May 12, 2009

Long Island Sound Wrapped in Fog

I'm sorry to have neglected my blog for so long. I've been off the North Fork for awhile.

Surrounded by water, the North Fork gets it's fair share of fog now and again. It's nice to see a familiar setting so often bright and sparkling, more quiet, the colors subdued, the occasional cries of a gull distant and sounding forlorn. Fog crept in from the sea going up and over the headland just west of Kenny's Beach. At Rocky Point the scene seemed to exist on two planes, the near and clear and the far and indistinct. Zooming in revealed a fisherman in foul weather gear keeping an eye on his four surf casting rods sand spiked into the beach the ends of which softly undulated with the motion of the incoming swells.

There are submerged rocks all around the point, some as big as houses, many of which aren't noted on the official NOAA charts. This can make for treacherous boating, but if one practices the rules of safety taught us by the local Power Squadron or in our case, a 12 week intensive by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxillary, the fishing can be very rewarding among the rocks, particularly for "stripers" or striped bass also known in some areas as rockfish. Catching a 10 to 40+ lb. striper on a fly of one's own tying and landed with a 4 oz. fly rod is a lifetime thrill.

5 comments:

Lillian Robinson said...

Awesome shots! I've got this thing for rocks & water...

dianasfaria.com said...

I never get out to this beautiful part of LI enough. Now I can visit all of the time via your blog! Thanks for stopping by.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi There, Thanks for visiting my blog.. I am enjoying looking at your awesome pictures. WOW--you do live in a gorgeous area.

Thanks again for visiting and please come back.
Betsy

TC said...

Beautiful blog, I wonder are the sea striped bass like the freshwater ones, ours aren't 10 lb but they are really fun to catch, it feels like a moving rock on the end of your line if they decide to dive.

Mark Kreider said...

Thank you so much! In the salt the record for striped bass caught on a rod is 75 lbs (pretty sure). Commercial fishermen have netted 125 pounders. Their speed and power is amazing. I've had 70 - 100 yds stripped off my fly reel in just a few seconds. If I fish at dawn down at the end of the street in the Peconic Bay my catch will mostly be yearlings in the 2 - 3 lb range 15 - 20" long. For bigger fish I get in the boat and fish the Sound. The shortest striper that can be kept is 28". I've seen people toss back fish that will bleed to death because of carelessness or rough unhooking. I only use barbless hooks that pop right off. I lose a few more fish as it requires more skill and constant tension to land them but it is well worth it to make sure the fish lives to fight another day. Thanks for visiting my blog!