Scales and Tales

Porgy action has been solid of late in the western Long Island Sound. Many of the fish being caught are in the jumbo league. Fish in 20 to 30 feet of water off any point, chum with clam, and use clam or squid for bait and you should put together a solid catch. Some nice catches have also been put together to the extreme east at Hortons Point.

Blues are still running big and thick east of Riverhead, and back west at the Middle Grounds. Anglers sailing out of Port Jefferson and Mount Sinai Harbor have been catching choppers until arm weary. Tubeless diamond jigs have done most of the damage. Most of the blues are in the 6- to 8-pound class, but a few monsters topping 12 pounds have been reported.

Legendary surfcaseter and author, Frank Daignault, will be a guest on the The Fishing Line raido show, Saturday, September 20 at 4:30 p.m. (WGBB 1240AM .) The show will also be streamed live on www.thefishingline.com.

Daignault is author of The Trophy Striper, Eastern Tides, Fly Fishing the Striper Surf, and other great books, Listeners will be able to phone in and ask Daignault questions at 631-888-8811.

According to The Fishing Line host, Rich Johnson, The Fishing Line also now provides 24-hour, free phone service for updated surf and boat fishing reports for Long Island, CT and NJ. "The reports," said Johnson, "give valuable, up-to-the-minute updates and marine forecasts to anybody interested in finding out where the fish are right now.”

You can check out the reports at 516-977-2088.

Attention Long Island deer butchers: I'm trying to build a list of local deer butchers to run in this blog just prior to the opening of hunting season. If you would like to be included, please forward, ASAP, your contact informaiton in the following format: Name, address, town, website, email and phone.

Send your info to me at: outdoortom@optonline.net.

Kids love snappers and contests, so it should be no surprize that snapper derbies really go over well when it comes to lighting a fishing fire in your child's heart.

On Tap for Saturday, September 27, is the Cold Spring Harbor Lions Club's 4th Annual Snapper/Bluefish Derby. It's open to children up to and including 16 years of age, and has awards for snapper, catch-and-release, and bluefish categories. The event is scheduled for rain or shine, starting at 9:00 a.m., at Seafarer’s Parking Lot, West Main St. (25A), Cold Spring Harbor. The entry fee is $15. For more information call: 631-692-6896; email at: CSHLions@aol.com.

If you or your organization is planning a snapper derby, drop me a line at outdoortom@optonline.net and I'll try to post it here. Thanks.

Monday, September 1, is the last day for fluke fishing under the current regulations. If you are planning on heading out in search of keepers, target the ocean waters from Montauk to Ambrose Channel along the South Shore. Many of the best scores have come around inshore wrecks, and the artificial reefs east of Shinnecock, and off Moriches, Fire Island, Jones and Debbs Inlets.

Action to the east, from Montauk to Moriches, has been best of late in 50- to 70-foot depths. Whole squid have accounted for an occassional doormat, but fish strips, squid and spearing combos, and small, live snappers have put plenty of 20- to 24-inch summer flatties in the fish box. In most areas, outgoing water has had an edge on incoming over the past few days.

I got out late last week on the Miss Montauk (www.missmontauk.com) and had a pretty good day. Although a lack of wind and, later, wind against tide conditions kept the action to a steady pick, I saw about 25 keepers come over the rail for roughly 30 anglers with a pool fish of 6 pounds. Captain Jaime Quaresimo kept the search active all day long - no skimping on the gas - and his crew was waiting with a net right alongside any angler with a decent fish at the end of the line.

By day's end, I had tossed back seven fluke ranging from 17 to 20 inches, and put a 4- and 5-pounder in the cooler. Not a bad day at all when you consider that's at least four meals for the Schlichter household. Several anglers also connected with nice sea bass. Spearing and squid was the hot ticket.

How do you measure a trip like this, when most anglers took home one fish, but many fat shorts had to go back over the rail? A rail mate put it well. With one keeper in his bucket at the end of the day, he turned to me and said with a smile: "I'll be back out on this boat for fluke season next year - that skipper and his crew worked their butts off."

I shook my head in agreement. I'll be on the Miss Montauk again next year, too. Hard-working crews are a big draw in my book.

With the open and charter boat porgy limit set to expand on Monday, September 1, I asked Dave Brennan, captain of the Greenport based open boat, Peconic Star (www.peconicstar.com,) for this best porgy-catching tip.

"Hook 'em before they bite," was his simple advice.

That may sound like a joke, but it's actually right on target. Porgy fishing can be so hot at times that some anglers have their baits stolen before even feeling a tug. Brennan suggests engaging your reel the instant the line hits bottom, and then lifting the rod tip gently.

"If there is any extra weight at the end of the line, set the hook immediately," explains the crafty skipper. "A fish already has your bait in its mouth."

Most anglers use a high-low rig for porgies. Once you set the hook, let the fish struggle near the bottom for a few seconds and a second porgy will likely jump on the free hook.

On Tuesday, September 1, the daily porgy limit for anglers fishing on open boats expands from 10 to 45 with a minimum size of 11 inches. Private/rental and shore anglers continue to see the bag limit set at 10 fish, with a 10.5-inch minimum size.

"We are just slamming the fish!" said an excited Captain BoB Ceglowski of the Mattituck open boat, Captain Bob V (www.captbobfishingfleet.com) on Saturday morning. "We've got monster blues running 8 to 12 pounds, stripers up to 20 pounds, plus tons of porgies and sea bass. Yesterday, our boat came in early because everyone was exhausted - but our mates had to keep filleting until after 5:00 p.m.!"

According to Ceglowski, the bass and blues are smashing diamond jigs west of Southold and at Horton's Point. The skipper noted this is the earliest in the season he has ever seen this kind of bluefish and bass action, and added that the porgy and sea bass help make sure everyone goes home with a load of fillets - even those anglers who don't like bluefish. "The action is so crazy," related Ceglowski, "that we had a 5-pound sea bass on a diamond jig.)

Ceglowski, is planning to add night eeling trips for stripers to his schedule come October. These trips will run from 4:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. and reservations will be required.

Since snappers and blue crabs often share the same inshore waters, it's fun to try for both on the same trip. Once you've got the snappers figured out, catching a few blue crabs shouldn't be much trouble.

● Start by bringing a long-handled crab net. Although blue claws are known for swimming near the surface after dark, they also come to the top on occasion during the day. Having a net handy will allow you to scoop up any crab that happens to swim past.
● Blue crabs can often be found hanging onto bulkheads. Simply peak over the edge and look carefully, especially in areas where a ladder enters the water, the bulkhead comes to a corner, or a loose plank juts out into the water. Here the crabs will perch in the shade, picking away at small organisms which lie hidden in the moss or weeds that grow on the submerged wood or concrete. (Be careful not to trip over dock lines, boat cleats, etc., while looking over the edge).
● Bringing along a crab trap is probably the most effective way of taking crabs while snapper fishing. Simply toss out a trap or two and give a check every five or ten minutes. Some days it's possible to take a dozen or more crabs in this manner while collecting enough snappers for dinner. Bait the trap with chicken wings, a whole bunker or a fish rack secured to the trap floor with a length of wire.
● For more sport, leave the traps at home and use a simple drop-line with a chicken leg for bait. You’ll need a net to scoop any crab that takes this offering – and you'll miss as many as you catch – but it is a lot of fun.

Snapper season is in full swing and these feisty little bluefish are a pleasure catch, especially if you target them with light tackle. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when heading out for these tiny but tasty critters:

● Choose a lightweight spinning pole with four- to six-pound test line.
● Use a “snapper popper” tipped with a single spearing or sand eel as a lure/bait combination. Hook the baitfish once, through the eyes.
● Work the popper by chugging it along the surface so the baited tube and hook rides just below the surface. Keep reeling as you get bites, forcing the fish to commit to a solid strike.
● Rigging for bait fishing is best kept uncomplicated. Opt for a simple, silver-colored snapper hook tied directly to the end of the main line with a clinch knot. Suspend the hook two to four feet below a small float. The standard snapper hook comes with a long shank, making it easy to remove from the toothy jaws of this tiny predator. Bait up with a two-inch long piece of spearing or sand eel.
● Live killies, suspended two to four feet below a float, are a great bait for large snappers.
● Small, silver, Johnson Sprites and KastMasters will produce fewer but bigger snappers, especially during September.
● Snappers are especially fond of feeding at creek mouths at the start of outgoing tide. They often prefer incoming water around shallow beaches and marsh edges.
● As with most species of fish, dawn and dusk are often very productive feeding periods.

For the first time in several years, there appears to be a solid set of juvenile weakfish mixed in with the snapper crop. Be careful when snapper fishing that you don’t accidentally take the small weaks, which must be released if they measure less than 16 inches total length, 10” filleted, or 12” dressed. The possession limit for weakfish is 6 and the season is open all year.

A quick inspection makes it easy to tell the weaks from the snappers:
● Snappers have forked tails, weakfish have broad, broom-shaped tails
● Snappers have a full set of even teeth, weakfish have a pair of small fangs at the front of the mouth
● Snappers are blue and silver, weakfish have yellow pectoral fins with some speckles and slight hues of purple on the body

With snapper and blue crab season now in full swing at local docks, beaches and bulkheads, this is probably a good time for a reminder about size and possession limits. They are more detailed than some anglers realize.

You can find New York State Fishing Regulations for all species of salt water fish at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7894.html.

Crabs:
● Season open all year
● The maximum possession limit for any species of crab caught in NYS waters is 50 per day
● Hard shell blue crabs must measure at least 4.5”, from point to point, across the shell
● Soft shell blue crabs must measure at least 3.5”, from point to point, across the shell
● Peeler or “shedder” blue crabs (those about to bust free of their hard shells) must measure at least 3”, from point to point, across the shell
● Blue crabs smaller than the minimum sizes may not be kept – not even for making sauce

Snappers:
● Snappers are juvenile bluefish and fall under the bluefish regulations
● Season is open all year
● No minimum size for the first 10 fish. The next five fish must measure at least 12 inches in total length
● Daily possession limit is 15

In Friday's Outdoors column, I noted the fine action with porgies and blues aboard the City Island open boat, Island Current. While Captain Chris Cullen had fun putting his fares on the action last Tuesday, he also enjoyed watching his three-and-a-half year-old daughter, Marie Helena Cullen, jig her first bluefish before she put a dent in the porgy stocks. Grown-up anglers, noted Capt. Cullen, also took home plenty of fillets.

The hot run of keeper fluke continues, with solid scores made outside all the south shore inlets, at Montauk and between Mt. Sinai and Mattituck. Best of the south side action remains fairly deep, 60 to 80 feet of water, while the Sound fish are concentrated in 20- to 30-foot depths. Some very nice scores were also made by anglers heading off to Block Island.

Two fluke trends of note: the ocean fish are hitting very well on whole squid while white has been the hot color bucktail on the North Shore.

If you are looking for a scup dinner, isolated humps and rock piles off Huntington, Port Jefferson and Greenport are producing very well with clams the top bait.

The western Sound, from Smithtown Bay to Hempstead Harbor, is loaded with school blues.