IT was supposed to be the perfect day for fishing stripers on the flats in Napeague Harbor – little or no wind and no clouds.
Capt. Merritt White picked me up Wednesday morning and we headed to Louse Point where there’s an East Hampton Town ramp. We put the flat boat in there and made our way through Accabonac Harbor under over cast skies – so much for weather reports.
“You still have no luck,” said Merritt, who had tried with me once before to fish the flats only to have gray skies. In order to spot fish, you need a sunny day and not much wind, otherwise you are constantly casting on the blind with a large fly rod and that gets tiresome, especially when you have a bad shoulder like me.
We did try for a while, but I quickly changed the game plan and asked the skipper for a light-spinning rod. We started to drift along Geoff Point in Napeague Harbor. There is a fish farm right there and a small spit of land with a tern colony. Just off the point is a sandy island covered with cormorants. Not a bad place to be even without the sun.
Merritt wanted me to fish the drop-offs just as the ebb tide started getting stronger. White, who heads up Gunkholin’ Charters off the East End, grew up in the Hamptons and knows the fish and these waters like the back of his hand. Whatever he tells me usually works.
Casting small tinker-mackerel type lures and working them slow off the edge, I quickly got into some schoolie bass. On eight-pound test the fight is exciting and we hooked and released about six fish.
Into Gardiners Bay you could see terns working frantically over a school of bluefish. Merritt moved the boat so we could slowly drift into the school. As I hooked and release one after another cocktail-sized bluefish on a small diamond jig, Merritt rigged up a fly rod with a popper.
I started to cast and hooked one, but dropped it. I was too slow. The fish were behind me now and Merritt yelled, “Do a back cast.” I fumbled a few times and Merritt grabbed the rod to show me how it’s done. He just let line drop on the back cast. He did it a couple of times then handed me the rod as a bluefish jumped on. I’ll take what ever I can get.
As we headed back to Louse Point, Merritt said that the best time was in the fall, when the albacore are in. I told Merritt I would be back. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a quality guide on the East End for fly-fishing or light spinning action, give Merritt a call (631) 243-8450.