Fishing fleets able to weather Irene

In the wake of Tropical Storm Irene's mad tear through much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic corridor, some degree of normalcy seems to already be returning to the Long Island fishing scene. With winds that topped out at 91 mph off Sayville but closer to 70 mph across some parts of Long Island, flooding turned out to be more of a problem than the powerful gusts, wreaking havoc with homeowners but allowing local fishing fleets to come through perhaps a little better than expected.

Still it's quite a mess out there, and that means caution should be your guide. Shore casters should avoid any compromised structures, proceeding with extreme caution while inspecting access sites. Boaters should watch for loose or dislodged planks and pilings at docks, floating or partially submerged debris, and shoaling in bays, inlets and harbor waters.

If you get out this weekend, the prospects are enticing. The ocean swells kept boats off the near shore reefs for the past few days, so sea bass, triggerfish and porgy stocks should be refreshed on the South Shore structures. Bluefish and striped bass have reappeared at inlets, rips and harbor mouths and snappers seem to be hitting nearly everywhere. Fluking around Captree, Freeport and Jones Inlet has been decent inside the bays.

"All things considered, we came through OK,'' said Dave Roys at Silly Lily Fishing Station in East Moriches. "A sailboat punched a hole through our store wall, and we lost a little bulkhead, but our rental skiffs were undamaged and we never lost power, so we still have plenty of bait.''

According to Roys, Moriches Bay fluke fishing has been good on outgoing water at Buoys 14 and 15 while 24 through 28 have produced on incoming water.

The electricity stayed on at Caraftis Fishing Station in Port Jefferson as well. "We pulled all our boats, but they are back in now and we are ready to go,'' Candi Caraftis said. "Already, we've had excellent reports of porgies at the Middle Grounds and Buoy 11, plus some fluke right outside the inlet.

Out on the North Fork, the open boat Captain Bob, Orient charter fleet and Greenport's Peconic Star all survived the flooding and winds.

"The Peconic Star got out already and scored well with porgies,'' said Captain Mike Boccio of the Orient Point charter vessel Prime Time III, "so I think we'll do just fine. Bonus season for porgies opens Sept. 6 and charter and open boat customers can then take up to 40 per day. I don't think any of us will have trouble filling our limits.''

Upstate park closings

If you've seen the pictures and video of what Irene did upstate, it should come as no surprise that some Catskill and Adirondack parklands -- and many back-country trails -- will be closed for some time. The Eastern High Peaks Wilderness Area in the Adirondacks and Mongaup Pond Campground in the Catskills are among the more popular camping and vacation areas that are closed. Visit www.dec.ny.gov/public/76659. html for a listing of closed campgrounds, 511ny.org for upstate road closures, and www.dec.ny. gov/outdoor/7865.html for trail closures in the eastern Adirondacks.

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