12/11/09

It’s done, finished! This morning when I went out for the newspaper, the bucket holding my wife’s rainwater was all
frozen, hard.

The bass fishing just slowly petered out, with boats stopping fishing even though there were fish to be caught. Just not
enough of them. The herring showed up, but you were better off eating them than using them for bait. There just
weren’t enough bass around for live bait fishing. Then, there were also too many bluefish. It certainly wasn’t what the
famed “herring run” is supposed to be. The last trips that were sailed by any of the charterboats were for blackfish,
seabass (for those with special permits, or no federal seabass license in state waters - I need a lawyer for this part), and
occasional codfish. One day there were birds as far as the eye could see to the west from The Point, but the couple of
boats going out couldn’t be bothered.

The Locals Surf contest also ended with a whimper, with no contenders being caught after November 11, and most
being caught in mid October. The final results are as follows;
Wader Division
Mike Milano - 50.52 lbs - 10/15
Mike Milano - 39.44 lbs - 11/5
Matt Vega - 37.04 lbs - 10/14

Wet Suit Division
Mike Coppola - 47.02 lbs - 10/22

Women’s Division
Mary Ellen Kang - 23.68 lbs - 11/11
Mary Ellen Kang - 23.42 lbs - 10/4
Mary Ellen Kang - 22.90 lbs - 10/2

Youth Division
Ben McCarron - 26.72 lbs - 10/12
Nick Apostilades - 24.52 lbs - 10/25
Kevin Logi - 21.32 lbs - 11/10

Kids Division
Andreas Koutsogiannis - 10.78 lbs

There are a number of charterboats that are remaining in the water to get in on last years cod run; WINDY, LORI JAY,
VIVIENNE, CAPT MARK, SEAWIFE, ELIZABETH and probably a couple of others. There will also be an influx of
head boats from up-island, probably a half dozen or so. The cod better show up.

If you prefer fishing in your tee shirt this winter over standing at an iced-up rail, drop me a line. I can set you up with a
great trip to Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala or Belize.

See you in the spring

If you would like to get these reports sent to you directly, drop me a line at captaingene@montauksportfishing.com and
I’ll put you on the list.

Capt Gene Kelly - Montauk Sportfishing