Two pieces of fishing apparel that I consider essential for rounding out my fishing arsenal are a lucky hat (aren’t all fisherman superstitious) and a great long sleeve tee-shirt; a technical “T” as those anglers in the know refer to them. I have a clothing dresser full of those shirts. That all started with my days fishing in Alaska where my wife would comment that all the fish in the photos looked the same and I always had that same dumb (she meant lucky) hat on. All of my Long Island-based exploits were always met with the same reaction, so I needed to differentiate from among the fish in the photos. My solution to the dilemma: different fishing T-shirts. But now I have acquired a shirt by the folks from Montauk Tackle that is so good all I want to do is where it on all my trips. You can well image the confusion that will create with my fish photos. I can hear it now, “How do I know that isn’t the same fish in all those photos. You are always wearing that same green tee-shirt.” Yes, I am guilty! Truth be told I’ve wore the Montauk Tackle “T”on fifteen consecutive fly-fishing trips this spring. That shirt, my lucky hat and some terrific sand eel flies did a number on early season stripers, and I simply refused break up the outfit. I was afraid not to wear the shirt for fear of breaking the good spell that I was under. Actually, I was wearing the tee so much my wife had to remind me to… “take it off and wash it before it stands up on its own. She was right but so was I since the shirt even in its unwashed state was a most comfortable, durable and functional fishing tee I’ve worn. The Montauk Tackle “T” shirt wears well, does an excellent job of wicking away perspiration and washes nicely (I eventually gave in) with virtually no shrinkage or color fade. I will be inclined to wear it throughout the entire spring months, cool summer mornings and in the fall. All in all it is a very fine product, competitively priced starting at $24.00. For further information you can check out the tee shirts and the entire line of outstanding Montauk Tackle products at wwww.montauktackle.com. Oh, one final thing, my solution to the inevitable, “That’s the same shirt in all the photos, so how do I know it isn’t the same fish?” is to buy one “T” in all the colors they offer. That should do it!

Fish on the Flats

If the good Lord allowed me but one method of fishing for all eternity it would have to involve a fly rod and sight casting to cruising fish in thin water, preferably tailing redfish, mudding bonefish and stripers on the flats. And so it was that my wish was granted this past week, albeit here on earth and, thankfully, not the eternal hereafter. For me it gets no better than tossing crab and creature flies to striped bass cruising the shallows and in an eating mood. I got to play that game this week right here on Long Island with Captain Vinny Catalano of Joey C Charters, and to say we had fun would be understatement. Not only did the fish want to play the game but having the opportunity to share that time and special space with someone who fully understands the dynamics of skinny water fly-fishing and is very good at it made the game all that more enjoyable. Captain Vinny and I hooked up to catch a perfect tide on a perfect day, with plenty of sun and limited wind… ideal conditions for this pursuit. Fishing crab patterns and other small crustacean flies we had a ball casting to many…and I mean many…bass; hooking, landing and releasing our fair share of stout stripers, from cookie cutter schoolie fish to keeper-sized bass. We spread the wealth around taking turns on the ‘push pole’ and had some really spectacular hook-ups. This is a totally visual experience. Believe me, those “takes” alone are worth the price of admission. After the bass eats, the rest of the game is just icing on the cake!

While this was but one day out of a productive e week for Vinny, it was fishing he enjoyed for the entire week, and it will only get better. In his words, “From rolling bass at first light to sight casting them on the flats the bite is totally on! I had the most enjoyable week poling the flats watching clients come tight to big bass! I even had a chance to get in the action myself during my outing with “AP”. He put me right on them. I'm expecting this kind of fishing right through June, especially around the new moon for the big boys.” If you have an interest in a great fly-fishing or light tackle experience give Vinny a buzz at 631-766-1695.