Anglers in Montauk, New York, say striped bass are increasingly scarce, with some reporting years without a catch and others pointing to shortages of smaller forage fish.
The Story
On most October nights, fishing guide Bill Wetzel navigates the shores of Montauk in a modified pickup, logging where he sees signs of striped bass and tuning into a VHF radio for marine updates, while wondering whether there will be any fish left to catch.
Wetzel, who has led fishermen to Montauk for more than 25 years, said he hasn’t seen a feeding blitz in four years and that “there’s no small fish left. They’re gone,” adding that the striped bass population is not replenishing itself. He said he remembers the stock collapse that led to a fishing shutdown in the mid-1980s and fears a similar outcome.
Jason Markowitz, the former president of the Montauk Surfcasters Association, described swimming to offshore rocks in search of fish when strong waves push bait toward shore, but said more anglers are finding fish less often and described the situation as “last of the buffalo.”
Author John Skinner, 65, said he has been fishing for stripers on Long Island since childhood and now often heads to the North Fork without success, saying “It sucks” in response to the decline. He suggested part of the problem may involve a lack of small forage fish, including menhaden, as well as fewer large predatory fish beyond stripers.
Skinner and other local anglers also described how the Montauk experience is changing, including the town’s evolution from a fishing-focused community to one harder to distinguish from nearby Hamptons enclaves, while still retaining an identity they say is distinct. Mahan, who has fished Montauk since 1987, said this is his first year without catching a striper and described earlier decades in the late 1980s and 1990s as “spectacular.”
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