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NY, NJ, CT, RI Edition
December 01, 2009
Volume 20 • Number 11
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Nor'east Saltwater Online Magazine powered by:
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Salt On The Fly
by Anthony Alessi
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Here on Long Island we are blessed with many places to pursue the sport of flyfishing in saltwater. The environments one can choose from are very different. You can fish the wide open stretches of beach on the island’s south shore. Places like Robert Moses Beach, Gilgo Beach and Jones Beach come to mind. At these places you can easily find solitude and a truly exhilarating spaciousness as well as some epic fishing worth overcoming what can be challenging conditions.
You can head out to the east end and join the armies of hardcore surf rats who embrace Montauk as the Mecca of surf fishing and do battle with the elements as well as with fish and, maybe, even man, or you can try and unlock the secrets of the smaller quaint beaches of Long Island’s north shore. It is on this north side of the island that you will find one beach in particular that is, in my opinion, the perfect place to spend a lifetime of fly-fishing for striped bass and bluefish. This gift from nature to the fly fisherman resides within the town of Smithtown and is called Sunken Meadow.
Sunken Meadow Beach is part of Governor Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park and takes its name from the low-lying meadows that separate the long stretch of sandy beach from the picturesque bluffs on the other side. Being situated on the north shore of Long Island makes it very conducive to the fly rod as, generally there are no waves and surging surf to wrestle with. Its varied environment is what makes it such a great place to fish.
Upon arriving on the beach one must decide, based on conditions, where to focus on trying to locate the fish. Heading west on the beach about one half mile past the rock jetty the beach and surf zone become boulder strewn. These boulders themselves are great fish-holding structure and should be fished hard one by one to find single fish that are poking around the rocks for something to eat. I like to fish this area when there is no concentration of fish along the sandy stretch to the east. Where this sandy stretch meets the rocky surf zone is the primary target though. It is here that you may find large schools of bass feeding on sand eels in the spring. The pockets on either side of the rock jetty are also great places to find fish that will often trap bait against the jetty. The stretch east of the jetty is all sand and is deeply sloped in most places as you enter the water.
There are shallow shelves along the way that you can wade out on during lower stages of tide and the fish can often be found in the bowls that are present along this portion of the beach. As you fish this stretch of sand, be aware that behind you, in the meadow, there is a saltwater pond that stretches the whole length of the beach. You cannot see it when you are fishing the sound proper but you can walk back there and hike all along its winding flow on the many well worn foot-paths.
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The pond is loaded with shad sometimes in the spring and you would be surprised at the size of the bass you can tangle with back here. You might think that this tranquil pond is the perfect place to break out the six weight when, in fact, it is the place to use your heaviest rods and biggest flies when the shad draw in the big girls.
Back on the open beach and all the way to the eastern end you will come to the mouth of the Nissequogue River. The river, by itself, is a worthwhile fishing destination and you can fish it for an entire season without even considering the beaches within the confines of the park for all its riches.
The “Nissy” in all its glory would need an article written about it solely to do it justice so, for the purpose of this article I will stick to describing what goes on at the mouth of this very fishy river.
On one side of the mouth of the river, the western side, you are standing on the eastern tip of Sunken Meadow Beach. On the other side, the eastern side the terra firma is called Short Beach, a village of Nissequogue owned beach with no legitimate access for non residents.
During the fall run you will find upwards of twenty anglers on each side of the river casting into the hard flow of an out rushing tide and another twenty on the sand bar that shifts and forms off the beach in front of the river mouth. The fishing here can be spectacular at times. It was on that sand bar one late, cold and rainy Tuesday night in November many years ago that I caught my first four stripers on the fly. I remember that my knees were shaking from the excitement of the first of those four bass, or maybe it was the cold, wet weather. In either case, it was very exciting.
Sunken Meadow is easy to get to (it lies directly at the end of the Sunken Meadow parkway), is open to everyone (for night fishing you will need to get the permit available at the park office) and is a great fishing destination for novice and veterans alike. I’ll see you there.
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