On July 27th, I went out at daybreak to check my lobster traps to the east, but before we moved on, I wanted to do a little fishing on the east side of Gardiner’s Island. Flounder and sea bass were my intended targets. My expectations were very low. I’ll explain more below.

The trip up the Rock Water took just over an hour as we cruised along at a slow and steady 12 knots. A cold front had passed through the area the day before and it was actually a bit chilly as I turned down my diesel engine to prepare for our first drift.

The gentle breeze from the north was very refreshing. This summer was almost Amazonian, with a heat and humidity that were extremely unpleasant. I’m counting the days until autumn. It didn’t help that the air conditioning at home had been broken for over two weeks and I was sweating lying on the living room sofa. As my wife Terie can attest, I became more argumentative by the day.

After stopping at Rock Water, with fresh squid and spears in hand, we dropped our bait in the water. In the great expanse of western Block Island Sound, there was only one other boat wetting a fishing line. And I know why.

The east side of Gardiner’s Island used to be one of the most popular and successful fishing areas, especially for flounder during the summer months. On a typical summer weekend morning, there would easily be 50 to 70 boats out there. Charter and party boats from Montauk and beyond also frequented the area, but that is no longer the case. For many years now, it has been a true dead zone. And that is most unfortunate.

When I checked my logbook, I noticed that on August 2, 1982, I and two schoolmates caught 48 flounder in this very area. We didn’t put any in the bucket as we were in catch-and-release mode. The action was non-stop. The flounder were everywhere we tried.

Last week, three of us went fishing for nearly three hours and caught only four flounder, all of which were well under the minimum size of 18 inches. And although we caught a good number of smallmouth bass, they were all undersized.

“Okay, enough of this,” I said to Terie and Ray, my crew of two, as I reeled in my bait. “Let’s check the lobster traps. Anything has to be better than this.”

I started the engine and headed northwest, but after about 10 minutes I got a warning on my GPS screen about low battery voltage. Not good.

My 25 year old boat is breaking down more and more as it gets older. This year has been particularly rough on the Rock Water and my checkbook.

Terie has been begging me to have a new boat built for me. I’m starting to think she might be right.

Luckily, Ray, who had worked as a mechanic on the Hampton Jitney for nearly 30 years, was on board that morning. He suggested we turn off all electronics to conserve the remaining power in my two batteries. My generator was probably the culprit.

Our trip to the lobster traps, two miles away, would have to wait. Our goal now was to get home without towing. We were about an hour from my dock and had our fingers crossed that we would make it.

Thankfully we did and it was a huge relief. After further analysis, it was determined that my generator had indeed failed.

A week later, after the new generator was installed, I finally got my lobster traps out. The catch was pretty good. We sorted out 15 lobsters that had a mix of hard and soft shells, which is pretty typical for this time of year.

Even better, Rock Water didn’t have any problems during the entire trip. Phew!

As far as fishing goes, it seems that the farther east you cast a lure, the greater the success. Out in Montauk, the persistent run of small 30-pound-plus bluefin tuna keeps rods constantly bent and anglers smiling.

Further inshore, the sea bream and sea bass fishing remains good. “But the striped bass have been quieter lately,” said Franks Wade of the Westlake Marina in Montauk. “It’s kind of like the summer lull for them.”

Wade added that flounder fishing is also “a little iffy.” “There are quite a few fish being caught, but most of them are undersized.”

Farther west, Sebastian Gorgone of Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton said striped bass and bluefish are still being caught in Plum Gut. “Three-way rigs with bucktails or diamond jigs have been a hit,” he said. “Plus, pufferfish and kingfish can be caught near Clearwater and Three Mile Harbor. Flounder can be caught near Frisbees off Montauk, and triggerfish have also been showing up in the warming waters nearby.”

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Fishing tips, observations and photos can be sent to the following address: (email protected).