Pulled away from the dock minutes before 4:00am this morning and headed SW to Gardiners Island. The glassy sea made the crossing fast and easy. My objective was the flats off the SE side of the Island. Drifted with the tide over the gravel and grass flats trying to spot fish in the almost gin clear water. Seeing fish in the low light conditions was next to impossible so I spent the first hour or so blind casting. Schools of sand eels were everywhere and so were a few stripers. Picked up 2 fish about 26 inches early, then nothing for the next hour. By 6:30 the light was just right for spotting fish. Seeing fish, I did, but not spooking them in the 3 to 7 foot depths was difficult. Somehow, I managed not to spoke everything and was able to see a few fish chase my counterfeit sand eel. Caught a few more fish closer to 30 inches that took the fly close to the boat. Real nice to see the actual take. I did see some real bruisers on the flat and watched a kayacker loose a big striper just before he was able to grab the fish. Also, saw a hefty fish eat a crab in less than 3 feet of water.
Nice morning fishing the flats. Top flys were epoxy sand eels and olive flatwing deceivers 1/0 fished on an intermediate line.
Nice morning fishing the flats. Top flys were epoxy sand eels and olive flatwing deceivers 1/0 fished on an intermediate line.