Amityville, Blackbeard and Kings

[PanamaJack]

A bit of a strange title? Well, yes. And apologies because there’s some Salmon fishing tacked on the end,. But believe me all will become clear ….. eventually.

 

Anyway this is a report of my recent fishing trip to the ‘States – two days in Montauk, on the tip of Long Island (100 miles from New York), two days in Morehead City (North Carolina) and finally two days Salmon fishing at Pulaski, Upper New York State, on the appropriately named Salmon River.

 

There're a few more pictures to add that owing to site limitations I'll need to add on separate posts.)

 

So to start with that strange title, why Amityville? Do you remember the seaside town in Peter Benchley’s novel ‘Jaws’? That was Amityville. However it was actually based on Montauk – one of the so called ‘Fishing Capitals of the World’ - and the character Quint (Robert Shaw) was based on one of its renowned shark skipper, Frank Mundus.

 

Apart from the very occasional White Sharks that are still sighted off there they also target Blues, Threshers, Makos and (rarely) Tigers in the Gulf Stream. And out wide, normally in the Autumn, they also fish for Tuna, mainly Bluefin and BigEye but also, occasionally, Yellowfin. As well on the inshore marks, often from the so called ‘head boats’ – they cater for up to 60 plus anglers at a time - they target species such as Striped Bass, Porgies, Fluke (a big flounder with teeth), Scup and Blackfish.

 

But this is not what had drawn us to Montauk. Mid-October is when, right in on the lighthouse point, the famed ‘blitzes’ occur. These are enormous surface aggregations of Striped Bass (similar but larger than our Bass), Bluefish and False Albacore (Little Tunny) that gather, prior to migrating south with the cooling water, to rip through the shoals of hapless Bay Anchovy fry being swept out of the shallows.

 

Apart from the fish though, everyone else gets in on the act. There’re anglers fishing just out from the breakers in small boats using light spin or fly gear competing with surf anglers hurling out huge plugs. And there was also, in this melee, a lone kayak angler. Of course while this is all going on there’re the tourists gathered on the Point viewing this impressive spectacle.

 

It’s difficult to determine when the blitzes will occur – the fry shoals show up as brown stains on the water – and, for large parts of the day, you’re instead watching for bird activity whilst the predators are shadowing shoals of bunker and menhaden (small fish). As soon as you see the birds hovering then it’s a case of gunning the engines, positioning yourself and casting either Deceiver-patterned flies or artificial lures. One lure that we found particularly effective, and will undoubtedly work in the UK, was something called a Slug-Go. We probably got most hook-ups on the pink ‘Bubble Gum’ and, in their various sizes, they were effective for the Bass, False Albacore and Bluefish. Although Bluefish are like saltwater piranha and, fished too quickly like you would for the False Albacore, they’d just bite the tails off.

 

Any rate, should it be of interest, here’s an article describing their use - and I understand you can buy them through this site or, in this country, a limited range from Rok-Max.

 

So how did we do? Seriously I lost count of the numbers we caught. But the best Striped Bass we had on 12lb spin gear was a 14 pounder and the best fish on the fly were a 9 1/2lb Bass and a 10 1/2lb Bluefish. Both of those were taken on an 8 weight rod fishing a 20lb tippet. That’s a way to bend the handle corks! Also, on day one, I had what the Americans refer to as a ‘Grand Slam’, specimens from the three different species – Striped Bass, Bluefish and False Albacore.

 

In that we were primarily fishing the fly we fished just two to the 23 footer. But you could easily fish four although not with all casting at the same time. Not that that would matter – there were so many fish! We fished with Matt Miller – a Brit, an ex-member of our Club - and his daily rate was 575$US, equivalent to just over £300. (Then there’s the US convention of the tip to consider.) Remember though that’s essentially all-in, he provides all the top quality tackle (including the fly rods), the flies and lures (and you can lose a lot, particularly when the Bluefish are active) and soft drinks. I know that Matt often guides for John Wilson and has made videos of their trips. Perhaps they appear on the Go Fishing programs?

 

Any rate, whilst we specifically targeted the blitzes, I know Matt enjoys sight casting for the Bass in really shallow water during the late Spring and Summer months. And in November, when they get the ‘Bluebacks’ (large Herrings) run, they free-line them for the really big Bass – 30 to 40 pounders – and offshore, if conditions are reasonable, for the school Bluefin Tuna – fish of 25 to 50 or so pounds.

 

If you’re interested, and Montauk is only 100 miles from JFK airport, this is Matt's web site.

 

Part 2 of our trip was to the southernmost tip of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The Outer Banks is a series of barrier islands along the Atlantic seaboard that reach from Kitty Hawk (remember the Wright brothers first powered flight) on Albemarle Sound down through places like Hatteras (where the boats are made) to Pamlico Sound. And it was on Pamilco Sound, at Morehead City, that we were to base ourselves for two days fly fishing for things called ‘puppy (Red) Drum’.

 

So firstly why that part of the title ‘Blackbeard’? Well the islands at the south end of Pamlico Sound was where the notorious 18th century pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, based himself. And it was where, at Beaufort, that he apparently deliberately grounded his flagship, the 40 gunned Queen Anne’s Revenge – they’re currently researching the wreck - and where he was finally killed by the British. Evidentially it took five musket-ball wounds and more than 20 cutlass lacerations before he finally went down. (If you’re interested in the history there’s a piece here worth reading.)

 

Then the travel down. We flew from JFK (New York) to Norfolk, Virginia. DON’T however repeat our mistake, fly into Raleigh/Durham it’s a somewhat shorter and more direct route. From Norfolk it may only be 200 miles, but with US road signing it’s easy to get lost as we did, and the 4 ¼ hour journey eventually took nearly 8 and we covered – the ‘scenic’ route, skirting Raleigh – over 400 miles. I know I should have printed a route map from MapQuest before I’d left but naively assumed Avis would provide us with one. They didn’t! ‘Company policy’ was the excuse we were given.

 

There’s also a point about the signing. Unlike UK Motorway’s their Inter-states and major routes don’t usually identify destinations or major towns en route, just towns on the road in that particular county. (And it’s a whole range of counties that constitute a State.) So be warned! For anything other than the simplest of journeys make sure you print out directions in advance – apart from the car hire companies most hotels/motels block their receptionists’ access to the Internet.

 

Any rate, now to the fishing. As I mentioned we were planning to fly fish for the ‘puppy’ - sub-three year old - Red Drum. These tend to be found in the shallow waters of the Sound or, where we targeted them, in the areas of flooded – at high tide – saw grass adjacent to the Inter-Coastal Waterway. (This is the ‘deep water’ canal system that connects Boston right down to Key West utilising rivers, lagoons, man-made channels and the protected area inside the ‘Keys, in the Gulf of Mexico. There is also a connecting branch that runs from Florida to Texas. All in all it’s approaching 3000 miles in length.)

 

As the tide starts to flood the fish push up the small creeks and then spread out, into the grass, to feed on snails, oysters, minnows and mullet fry. The fishing’s so different, it’s more akin to hunting. You’re either listening to them ‘slurping’ or ‘tailing’ – here you either sight a full tail, with its characteristic ‘tail spot’, or often just imperceptible movements or tiny tips of tail. (The initial difficulty with the latter is determining, especially at distance, whether it’s a Drum or small shoal of bait moving.)

 

Whilst we used a small bow-mounted electric motor to move up the creeks all ‘close’ manoeuvring was with a ‘push pole’ with the guide on his poling platform mounted above the outboard – exactly the same way as fishing for Bonefish. But the movements of the fish were totally unpredictable, especially if they ever got into deeper water. Still, great fun stalking them.

 

Day one was very much a learning curve and, given that we were a several days after the peak of the tides, we didn’t get too long on the ‘grass’. However we did get seven casts at one fish with our weed-less fly before we finally spooked it. The rest of the day was spent ‘firing’ weed-less lures on spin gear into slightly less dense areas of reeds. Exciting in itself but all we had to show at the end of the day was a small Speckled Trout and several abortive strikes. Redfish (the Drum) have underslung mouths and there were times when the spoon was literally ‘climbing’ over reed stems.

 

Any rate day two was somewhat different. Our guide Dean suggested that we may want to try one of the offshore reefs where they were catching King Mackerel and False Albacore in numbers. But it was 17 miles offshore and we didn’t want to compromise our shot at the Drum. So we settled to fish initially in the Sound, in his 23’ centre console craft. That way we could be back for the flooding tide.

 

Using a mixture of artificials, live shrimp and Pinfish we caught some smallish Grouper, a Ray and, on the fly, a Red Drum. Not big, but at least that was our intended quarry.

 

After literally no more than a couple of hours we raced back in – a 250HP outboard really pushes along a 23 footer – raised the craft on its cradle, attached the freshwater flushing lines, and took off towing Dean’s flats skiff.

 

On this second day we spotted many more tailers. And I got my first shot on the fly, a relatively simple 40’ cast, but too close! It spooked and shot off at high speed through the heavy cover. Seeing as it was my birthday I got to stay ‘up front’, and we quickly spotted four more fish working an area. Then, whilst we were stalking one, another started feeding less than 20’ from us. I crouched on the bow and, when he got his head down, flipped the fly – with a side cast – about 4’ in front of his possible direction. We got that bit right and, as he approached the fly, I tweaked it twice. He pounced on it! And the speed of the strike in that heavy cover was impressive and he powered off on a 40 yard run. Unfortunately then, tail waving, he started rubbing his nose on bottom structure and dislodged the hook. I clearly remember screaming out ‘Oh bother’, or something remarkably similar. A penny in the ‘swear box’ perhaps?

 

My friend Vince then took over and we finally got a 4 pounder. Again all very visual, all at close range and exciting whether or not it’s ‘pulling your string’.

 

The tide then peaked and, as soon as it's starts to ebb, the fish immediately move off the ‘grass’ and back into the channels. We fished a little longer casting artificials way back into the reeds in slightly deeper water but without success - just another couple of abortive explosive strikes.

 

Still, would I go back? You bet, it’s really exciting fishing! And there’s loads of variety in that area for a longer trip. Surf casters I’m sure would love to target the mature Red Drum on the oceanside of the Outer Banks – there they regularly catch 30 to 50 pounders at the back of the breakers. There’s also tremendous pier fishing. And the offshore fishing can be phenomenal – everything from Marlin, Tuna and big Sharks down to a variety of light tackle challenges. Also after Christmas they catch (and release) wintering Bluefin Tuna on the wrecks. I know it’s somewhat ‘joke’ fishing with very heavy tackle but, several years ago, a well known big game angler – Stewart Campbell – released literally over 70 in a single day. These are fish from around 350lbs upwards!

 

The guide we fished with was Dean Lamont who lives in Morehead City. And his rates were very reasonable at 425$US a day, although obviously more should you want to run offshore on his centre console craft. This is Dean's web site. Or you can explore the links on this site's Things to Do for information on the area’s variety of fishing.

 

After this we headed north, back to JFK, and overnight in the ‘Big Apple’, and on to Syracuse in Upper New York State near the Canadian border. Finally there was the short drive to Pulaski and the famous & appropriately named Salmon River. Slightly colder! And in fact a few days earlier Buffalo, somewhat further west on Lake Ontario, had had a two foot snowfall! We were spared that although there was certainly frost on the ground given our very early start on day one.

 

Having parked Randy’s 4X4 we tackled up by flashlight and walked to the fast flowing river. Now this bit was a bit of an act of faith. We formed a human chain grasping each other’s shoulder and edged our way across in water never more than mid-thigh deep. Then it was a case of standing chatting in the darkness until the light finally started to lift.

 

The Salmon River, that feeds Lake Ontario, is separated into three – pools and fast running rapids. There’s the lower section where any method go, the middle – the ‘Sanctuary’ – where the State hatchery is located and fishing is prohibited, and the upper fly (and release) only section where we fished. Just a bit above the pool we fished access leading up to the dam, a mile or so up, was again restricted.

 

Now unlike the UK with essentially strictly private and horrendously expensive Salmon beats most of the rivers in the ‘States are public waters. And accordingly they can get a tad crowded. We were on an island but opposite us, restricted by trees and boulders in the river three other anglers set ‘up camp’.

 

Before they arrived though I’d made my first casts. We were using 12’ 8 weight Spey rods with 8lb tippets and, given the current, a lead shot 3 ½ to 4’ from the fly. The technique was to keep the fly ‘ticking’ along the bottom. Well first experimental cast nothing, but second everything locked up solid. I was convinced I’d hooked the bottom, but Randy assured me it was a fish. After five seconds of pressure it powered up through the pool and then stopped. And Randy’s telling me to break it off. Why? He pointed to the rod tip and its constant nodding – that’s a sure sign it’s hooked in the tail.

 

So break it off I did. Randy assured me that the fish in its breeding colours would soon return to the pool. And that pool was already literally stacked with fish, excavating redds.

 

But what was it? It was a Pacific King Salmon, normally found in places like Alaska and British Columbia. But what were they doing there? Well they - together with Cohos, Chinook and Steelheads – have been routinely stocked since the 60s in the feeder rivers of the Great Lakes and most never venture into the salt feeding exclusively in the freshwater lakes. To give you an indication of numbers, supplementing the natural spawning, this one hatchery produces around 1.6 million fingerlings a year to stock local rivers.

 

The fishing continued apace with both of us constantly hooking fish into and landing fish in the 15 to 20lb plus range. (They have landed 40 pounders from the river though.) Those opposite were also hooking occasional ones. But there was an etiquette to all of this. As soon as you hooked up you’d shout ‘Fish On’ and the others would allow you the run of the pool. Also importantly when you realised the fish was foul-hooked and the fight was likely to result in stalemate you’d pull for a break and shout ‘Fish Off’. There was also the ‘Coming Up’ and ‘Coming Down’.

 

‘Coming up’ could prove difficult, there was a limit to how far you could follow them and several took us way into our backing.

 

‘Coming down’ could be equally as exciting but more challenging. The fish would take you down through the rapids, occasionally stopping to hold in pockets of fast water. And all the time you were attempting to pull them off balance and re-position near to the bank by flexing the tip over. Some of those battles took us 150 plus yards downstream, often forcing us back into the water to negotiate bank-side trees.

 

As well as the exhilarating runs you’d occasionally get ‘jumpers’ – with five or six leaps clear of the water. How many did we catch over the two days? I have to admit to loosing count. Exciting fishing? You bet! Great fun.

 

How about costs? Well Randy’s guiding rate is 300$US a day for two anglers, 250 for one – the same as he charges when he guides, wade fishing for Striped Bass and Bluefish, at Chatham on the ‘elbow’ of Cape Cod during the late Spring through to late Summer months. However if you were contemplating a longer trip I’m sure after a couple of days with someone like Randy I’m sure any reasonably competent angler could easily self-guide just for the cost of the New York freshwater licence – 25$US for a week.

 

I’ve fished with Randy twice now and could unreservedly recommend him. Details of his services and contact e-mail are on his web site.

Dave

[PanamaJack]

Here some more pictures of the fish at Montauk. The first is a Bluefish - a fish with TEETH and attitude to match, hence the rather nervous pose!

[PanamaJack]

Pictures from Morehead City, fishing for the Red Drum. Trust you can spot the tail in the second shot.

[PanamaJack]

Fighting King Salmon.

 

The fish.

[Newt]

Sounds like a great trip. I do feel your pain trying to navigate from Norfolk to the Outer Banks if you are from elsewhere though.

 

If you have a photobucket account and put your photos there, you can put quite a few into a post. Only problem is for the few remaining users with dial-up because the embedded photos will slow down their loading the thread.

[Davy Holt]

Now THAT is a report

[smudgertoo]

wow..... great report Panama Jack, that salmon fishing looks awesome.

[stan4massey]

Cracking report Dave, is that Froudy in the photos???

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Great read and the pics were great those boils were mind blowing, great stuff

[blindog]

Top notch report PJ