Mixed bag fishing is the hot item

Heat waves and aggressive new-moon tides aren't the best combination for productive fishing. Both factors converged on our area recently, but they couldn't deter the great mixed-bag action with porgies and sea bass that local anglers have enjoyed.

"These kind of fishing trips aren't headline-grabbers," said Stew Cash, captain of the Osprey open boat fleet in Port Jefferson, "but they are perfect for family fun and stacking tasty fillets in the freezer."

Not everyone fills their 10-fish limit on every porgy trip, but the odds of doing so are good - and you might also creel a few triggerfish, fluke and bluefish. Private boaters along the North Shore can find the fish in 30- to 40-foot depths off prominent points such as Cranes Neck and Oldfield Point. Along the South Shore, the artificial reefs in 50 to 70 feet of water off each inlet produce well.

If you are looking to step out on an open or charter boat to give mixed-bag fishing a try, choices are plentiful. Catches have been solid out of Orient, Mattituck, Greenport, Port Jefferson, Huntington, City Island, Montauk, Shinnecock, Moriches, Captree, Freeport and Point Lookout.

"Right now," said Cash, "porgies are averaging over a pound apiece, and the two-pound blues that frequently invade the chum slick are a perfect size for kids to battle."

Just before the new moon earlier this week, fluke catches in ocean waters from Montauk to Jones Inlet were also on the upswing. Unfortunately, the bite slowed before Lindenhurst videographer Tim Smith and I were able to get out Tuesday with captain Al Lorenzetti of the Babylon charter vessel, Skimmer.

Initially, we headed east of Fire Island Inlet to drift in the 70- to 90-foot depths where steady catches had been recorded. With no luck, we worked west, targeting several drop-offs. Along the way we tried bucktails, local spearing, fish strips and large Peruvian spearing. When the tide slackened, we slowly trolled to cover more bottom, making sure to align our lines with the swells as we dragged baits across several pronounced slopes.

Lorenzetti spent last winter completely refurbishing his 1979 Mako 23 center console, including rebuilding the transom and replacing the standard pulpit with teak recycled from the 1937 battleship North Carolina. He documented the entire project on his website (www.skimmeroutdoors.com), and the Mako now rides better than new. Good thing, because we covered nearly 16 miles of ocean water before ending up back inside Fire Island Inlet, culling shorts with the rest of the fleet.

"I'll bet the doormats were further east," our skipper mused as we called it a day. "There are three 90-foot holes between the lighthouse and Sunken Forest. Those fish have got to be in one of them."

Later that evening, Paul Risi of the Captree open boat Trade Winds II said his fares scored more than 20 keepers weighing between 4 and 8 pounds by fishing off to the east, just as Lorenzetti had predicted.

E-mail: outdoortom

@optonline.net