Wind stirs up the surf action

Gary Zuhoski of Cutchogue laughed out loud as he held aloft a keeper striper in the suds off Southold's Kenneys Beach. "You've got to be crazy to be fishing in this weather," he announced while trying to maintain balance in the heavy surf. "The wind is gusting over 30 miles an hour, but that's when the bass come into the wash here."

Indeed, it's a well-known fact among the surf fishing crowd that strong onshore winds during October bring bass and blues charging to the beaches, and quite a few anglers took advantage of the exceptionally windy weather early this week. On Monday, for example, with winds gusting over 40 miles per hour, bunker dunkers working North Fork beaches drilled monster blues to 13 pounds, along with some legal stripers.

"Those heavy winds blow the baitfish up tight against the shore and the big blues and bass just pin them there," said Zuhoski. "It can be magic at this time of the year if you fish any beach with a strong wind in your face. Lures don't cut it when the water gets discolored, so you've got to feed the predators real bait. I like using bunker heads."

The winds laid down later in the week, putting the brakes on the North Shore beach bite, but that's just when the fishing at Montauk and down the South Shore began to hit stride. Action at Smiths Point was especially explosive at midweek with bass at dawn followed by big blues as the sun got high into the sky.

"We had stripers and choppers real well from boats in that area, too," said captain Paul Peluso of Mama Mia Charters in Shirley. "Early in the week, when the water was sloppy, the bass were hammering live eels inside Moriches Inlet. The blues were working in the ocean. The action with stripers to 25 pounds was red hot."

Both the stripers and blues seemed to take a breather as the weather calmed down late in the week, but that was the cue for blackfishing to come to life. With calm seas on Wednesday and Thursday, bottom fishermen were able to anchor with pinpoint accuracy around rocky points, wrecks and mussel beds. With their crab baits remaining still on the bottom in quiet seas, they easily tempted limits of tautog.

It may take another shot of windy weather to reignite the bass and blues in the surf, but expect the super blackfish action to remain dependable. Currently, the bite is solid in all areas of Long Island Sound, at Orient Point and Greenport, Montauk, and in the ocean waters off Shinnecock, Moriches, Fire Island and Jones inlets. Most of the blacks are being caught in 20- to 40-foot depths. Pick a port and join the fun.

Catch and release contest

It's no secret that a tremendous number of large striped bass have been culled from local waters this season so, in a effort to promote fishing responsibly, the UPS Stores of Babylon and Long Beach are initiating their first Catch and Release Photo Contest. The best photograph showing a striper being released unharmed in Northeast waters is worth $500. All entries must be submitted by Oct. 31 and need to have been shot this year. Visit skimmeroutdoors.com for details.

E-mail: outdoortom

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