Amityville Horror? - Part 2

When last we left our heroes, they were steaming east along the south shore of Long Island on their way to a striped bass hot bed. Well... actually the "steaming" had been reduced to more of slow roll on some pretty rough seas. As long as we were moving, my stomach was ok, but the moment we stopped and the boat began to pitch and heave on the rolling swells, my stomach started a slow boil of its own.

About two miles into the trip, we noted a party boat with dozens of fishermen lining its outer edges, rods out, lines dropped. Knowing that the captain of any party boat will spot fish on his sonar and then tell his clients to "drop their lines," I said to Brian that they must be over some fish. So we headed upwind of them and started a drift on similar line to what they had just drifted over. It was hard just keeping ourselves upright as the boat pitched side-to-side against a constant barrage of waves. While Mike and I each dropped and retrieved our big 4-ounce diamond jigs about 15 times each, the party boaters got the "Lines in!" call from the captain as its motors came to life and it wheeled around back into the wind and off to points further east. After another 5 minutes or so, we decided we would follow suit. Where were all these other boats we were expecting to see out here anyway??

It wasn't long before Brian was getting a little impatient with the slow progress we were making and he pushed our speed back into the low teens. Soon we started spotting multiple party boats and other smaller craft on the horizon to the east. It was an encouraging site. Hopefully all these boats were over big fish! We finally reached them and found a piece of unoccupied real estate just north of another party boat and south of several smaller boats in about 45 feet of water. The three of us started tossing our jigs and slow cranking them back to the boat just as they told us to do back at the bait shop. I had set up shop in the bow of the boat, and Mike and Brian were at the stern. We drifted and fished for about a half-hour with no success. I noticed a couple fish coming in on other boats around us but I couldn't exactly see whether or not they were Stripers. There wasn't anything big that I noticed, but, it was good to know that there was at least something down there willing to chase someone's lure. I was optimistic that it would only be a matter of time before it was one of ours. The only concern I had was, what would come first? Catching fish? Or hanging my head over the side of the boat?

We soon realized that all the other boats that had been around us, had moved about a half mile to the southeast. I suggested that maybe we should head over there with them. Since we didn't have any electronics to help us find the fish, we had to use the other boats as our eyes. We made our way over to the group and once again dropped our lines. I was grateful for the short trip as it gave me a chance to gain back some control over my increasingly queasy stomach. The wind had decreased a bit and the waves were not quite as rough as they had been, but each time we stopped again, that sick feeling came back with a vengeance.

After just a few minutes on this new spot, I looked to the back of the boat and saw Brian's rod start to bend and shake. He seemed surprised, "Hey, I think I've got a fish on here!" And sure enough, he did! It was a nice 5 or 6 lb. bluefish. We were finally in business! Mike helped him land it, while I stumbled my way towards the back and grabbed my camera to capture his success. It wasn't quite what we were after, but it was good to have a fish in the boat!

Brian with the first fish of the day.

Hoping for more, I quickly put the camera away and headed back to my rod at the bow of the boat. On my second retrieve, I felt a heavy thud on the end of my line and the tip of my rod arched towards the water. "Fish On!" I yelled back to the guys. Just then, the drag on my reel started screaming as the fish made a hard run. As Mike made his way forward, I said "Not sure what it is yet, but it feels pretty big and it's staying down on me." Then the fish made another good run and I noticed that my 6' Ugly Stik rod was arched into a shape I had never seen it in before. I thought, "Could this be the big Striper I've been looking for?" Brian was now alongside with the landing net in hand as I finally started to gain back some line on this still unknown creature. I noticed my line heading down under and towards the rear of the boat and I applied some extra pressure to try and keep the fish away from the motors. Suddenly there was a flash of white followed by two splashes right off the stern. At least one of those splashes was the fish. It was a huge jumbo bluefish! It made one final run alongside the boat right in front of me. I was bringing in some more line when out of the depths up came a fishing rod and reel! "What the heck!?!" I said. Then Brian said, "Hey, I think that's my fishing pole!" Sure enough it was, and we quickly realized what that second splash was just moments before. Brian hadn't reeled in his own line and lure before coming to help me and now my fish was tangled in his line and had dragged his rod overboard! There was a few moments of scrambling as Brian and Mike tried to get the two lines untangled and I was envisioning this big fish turning into the 'one that got away.' I couldn't take it any longer... "Cut the line!" I shouted. Mike grabbed his braid cutter and quickly cut Brian's line away from mine and soon we had a monster blue in the net and onto the boat. It weighed in at a hefty 14 pounds! Not the big Striper I was hoping for, but nonetheless, the biggest blue I've ever caught! After Brian took a photo on his iPhone, I released him over the side back into the sea. That was pretty cool.

We were on the fish now. I handed Brian my other rod so that we didn't have to take the time to get his re-rigged. Not to be outdone, Mike quickly hooked into another good blue on his next cast from the stern. I hadn't even thrown my jig back out yet so I headed back to get some of the action on video.

Ok. Now after looking through a camera for a minute on a shaking, rocking boat, I headed back to my spot at the front of the boat and dropped myself into a seat. I was getting perilously close to seeing that morning's bacon, egg and cheese sandwich again.... I just wanted to hold it together now that we were onto some good fish. I took a few deep breaths, got up and cast my jig out again. Soon, Mike had another big blue on. Again, I went back to help out and take some photos. These were some healthy blues we were into!

Mike with an 11-pounder

After this one, I went back to my seat at the front of the boat. My mouth was getting dry and I started to sweat. The party would soon be over for me if we didn't get the boat moving again. I hated to do it, but I yelled back to Brian, "We need to move or I'm gonna freakin' lose it here!" He didn't waste much time firing up the motors and putting us in motion. I really didn't want to leave so soon but Brian turned the boat to the West and started back towards the inlet while I emptied out a 5-gallon bucket we'd brought along and held it in my lap in case I couldn't get it under control. I have to admit, it was pretty pitiful...and the worst part is that I knew I'd never hear the end of it from Mike. So far, I'm 100% right on that...

Well, thankfully, I did get it under control on the way back to Fire Island inlet, and as we cruised back into the comparably tranquil bay, I was even ready for some lunch!

But the day wasn't quite over yet...and in the final chapter of this tale it'll be Knuckleheads On Parade as horror abounds in Amityville.

Peace,
Jeff