This week
What we published most recently: the weekly report first, then the stories around it.
Fewer cars on the Montauk Highway, more room at the rail. The shoulder season has its own rhythm, and the crews that run year-round tend to prefer it.
Conditions and trip schedules change quickly at this time of year. Call the boat before you drive out.
Read the full reportAlso new
A month-by-month look at what Montauk's party boats schedule and what surfcasters chase from September to December, built from the boats' own 2026 schedules, NYSDEC's current seasons and seasonal writing from On The Water and The Fisherman.
Which open boats sail from Montauk Harbor, where they dock, what they post for fares and rules, and what a first-timer should know about reservations, licenses, tackle, tipping and weather.
What shore anglers need to know before fishing Montauk Point and Camp Hero: State Parks permits, how the shoreline is laid out, how to use the Montauk tide station, and the safety basics for boulder fields and big surf.
A plain-language primer on the New York rules that matter most at Montauk: the marine registry, the NY Bight and Long Island Sound tautog regions, and the fall limits as posted by NYSDEC.
How a brackish pond became the harbor for New York's biggest fishing fleet, where the party and charter boats tie up today, what the Army Corps' channel-deepening project involves, and which tide station and marine forecasts cover the harbor.
A site-by-site guide to Montauk's public shoreline for people who fish from land: the two state parks at the Point, the Town of East Hampton's sites, and the parking and drive-on permits each one requires.
A short, unglamorous packing list from people who have forgotten all of it at least once.
Drag, line, and the two or three decisions that actually matter for a first outfit.
The Point, the rocks, and why the whole end of the island feels like the edge of something.