(May through November)
From May through August, Dixon and the guides of To the Point Charters fish the crystal clear waters off East Hampton and Gardiners Island, sight fishing for striped bass and bluefish. Dixon is renowned for bringing Florida-style sightfishing to Long Island, where he poles in flats boats adapted for local waters.
Through years of trial and error, he not only perfected the technique but discovered the spots that are now legendary on the East End. His continual innovation and encyclopedic knowledge of tidal flow and underwater structure often allow anglers to hook trophy fish when there is no overt sign of their presence. The rewards of sighting your prey and watching your fly inhaled by stripers and bluefish in 3-foot “shallows” is unsurpassed.
In late August, Dixon and his fleet move from East Hampton to Montauk Point, where the trip to the fall blitzes is only minutes by boat. In the fall, masses of rainbait (bay anchovies) swarm the waters off the Montauk Lighthouse. Every bass, blue, and false albacore stops on migration down the Eastern seaboard to gorge on this copious feast. This feeding frenzy causes the water to churn on the surface, often for hours, in the legendary “fall blitzes” that draw avid anglers from all over the world. A trip spent hooking 10- to 20-pound bass and “albies” as they slash through acres of rainbait invariably results in sore arms and great memories.
In late November and early December, the herring run begins and draws trophy fish of up to 40 pounds to the surface from the rips off Montauk, providing the fly rodder with an opportunity to catch a real monster striper.