Montauk Magic

Don’t even bother reading this. Just buy your plane ticket or pack the truck and get to Montauk NY. Either that or simply turn yourself in to the local police because it would be a crime to miss fishing Montauk NY during September and October. The “Fall Run” hits Montauk early, where tens of thousands of striped bass to 40 pounds and bluefish to 20 pounds crush bait schools day in and day out on their migration down the Eastern Seaboard through the autumnal months.

Montauk Point is a confluence where all the facets of fishy environments come together - boulder strewn submarine structure, kelpy coastlines, rippy waters, and plenty of baitfish and forage. The angling epicenter exists right in front of the Lighthouse, more commonly known as The Rip, where swashing currents and tides hurl themselves around the point, combined with shifting winds to create frothy, frenzied waves. The swashing waters create ultimate confusion for baitfish, allowing predatory gamefish of bass and blues to ambush the skittish bait schools in a surprise attack. On the south side of the Rip lay the towering hard packed sand and clay cliffsides, with piscatorial landmarks sporting catchy names such as Warhol’s, Ditch Plains, and Turtle Cove. The north side of the Point’s boulder strewn coastline off Stepping Stones, Shagwong Point and False Point are striper havens, the big bass attracted to feed on bottom dwellers like lobsters and crabs that inhabit the submarine boulder fields.

This is a surfcaster’s heaven. Load up with 10 to 12-foot medium/fast action surf spinning rods such as a Shimano Tiralejo matched with 8000 to 10000 class reels like a Shimano Ultegra spooled with 50-pound braided line. An assortment of offerings can go on the end 100-pound TA clip such as 1 to 2-ounce bucktails tipped with Pork Rind, metal-lipped wooden swimmers, 3-ounce  pencil poppers, Bomber 16 A salt plugs, or Darters. Cast out and retrieve at a slow pace as both bass and blues will hamhock a slowly presented lure. You want in on the “Fall Run” to catch a striper or blue of a lifetime? Get to Montauk aka “The End” now.