Bluefish off Montauk, NY

By Tom Dempsey

A visit to New York in August would not be complete without a trip off shore for a chance to catch monster Blues. Their Alabama cousins are mere babies compared to the Big Apple strain. About 90 miles up the Long Island Express is Montauk, landsend and the jumping off spot for some great fly fishing. After meeting my guide, Merritt White, we took off in his 21ft. center console Hell’s Bay bay boat [not made any longer but perfect for the chop around the tip of NY].

The water is clear and it takes little in the way of excitement to coax these big guys to your fly. A streamer or a popper stripped across the surface fast, and I mean fast!, is all it takes the get some action. They often appear from the deep, slamming the fly so hard that a hook-up only occurs about 25% of the strikes. But that’s okay because once they are on you are in for a ride! Beware, if you bite tip is not wire the ride is furious but short lived. These guys have big time teeth, so no lipping here. A 10wt. with a floater and a short, stout leader finished off with wire is the way to go.

Close to shore over the big rocks is where the hang out along with their buddies the stripers, but these blue fish are so aggressive in order to catch the stripers you have to have a totally different plan. I’ll report on that after my next trip to N.Y.