Montauk Sportfishing Report 8/16/04

8/2/04

Mid-day Thursday, and I was on the boat, getting ready to go out, and
listening to NOAA's report for the upcoming weekend. I thought to myself
that it was going to work out perfectly for the Star Island Mako Mania
tournament. Bonnie was going to arrive Friday night sometime, which meant
that the weather would be OK for the first day. It was supposed to blow for
a couple of hours , and then moderate for Saturday. There would probably be
some leftover crap, but. you don't have to go very far to catch makos, so
that would work out as well. The big blow, Charlie, was supposed to arrive
Saturday night, maybe while everyone was drinking beer and collecting their
winnings.

I turned off the weather channel and went to nineteen, and less than five
minutes later "Chucky-Chucky-Chucky" of the JOYSEA was on the radio
announcing that Star Island canceled the tournament, supposedly because of
the weather. I don't know anyone who believes that.

The general feeling around the docks is that it was canceled because there
were not enough entries to cover the cash prizes. This is a tournament that
usually has about fifty or so participants, an about half of those usually
sign up the night before the tournament. Supposedly there were about twenty
boats already entered, and another dozen or so that had made dock
reservations that were going to sign up when they got to Montauk. However,
some of those chickened out and canceled their reservations. Instead of
biting the bullet, and letting the show go on Star Island decided to cancel.

Beside disappointing private boats that wanted to have a tournament, there
were a number of charterboats that were booked for the tournament, and when
it was canceled their charters were as well, leaving them sitting at the
docks on a weekend in August.

The weather reports are hardly ever a hundred percent correct, but they are
rarely a hundred percent wrong. In the end, the weather was a lot better
than was forecast, but even if it was worse, canceling was always an option
that could have been acted on the morning of the fishing days.

Think back about three years, when Star Island didn't cancel the second day
of their June tournament in spite of the weather. Of around a hundred and
fifty boats registered, eight sailed that day, and a couple of guys fishing
a tournament out of Freeport died. Star Island should really get their act
together.

As for the fishing, the small bluefins are still hanging around the east
side of the Butterfish Hole, and some are even venturing to the inshore
grounds to be caught by light tackle guys fishing for bass and blues, or
even on the LAZYBONES on a fluke bait. The yellowfins and longfins were out
around the 450 line, but it started to dry up by the weekend, but they're
probably still out there. There are not that many boats fishing them so it's
difficult to stay on top of them.

Shark fishing is still good. The makos have started to get a little scarce,
but there are plenty of bluedogs around.


If you would like to have these reports sent to you directly, just drop me a
note at . And for more information about
fishing in Montauk, you can give me a call at 800 280 5565 or check out
ht.//www.montauksportfishing.com.

Capt Gene Kelly

Montauk Sportfishing


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Capt Gene Kelly
Tropical Fishing Adventures
Montauk Sportfishing
800 280 5565
631 668 2019