9/29/08

That was a pretty crappy week. East winds all week capped off by a small gale with lots of wind on Friday, and finally a
lousy forecast for Saturday that caused a bunch of charters to get canceled, including three of mine. Friday when I talked
to the client I told him there was no way that they were going to be able to get out Saturday morning. Saturday morning I
woke up and got sick when I looked at my wind-o-meter and it said zero. I took a ride down to the Light and saw ideal
conditions, no wind and flat seas although with a bit of a heave. Then I took a pass by the various marinas and saw that
only a half dozen boats had sailed. At least I wasn’t the only dummy who listened to the weather guy.

Sunday when “Ike” passed by we got some mega swells, with breakers on the Elbow and the outer buoy. Plus, five
surfcasters, whose eyes light up with lousy conditions, had their eyes get even wider when they were swept off the bar at
Shagwong. Luckily they all got picked up by boats.

And, the bass bit kind of ferociously both on Saturday and Sunday. Albies are a different story and may have been blown
away.

The Montauk Classic was held over the weekend, and the results are as follows;
Greg Flanagan - 36.18 lb striper
Leighton Campbell - 35.70 lb striper
Rich Hacker - 33 .12 lb striper
Richard Warren - 12.66 lb bluefish
Tom Kallenbach - 11.34 lb bluefish
Barbara Kallenbach - 10.70 lb bluefish

The Old Harbor Outfitters were to have an offshore tournament this past weekend, but that was blown out for the second
year in a row, I don’t see the wisdom in scheduling an offshore tournament this late in the season, but the Stephen Sloan
Memorial Shark Tournament will be held at Star Island this weekend. This is something a little different, with an all
release format similar to some major billfish tournaments, with an observer on each boat to make sure that everyone
sticks to the Marquise of Queensbury rules. I’m sure that they’ll do fine with the sharks.

Paulies’ Tackle shop is holding its striped bass tournament this weekend, so there is a segment of anglers praying for
lousy weather while another segment is looking for good weather.

I’m not so sure about tuna, since no one has been offshore for over a week now. Anyone who has to go after tuna is sure
to be scratching his head wondering where to go and what kind he should aim for.

Porgy fishing is closed for the regular people, but charter and head boats have until October 15. So, if you want to fish
for bass using the scup, you have to go on a licensed boat. That means one that is registered with New York State as a
party or charter boat, not just some guy who has a captains license.