Montauk

[mrobertson]

Well - Harkers Island is outside Moorehead City in NC. So that would probably be a 1000+ mile tow for you.

Sea Conditions - Montauk is like any other place. It can be glass flat. You are basically ocean fishing and with the rips and currents up there it can be brutal. The video was of our best days there. We were stuck on a N/NE blow a solid 20 - 25 and when the tide came around.........solid 4-5 foot tight seas. It was just miserable to get around even in a 23 SC. The best advice i can give you is to be flexible on your dates. I'm not a die hard, go in any conditions, fisherman. I like it to be enjoyable. We were never in danger of dying, but you would not have been out in an 18 seacraft, that i can promise you. Look on a map at montauk, you can always get on the leigh side of the point to stay out of the wind. If you have the time, i'd make that trip a week long and you'll be sure to get at least a couple of days of good weather unless you are extremely unlucky. As noted before, montauk is some of the best surf fishing on the east coast. So if you go, you want to take rods to fish off the beach with in case you get blown out.

I do not know much about the fishery, but albies in general are water temp and bait dependent. They can be there one day gone the next. The past 2 years, mid october has treated me well. That video was shot Oct 15th - 17th. I've heard columbus day weekend is a zoo up there for fishing, so i would not plan for that. Also, you need to be prepared for a run and gun style of fishing........almost bumper boats. If the birds get fired up and start working, everyone puts the hammer down to go after them........like i said, run and gun. Last year i had 4 on my 23 and we rotated drivers, its just easier that way. Those albies are so fast, when you pull up on a school that are busting the surface, you'll only get 1-2 casts to hook up and then they are out of casting range.

Here's me and you can see it's a little chunky on the water, not terrible but not glass either.





One thing is for sure..............you get a good dose of albie fishing on fly and light tackle, you won't want to do anything else. I wish i could get into them closer to MD but when they go by NJ and MD, they go far offshore. Very cool sight to see them smashing through the schools of bait. They are like little missles!!!!