Just like the Star Island Tournament a couple of weeks back, the weather

robot gave a horrible forecast for this past weekends shark tournament, run

by the Montauk

Boatman’s and Captain’s Association, and once again he was wrong. Fishing was generally slow. On Saturday Captain Jay Rigano on his LORI JAY II led with his 471 pound thresher. Jay has been active in all the tournaments for years, but has been out of action for the last couple of weeks, while recuperating from surgery. He certainly got back in action with a flourish. A fish of that size seemed like a sure winner until Sunday when the HATTA DUIT brought in the real winner, a 499 pound mako. Third place honors went to the JEN SUE with a 222 pound blue shark.

It seems like the shark action is drawing to a close. If you are willing to travel forty or so miles to the east, you’ll be able to connect with some sharks, maybe even a lot of them, but to the south they are few and far between.

Thankfully, we’re starting to hear about some tuna action within day trip range. It’s not hot by a long shot, but over the past week there have been reports of both bluefins and yellows being taken, generally south of the 600 line. There is no concentration of fish, but put in enough time and you stand a decent chance of catching a fish or two.

Recreational offshore fisherman have been hit with new restrictions on shark, yellowfin tuna and billfish this year, but they are not taking it lightly. The Recreational Fishing Alliance, a national organization, has instituted a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service. The gist of it is that these new restrictions are being placed on the recreational sector without similar restrictions on the commercial fisherman, who have the most severe impact on the stocks. An example is the three fish per person limit on yellowfins, which at first thought doesn’t seem so bad, but there are no limits placed on the longliners. The problem arises down the line, when more severe restrictions are required. Future regulations will be based on historical limits. A number of local organizations and individuals up and down the east coast have joined in this action, and you can too, by sending in some $$ to the RFA at PO Box 308, New Gretna, NJ, 08224.