Overview of the Event
This previous weekend, over 170 surfcasters gathered on the iconic Montauk Lighthouse for Mr. Poseidon’s annual Montauk Fishing Striper Problem. Held from Thursday, October 17, to Saturday, October 19, this 3-day, catch-and-release event drew anglers from throughout the Northeast, together with Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This was the third yr Mr. Poseidon held the event and noticed the largest turnout up to now.
I placed on my press hat and departed round 4:00AM in direction of The Finish to doc the occasion.
Anglers competed in a best-of-10 format, with the grand prize of $5,000 awarded for the angler with the longest striped bass. There have been additionally competitions for longest solid and most correct solid, the place 1st place winners each took dwelling $1,000 in prize cash.
Juan Gonzalez claimed the highest honor with a 43-inch striper caught on the primary evening of the event with a Smokey Joe coloured Tremendous Strike darter. “I used to be fishing that North wind, casting so far as I might into the rips through the outgoing tide,” he informed me. Along with successful $5,000 money, he earned his title on Mr. Poseidon’s epic trophy, plus a customized winner’s jacket, which options an embroidered OTW brand together with different supporters of the event.
In second place was former Montauk-resident and well-known YouTuber Wealthy Janitschek AKA Fishaholic. Wealthy positioned a 42-inch striped bass that very same evening round 2:45 AM on a pencil popper, incomes him $2,500.
The Third place striper, measuring at 38.5 inches, was caught by Rob Cook dinner for a $1,000 payday. Rob caught his fish on a Tremendous Strike Needlefish with a really sluggish retrieve through the finish of the incoming tide.
‘Delco’ Joe Pinto (@Delcotackle) took dwelling 1st place within the longest solid competitors utilizing a customized Delcotackle rod alongside together with his Van Staal VS200 spinning reel spooled with 80-pound chief tied through double-uni-knot to 50-pound braid mainline, dumping a solid 165-yards out. He even had a damaged information through the competitors! “I wished to maintain true to what I fish and nonetheless pull the win,” Joe informed me.
Alejandro Encinas (@pescandoennuevayork) gained most correct solid, nailing a site visitors cone dead-center with a bucktail from 65-yards away!
Montauk Fishing Report
Surfcasters reported considerably difficult circumstances and loads of ‘rat’ sized stripers. On Thursday, the morning chunk was sluggish however finally gave technique to peanut bunker blitzes that harkened again to the outdated days of Montauk. They didn’t final lengthy, nonetheless.
Friday noticed a Northern blow, with wind gusts as much as 20mph. That, mixed with Supermoon tides, had waves reaching the bluffs and precipitated flooding at Hither Hills, which made entry troublesome and delayed the casting competitions till the tide moved out.
In fact, I obtained out to do some fishing myself that morning earlier than work, sharing a tide with Cody Mann (@morefish_lessworries) on the North facet of the lighthouse. We solid tins and bucktails into the white water the place “bird-nadoes” had been terrorizing bait faculties simply out of attain. After an hour with no luck, we headed again to the car parking zone to satisfy up with different anglers who had been fishing across the level. That’s the place I bumped into my buddy Dylan Jewell of All Island Surfcasters.
I spoke to Dylan to get his tackle the fishing: “The primary two days had been blowing fairly good out of the North and Northeast. The bait was pushed tight to the seashore which created some superior blitzes from the North-facing facet of the lighthouse. On Saturday evening the fixed wind introduced in a whole lot of seaweed which made circumstances a lot harder,” he informed me.
A mixture of bait was round, and Dylan reported: “There have been peanuts getting pushed on the seashore, and my buddy on the boats mentioned he had whiting, weakfish, and spots on the market.” All through the day, I hit up spots throughout the Southern and Northern shores of Montauk and located the identical state of affairs. It appeared like a large belt of birds and bait shaped across the total level and would get pushed in with the tide.
“Diamond jigs and poppers had been the important thing through the day, whereas at evening we caught just about all of our fish on Darters,” Dylan mentioned. I’d additionally heard of fine success throwing needles and pencils from just a few different surfcasters that had been competing, and there have been loads of anglers throwing the traditional bucktail and trailer mixture from the rocks through the day.
The anglers I spoke to that morning had it of their minds to hit the ‘Intercept Factors’ – as Invoice Jakob of the Montauk Surfcaster Affiliation places it – at Shagwong Level, False Bar, and naturally the bottom of the Lighthouse. A lot of the motion was occurring through the peak incoming and outgoing tides when the water was nonetheless comparatively excessive and transferring quick.
Maintaining Surfcasting Alive in Montauk
Whereas the fishing tradition in Montauk has modified, occasions like Mr. Poseidon’s event assist hold the custom of surfcasting alive on this once-sleepy fishing city. The variety of members has grown annually since its inception, and Mr. P appears dedicated to creating it higher annually. Many appreciated the competitors and camaraderie that got here with it, myself included.
You may study extra about Mr. Poseidon and his event by testing his YouTube channel, the place he regularly goes dwell.
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