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Fishing report: Season ‘in full swing’ at Fishy Business Charters

SoutholdLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl

Although this year’s fishing season got off to a choppy start, Phillip Kess, owner of Risky Business Charters in Orient, said as of late July, it’s smooth sailing.

“Fishing’s very good as of late,” he said. Right now, he added, anglers are catching bottom fish, including fluke, porgies, black sea bass, striped bass and bluefish.

“Everything is pretty much in full swing,” he said. “Some days are better than others, of course — but that’s fishing.”

A number of factors, including a cold winter, tidal influences, and pollution led to the stormy start, but as of late July, all systems are go for a good haul, Kess said. “The bass fishing may not be what it’s been in years’ past, but we’ve had some very, very good days,” he said.

After the summer season, the fall brings blackfish, Kess said; the blackfish season has been shortened to just October.

Fishy Business Charters offers a United States Coast Guard-inspected, 45′, custom built, charter boat that can accomodate up to 23 passengers, as well as a walk-around deck with a large, heated cabin, full, half day and night bass trips, and private charters, with all in-shore species in season, 360-degree availability at the rail, and open boat trips.

Recently, members of the Riverhead Fire Department headed out on their annual fishing trip with Kess.

Gio Woodson, a firefighter and also Riverhead Town Highway Superintendent, said about 15 or 16  firefighters took part in the recent outing. “We used to go out to Montauk but it was too long of a drive,” he said. “We heard about Mr. Kess’ boat, and we’ve been going out  for the past three or four years. Pretty much every time we go out, we catch our limit. He’s very knowledgeable, and we have a good time — and that’s what it’s all about.”

The firefighters, Woodson said, usually go after striped bass; Woodson once caught a 36-pounder.

The vessel, Kess said, also features “all the latest in electronic fish gadgetry,” from a GPS “to get us home,” and “top notch tackle.”

For Kess, who has been fishing since he was a little boy and has owned Fishy Business for more than 20 years, the joy of being out on the open water never diminishes.

“I enjoy fishing, and I like taking out new people, showing them the beauty of the North Fork,” which he said is fortunate enough to have a “wide variety of ports. “Not just Orient, but everyhere,” he said.

Still, he said, Orient holds its own special magic. “It’s more pristine,” Kess said. “It hasn’t had all the impacts of a lot of other areas closer to the city. It remains relatively untouched as far as fishing ports go.”

Kess brings anglers out within a 25-mile radius of Orient, depending upon the weather, from Plum Gut to Block Island.

So far this season, Kess said, the biggest fish on record was a striped bass weighing a whopping 45 lbs., with the average catch coming in between 15 and 18 lbs.

For those who haven’t yet been hooked by fishing, Kess has four words: “Give it a try.”

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