On Wednesday June 15th I boarded the Ebb Tide II. It’s a 70 foot Gillikin docked at Salivars Dock. A large body of fish have been off the lighthouse for most of the late Spring. I’ve fished on the Ebb Tide with Captain Jake Nessel for many years. He’s a legend. Father and Son Anthonys professionally work the deck. It was wind against tide conditions which can effect certain methods. I caught some large ocean Bluefish, a couple Striped Bass, a big male Sea Bass, a jumbo porgy and a monster sea robbin during the diamond jig part of the 3/4 day trip. Jake drove the boat and set up drifts through other boats that were either commercially down rigging, jigging, live baiting or wire trolling. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. As luck would have it, I caught a nice “slot bass” between 28-35 inches right before the diamond jig part of the trip ended.
We switched over to fluke fishing late in the trip. Jake took the boat down the beach off the mansions west of the light to an area which has always been good. The fluke fishing wasn’t as good as the jigging, but some beautiful Black Sea Bass were caught and released. Sea Bass season opens June 23rd, a day after I submit this. When you’re reading this, you’ll be able to catch and keep the delicious Montauk staple. Black Sea Bass might be our best eating fish. There’s nothing like fresh caught local seafood and the folks that harvest it.
