All the hype about Montauk often ignores one of its most iconic draws: surfcasting. Believe it or not, thousands come here to catch fish without ever stepping foot in a boat!
If you didn’t notice the sign out near the lighthouse, Montauk is known as “The Surfcasting Capital of the World.”
And that is not just a marketing gimmick. Montauk really is the home of surfcasting – as we call the art of plying shorelines with extra-long fishing rods that can hurl a lure into the ocean breakers. For the thousands of obsessive surfcasters who wander the Northeast to catch fish from the shore, it is a true Mecca.
That reputation comes primarily from the annual fall migration, when millions and millions of fish large and small gather in the waters between Montauk Point and Block Island in preparation for their move to warmer waters, and surf fishermen line the shorelines from Ditch Plains to Gin Beach to cast at the schools of bluefish and striped bass that churn the surface to a froth right up to the edge of land.
But fishing from the shorelines around Montauk is not just a fall thing and it’s not just a pursuit for serious seasoned fishermen outfitted for battle.
Striped bass and bluefish arrive in Montauk waters in mid-April and the fishing from shore can be great from Memorial Day well into early July. The sand beaches to the west of downtown or below the overlook parking lots are good places to start with just a moderately stout spinning rod and a “tin” like a Hopkins or Kastmaster, or a “popper.” Same goes for Ditch Plains, Turtle Cove or the shorelines to the left of the lighthouse (fishing from the rocks under the lighthouse itself is not wise for the uninitiated). For something more docile, Navy Beach or the shorelines to the north of Navy Pier in the early mornings in late May and June should have a bluefish or two cruising the shoreline.
“Fluke come right up to the beach…”
There is also much more than just bass and bluefish that can be caught from the shoreline.
Fluke come right up to the beach and are not as sensitive to the bright times of day in mid-summer as other predators. On a calm day, any of the ocean beaches from Hither Hills to Ditch Plains are a good place to toss a small bucktail tipped with a Gulp! twisty tail and retrieved steadily so it bounces along the bottom.
Porgies are one of the easiest fish to catch from shore, either from the jetties on either side of the inlet or along the rocky bay-side shorelines you can walk to. The fillets are delicious raw or fried in a pan. A simple porgy rig with a small lead sinker and strips of squid on the hooks should bring bites almost immediately if you have found a spot with porgies in residence. They must be at least 9.5 inches to be kept but you wouldn’t want much smaller than that anyway if you are planning a fish fry.
For those looking to get away from Montauk’s nighttime revelry, the lights at night around the harbor docks can attract all kinds of sea creatures. Squid will congregate around the two commercial docks owned by East Hampton Town and can be caught readily on glow-in-the-dark squid jigs. Bring a spinning rod, too, because there will be striped bass lurking along the shadow lines also.
Downtown Montauk does not have a standalone tackle shop anymore, a product of rising rents and the impact of online sales, but some of our marinas have good tackle selections in their shop stores. Uihlein’s Marina, West Lake Fishing Lodge, Star Island Yacht Club and the Montauk Anglers Club all have any of the gear mentioned above and are open to the public.
Welcome to Montauk!
