Montauk Fishing – The Perfect Day

Earlier last week, a few of us started watching the weather, hoping for a break in the rain and a chance to hit the water. For Thursday, the forecast showed less than a 25% chance of rain, which was good enough to post a trip and see who was game.

We ended up with a crew of 10: Steve Baker, Bob Born, Bob Hassett, Bob Palish (the three Bobs), David Knight, Bill Grelle, Denny Garner, Don Varner, Harold Bates, and myself, Ken Welter. We met at the commuter lot at 6:00 AM and made it to Montauk by 8:30. After grabbing our tags and suiting up, we all spread out into the park.

The weather could not have been more perfect,  with temperatures starting in the low 60s and warming into the low 70s by the afternoon, accompanied by clear skies all day. I wandered up about halfway to the spring, got in, and started fishing. It was slow at first, just a couple of fish as I worked downstream — but things started to pick up.

I eventually met up with Bob Palish and Bill Grelle about 150 yards upstream of the powerline. I was fishing a dry-dropper rig and started catching fish. The surface activity picked up, and the fish were rising. Bill and Bob P. were also doing well with topwater flies and netting fish.

At lunch, we all gathered and shared reports;  everyone had caught fish. Someone brought up a bit of fishing wisdom: “When you’re catching fish, don’t go hunting for fish.”
That stuck with me. I was tempted to try something different, but stayed with what had been successful in the morning. A dry-dropper,  I was not disappointed and continued to find success in the afternoon.

Steve Baker reported doing well with a soft hackle, and Don Varner had luck on the cerise worm. The hot fly of the day seemed to be the red zebra midge. The tan headlight caddis,  Soft hackle, or something similar, was working well on the top. I think just about everyone had a double-digit day. 

Dinner? Where else but American Taco! We took over the place, enjoyed a great meal, then piled back into our cars and headed home.

What a glorious day of fishing, fellowship, and perfect fall weather.