The closing of the Montauk Point surf season is upon us and with it comes the end of two blissful months of legal surfing.
After years of conflict between surfers and local anglers, the Long Island region of state parks issued a regulation change in January of 2009, which gave surfers legal access to surf Montauk Point (the fishing season for striped bass runs from April 15th- Dec 15th).
Surfrider Foundation's Long Island and New York chapters have been heavily involved in the "Free The Montauk Eight" campaign, which supported eight surfers that were ticketed in 2007 for surfing this area.
Although the tickets were dismissed and a "surfing window" has now been established, keeping surfers out of the water when this place turns on may continue to be an issue.
After all, mother ocean doesn't operate her swell shop only three months outta the year.