one cast. Pro Tip: Cast your lure up current 45 degrees or ahead of your drift 45 degrees and let it sink for maximum depth with a light jig. Doing so can make the difference between catching and not catching.

Ocean Fluke

Fished with Doug on Sunday in the ocean for fluke. We had two keepers between four and five pounds we also had a bunch of shorts and some sea bass we released. Pro Tip: drift speed is critical to catching fluke. Control your drift with a drift sock or put your engine in reverse if you are drifting too fast.

Keeper Fluke

Fished with Dan, Doug, David, Max, Daniel, and Josh for flounder today. We had two keeper fluke and several shorts. We also caught amberjacks, blue runners, and sea bass. One big surprise...or little surprise. We caught a juvenile gag grouper. See bottom picture. I've caught lots of them but never up here. Pro Tip: Keeping the jig moving is very important to catching fluke. It's called a jig for a reason. Active jigging triggers fish to bite that would otherwise ignore the lure.

Blues and Jacks

Fished with Doug yesterday evening. We headed out in the ocean where we caught blues, blue runners, and rudder fish on every cast. We had them on poppers and on jigs. At times we had more than one on the popper at a time! See picture. We headed into the back to try for a striper at sunset but no luck. Pro Tip: Make sure to put soft plastics on straight. Any curve in them on the hook lessens their action.

Ocean Fluke

Patty, Dad, Steven, Ryan, and I fished Monday for fluke in the ocean. We had one four pound fluke and a bunch of throwback fluke and sea bass. Lots of action.

Windy

Fished yesterday afternoon with Joe and Matt in the bay. We knew the conditions would be difficult with the wind and we were right. We headed back to the dock early and called it a night.  Pro Tip:  Northeast winds are usually stronger than forecasted. 

Joe Hughes

Four Pound Fluke

Fished with John and John in the ocean today for fluke. We caught a bunch of sea bass and fluke. Two fluke were between four and five pounds. We had a good amount of action all the way till sunset. Pro Tip: Managing drift speed is essential to catching flounder. Too fast and they can't get it and too slow they won't be interested.