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Writer's pictureTrail Guide Joe

2024 Campout #3 - Montauk State Park

Updated: Nov 1

When the leaves on the trees are starting to change, that can only mean one thing... it's time for the annual Montauk State Park trout fishing trip! Continuing the recent trend of taking the full departure date to pack up and roll out, I would quickly come to realize this newfound "take your time" approach to packing really does more harm than good...

Even though I have the innate ability to pack in less than 1 hour and not miss anything, you would think that by having a full day to pack and leave I should be able to arrive with plenty of time to leisurely setup camp, make a good meal, and sit and enjoy the first night, right? Wrong! Somehow I get lost in how much time I have that I still manage to leave later than I would like, still manage to get trapped in traffic, and still wind up setting up camp in the dark. I'll get back to you when I can explain that. With my target departure time being between 1 and 2 PM, I ended up leaving just before 4 PM which, as noted, landed me in the middle of rush hour traffic and saw me arrive at the campground just before it was pitch dark. Fortunately another of my abilities is to setup a tent in the dark. So I have that working for me! After getting somewhat settled into camp life, we would head out to try and see the Aurora Borealis as we were experiencing a second geomagnetic storm this year! Unfortunately, we were a bit too early so I have no pictures. After climbing into the tent for bed, the sky would glow red, but for me, it would be an early morning fishing and I wanted to be well rested!

 
 

Trout fishing on the first morning, Friday, would reveal a critical flaw in my packing from the day before. As I can take all the time in the world to pack, I feel I am not as sharp as I would be when trying to pack and leave quickly. That, when combine with a lack of validating my packing modules, found me at the banks of the Current River, ready and expecting to catch trout, without my very necessary box of lures and my net. No, I was not left without anything to use. Just without the best lures to use... Welp, time to make the lemonade from these lemons, right? Yeah, that didn't work out very well and so I managed to convince my family to lend me a better lure for the morning just to see if I could do any better. Immediate improvements were seen as I was able to land 1 trout on the first morning! By the time I had gotten the loaned lure, I was already seeing the morning frenzy decline so 1 is all I would take for the day. Oh well, better luck tomorrow I would hope!

After morning trout fishing, we would head out to pick up firewood from our favorite local seller before heading in to town to pick up additional provisions for the coming days. We would pick up lunch before heading back and relaxing at camp the rest of the day!


As is the routine, day 2, Saturday, would find us back at the trout stream ready to knock out some fish. It didn't look good with the weekend crowds now lining up everywhere... And me, with my loaned trout lure and net, somehow managed against all odd to pull off a feat I had never accomplished before.... I caught my daily limit of trout in about 10 minutes or less!! Believe me, this was an exciting time to be alive as I had never had this level of luck and/or skill come together around a situation so dire, where I left critical gear at home, or anything better!

 
 

Still stunned by my fantastic fortune this morning, we would once again attempt a float from Tan Vat to Baptist Access on the Current River. The last time we did this float, it ended with one kayak wedged under a semi-submerged log, in swift moving water, in the middle of an "S" bend in the river. This time, however, the log would be repositioned out of the way but quite a few people would be spread out in the river, on the shore, and everywhere else making it too much of a challenge in the swift water to avoid collisions and safely make it to the pullout. Oh well, it would still be a great trip despite a rather ignorant fisherman we encountered, wading along in the river, trying to be in our way every chance he could get. It really was deliberate as we announced our intent to pass to all fisherman encountered and every single one would hold off to let us quickly pass except "Mr Power Waders"...

 
 

After struggling through the lower water levels, we would make our way back to camp to rest up for a bit and eventually to town for dinner to celebrate the best day of fishing any of us had ever seen at Montauk!


Day 3, Sunday, would bring a whole new accomplishment, three more trout and my possession limit met! With my possession limit achieved, it would bring with it a new problem as there were still two more mornings left to go fishing on this trip. So, like any sensible person would do, I cooked up and ate 3 of my trout so I could return to the stream the next two mornings! Armed with an onion, some spices, and oil, these fish were absolutely delicious!

Not wanting to risk my limits again before the next morning, I would settle into camp for the afternoon with a little nap before setting out to fly the drone around for a change. Since acquiring the drone I've been wanting to bring it down to Montauk to get a view of this beautiful place and, despite the stronger winds, I was not to be deterred! It would be the first of two days flying the drone but pictures will all be lumped in below.


Day 4, the second to last day of the trip, I would actually have to try to limit how many fish I could catch, or at least that would be my thinking. By now, my ability to catch fish would be getting to my head as I would start to believe I could catch 4 in 10 minutes any day of the week! Prior years would gladly remind me that this is the exception, not the rule. I would easy land two fish but a third would not be in the cards as the morning slowed down much sooner than previous mornings. This, of course, was acceptable to me so I could then try for one more on the final day without the pressure of what would likely be a slower morning fishing.


For the afternoon, we would visit a previously unrealized fire tower nearby. Seriously, decades of coming down to Montauk and never once realizing there was a fire tower so close by... How is that even possible?! To be fair, it is pretty well hidden from the travelled roads. But to not even once check the map of the surrounding area until now, that's just amazing. We weren't positive but it looked like you could maybe get inside this tower however, of all the towers I have ever been on, this one was the sketchiest! As you watched someone climb the steps, you could see the frame of the tower itself flexing under the weight of the person. That was more than enough to keep me closer to the ground. I would fly the drone to the top of the tower to have a peek inside and get some shots from above before we rolled back to camp. As the others in my group would head out to go fishing, I would take the opportunity to take a hike as I had a new pair of hiking boots to break in and also wanted to take a peek at some fall colors!

 
 

After a day of fish catching, tower climbing, and hiking, it was time to crawl into the tent one last time. Tomorrow would hopefully be the easiest day of fishing ever with just 1 fish needed to hit my limits. Having caught 0 fish on a multi-day trip before, catching 1 fish wouldn't be a given but given how good this trip had been so far, how could I not catch 1 more?


The final day of the trip, day 5, Tuesday, would see us at the stream where I would hope to catch just 1 more fish. That would be my daily limit as well as my possession limit and the best way to end this amazing trip! It wouldn't be the fastest caught fish but it would be the final fish I needed to end this trip perfectly! While the others of the group continued, mostly in vain, to catch their fill of fish, either for the day, the trip, or just their personal limits, I once again fired up the drone and sent it up and around to see the sights one more time before heading back to camp, packing up, and rolling out. This would mark the end of the most incredible trip to Montauk I have ever had aside from the very first trip more than 20 years ago. On that trip, I somehow caught a nearly 3-pound fish in some of the worst conditions available and being quite young at the time, no skill whatsoever in catching fish! Until next year, Montauk!

 
 

Drone shots from the Montauk trip

 

Other shots from the Montauk trip including a picture of 1 of the 2 skunks spotted (no picture of the second), pan fried bacon, pumpkin bread in a Dutch oven, bloody evidence that mosquitoes invaded Montauk, the first campfire I had all year, and scenery shots!


Span of 6 days; Approximately 377.4 miles; Approximately 27.161 gallons of gas used; Approximate average MPG 14.04; Approximately $75.95 spent on gas.


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