June 30, 2003
It seems like the Montauk Marine Basin Shark Tournament must have picked up some of the
missing entries from the Star Island Tournament. They usually have around seventy entries, but
this past weekend they had just about a hundred. The results were nothing to yell about, with a
conspicuous absence of the exotics, with only one mako and one thresher making the board.
Overall, the shark fishing needs a little help, with too many “shark dummies” coming in, and
very few reporting a festival of blue sharks. The results of the tournament are as follows;
LARGEST SHARK - 302 LBS BLUE SHARK - "FREEDOM"
1st PLACE MAKO - 236 LBS - "CELTIC PRIDE"
1st PLACE BLUE SHARK - 302 LBS - "FREEDOM"
2nd PLACE BLUE SHARK - 289 LBS - "HURRY UP"
3rd PLACE BLUE SHARK - 246 LBS - "KINI B"
1st PLACE OTHER - 177 LBS THRESHER - "DOCTORS ORDERS"
Some school bluefins have been showing their noses offshore, and a couple have even been
caught, although not many boats have been paying much attention to them yet. The last couple of
years we’ve had some pretty hot action for the footballs in and around the Butterfish Hole, so
maybe that action is getting to start up. Last year there were a lot of juvenile makos hanging
around with the tuna, looking for easy meals, often chewing on the ones that were vulnerable
because they had a lure hanging from their jaw.
Inshore, the bottom fishing leaves a little to be desired, with a lot of complaints about too many
short fluke and not enough of the eating kind. Most, if not all, of the boats are fishing north of a
line between Montauk Point and Block Island. You can usually expect to catch a better quality of
fluke in the deeper water to the south of that line, but the doggies are still out there. Hopefully
the weather we’re having will warm up the water enough to chase them, so things can get back
to normal
If you would like to have these reports sent to you directly, just drop me a note at
CaptGene@MontaukSportfishing.com. And for more information about fishing in Montauk, you
can give me a call at 800 280 5565 or check out
http://www.montauksportfishing.com.
Capt Gene Kelly
Montauk Sportfishing
Montauk Sportfishing Report 6/30/03
