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November 02, 1995 - Focus on a Fall Fishing Frenzy6A • The Suffolk Times • November 2, 1995 Focus on a Fall Fishing Frenzy What storms we've had during the month of October and from unfamiliar quarters: south, southwest. Usually our storms are more easterly: southeast, east or northeast. Our little Venture catama- ran blew over during one of the windy, stormy days and broke its mast. Through the years everyone from kids to grand- parents have enjoyed its swift pursuit across the bay. Now it lies like a crip- pled bird. Where will We find a mast for such an old companion? There's something spe- cial about storms. Pro- bably because we experi- ence them so seldom and Q when we do it's almost as ��� if you have to take time out and watch them. At by the cottage here on the bay sloute we have a grandstand seat and we're watching one right now. High tide was about noon and with the wind and rain it added that little extra that makes flood conditions every- where. The marsh in back barely shows any marsh grass at all, its now golden - brown stems only occasionally showing here and there above the flood water. Black ducks are busy in the lee of the woods, rounding up seeds of the thatch grass along with other goodies that have been freed because of the high water. Occasionally a gull will whip by on out- stretched wings. There's no need for a wing beat here as it rides the rushing air. Perhaps he'll find a meal washed ashore by the churning waves. The rain comes in shifts. Heavy down- pours that blank out the world around us, come down so hard that the sea is almost flattened. Now the rain subsides, but not for long. Across the bay I can see another haze of rain moving in and we brace our- selves for its attack. Living on the beach during a storm is something special, but let's leave the stormy days behind. Activity at Truman's Beach Time passes and we find ourselves heading out east toward Orient. We come up to Truman's Beach, just opposite that wonderful marsh after you pass the cause- way, and there the parking lot is full. What's going on? We pull in and can't even find a place to park along the beach- front. We have to pull around and park by the road. Something must be going on! I grab the camera and binoculars and head for the beach that's lined with fishermen for a thousand feet or more. Barbara counts them — 31, 32 — but then there are some more way down to the east. Everyone is busy casting and retrieving lures of every color and description. An elderly man nearby has something on. His pole bends and he hauls back and then slacks off, crank- ing in the slack madly cus only to have it zzzzing out as the monofilament is lost u from view by the fish fighting at the end of the ure line. He keeps reeling in. Paul How can a pole take that nburgh almost doubling back as he pulls on that invisible fish out there? Now I see a shining lure hanging from the tip of his pole. He's picked up anoth- er lure of a fisherman nearby. The fish must be moving back and forth and picked up another person's line. No mat- ter. He keeps reeling in and now we can see flashes of silver as the water churns in front of us. The unknown is getting closer and closer. Our surfman's done a good job of playing the fish in but now he has to beach it. He walks backwards and there's a wild churning and the fish makes its last and desperate dash toward deeper water, but by now the gallant fish has lost most of its fight. He follows the line in as the fisherman continues to reel in, backing up the beach. The silvery body is halfway up, flapping in its last attempt at freedom. It's beached! Quickly it's moved away from the edge of the water by the booted fisherman. Now we see its beauty of steel -blue and white shining in the sun. It was a false albacore or, as some books call it, a little tuna, for it looks very much like those streamlined swim- mers. As a matter of fact, George P. Goody, the author of "The Fish and Fishing Industry of the United States," has stated that they are the marvel of strength and beauty and one of the ocean's fastest swimmers. One of our bet's book Back 75 Years Ago Oct. 29, 1920 Political Notes: (From Suffolk County Republican campaign headquarters). Autocracy has come to an end in Europe. It will receive its death blow in this country next Tuesday ... Hundreds of women in Suffolk County will vote for the first time next Tuesday because it is their first opportunity to vote for a president of this great land of ours. And the feeling seems to be that they are going to vote the Republi- can ticket because they are opposed to the Democratic League of Nations or to any other covenant that will lead the country into war ... 50 Years Ago Nov 2, 1945 Oysterman Invents Oyster- Opening Machine: John Plock of Shelter Island Oyster Company at Greenport has invented an oyster - opening machine which greatly simplifies the opening of oysters. It is a very simple device and its operation is so simple that even a child can open oysters. You simply insert the oyster between two prongs and pull down on a lever and it completely removes one shell from the oyster leaving the oyster attached to the flat shell from which it is removed by severing the muscle. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh FALSE ALBACORE —In the last few weeks, stripers, blues and the rather unusual false albacore have been caught along our sound beaches. Fast and powerful swimmers, all are the fishermen's delight. local authorities on sport fishing said, "Pound for pound there's nothing can compare to the fight of an albacore." I'd never seen them caught off our north shore beaches before but there it was, probably 10 pounds or more. These fish are sleek and smooth, almost without scales. They, like the bluefish and stripers that they were traveling with, are fierce preda- tors of almost any kind of small fish. I was told by one local fisherman that they were feeding on small silversides. So devastating are they when they attack that they often drive their prey within a few feet of the shore and we could vouch for that, for often we'd see the swirl and breaking of fish right in front of us. Down the beach there were at least 1,000 laughing gulls working offshore. Some rested on the beach while others would get up in groups to go out and feed amongst the orgy of fish that was before us. These laughing gulls in their winter plumage have black heads, but the ones we saw had not changed as yet and looked like a small, trim gull. We saw one man walk off the beach with a striper he had brought in. This one was a keeper — 28 1/2 inches long. The length was quickly ver- ified by a small tape he produced just to make sure. Action was spo- radic. One fisherman had three blues and one albacore. Others cast-in vain. Some used plugs. Some silvery lures. Some with white buck - tails. There was every color and shape being tossed amongst the multitude of churn- ing fish in front of them. I saw blues, stripers and albacore. All caught on different types of lures. Many fishermen were frustrated, for no matter what lure they chose the fish would ig- nore it. Evidently there was just too much bait out there and only when that mass of bait seemed to slacken off would the fish take an occasional artificial lure. It was a sight to see: the beach lined with all sorts of men with their own spe- cial gear, each trying their best at surf - casting. Casting out. Reeling in. Casting out. Reeling in. Then every once in a while you'd see someone's pole bend and the struggle would be on. All eyes would be on him. All waited to see what lure he had caught his fish on. It's a fas- cinating game and when the excitement runs high, as it did that day, it's good to see so many enjoying the pleasure of fishing our local beaches. `it was a sight to see: the beach lined with all sorts of men with their own special gear, each trying their best at surf casting. 9 Servicemen's Column: Mr. and Mrs. Carlton Peterson received an air mail letter from their son, Kenneth, who is serving with the U.S. Navy in Tokyo, Japan. He writes that the city was greatly damaged by bombing. In the business section of the city the buildings were leveled to the ground by our bombs, and what buildings were not blown up were gutted by fire. A Japanese school teacher, who spoke good English, showed him the Imperial Palace. According to his letter the majority of the people whom he met and talked to seemed very friendly. 25 Years Ago Oct. 30, 1970 Hospital to Hear Maternity Plea: Armed with a resolution from the Southold Town Board "urging contin- uance of full hospital service at Eastern Long Island Hospi- tal" the young wives and mothers who are campaigning for postponement of the closing date of the hospital's maternity section will meet with members of the hospital's Board of Trustees Nov. 5. Mrs. Jonathan Richmond, spokesman for the group, received word from hospital administrator Pehr Andersen that "five of us will meet with five of you" to discuss the women's campaign to convince the hospital to continue its maternity department beyond its proposed closing date of April 1. Rare Bird Spotted GREENPORT —The North Fork Audubon Society has reported the sighting of a rare bird, the northern wheatear, at Inlet Pond Park on Oct. 29. Smaller than a robin, the wheatear visits Long Island on rare occasions when it stops during its fall migration from Greenland to its winter home in Africa. The bird is tan with a rose -buff breast.