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Bill Wetzel gets ready to cast a line in the surf. (Photo credit: Jeremy Garretson)
The human urge to catch something wild is strong. Every year for the past 30, that impulse caused Bill Wetzel, a social worker and legendary Montauk fishing guide, to live in anticipation of the first moon in June, when the sand eels, which striped bass love to eat, come out in the Peconic bays and begin to move east. “They start out on the north side, and by the next moon they come around the south side.”
That’s when Wetzel gets a lot more focused. For the next six months, he’s all about catching stripers in the surf at Montauk. Hear all about what it takes to nab one of the East End’s most prized fish — and why so many professional and recreational fishers alike — do so on today’s podcast.
Amy Zavatto is the Editor-in-Chief for southforker, northforker and Long Island Wine Press. She's a wine, spirits, and food journalist whose work appears in Wine Enthusiast, InsideHook.com, MarthaStewart.com, the New York Post, Liquor.com, SevenFifty Daily, Imbibe, Men’s Journal and many others. She's the author of The Big Book of Bourbon Cocktails, Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails, Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients, and The Architecture of the Cocktail. She is a respected judge for the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual small-production spirits competition, and has moderated numerous panels on the topics of wine, spirits, cocktails, and regional foodways. She is the former Deputy Editor for the regional celebratory publications, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn, as well as the former Executive Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. She is a member of the New York chapter of the international organization of women leaders in food, wine, and spirits, Les Dames d’Escoffier. The proud daughter of a butcher, Amy is originally from Shelter Island, N.Y., where she developed a deep respect for the East End’s natural beauty and the importance of preserving and celebrating it and its people.
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