With reports of yellowfin inshore, the crew — Thomas Mamorowski, Joe Mata, Chris Carillo, my brother Jonathan and myself — headed offshore on Carillo’s 31 foot contender.
Loading up the boat at Liar’s dock at 3 A.M. on a Thursday night is always an interesting endeavor. Leaving the raucous crowd behind, we headed off for the three hour steam to the fishing grounds.
Upon reaching the area we thought would be holding fish, we deployed the trolling rods. With no luck we pushed further offshore.
Stopping at some structure, we loaded up on Mahi Mahi with spearguns and rod and reel. Every season is different into what type of fish are in abundance and this year has been marked by quality Mahi Mahi.
As we moved south along the canyon wall, we hooked up with a large White Marlin that hit the way, way back trolling lure in the spread. This fish was stunning — larger than the White Marlin and very lit up.
Still in search of tuna, we set a course for a neighboring canyon. En route a hammerhead shark’s dorsal fin was spotted. Trying to get some photos, Chris put me ahead of the shark, but the shark wanted nothing to do with the boat or me. The water was beautiful for capturing underwater pictures as it was cobalt blue and gin clear. A few more attempts are made but the shark never comes within range of my wide angle lens.
With the sun sliding further towards the horizon, we made a decision to try to put some tuna in the boat in the form of bluefin tuna that have been residing closer to home.
We found a lot of life inside but no bites. As we headed in, I played out the day over and over again. We may not have found any tuna, but the numerous, nice-sized bull Mahi, White Marlin and the encounter with the hammerhead made for a memorable day offshore Montauk.
