Weekly Fishing Reports and Notes for the COYOTE

2005 Fishing Season

Week ending December 4, 2005: We had an incredible last week of the Coyote’s ’05 season. Ducking in between the pesky gales and small craft advisory conditions he got in two trips this week. Thursday Carmine Mandarano, Stan Blyskal and Dennis Milin had a great time catching herring then got down to business live lining them for stripers. All fishers had fish over 30 pounds and a load of bass several of which were over the 30 pound mark were carefully released, keeping only their limit. Sunday, Phil Tom, father Larry Rath, son Brian and Ray Dumscomb were hard to drag away from jigging herring but off they went to live line them for stripers. During an amazing blitz there were times when 4 fish were on. They kept their limit of fine stripers and released numerous fish many of which were in the 25 to 35 pound range except for Phil’s cow that was 40 pounds.

We wish all of our customers Happy Holidays and a Healthy and Prosperous ’06 and thanks all for fishing on the Coyote in ’05. We hope to see you all back for the ’06 round. By the way this is a great time to reserve prime dates for ’06 so give Captain Jim a call at 631-734-6288.          

Week ending October 23, 2005: Ron Lindsay and four friends’ fish Thursday night in The Race and bag their limit using eels and bucktails; Chris Batten had the largest bass at 33.5 pounds while Ron and Jeff Boone each had 20 pounders. Saturday morning Leon Marcus and 3 friends had great action in Plum gut fishing with bucktails and getting their limit; Paul Pomerantz bagged the largest fish at 22 pounds. There were lots of bluefish mixed in giving great action on every drift. With a north wind against the tide Sunday morning, Tom Dunn and Friends Mike and Brian McGugan had constant action with bass and bluefish. They caught their limit of stripers before the Gut became stacked with bluefish as the tide slowed; Tom had the biggest striper at 19 pounds. The water has cooled quite a bit over the last 2 weeks to 61°F and the fall bite is on!

Week ending October 16, 2005: On a breezy Monday Rich Freudenberg’s group had lots of bass action in The Race keeping 7 stripers, releasing 32  and several bluefish. Steve Ciccatto had the largest bass at 14 pounds. Following the constant rain and wind during the week, Mike Boyle’s group celebrated the upcoming wedding of Jeff Boyle with a morning trip to Plum Gut where they caught 3 keeper bass and kept 20 of the 35 bluefish they caught. Jeff appropriately had the largest bass at 12 pounds. They carefully released 41 short stripers.

Week ending September 25, 2005:  Sunday, September 18, Tom Heinimann and four friends had a great night of striper fishing. John Chilli caught the largest fish at 26.5 pounds as the group caught their limit. Monday night, Keith Haney led the Newborn Construction group of 6 that kept 6 fine stripers and released the rest of their limit plus numerous short bass in an action packed night. Complements to this conservation minded group. Thursday Frank Fenimore and six friends chased fluke for a while and ended up with 3 nice keepers to 4.5 pounds. They then fished for blues and bass, catching all the blues they needed and releasing an abundance. Chris Fenimore bagged a fine 25 pound striper. On a windy Saturday morning, Hiro Tanaka, his bride to be Carmine and 4 other friends had great bluefish action and added to their catch a8 platter sized porgies to 15 inches.

Week ending September 18, 2005:  Tuesday night, Chris Smith and a Cornell Cooperative Extension group caught bluefish and numerous short bass that were released. Wednesday night, Dennis Surnicki with friends Allan and Dave caught their limit of stripers and carefully released several keeper size fish. Dennis bagged 30.5 and 29 pound cows. Thursday night Rich Kelly, Jeff Collins and Joe Cahill decked respective stripers of 30, 27 and 25 pounds while keeping their limit. Saturday night’s trip with Doug Woelk’s group was cut short due to hazardous electrical storms but not before they caught several keeper stripers.

Week ending September 4, 2005: Thursday night Chip Gibson and four friends had furious bluefish action before dark and then on the new moon flood tide in The Race bagged 8 keeper bass including ones of 26, 25, 23, 23 and 20 pounds for an action packed trip. Friday afternoon, Pat O’Neill and family caught jumbo porgies near Plum Island and then wore themselves out on bluefish. Saturday Mike Quaglino and family bagged jumbo porgies, chunked up a few short bass then jigged up loads of bluefish and a 18 pound striper on a beautiful fall like day. On Sunday, the Gutlove family filled their winter coffers with bluefish and porgies, and the Mandly family followed suit to kick off a 2-day fishing marathon.

Week ending August 14, 2005: Action was hot and furious this week in the area of Plum Island. Steve Lorras and his son Nick fished an early morning on Tuesday and had six short stripers with arm wrenching bluefish action. They caught all the jumbo porgies they wanted keeping only fish between 13 and 15 ½ inches!! A 5 gallon pail was 20 fish! Early Friday morning, Joe Abbruzzo daughter Tyler and son Jesse and Ralph Cassetta sons Zackary and Harry were glad after all for the early call. Teams of Tyler and Jesse and, Zachary and Harry respectively landed 35.5 and 27.5 pound stripers. Bass of 25 and 22 pounds were also kept. They then took part in the jumbo porgy and bluefish action till they were exhausted. Friday night a Keyspan group with future Soprano star Phil Moschitta and four friends picked away on a night when the bass were not energetic and in a credit to their tenacity, came home with 6 fish to 25 pounds.

Week ending August 7, 2005: August family fishing fun continued on the Coyote this week. Tuesday morning, Theresa Sanchez, her sister Jennifer and children Christina, DJ and, Michael had some great first time fishing action. They continuously battled bluefish and jumbo porgies near Plum Island until all called for a time out to watch the fish get filleted. Saturday afternoon the Ott family, mother Jenna, father Gary, daughters Ashley, Laura and Kimberly and 5 yr old Kevin from Texas carried on the catching mode with bluefish, short bass and jumbo porgies. By the way, 21 porgies equaled one 5 gallon pail full!

Week ending July 31, 2005: The Keyspan group's trip on Friday, July 29 had constant action with bluefish mixed in with some shorts and a keeper bass on diamond jigs and bucktails. There was very good fluke action with Mike Loos bagging a 7.5 pound beauty. Saturday morning, Dale Moyer’s family had an action packed trip with bluefish and some short bass mixed in. They also took home porgies between 12 and 14 inches. Saturday afternoon, Anne Yu’s family and friends from as far as Toronto, had unending bluefish and short bass action. Cal Crary’s bachelor party was Sunday morning in Plum Gut. The group again had continuous bluefish action and one keeper bass with the topper of the day, an 11 ¼ lb weakfish caught by Jeremy Newell. There is abundant bait in the area consisting mainly of anchovies with juvenile bunker, butterfish and squid mixed in; if the bait holds there should be great action ahead!

Week ending July 24, 2005: Sunday night, Tim Small’s Group experienced an upswing in the bass fishing. They had 8 fine keepers to 21 pounds. Monday night Bob Cupani’s friends limited with 12 keepers including some large fish on bucktails and eels. Darren Steiner had 35 and 34 pound cows and fought another larger fish that was never seen. Bud Loecher had a 32 pound beauty and Dan O’Shea a 31 pounder. Craig Cupani landed a 28 pound linesider ending a memorable night for the Cupani crew! Tuesday night Matt Rakowski and his father Dr. Richard kept their limit of fish between 29 and 32” for the table. They carefully released several fish which included a 37 pound cow released by Matt and a 25 pounder by Dr Richard Rakowski. Thursday night Captain Ron Lajda took Doug Woelk’s group out for some fine action with them keeping 5 stripers to 29 pounds and several bluefish for the grill.

Week ending July 17, 2005: On Wednesday night Tom Hogan’s family fished for bass and bluefish ending with 5 bass and all the blues they wanted. Thursday Bob fisher and friends targeted large striped bass and succeeded with a 35 pounder caught by Ron Sicoscia and a 33 pound linesider caught by Brian Miller; Ron’s fish was on an eel and Brian’s on a 12” live porgy. Bluefish were abundant so they kept some for the grill. Joe Turano’s group fought through bluefish, keeping enough for the kitchen, and brought home 25 and 23 pound stripers. Saturday morning, Phil Spatafaro and 3 friends kept 8 fluke, with Mike Collins catching the biggest at 4 pounds, and kept enough bluefish to satisfy their needs. Saturday night Pete Cuervo’s family bagged six stripers with the largest at 21 pounds caught by  Rich. Sunday morning Bill DeCarol and family had lots of fluke action keeping 5 fish and carefully releasing 20 more. They took home bluefish for the grill.

Week ending July 3, 2005: On Thursday, Dr. Carmine Mandarano’s group had good bluefish action in The Race with picky striper action on bucktails. Peter Kinbig landed a nice 4 pound fluke to make his day. On an afternoon/twilight trip, Steve Ciccatto’s group had good bluefish action but again there was a slow bite by the stripers. On an afternoon trip Mark Cappellino’s family group was delighted with great bluefish action and one nice keeper bass. Andrew, 12 years old, was very excited about the 8.5 pound fluke that he hooked and landed in Plum Gut using a white bucktail. Saturday morning Dr. Bruce Muller and his son’s Dave and Mike brought home a fine feast of fluke with Doc catching the biggest one at 3 lb 9 oz.

 Week ending June 19, 2005: The highlight of the week on the Coyote was a 43 pound striper caught by the tag team of Rich Schreiner and Evan Petkanos on Friday night in The Race. Rich hooked the cow, and being a southpaw, struggled with a right-handed reel until he tagged Evan who landed the girthy linesider. Paul Mishtos group went home with lots of memories and bags of stripers and bluefish. Monday, Pete Hughes's group of anglers fluked in the afternoon at Gardiner’s Island and brought in 1-2 keepers each.  John Henry and friends fished Plum Gut with bucktails and diamond jigs and had persistent action with bass and blues. Although there were many short bass they had 3 keepers. The bite began coming back after the persistent heat of the last 10 days. Thursday night the Brookside Environmental group picked up 6 stripers and some short fish. Glen Bernhard had 25 and 24 pound beauties. Scott Mirabella and 5 friends went home with 7 stripers on Saturday night. Scott Messina won the pool with a 20 lb 9 oz striper but Ron Cardella was close behind with a bass of 20 lb 3 oz.

Week ending May 29, 2005: There was a great week of quality fluke fishing on the Coyote. Monday, Dick Taylor’s group of six from Brookside Environmental decked some large fluke including an even 10 pound doormat caught by Glen Bernhart who also caught a 7.5 pound beauty. Dick nailed a fine 5.8 pounder on that trip. Prior to fluke fishing Dick’s group limited out on striped bass. Saturday, Pete Izzo and two friends fluked and had lots of action with 45 shorts and again, 8 quality fish with 5 above 4 pounds. Joe Dipalo won the pool with a 6.5 pound fluke. Sunday, Tom Hogan’s family and friends in a group of six, rounded up 14 fluke with more than half above 3 pounds. Gene Kelly and Ralph Cassetta limited out. Ralph, however, was the star of the day capturing a double header of a 5.0 and 3.5 pound summer flounder! After all that they decked 4 stripers and 6 fine spring bluefish. All of this in spite of a nor'easter this past week! Is Winter really gone?

Week ending May 22, 2005: On Friday, Joe Turano’s group of 5 kept 8 stripers and Joe himself bagged the biggest fluke of 5.7 pounds at the Greenlawns. Saturday’s trip was blown out but on Sunday Chris Bazinet’s group of six from St. John’s University went home with their limit of stripers. Peter Nguan had the biggest, fattest bass at 21.5 pounds. The water temp is going up at last and this bodes well for great action ahead in the Peconics.

Week ending May 15, 2005: On Wednesday, Don Wright and friends had good fluke action. They took home 10 keepers with the biggest fish weighing 4.7 pounds. Thursday was another day of good action for Henry Newell’s group which had 18 keepers. Tom Luciano had a brace of fluke of 4.7 and 4.6 pounds. Many fish in the 16.5 to 17.25" range were carefully released.

This spring has been cool and the water temperatures even notably colder than normal. All fish seem to be about 2 weeks later than normal. The bay is still loaded with squid, the best run in several years; actually more like normal. Fluke are now moving nearshore and some blues are even moving into the bay. Weakfish are sporadic.

2004 Fishing Season

Week ending November 14, 2004: On Tuesday, John Henry and 5 friends had continuous bluefish action in Plum Gut keeping a nice supply of fillets. They also took home 3 striped bass up to 37 inches. Water temperature dropped to 55 by Wednesday in Long Island Sound and the blackfishing was very good for Henry Newell’s group of  4 as they limited out. Tom Luciano had a 10.5 pound blackfish. There were many black sea bass caught up to 4 pounds.

Week ending November 7, 2004: The wind this week greatly curtailed fishing allowing only 2 trips. Thursday, the Brookside Environmental group fished bringing in a fine catch of blackfish.  Nick Andrianas decked the largest tog at 10 pounds. A 5 pound sea bass was in the mix. Sunday, Bernie Osofsky’s group of six had fine sea conditions and they limited out for a great day of blackfishing. Dave Blum had a 10 pound whitechin. Many sea bass were caught with two topping the scales at an even 6 pounds! The water temperature is finally cooling and was at 57 on Sunday.

Week ending October 24, 2004: On Saturday, John Graham and friends braved a windy day and had bass and bluefish action, keeping 2 bass and releasing plenty of blues. On Sunday, still windy, Ron Lajda and coworkers from Kolbe Engineering used diamond jigs to bag bass, the biggest being caught by Chuck Lucarelli at 22 lbs, false albacore, bluefish (of course) and even 2 ferocious porgies that were released. Bucktails kept the action going with bass, blues, false albacore and even another porgy that was released.

Week ending October 3, 2004: On Monday Tom Heinimann’s group limited on bass with Doug Biscardi bagging 38.5 and 29 pounders; 8 of the 12 fish kept were over 20 pounds. Thursday Chris Smith and his party had fine action and limited out with Bob Strovink landing a 32 pound beauty and Chris landing a 28 pounder. Friday night John Sacko and friends experienced their first night striper fishing and bagged six fish with John catching a 23 pounder. On a family trip Saturday morning, Dr. Dennis Stark’s family had great bluefish action in Plum Gut, with future fish pathologist Madeline carefully performing the dissections and brother Nickolas providing the subjects. On a Saturday twilight trip, Pete Cuervo and family had constant bluefish action and went home with plenty of fillets for the skillet.    

Week ending September 28, 2004:  On the September full moon we had a great week of fishing. Wednesday, Captain Ron Lajda took a group from Brookside Environmental night bass fishing. Nick bagged the largest bass at 26 pounds while the group had great action and limited out. Thursday, Joe Turano’s group took home 10 stripers loads of bluefish and porgies for a great mixed bag. On Friday afternoon, Mike Masem and friends had ceaseless bluefish catching and bagged 3 nice stripers. That evening, Doug Woelk’s group had excellent bass fishing and Keith Gaudeoso landed a 38 pound striper with Doug decking a 35 pound linesider while the group limited out. During the day on Sunday, Scott Mirabella and friends again enjoyed the great early fall weather catching bluefish 3 nice stripers and lots of porgies to 15 inches. 

Week ending September 12, 2004:  Monday, Marvin Gutlov, 3 sons and Juan bagged loads of blues and porgies with an action packed day in The Race. Brian Gutlov had the biggest striper at 22 pounds. Monday twilight, Paul Benton and friends again had great bluefish action and Paul decked the largest bass at 30 pounds. Tuesday, Pete and Eileen Hughes and Vince and Alice Murphy caught lots of large scup and bluefish till their knees buckled for a great time on a beautiful day. Sunday morning Leslie Gomez and 4 friends caught ample bluefish, porgies and Laz bagged a 14 pound striper to add to the catch.

Week ending September 5, 2004: On the Coyote there was a good week’s fishing with loads of hot action. Sunday night, Tim Small and friends caught 8 keeper bass to 21 pounds and ample bluefish on a night with no moon. Friday night, on a very pleasant evening, the bluefish were everywhere and hungry; Chip Gibson and four friends had constant action and kept two nice bass and plenty of bluefish to smoke. Saturday on a twilight trip Rich and Keith Kelly and Mike Cidello kept 5  bass, numerous good  eating bluefish and porgies most of which were in the 13 to 14 inch range.

Week ending August 28, 2004: On Tuesday Monica Halpert, two relatives from Toronto and three 5 year olds had a thrill of their lives catching porgies, learning some biology and the value of releasing fish.

Week ending August 1, 2004:  We had a fine week of bass and bluefish catching. Loads of bluefish have setup in Plum Gut and The Race so there is plenty of action on all trips. Wednesday night Doc Statlter’s group had steady action releasing numerous bluefish and keeping eleven stripers with Miles Axton catching the largest at 22 pounds.  Thursday night Joe Turano and friends kept eight fine bass to 23 pounds; Len Arak won the bass pool. Friday night Hector Mayo and four friends again had steady action with bass and blues that included 9 stripers many of which were over 20 pounds. Saturday Bill Hudson’s group again bagged loads of bluefish and bass. Family fun was had by Ron Apostle’s party many of whom experienced fishing saltwater fishing for the first time, by loading up on bluefish with a few bass mixed in. Fine sized porgies to 14.5 inches are now occupying their late summer habitats.

Week ending July 25, 2004: There was some great summer family fishing on the Coyote the last week. Shirley Hwang, husband Hugh Barrett, three daughters and aunt  Barbara, most of whom had never fished before, went home with a great bag of porgy fillets from large porgies to 14 ½ inches. The girls ranging in age from 4 to 9 are now definitely hooked on fishing. Wednesday, Ted and Carol Malik and son Zachary (7 years old) had another great trip on the Coyote. Zach landed a 4 pound fluke and numerous porgies to go home with lots of good memories and a load of fillets. Friday night Phil Mastrangelo and family had a great time fishing for stripers and bluefish. Phil's brother, Paul, and his sons Kevin and John were in the thick of the action. Kevin (14 years young) had not fished in saltwater before and was top-hook for the evening. He and his father decked a 21 pound striper while uncle Phil caught the biggest fish of the evening, a 23 pounder.

Week ending July 18, 2004: On Saturday morning, Phil Mastrangelo, his brother Paul and friend Todd bucktailed in The Race on the Coyote with Captain Jim House. The bluefish were numerous and the bass were scarce but, they went home with bass and bluefish fillets. Saturday, on a twilight trip, Joe O’leary, wife Linda, son Tom and friend Joe again had plenty of bluefish action with seven year old Tom hooking and landing bluefish on bucktails by himself. Linda caught the largest bass, at 18.6 pounds, on an eel. They went home with four fine stripers and plenty of bluefish.

Week ending July 11, 2004: Bill Lengyel in Al Rava’s group, landed a 34.4 pound cow in the Race using an eel. Monday, even with the wind blowing up to 30 knots, Hector Mayo and two friends bagged fluke, bluefish a 3.5 pound sea bass and some porgies while hiding on the lee side of Gardiner’s Island; talk about power drifting! Tuesday, George Wieser and his sons George and Jonathan had great bluefish and bass action in The Race. Both boys bagged 25 pound bass. Saturday morning Pete Hughes and three family members kept 10 fluke with Jean landing the biggest one at 4.2 pounds.

Week ending July 4, 2004: The first full moon of July saw some fantastic striped bass action on the Coyote according to Captain Jim House. Last Sunday night Doug Woelk’s group caught their limit with Keith Gaudioso landing the biggest fish at 30.2 pounds. Tom Jennings and friends also limited out on Monday night; Jim MaGee landed a 30.5 pound cow and most fish were over 20 pounds. Tuesday night with Dick Taylor’ group Dick had the largest fish at about 28 pounds with his friends also getting their limit. Thursday night Steve Ciccotto and friends limited out with great sea conditions and most fish over 20 pounds. Friday and Saturday nights saw some very strong tides running up to 5.5 knots that made fishing difficult. Tom Hogan’s and John Venetis’s groups went home with well earned fish and memories of a couple of trophies that were not landed and that are still growing for the next occasion. Saturday during the day Sok Chang’s group had great bass and blue action and enjoyed some incredible bass sushi; during a couple of hours of fluke fishing the group had 16 keepers lots of shorts and a 6.8 pound beauty landed by Same Kwon just as the lines were coming up to go home.

Week ending June 28, 2004: Sunday night Bob Cupani’s group had a great time on the Coyote with Captain Jim House. Craig Cupani captured a 38.7 pound cow striper, Darin Steiner had a 28.5 pound bass and two twenty-five pounders were also in the mix of keepers. Anthony Jang and 3 family members kept four striped bass and several bluefish on a morning trip on Tuesday. Saturday afternoon Brian Culhane had four young fishermen on the boat that had some great bluefish and short bass action. Saturday night Paul Misthos’ group of six patiently waited for the bite then bagged their limit with Bill Mihos decking the largest fish at 36.8 pounds. During the wait for the bass to feed, Dean Jelcic caught a 10.2 pound fluke on an eel and he also landed a 28.5 pound striper; several fish were over 20 pounds. The big bass are here and we are looking for some good action on the upcoming full moon.

Week ending June 6, 2004: On Monday a group of new striped bass fishers organized by Faith Chang caught 5 keepers and immensely enjoyed their sushi. On a Tuesday twilight trip Pete Xiques and Josh Fine had steady bass action with many shorts while keeping their limit. Thursday and Friday saw strong currents near the full moon. Dave Zwerling’s group on Thursday had a mixed bag of stripers and fluke with Dave Noklun winning the striper pool with a 23 pounder and Dave Zwerling the fluke pool with a 4.5 pound fish. Friday, in Roy Sineo’s party Matt Dinizeo had the two biggest fluke at 7.5 and 5.8 pounds while Chuck Keswick won the striper honors with an even 20 pounder. Chuck Cohen’s group, on Saturday morning kept a nice mix of striped bass and fluke. Saturday evening Bob Mitchell and five friends kept stripers, one less than their limit, and Bob had the largest bass at 21.8 pounds.

Week ending May 30, 2004: On Monday, with an east wind, the Brookside Environmental group had a high ratio of short fluke keeping 13 fish with Chris Creed landing the pool fish at 4.5 pounds. Tuesday, Bill Nixon and two friends limited out on stripers and Bill decked a 28.4 pound striper. On Wednesday, Steve Ciccatto’s group had a fair day fluking and then limited on striped bass using bucktails. Thursday, Joe Taurano and 5 friends limited on striped bass with Joe catching a 30 pounder. Friday, with a poor drift, Vinnie Fellom and friends managed a mix of short and keeper fluke. On a windy Saturday Rob Viola and friends went home with a mix of striped bass and bluefish fillets. Sunday, Sal Passalacqua and family had great bass action with 11 year old Marissa Catching her first striper, a 31 inch beauty; in the fluke category Marissa’s mother Maria won the honors with a 5.9 pounder.

Week ending May 23, 2004: Last Sunday, Ken Brown with John Kuderna’s group decked a 7 pound fluke as the highlight of their trip. Monday Frank Fenimore’s group kept 9 stripers and Ed Dale landed an 8.2 pound doormat. Frank Ardan bagged a 5.5 pound fluke and his group limited out on stripers with Frank capturing a 23 pounder on Tuesday. On Thursday Paul Martinez and John Tartaro’s group limited out on fluke with Chris Cavello landing the biggest at 6 pounds but John Tartaro came close to the pool with a 5.5 pounder. During this trip mate John Glaessgen landed a 13 pound weakfish that he gently released – Congratulations John. Friday Steve Ciccatto’s group limited on fluke; Greg Albers won the pool with a 6.1 pound fluke and Ernie Salvagno landed a 5.6 pound summer flounder for a close second. Saturday Bernie Osofsky’s group went home with a mix of stripers, fluke and bluefish. Sunday Tom Hogan and friends had a great mix of fluke and stripers with his brother Sean catching the largest fluke at 6.5 pounds.

2003 Fishing season

Week ending November 23, 2003: On Monday Don Wright and friends had  a good day of blackfishing decking 27 nice blackfish. Don did not match his 13 lb 2 oz fish of last year but did have a couple of very respectable fish. Tuesday John Tartaro’s group also had 27 keeper blackfish with friend Dan having a real beauty break off before being seen. Sunday Peter Pappas and friends bass fished the new moon and limited out in spite of the lack of herring. They used artificial baits with Al Rava bagging the biggest fish at 25 pounds.

Week ending November 16, 2003: Blackfishing from the Orient Point remains excellent in spite of a three day cool blow in the middle of the week has moved most of the porgies out. Monday, Tom Hogan, his Father, Rich, son Ben and three friends put 43 blackfish in the box with Tom catching the biggest fish at 8.4 pounds. Tuesday on a half day trip Enricho Santorelli, his father and Joe and John Caruso decked 38 blackfish with Joe catching an 8.9 pound white chin and John a 7.8 pounder. Wednesday, the bite was slower but Chris Creed and four friends decked 20 nice fish to six pounds. Sunday the waters had settled down after the blow but, the bite was not back to normal. John Tartaro and five friends put 49 fish in the cooler with several fish over 6 pounds. Paul Martinez had the pool winner at 8.7 pounds and he released this great fish unharmed to spawn again.

Week ending November 9, 2003: Blackfishing from Orient Point has been excellent with jumbo porgies, stripers and bluefish adding nicely to the selection. Monday and Tuesday, in spite of the unpredicted east blow, Mike Beavers easily got his limit of blackfish with several fish over 5 pounds with the largest a 7 pounder. He also kept enough giant porgies for some excellent eating. Wednesday morning, Frank Ardan and Jim Walsh got their limit of blackfish with Jim decking a fish of 7.3 pounds. The duo also kept 60 jumbo porgies for some fine winter dining. Thursday, Tom Unger, his son Chris, Pete Unger and son Cody mixed their fishing and kept 27 blackfish to 7.2 pounds porgies, bluefish and a fat 15 pound striper. Friday, Gabe Tedino and four friends managed 3 stripers from The Race in the morning, caught a nice mess of blackfish and porgies then bagged another 5 stripers, the largest just over 20 pounds, and six bluefish from Plum Gut. On Sunday, Chuck Cohen and friends fished CN waters and caught their CN limit of blackfish and then came to NY to add more fish to the pile. They released several keepers to spawn again, with 4 fish over 7 lbs each.

Week ending November 2, 2003: On Saturday Mario Morin, John Scribanick and son James bent the rods all day beginning with jumbo porgies to 17”,on which they limited out. Then they turned their attention to blackfish and again limited out with Mario catching the largest fish at 6.3 pounds. On the way home they caught numerous bluefish, keeping a half dozen, and to finish off the day Mario bagged two stripers of 15 pounds. Sunday, on a half day blackfish trip, Pete Hughes, son Craig and grandchildren Christina and John had good action keeping 18 blackfish and 17 jumbo porgies.

Week ending October 19 2003: On Monday Captain Jim and wife Carol did some blackfish scouting and in two hours of fishing had 9 fish with five between 5 and 6.6 pounds. Saturday morning, Pete Hughes took son Kevin, grandson Dylan and daughter Jean with husband Carl and came home with 15 blackfish to 6.5 pounds and they kept a few porgies. Sunday John Tartaro and five friends had steady action keeping 24 blackfish to 7 pounds, over 50 porgies some near 17 inches and one striped bass that gobbled up a green crab.

Week ending October 12 2003: Captain Jim House from the Coyote reported that there was world class striper action and all the bluefish that you wanted around the October full moon. Monday night Doc Stalter and a crew from St. Johns University kept eight stripers and a mix of bluefish from The Race. Wednesday, on a half day trip, Aaron Ferri and five friends had furious bluefish action and fought their way through them managing four keeper bass. The biggest bass, of 18 pounds, was caught by Mike Reilly. Wednesday night Dick Taylor’s group of five limited out but only kept 8 fish releasing a dozen to swim again. Mike Skerka decked the biggest fish at 20 pounds. Thursday night Dennis Surnicki and friend Al kept their limit of fish and released about 30 keepers to 30 pounds on an action packed trip for this duo. Friday afternoon Steve Putzi and three friends fished Plum Gut and The Race under nasty sea conditions and loaded up on bluefish and four stripers with some shorts. Seventy six year old Shirley Homan was high hook and bagged two keeper bass – Shirley said she wouldn’t have to do her aerobic exercises that night. Sunday morning Ron Goodman took son Aaron (10) and Jason Peterson for their first bucktailing experience. They kept four nice bass and several bluefish in rough sea conditions.

Week ending October 5, 2003: On Friday night, Steve Ciccotto and 5 friends saw loads of bluefish action during the daylight and a great bass bite after dark. They limited out with Tony Salvagno  catching the pool fish, a 34.6 pounds beauty. Amongst the catch were 3 other fish over 20 lbs. 

Week ending September 14, 2003:  There was great action on the Coyote this week  for striped bass and bluefish. Sunday night, Doug Woelk’s group limited out with Doug decking a 36.4 pound cow while sons Christian and Maxwell caught their first stripers. Maxwell (age 10) had a fish of 22 pounds on a bucktail. Emily Jennerich caught her first two stripers on eels while father Mark as well joined in the striper action. Monday night there was hot striper action again in The Race with Chris Smith’s Cornell Cooperative Extension group limiting out. The largest fish, caught by the boss Helene Dillard, weighted 23.6 pounds. Wednesday and Thursday nights saw slower bass action but ravenous bluefish were abundant. Wednesday night Rich Kelly and son Keith had stripers in the 15 pound range as did Bill Carroll’s group on Thursday night. Thursday afternoon, Bob Lauri and Maria DellVillar had wild bluefish action and a few bass mixed in including Maria’s first striper (33 inches) that she caught on a bucktail.

Week ending September 7, 2003: Striped bass action from the North Fork is great with quality fish being caught routinely. Last Sunday night, on a Father’s Day gift trip from his wife Pat, Michael Ireland’s group had the pool won by Mirek Roslik who landed a 26.5 pound cow that was challenged by John Ireland’s 25.2 pounder hooked within 30 seconds of each other. Steve Ciccatto and five friends limited out Friday night. Steve had the biggest bass at  27.9 pounds with Rich Schlacter decking a 26.5 pounder, Jack Raymond a 26.3 pounder and Charlie Alibet a 23.1 pound cow. On a Saturday morning trip, Scott Mirabella and friends had loads of action with bluefish and managed to work through the blues for 3 nice bass. The largest bass was caught by Ken Esser who hooked a double of an 18.8 pound linesider on a diamond jig and a 6 pound bluefish on a teaser. Saturday night Tim Small Sr. and four friends again brought some more quality bass over the rail. Tim Sr. the biggest  bass at 32.4 pounds and a 26 pounder with Pete Sciatto bagging a 25 pound fish.

Week ending August 3, 2003: Thursday night John and Leslie Graham fished for stripers with their sons Christopher and Andrew. John caught a 33.5 pound cow that he released. Andrew (9 years old) hooked and landed a 20 pound beauty using an eel and Chris caught a 22 pounder. Leslie had her hand in the action of catching 12 keepers of which the family only kept two for the table safely releasing all the others. Friday night Chris Bazinet’s group from St. John’s University saw great striper action with consistently large fish. Alan Whelan caught the largest fish at 30.6 pounds. The group of six kept their limit of fish that averaged about 20 pounds per fish. Saturday morning Rebecca Hendrix and family had their first fluke fishing experience and worked their way through numerous “just short” fish to keep five including a 6.5 pounder caught by Ian Ogilbie who was assisted by his elated 4 year old son Angus.

Week ending July 27, 2003: On Tuesday Pete Hughes fluke and porgy fished with his daughter Jean, daughter in law Theresa and granddaughter Jessica. The highlight of the trip was Jessica’s first fluke that weighed 6.2 pounds. Friday night Paul Misthos and five friends bass fished with John Garcia catching the biggest fish at 22.5 pounds. Saturday night Ernie Latuso with friends and family fluke fished and son Tony catching the biggest fish at 23 pounds. On a Sunday morning trip, Ted Malik, wife Carol and son Zachary porgy and bass fished keeping ample porgies to 14 inches and two bass for the barbecue.

Week ending July 20, 2003:  Sunday night Al Rava and four friends experienced the great bass bite around the July full moon with Al bagging a 40.4 pound cow and his friend Ken deLoiselle followed on the next drift with a 36.4 pounder. The group kept their limit of bass and released several fish up to 30 pounds. Tuesday night under beautiful skies and calm seas, Dick Taylor’s group of six caught their limit of fish to 25 pounds and released numerous fish to spawn again. Wednesday night on a short trip, Mike and Lynn Beavers had excellent bass action with Mike keeping a 30.6 pounder for the grill. Thursday Mike and Lynn fluke fished keeping 7 fish to 4.5 pounds. Lynn had a double of keepers of 3.5 and 3 pounds.

Week ending July 13, 2003: Striped bass fishing has been excellent near the July full moon.  Consistent great quality fish with limits taken were the norm. On Wednesday Steve Ciccatto and five friends fished The Race and limited out with fish to 25 pounds. Friday, Pete Hughes, sons Kevin and Craig and granddaughter Christina limited out with Christina decking a 24.5 pound beauty. Saturday, John Tartaro and five friends limited out between The Race and Plum Gut and released numerous fish in the 36 inch range. Peter Mack, a renowned fly fisherman, handled an eel very well and bagged the biggest fish at 25 pounds. Saturday Henry Boyd and friends porgy fished and filled their buckets with fish up to 15.5 inches.

Week ending July 6, 2003: On Wednesday Marcia House, Paul Hershberger and 3 friends had great striper action in The Race both on bucktails and eels. Four fish between 27 and 29 pounds were part of their limit. Saturday night Paul Misthos’ group of six limited on stripers during a great bass bite. The biggest fish of 28.5 pounds was caught by Mike Venetis on an eel. Xanthi Pappas, who had not striper fished before, used bucktails and eels to catch her limit as well as several fish that were released to grow to trophy size for her future ventures.

Week ending June 29, 2003: On Tuesday, Steve Romeo Marine had their annual fishing trip with great action for all on bluefish of just the right eating size.  Wednesday, Peter Johnston and friends fluke fished several areas from Orient Point and Walter Gesla bagged the biggest fluke at a feisty 6.4 pounds. Friday night Rich Rosetta and friends boated bass, four of which were between 27 and 29 pounds for a great evening.

Week ending June 22, 2003: We had another week of great striper fishing. Last Sunday night Phil Mastrangelo bagged a 30.5 pound striper on a red bucktail while brother Paul and Todd Soutter each had 25 pound fish among their limit. Friday night, 15 year old Scott Haimes caught a 38 pound cow in The Race while his father had a 24 pounder. Saturday Pete Hughes took his son, Craig and grandchildren Christina and John on a porgy fishing trip where all the porgies they wanted included 3 fish over 14 inches. Saturday afternoon Andy Kohl and friends repeated the porgy routine and again got their buckets full including another 3 porgies over 14 inches. Two year old Emily Thomas, who has her own practice pole at home, reeled in several porgies for the table!

Week ending June 15, 2003: On Monday Steve Ciccatto and friends limited out on stripers with great efficiency and released several fish in the mid 20’s. Steve and Rich Schalcter had the biggest fish at 26 pounds each, with Steve releasing his to grow even bigger. Thursday, Bill Nixon and 3 friends caught the end of the flood tide before fluke fishing and decked 7 nice stripers, up to 21 pounds. They had great fluke action including many fish in the 4 to 4.5 pound range. Friday night under “Seattle” weather conditions with a southeast wind added, Joe Leforgia and friends, three of whom were new to striper fishing, had good action, keeping 8 fish. Joe had the largest at 23 pounds. Saturday morning Steve Putzi’s friends had bass and blue action with Michael Hyland landing a 19 pound striper. Saturday night, Peter Pappas and friends decked some bluefish for the grill and then picked away at the striped bass. Taso Hountas landed the biggest bass at 29 pounds. On the Johnston Annual Father’s Day Fish Hunt, Peter took father Gabe, brother Anthony and brother-in-law Phil to search for fluke. Gabe came through again as champion, bagging a 4.9 pounder. The family only lacked 2 fish to make their limit and had several fish in the 4-plus category.

Week ending June 8, 2003: There was great action on the Coyote this week. Monday Pete Hughes, his wife and friends Vince and Alice Murphy fluke fished in the morning and decked 15 nice flatties with Alice catching the largest at 4.8 lbs. Thursday, Gabe Tedino and 5 friends limited out on stripers to 21 pounds then rounded out their catch with some nice fluke. Saturday, Chuck Cohen and 5 friends loaded up on stripers and bluefish then went fluking during which Matt Satchell caught and released a 6 pound female fluke for future spawning – way to go Matt. Joe Bonamarte had a 4.8 pounder on that trip. Paul Misthos and 3 friends braved the elements on Saturday night for bass fishing with his friend Bill catching the largest bass at 21 pounds. Rich Docherty and 5 friends fished for bluefish and fluke Sunday. The highlight was Dave Altman’s 6.6 pound fluke; not bad for his first try at fluke.

Week ending June 1, 2003: A couple of trips were taken in between weather days this week. On Thursday Pete Hughes decked a 10.1 pound doormat fluke and to add to his day bagged a 20.8 pound striper on a fluke rig. Saturday, John Tartaro’s group ran into a slow bass bite in the morning with Jared Stonewell  catching the biggest bass at 18 pounds; the biggest fluke of the day was right around 4 pounds.

Week ending May 25, 2003: The Coyote had a very active great week chasing bass and fluke. Monday, Frank Ardan’s group limited out on stripers and bagged some nice fluke to boot. Frank was the fisherman of the day catching stripers of 21 and 19 pounds and then decking a 6.5 pound fluke. Tuesday saw Chris Creed’s group deck two great fluke, a 7.5 pounder by Chris and an 8 pound doormat by Nick Andrianas, both at the Greenlawns. Wednesday morning Pete Hughes and friends fished the Greenlawns and bagged fluke and bluefish with Pete catching the largest fluke a 5.5 pounder. John Tartaro and friends fished for fluke Thursday and had great action with many shorts keeping 25 fish; John had the largest fish at 5 pounds with many fish above  4.5 lbs. Sunday on a family trip organized by Sal Passalacqua eleven year old Marissa Buscemi while bucktailing in The Race, hooked and landed 3 stripers including a nice keeper of 14 pounds. Her 13 year-old cousin, Rick Hayes caught two keepers one weighing 18 pounds. The group limited out on bass then caught a nice mess of fluke in Peconic Bay.  Bass action is hot from the North Fork with lots of bait in the area.

Week ending May 18, 2003: Fluke fishing from Orient Point was very good this week and that the bass are in and hungry. Monday John Tartaro’s group limited out on fluke with Dr. Paul Martinez decking a 5.8 and 5.5 pound fluke. Chris Cavallo bagged a 5.6 pound beauty using a bucktail. Saturday, during a family outing, Pete Hughes and family limited on stripers in the Race using bucktails then captured a nice batch of fluke with Lou Barbella landing a 5.7 pounder and Pete a 5.3 lb fluke. Captain Jim wet a line during that trip and brought in a 7.4 pound flattie. Sunday on a fluke trip, Vinnie Fellom’s group of six fought their way through some bluefish and had 4 fish a person. Paul Kinast finessed a 7.5 pound fluke into the boat on ultra light tackle but Chris Hoffman was close behind with a 6.5 pounder.

Week ending May 11, 2003: The water is in the mid 50’s and fluke fishing from the North Fork in picking up nicely with many fish over 5 pounds being taken consistently. Monday, on a trip organized by Don Wright, Harry Curley had the 6.8 pound pool fish and another 5.9 lb. one. Tuesday, on Sal Passalacqua’s trip, his brother Bill had the largest fish that weighed in at 6.2. Wednesday Peter Johnston’s friends, 83 year old Walter Kaminski and son Jerry double hooked a 5.7 pound fluke in the mouth and decked it. As best as we can figure, the fish took Walter’s squid and as Walter let line back the fish jumped on Jerry’s teaser resulting in a happy father-son team. After that Jerry went on to catch the largest fluke of the day a handsome 6.8 pound fatty. Friday Tom Hogan’s group had lots of fluke and bluefish action. Gene Kelly had the largest fluke at 5.5 pounds followed closely by Tom’s father, Rich, who had a 5.3 pound beauty. Saturday, Bernie Osofsky’s group picked away during the slowest bite of the week with Bernie being the high hook with 3 fish (one at 5.3 and one 5.1 pounds) while friend Vinnie had the biggest fluke at 5.5 pounds; lots of bluefish were caught throughout the day.

Week ending May 4, 2003: The Coyote, sporting a new 370 HP Yanmar die$el, kicked off the 2003 season on Saturday with a fluke trip organized by George Danko. The five fishers went home with 12 fat fluke the biggest of which was 5.5 pounds.

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2002 Fishing season

Merry Christmas and Happy 2003 to All

Final Report for 2002 - week ending December 15, 2002: On the final trip for 2002, on Tuesday 12/10/02, which included fishing Cartwright and rips near Block Island, Chris Creed, Nick Andrianies, Al Helinski, Frank Mancini and Glenn Bernhard caught 9 species of fish (blackfish, sea bass, cunner, sculpin, skate, ling, spiny dogfish, Atlantic mackerel and striped bass). Bottom fishing was slow with the water temperature at 45°F but the variety was impressive. The highlight of the day was catching mackerel for bait and then limiting out on large stripers. 

December 8, 2002: All trips were cancelled due to wind this week.

December 1, 2002: The Coyote got one day of blackfishing in on Tuesday with Tom Sheren’s group. We fished a wreck in Long Island Sound and Tom with his five friends got their 60 fish limit. The biggest fish was captured by Rob Lombard and it weighed in at 7 pounds. Because of high winds trips during the rest of the week were cancelled.

November 24, 2002: John Tartaro and 3 friends slipped in between wind blown days on Thursday. The group kept 26 blackfish after managing strong currents and murky water. Chris Cavallo’s fat 7.4 pound tog won the pool for him and put a smile on his face.

November 17, 2002: We had another great week of blackfishing on the Coyote. Monday was windy but Enricho Santorelli’s group of six kept tight lines and decked 45 blackfish weighing up to 7 pounds. On Tuesday, Don Wright’s group of six limited out under good sea conditions. Don caught a 13.2 pound beauty that turned tail when it saw the boat but Don was up to the battle with the behemoth. Many fish were in the 7 to 9 pound range. Wednesday was quite windy from the north with a dash of rain so the Coyote headed north to Connecticut with Dr. Bill Sommo’s group who got their Connecticut limit that included some consistently impressive fish to 8 pounds. The weekend was blasted by a no-fishing nor’easter. Captain Jim mentioned that he has a few good blackfish and bass days still available so give him a call and get in on the action.

November 10, 2002: There was a very good blackfish action on the Coyote the past week. Saturday, Bernie Osofsky’s group bagged their limit of blackfish up to 6.9 pounds; the largest fish was captured by Dave Bloom. Sunday, John Tartaro’s group of six limited on blackfish. Jared Stockwell’s first time blackfishing proved profitable for him as he won the pool with his 8.2 pound tog caught in the last few minutes of fishing with a strong current running. Tuesday on a slower blackfish bite Dick Taylor’s group from Brookside Environmental combined their blackfishing with heavy duty bluefish and bass action. Captain Jim still has a few good blackfishing and bass dates before the season ends, so give him a call.

November 3, 2002: There were three very good blackfishing trips this week.Tuesday, on a scouting trip with Captain Tony LoPerfido, mate John Glaessgen and his son Scott, we limited out on blackfish to 7.5 pounds. On Saturday, with pretty sloppy sea conditions, Doug Woelk and friends limited out on blackfish, with John Kaiser bagging the pool-winning 8.7 pound tog. Sunday, Henry Newell and friends again limited out with most fish in the 3 to 4.5 pound range. Henry’s group also had some gorilla bluefish action to complete the day.

September 22 to October 27: This period has been splattered by severe wind that resulted in the cancellation of numerous trips hence, this report covers the few trips that were made. September 24 the Romeo family had a great day with bluefish and mostly short bass activity that ended catching porgies over 15”.  September 30 was a tuna trip with ideal weather conditions, with Captain George Kazdin, daughter Amy and John Tartaro that saw one tuna runoff and 3 shark bites on a day that no tuna were reported caught near the Aquarium.  On October 5, John Venetos and friends fought strong currents, but managed some keeper bass and bluefish. October 7 saw a great bass bite on the ebb in Plum Gut with Ron Goodman where every drift produced keeper bass. On October 17, Kurt Freudenberg and five friends mixed it up with blackfish, keeper stripers and bluefish on a rough day in Long Island Sound. October 17 saw Tony Micalizzi, his father, son and friends catching striped bass and bluefish in Long Island Sound again on a rough, windy day. Father Joe Micalizzi did not loose his fishing reflexes after some 20 years of being away from our area and had a great time on his visit from Puerto Rico.  On Monday, October 21, Gabe Tedino and three friends kept seven stripers then filled in the rest of the day with blackfish and porgies. The largest blackfish, 5.6 pounds, was caught by Steve Nochler. On October 27 a scouting trip showed that the blackfish were jumping into the boat.

Week ending September 22, 2002: There was a great week of fishing on the Coyote, beginning with the John Fabb group on Monday night. The biggest of the 11 fish was caught by George McDowell and weighed in at 23 pounds. Tuesday night, Steve Ciccatto’s group of six, limited out in quick style with fish to 27 pounds. Wednesday night was again action packed night with the stripers averaging 23 pounds and the biggest two (29.8 and 26.7) being caught respectively by Glen Applebee and Tom Williams. Friday night, again, there was a red hot bite on the flood tide with John Venetos’ group limiting in one hour with fish to 42 inches. Saturday night, someone turned off the switch and the flood tide that was so red hot all week was dead. Tony Miccalizza’s group tenaciously hung in there to the ebb and decked 5 keepers with 3 being caught by the young fishers of the group, James Micalliza, Tom Siegel and Sean Sloman.

Week ending September 15, 2002:  On Tuesday Dr. Chris Groocock and a two of friends limited out on striped bass, in short time, using bucktails with a great daytime bite in Plum Gut. Saturday Keith Newman and four family members had a great bluefish bite with a few bass mixed in as well as jumbo porgies to more than 15 inches. Saturday, on a twilight trip, Eugene Horan, his wife and two other couples had very good striped bass fishing with all of the new fishers in the group catching at least one striper for a total of eight fish up to 21 pounds. Sunday morning, in a notable southwest breeze, Paul and Dot McGhee, and Steve and Lee Jones kept blues, a bass and all the porgies, to more that 15 inches, they desired.

Week ending September 1, 2002: Blues and porgies were plentiful this week with bass a bit slow. After a taste of late August weather midweek, Nancy Dermody’s family and friends, Dick Taylor’s family, and Doug Geed’s family all did very well with the plentiful mix of blues and porgies with a few bass thrown in for good measure. New fishermen rule!

Week ending August 25, 2002: On Sunday night Dr. Jay Slotkin and family had a great first bass fishing trip and landed five keepers in The Race. Monday the family of Gus Pappaeliou, mostly new bass fishermen, decked five keepers and numerous bluefish. Jeanna Mondello had the biggest bass, her first one, at 21.5 pounds. Tuesday night Captain Chad Wedell and five other army veterinarians, taking a break from a training course at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, had great bass and blue action in The Race. Dr. Frank Michel, his two sons and grandson, had steady blue, bass and porgy action near The Race on Wednesday. John Pausch and family, Peter Tennyson and family and Karen and Robin Meredith and family finished out the week with non-stop bluefish, bass and porgy action. Porgy fishing is incredible with many fish in the 14 to 15 inch range.

Week ending August 18, 2002: Porgy action was incredible with a very decent week of August striped bass fishing. Monday night, Henry Raynor and 4 friends decided that seven stripers, including a 20 pounder, was plenty and wanted bluefish action which they got. Vince Conitino’s group, on a very hot Tuesday morning, caught two stripers of 37 and 39 inches. Wednesday night, Pete Hughes, Vince Murphy and Vince Kiernan limited out on stripers up to 18 pounds. Chris and David Golon, with their parents, caught all the platter size porgies they could use, as well as five stripers to 26 pounds. Thursday morning Steve Putzi and friends had striper and bluefish action in The Race until their arms ached and went home with bags of fillets. Humpback porgies to 15” kept Pete and Eileen Hughes, Vince and Ellen Kiernan busy with loads of fish heading for the skillet and barbecue. On his bachelor party Friday night trip, George Johnson decked the largest bass of 22 pounds while his friends cheered him on.

Week ending August 11, 2002:  There was very good action on the Coyote with Chip Gibson and four friends limiting out on stripers last Tuesday in spite of wind gusting to 30 knots. Chip caught the biggest fish at 21 pounds. Wednesday, at twilight, Pete Izzo and friends had good fishing with Mat Heffernan bagging two linesiders in the low 20 pound range. Stuart Haimes and friends limited out Friday night with son Scott landing a striper of 19 pounds. Saturday afternoon, Dr. Roy Ward and four friends missed limiting out by one fish but had a great day with plenty of action. Jean Wilson on her first saltwater trip had the largest bass at 23.5 lbs. These folks also kept 21 porgies up to 14 ¾”. In spite of the heat, very good August action continues.

Week ending August 4, 2002: The highlight trip of the week on the Coyote was one by Greg Gasbarro’s group. Greg caught a 38 pound striper, his father, Phil, a 28.0 and Leno Serena a 28.2 pounder all by 9 am!

Week ending July 28, 2002: Tuesday, Steve Putzi, his daughter and three relatives from Slovenia limited out on stripers on a morning trip. Vlado Gallo had the thrill of his fishing life winning the battle with a 34 pounder. Wednesday night Dr. Dave Prentiss and four friends limited out with Dr. Roy Ward decking a 28 pound striper. Mike Carbone and four friends, Friday night, also limited out on stripers with son John having a great night and catching the largest fish of 28 pounds using an eel. The Eugene Horan family had an afternoon trip on Saturday and limited on stripers with 12 year old son, Eugene, landing the biggest fish at 27 pounds. They also kept a couple dozen porgies, over 12 inches, for the grill. Saturday night Jim Kousouras’ family kept 3 stripers (son John had the biggest at 27 pounds) releasing several keepers and loads of  bluefish, even in the dark.

Week ending July 21, 2002:  A few highlights on the Coyote this week included Frank McNulty landing a 24.5 pound bass in The Race on a Friday day trip. Saturday, Pete Hughes’ granddaughter, Jessica aged 9, caught 14 porgies with the largest just over 15”. Saturday night John Tartaro and friends limited out with very good bass action using eels. Bob Tucci decked the largest fish at 28.1 pounds. Bass fishing is very, very good with lots of good sized fish present.

Week ending July 14, 2002: Monday Roy Sineo’s group of five limited out on striped bass then turned their attention to fluke. Roy decked a 20.5 pound striper in Plum Gut and Pete Turner bagged a 6.4 pound fluke near Gardiner’s Island. Chris Smith’s family targeted jumbo porgies on Wednesday and brought home all they needed over 11” with the biggest fish in the 15 inch range. Thursday morning, Tony White, John Joel and 3 of their children limited on bass. In the afternoon, Ted Malick’s family loaded up on jumbo porgies and also landed a bass and a few bluefish. Friday night John Mitchell’s group had good bass action with friend Ed catching the largest fish at 33.5 pounds and another at 29.8. Peter Pappas’ group limited out on stripers Saturday night in The Race with John Bletsas catching the biggest fish at 23.6 lbs.

Week ending July 7, 2002: Pete Hughes made it a family affair on Wednesday and Saturday, taking his sons Craig and Kevin and their children striped bass and porgy fishing. Craig, with the assistance of daughter Christine, hauled in the largest bass at 19 pounds; many porgies in the 14-15 “ range were caught. Friday, Peter Johnston and family had fluke activity with the largest fish about 3 ½ pounds, many shorts were safely returned. On a Friday twilight trip, the Susan Smith family brought fluke to the table but Grandma “high hook” Phyllis and had fluke, porgies, a nice weakfish (her favorite) and of course sea robins. Saturday night Bob Cupani and five friends limited out on stripers with Darin Steiner catching the largest at 29.2 lbs.

Week ending June 30, 2002:  Monday night Mike and Lynn Beavers caught their limit of stripers that included 24 and 25 pound fish. Tuesday, fluke were on the agenda for the Beavers who kept 9 and returned over 30 fish. Dr. Richard Cappello’s family had a great day catching large porgies of which they kept a couple dozen including 5 fish over 15 inches! Daughter Sarah Cappello had a double of 14.5 and 15” scup. Friday night Paul Misthos and friends had great bass action in Plum Gut with the largest fish in the mid twenties. Hugh Switzer and family chased bass on Saturday morning, with a slow daytime bite, and kept 3 fish the biggest of which was 18 pounds and was caught by daughter Britain.

Week ending June 23, 2002: There was an excellent week of full moon striped bass fishing on the Coyote. Wednesday night, Pete Hughes decked a 31 pound linesider in The Race using bucktails. Thursday evening John Tartaro and friends limited out with fish up to 25 pounds. Friday night, Tim Small and friends had hot action using eels and limited out with fish in the mid twenties. Saturday night and Sunday, groups lead by John Collins and Tony Trilivis had plenty of action with stripers in The Race, with 10 and 11 keepers each.

Week ending June 16, 2002: Thursday a group with Christine Pisani had a full day of action with bass and fluke. Dr. George Lowy landed the biggest bass at 23 pounds, using an eel, while Dr. Daryl Altman pulled in the biggest fluke at 5.5 pounds. Sunday, Father’s Day, Peter Johnston’s father, Gabe, decked a nice 3.5 pound fluke while son-in-law Phil Curcio had the biggest fluke at 7.1 pounds near Shelter Island. Weather caused cancellation of a couple of trips during the week.

Week ending June 9, 2002: The Beavers Family fished on the Coyote on Tuesday and limited out on stripers. When the Beavers turned their attention to fluke, Lynn again showed her skills by capturing an 8.4 lb doormat. John Tartaro’s group fished for fluke under windy conditions on Wednesday and did very well with John decking the biggest flattie at 7.2 pounds. Saturday night, Paul Misthos and crew diligently bagged their limit of stripers with friend Bill landing a 23 pounder that fell to an eel. The bite was a bit slow on Sunday for John Tartaro’s fishers but, the biggest fluke, 5 lbs, was double hooked by Bob Simon and Bill Bollhofer; good thing there wasn’t a pool on this trip.

Week ending June 2, 2002: Carolyn Tyson and friends used her Sportfishing Federation auction trip to limit out, and carefully release striped bass in Plum Gut on Memorial Day. Thursday, Herb Payne and friends limited on stripers in The Race. On that trip, Tom Colandra bagged twin 7.1 pound fluke. Joe Zweilich and his friends, the Currier family, had a slow day fluking on Saturday but, Carol Currier had the largest fluke at 4 pounds and the largest bass at 15 pounds. Bill Hudson’s group had a successful morning of fluke fishing Sunday. Bill’s father-in-law, Joe Falleti, had the two largest fluke at 5.4 and 5.2 pounds and threw in a 3 pound sea bass to boot.

Week ending May 26, 2002: The week of fluke and striped bass fishing on the Coyote was terrific. Monday Sam Verello Sr., in Joe Graffagnio’s group, decked a 7.5 pound fluke and the group limited out on striped bass. Bill Ciccatto bagged a 7.1 pound fluke on Tuesday while he, brother Steve and friends limited out on stripers. Ken Pellitier’s group pursued fluke on Wednesday and Bill Heath won their pool with a 6.1 pound catch. Thursday, Frank Ardan and friends split their efforts between stripers (limited out) and fluke; Pete Hughes had the biggest fluke at 6.1 pounds and Frank, celebrating his retirement, iced a 5.5 pounder. Susan Sinco, on Joe Sweilich’s Friday trip, bagged her first ever striper at 21 pounds on a bucktail in Plum Gut. Saturday saw Gus Passarella, with his gentle touch, deck several fluke including a brace weighing 8.3 and 6.9 pounds.

Week ending May 19, 2002:  Fluke action on the North Fork remained strong this week. Thursday, Salvo Passalacqua's group had steady fluke action with Frank bagging a 7.5 pound beauty. On Friday, John Tartaro's party again saw continuous fluke action with Bob Tucci landing a 7.1 pounder; following their fluking, the group limited out on striped bass in Plum Gut in 45 minutes where the action was red hot! Saturday's trips were cancelled due to weather. Sunday, Henry Newell's group mixed it up with fluke and bass and Henry had the pool winner at 5.1 pounds.

Week ending May 12, 2002:  The 2002 fishing charter season got off to a great start for the Coyote with excellent North Fork doormat fluke fishing. Tuesday and Wednesday, Mike and Lynn Beavers limited out on fluke. Mike decked the biggest fish of 6.7 pounds on Tuesday with Lynn catching a 7.9 pounder on Wednesday. Several fish over 5 pounds were caught. Thursday, John Tartaro's group caught 29 fluke with the monster fluke for that day weighing 7.2 pounds captured by Jamie Schnaieder; he also had a 6.3 pounder. Saturday saw Bernie Osofsky's group bag 9 striped bass before turning their attention to fluke, their primary mission. Al Eisenstein won Saturday's pool with an 8.9 pound doormat.

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