Generations of anglers have made the pilgrimage to Montauk to catch striped bass

On October nights in Montauk, New York, fishing guide Bill Wetzel drives a modified 4x4 pickup along boulders and thick sand, scanning the Atlantic for signs of striped bass. He logs current seams, sandbar cuts, coves, troughs, and birds working bait pushed up by predators, and even monitors a VHF radio for marine forecasts before heading out. Wetzel says he’s not sure there will be fish left, despite knowledge of tides and moon phases. Scientists attribute the species’ decline to human-caused environmental and ecological changes that threaten an $8 billion industry and a generations-old tradition. Wetzel has guided for over 25 years and recalls the stock collapse that led to a shutdown in the mid-1980s; he says there’s been no blitz for four years and small fish are gone.