Codfishing in Montauk right now is RED HOT; fish are being caught on either bait or jigs. If you can bring two rods one rigged for bait and on rigged for jigging. For the bait rig, I prefer a single hook about belt high with enough lead to tend bottom, which will vary form day to day. On the jigging rod I’ll fish a Hammered Diamond or Vike Jig rigged with a dropper loop 12 to 16 inches from the jig for a teaser. Teasers can include pink, white, red, or chartreuse curly tail grubs as well as tied mylar and bucktail flies in blue flash, pink, and green. Don’t hesitate to try different colors and types of teasers…you never know when you may have the HOT color in you tackle bag and not know it.

On the local cod scene out of Jones and Fire Island, there seems to be enough fish around to make it worthwhile! The AB reef and Buoy 4 areas seem to be holding some fish as well as the 100 to 120 ft. wrecks.

As usual weather dictates this time of the year, any weather out of the South or East will effect the fishing negatively, especially if an ocean swell is created. Ideally winds from the West, North, and Northwest will provide better fishing conditions.  We are fully stocked with all your Codfishing needs and can provide a wealth of info, so either come by and say hello or shoot us an e-mail.

UH OH… NOT good news this past weekend and many people are starting to think that it’s over. We had customers that were in Montauk late last week and over the weekend with very dismal results. Seems as though the fishing was terrific till we got the big wind… none of the boats sailed because of the weather and when they finally got back to the Cod grounds the fish would not bite!

However Joe, from here at the shop, spoke with Captain Jamie of the Miss Montauk this morning and he sounded quite perplexed at the sudden halt in the fishing especially because he says the fish are STILL THERE. Capt. Jamie told joe that he could see the fish on his electronics, right where they have been but they could not get them to eat. He also noted that the water temps dropped 6 degrees in 3 days, so he wonders if that has something to do with the lockjaw.

The Miss Montauk has been one of the most consistently successful boats in Montauk, when it comes to that Cod fishing, so we would say he is a great guage to what’s happening out there. Jamie told Joe that he is planning on sailing this weekend, for Cod, and if things don’t improve by then he is going to hang it up, haul the boat and get ready for the beginning of the regular season.

If we hear of anything different we’ll be sure to post it!

Our friend Philip, stopped by in preparation for a Cod trip aboard the open boat “Rosie”, currently sailing out of Montauk. Judging by his report, and the pictures shown below, they had a FANTASTIC TRIP!

GREAT JOB PHILIP!
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OH YEAH…. it’s STILL GOOD! Really good… especially when the weather cooperates.

First off, let us tell everyone that we are FULLY STOCKED with Cod Jigs, Cod Teasers, Cod Rigs, Pre-Snelled Cod Hooks and plenty of lead!

Every day the boats can get out, our customers are making their way to Montauk to get in on some of this unbelievable fishing. If you EVER wanted to catch a Cod, this is the time!

Recent reports have been coming from people fishing on the Miss Montauk, The Viking Fleet, the Rosie, the Nice Day Too and a few charter boats are sailing now as well. All good reports with people taking 10 to 20 KEEPER Cod home. Sounds like there are more keeper sized fish than shorts, with fish averaging 8 to 12 pounds… PERFECT eating sized fish! Like we said though, the weather can be an issue in February so the boats are not getting out every day, but when they are it has been exceptional. We’ve also heard that on days when it’s nasty, it can effect the fishing too… especially if you have an East wind, that tends to slow up the bite quite a bit. The fish are THERE, they are just hard to catch and they get a little lock-jaw. Like we mentioned in the last report too, CALL AHEAD and make reservations because the boats are PACKED and if you don’t have a reservation… you’re not getting on a boat.

Sounds like it’s still a mix of bait fishing and jigging… some days the bait is out-producing the jigs and some days it’s the opposite. Personally, I’ll take that jig fishing ANY DAY OF THE WEEK…. I LOVE IT!

Chris and Glenn from the shop fished on Tuesday with the Charter boat “50/50″ out of Montauk but they didn’t have the good weather. They made a few drifts on the Cod grounds South and South East of Block Island early in the morning but it was just too rough to fish. They made a few drops, picked a few fish and then bailed out… traveling back West to a few wrecks. Turns out they LUMPED UP the Seabass! They fished a few pieces in 160 to 180 feet of water and absolutely crushed the Seabass with most fish being keepers up to around 5 pounds.

Another recent report came in from Jeannine Hogan, who fished aboard her friends boat the “Ocean Outfitter” on 2/15. They had a spectacular day using Clams and beat up the Cod pretty good!

Pictured below is Jeannine with a 12 and a 13 pound Cod…. GOOD JOB Jeannine!!!