Nearly 300 casters took to the Montauk surf this past weekend for this year’s installment of the Montauk Surf Fishing Classic hosted by Long lsland State Parks and The Fisherman Magazine, and co-hosted by Paulie’s Tackle Shop. Both the weather and the fish cooperated with good fishing conditions throughout the weekend, and numerous small bass and blues keeping rods bending. While quality fish were tough to come by, no one seemed to complain about the action with 2 to 5-pound blues and stripers up to 30 or so inches. The pre-dawn and early morning hours on Sunday did produce some action with fish in the teens and 20-pound range on the north side, and there was a steady pick of schoolies on the south side. The action was well spread out over the course of the weekend, and there were massive amounts of bait at various times spread from the north side down to sand beaches through Napeague. Over the course of the weekend, I saw bay anchovies, peanut bunker, snappers and mullet. Other casters told me they also saw adult bunker and they caught fish that spit up small squid. It looks like there is the potential for a good fall run in Montauk this year and reason to hope that it continues through October and into November, unlike recent years when the Point was virtually devoid of bass beyond the first week of October.
Winning anglers had to work for a handful of decent fish. Joe Mollica took the top spot in the bass category with a 27 pounder caught Friday night under the light on a bottle plug. Larry Welcome of North Bar Lures squeezed a 23 pounder out of Sunday’s early action, and Mike Coppola rounded out the scoring with a 20.50 pounder taken on Friday.
In the Bluefish Division, Russell Renner chunked up a 13.25 pound chopper at Shagwong on Friday, while Terry Marburger, who makes a habit of finishing in the top three of this division nearly every year came through again, putting a 13 pounder on the board Sunday morning. Hard fishing Mike Larsen wrapped up the scoring with an 11.50 pound blue. Just one qualifying fish was entered in the Striped Bass Release Category. It was left to inveterate surf guide Billy Wetzel to pull a 36 incher from the north side early Sunday.
First place in the bass and bluefish categories was worth $750, while second and third place winners, and the release division winner went home with rods from RH Custom Rods, St. Croix and Tsunami. Everyone who attended the awards ceremony at Montauk State Park on Sunday received a goody bag with tackle from corporate sponsors KASTKING, Tsunami, Sea Striker, VMC, Fat Cow and Spro.
Kudos to all of our sponsors, the state park staff that helped put this together, and Ray and Mike from Paulie’s Tackle Shop who handled entries and manned the scale throughout the weekend.
