Go Fish

?The Weather Gods were not with local fishermen at the beginning of the week, but there are still impressive results from the August fishing tournaments. The sixth annual Hamptons Offshore Invitational Tournament sponsored by the Shinnecock Marlin and Tuna Club had its weigh-ins at Oakland Marina and Restaurant, Hampton Bays. Here are some of the winners:

Day Fishing
Big-eye tuna – Spellman’s Marine (Doug Wells) 135 lbs.
Yellowfin tuna – Mikat II (Mike Dixon) 60 lbs.
Albacore – Morning Belle (Joseph Larucci) 40 lbs
Overnight Fishing
Big-Eye Tuna – High Life (William Conran) 230 lbs.
Yellowfin – Maximus (William Demchek) 103.5 lbs
Albacore – Reel Fun (Rick Fayer) 62.5 lbs.
In the catch-and-release marlin competition, John Schmilt of Complicated Lady hooked a white marlin, and Mike and Chuck Forman of the Sandra Jenny hooked a blue marlin in day fishing. Cathy’s Choice hooked three white marlin on the overnight trip, and Reel Fun had two catch-and-release blue marlin.
The recreational-boat winners of the Montauk Mercury Grand Slam Tournament at Uihlein’s Marina, Montauk, are:
On-line (Skip Stritziger) 33.9 lb. striped bass; On-line (Skip Stritziger) 13.85 lb. bluefish; Bite Me (Ed Eurell) 10 lb. fluke.
There can be substantial payouts in major fishing tournaments even though the entry fees are pretty steep. For example, at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland, the white marlin winning boat had an 82-lb. fish and won $1, 552,000. The winning blue marlin of 730 lbs. brought $660,172.
In other fishing reports, Carl at Montauk Marine Basin says Sea Wife brought in a 250-lb. mako shark last Saturday and another boat caught 16 yellowfin tuna. Bill at Star Island Marina notes there were large tuna caught at the Mud Hole about 17 miles off Montauk Point. Fishermen on the Viking Fleet boats said the wind and seas subsided after 10 a.m. last Saturday, the sun came out and they caught fluke, seabass and porgies off Block Island.
Steve at Wego Fishing Station, Southold, reports big porgies and large bluefish off Gardiner’s Island and Plum Island. The Orient Star’s clients caught porgies, seabass and bluefish late last Saturday afternoon at Plum Gut and Pigeon’s Rip.
Harvey Bennett of The Tackle Shop, Amagansett – who also is a bike marathoner – tells us there was a big run of shad off the beach being chased by striped bass from Gurney’s Inn to Indian Wells Beach, and a few fortunate surfcasters, using tin lures, caught some bass.
The reports from Shinnecock Bay are positively poetic. Seamonster writes the water is “bubbling with baitfish and snapper,” and Capt. Don Kaye writes “striped bass were busting bait at sun-up……and alligator bluefish added to the exciting mix.” Send your fish tales, pictures and questions to yeoldesalt@aol.com.
–Rich Firstenberg