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August

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Pixabay photo

By Ava Himmelsbach

Long Island prides itself on its beautiful weather — but, more specifically — on its gorgeous summers.

That is why this past weekend, Port Jeff locals and visitors were asked: “What do you like to do during the summertime on Long Island?

Photos by Ava Himmelsbach

Carolyn and Julie

Many Long Island residents thrive in the summer weather and enjoy spending time outdoors when the sun is out. Julie highlighted her relaxing visits to the local beaches: “We just got a parking permit for the beach, so we go on the beach, drive on the beach, that’s fun.” She, also, noted her enjoyment of going fishing and eating out.

“She’s from Florida,” Julie added with regard to Carolyn, who replied, “I used to live here!”

Amanda, Michelle, Kaitlyn and their children

“My favorite thing to do in the summer is go to the Shirley Beach splash pad with the toddlers,” Michelle said.

She loves that spot due to its free admission combined with the opportunity of play time outside for her children.

“Going to the ocean, [especially] Smith Point,” Kaitlyn added. She mentioned that she enjoys the beaches, closer to home, as well. “My favorite thing is to go to the parks around us,” Amanda stated.

Gallya (right,) and her friends, Sima and Sandra

Gallya, a Long Island resident, was joined by her visiting friends Sima and Sandra, who had just arrived on the Island that day. 

“Walking through Port Jefferson, it’s such a great little village,” Gallya noted. “I like to go on the fishing boat, I like to go eat ice cream at the shack, I like to bring my closest friends that come from different parts of the world — presumably in reference to her friends Sima and Sandra — to share the beauty of this part of America.” Port Jefferson is undoubtedly a favorite for locals and visitors alike in the summertime. “I like to go to the restaurants in town, the meditation center and all the little boutique shops. I love to walk on the waterfront where they do sailing and rowing,” Gallya added. 

As for the rest of Long Island, she enjoys visiting the wineries and farms out east, as well as hiking at Avalon Park.

Anne and Zoey

“The beach!” Zoey said when asked about summer activities. “Yes, the beach. We love to go to West Meadow Beach with the grandchildren while they’re here. Anything fun for kids to do, like Rocketship Park,” Anne added, in regard to the location of the interview.

Zoey and Anne agreed that Kilwins, in Port Jefferson, is a fun spot to grab ice cream. “There’s a wonderful park up near Ward Melville [High School], I think it’s Washington Avenue Park,” Anne continued. “We love going there.” 

“Also, the library, Emma Clark Library [in Setauket,]” Zoey concluded.

“We spent a lot of time there yesterday. It’s amazing how much energy you can spend in a library with two kids.”

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Before we race through August and land on September, I’d like to suggest that we stop and smell the roses, among many other scents of summer.

At the top of the list of smells, on an island where marine life is never far away, is the smell of the ocean. As we lounge on our soft towels, caressed by a gentle breeze, we can breathe in the reviving, sweet smell of salty seawater.

Go to any beach during a summer day and you’ll also find the odor of sunscreen filling the air, courtesy of those spray-on bottles that seem to miss their target and head for the nostrils of the nearest sunbather as often as they reach exposed skin. While you may not want to eat sunscreen in getting away from your office, the smell can help you appreciate your favorite season, as is the case for my wife.

When you’re driving around town, you might reach a stop light or stop sign adjacent to a freshly cut lawn. I’ve always connected that smell with baseball fields, primarily because people started trimming their lawns around the same time as I played my abbreviated baseball season. When I was younger, I had as many games on my schedule in a year as this next generation seems to play in a month.

The atmospheric conditions in this light-intensive time collaborate to liberate the smell of mouthwatering food. At night or on weekends, the smell of a cookout can often encourage us to make a U-turn back to the supermarket to pick up some burgers, hot dogs and chicken.

I can’t drive anywhere near The Good Steer in Lake Grove without my nose acting like a sensory GPS, taking me back to my childhood and the spectacular onion rings that filled my plate.

Stand near just about any bakery in town and you’ll often have the opportunity to enjoy the best form of marketing, as the scent of freshly baked breads and cakes drifts down the street, leading us by our noses to their glass-enclosed treats.

When we were younger, my mother used to get on a sailboat, unpack our pretzels, turkey sandwiches and cold waters, pick up her head as if an old friend had called to her from the middle of the Long Island Sound and proclaim, “Oh, smell.”

Now, I recognize that the world is filled with the kind of foul odors that can turn a subway ride into a trip to “Dante’s Inferno” and that a visit to a friend’s house can also bring the pungency of wet dog to our nostrils.

The heat and the humidity, after all, is an equal-opportunity odor elevator, bringing everything to our attention including an awareness that the guy in the car next to us had garlic at lunch or the woman in line at the deli fell into the marsh in the morning.

Still, I prefer to focus on the proverbial odor glass as being half-full, as did some of my friends, who shared their favorite summer scents.

One person’s favorite smell is that of rain after the first drops fall, while another enjoys honeysuckle and the smell of jasmine from her native Beirut. A third enjoys the scent of coconut with lime or pineapple, and a fourth sings the praises of pine trees, mushrooms and wildflowers that remind him of his youth.

When we breathe in deeply enough these moments of summer rain, honeysuckle, coconuts and wildflowers, we can slow down the treadmill of time.

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Sea bass will continue to remain on the North Shore in August. Above, Angelo Peluso and Adrian Mason show off their catches. Photo from Angelo Peluso

By Angelo Peluso

As we move into late summer, fishing has hit peak strides throughout the entirety of the Long Island Sound. Despite the sweltering heat that often accompanies August, the eighth month of the year contains National Smile Week, and if you play your fishing cards right you just might smile broadly while finding some of the best local fish of the year.

August brings many surprises along the North Shore of Long Island. Many anglers take time off during the often scorching days of late summer, relenting to the call of the beach and BBQs. But succumbing to the myth of the dog days is a big mistake. August brings with it numerous and exciting fishing opportunities. The cool depths of the Long Island Sound and abundant bait can keep fishing vibrant and at times hectic. This is especially true of the central regions of the Sound where, striped bass, bluefish, fluke, porgies and seas bass can be caught with a high degree of regularity.

Water quality in the Long Island Sound is at its finest along the central portions of the North Shore. The month, named in honor of Augustus Caesar, also brings with it the strong possibility of visitations by some highly anticipated pelagic species: Atlantic bonito, little tunny and Spanish mackerel. With conducive bait and water conditions, those highly coveted light tackle gamesters should show in numbers sufficient to warrant expanded time on the water. All significant recreational species are in season and several ocean-roaming species visit local waters.

Summer flounder, also called fluke, have been in abundance and will continue to be caught through to the season’s end on Sept.  21.  Although it appears at times that anglers need to weed through dozens upon dozens of undersized fluke and sea robins to be rewarded with a limit of keeper summer flounder, bigger fish are still around and patience pays dividends. August usually also witnesses some of the largest striped bass catches of the season. Nighttime moon tides and drifted eels will typically relinquish some of the finer specimens of bass. While some of the largest bass will succumb to large natural baits, casting artificial lures early and late in the day will yield bass.

All the other popular summer game fish species will also continue to remain along the North Shore: bluefish, scup and sea bass. Bluefish have been prolific, but beginning in July, larger pods of marauding “choppers” began moving inshore to feast on snappers. That predation pattern should continue through August and into the fall. This is a great time to cast large top-water plugs to snag what just might be the largest bluefish of the year. Porgy, aka scup, fishing is now as hot as the weather. There are lots of these tasty scup around, but finding the jumbo porgies will take some searching in deeper water. At this time of year, smaller scup can be found well inshore and often well within reach of shore anglers fishing around jetties, rock groins, boulders and other structures. Porgies are the most democratic fish that swim in the Sound, and they can be caught by just about anyone who fishes for them. If you’d like a little different kind of fun with porgies, try feeding them small artificial baits. Scent-infused plastic lures work wonders on porgies, as do small flies. Sea bass will also present themselves this month.  To date, there have been some impressive catches of quality sea bass, and those results should continue for the remainder of the season. Deep water structure is the key to this form of bass fishing. So get out there and have a great, safe month on the water. The fish will be waiting.

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