The Advocate - Fishing As summer takes off, fishing heats up in area waters

• As I write this column the official meteorological start of summer is just two hours away. But don't tell Connecticut anglers. Fishing in Long Island Sound has been so hot and the water so filled with hungry fish that it's felt like summer for weeks.
• The biggest fish caught last week was a striped bass that measured a huge 52 inches. Richie at Rudy's Tackle Barn reported that Nimo Cambareri caught the 46-pound cow while fishing off Captains Island.
• The next largest fish was boated by Derek Donofrio, who caught a 4-foot sandshark while fishing off Tod's Point. The large bottom feeder grabbed a bunker chunk.
• Also doing well at Captains Island last week was Frank Depietro, who caught a nice 36-pounder on a chunk of bunker.
• Shore fishermen are also doing well in Westport. Nick at Fisherman's World reported Mike Bach caught a 45-inch, 32.12-pound linesider while fishing at Compo Beach. The huge bass was taken on a live bunker. Bach also caught a very large trout recently. While fishing at the Saugatuck Reservoir he landed an 11.5-pound Seeforellen brown trout. He was using a Krocodile lure.
• While trolling off Captains Island Brian DeRosso caught a couple of stripers with the largest weighing 23.4 pounds. DeRosso was trolling a spoon.
• Mike Noyes at Sportsman's Den said his customers are doing very well in local waters. Matt Igoe brought in a 43-inch linesider that he caught while fishing in Greenwich waters. The big fish weighed 38 pounds and was taken on a live bunker.
• Robert Fong boated a 41.66-pound striper while trolling the mid-Sound off Greenwich. He was trolling a green bunker spoon.
• Gary Feighery fishes almost every day . . . and he catches fish every day. Last week he caught and released lots of striped bass while fishing the waters between Stamford and Greenwich. His largest fish measured 43 inches and weighed 28 pounds.
• Dr. Francisco Montano, Francisco Alcon and Manuel Portas spent a quality day fishing off Greenwich. They boated six stripers measuring between 31 and 40 inches. All were taken on bunker chunks.
• Dale Denio caught a 31-pound striper in the mid-Sound. No other details were available.
• Paul Mocciola used a bunker chunk to catch a big bass off Bell Island. The fish tipped the scales at 30 pounds.
• Mark and Austin Sichling found a school of hungry stripers at Greens Ledge and they caught several linesiders weighing between 20-23 pounds.
• George Scala cruised to the New York side of the Sound where he caught and released 10 striped bass. The fish were caught east of Matinecock, L.I. Scala was using bunker chunks for bait.
• Sam Hayes and Sam Arciola did well fishing in Bridgeport Harbor. Arciola landed a striper that weighed 33.2 pounds while Hayes reeled in a 26.2 pound striper. All were taken on bunker chunks.
• Pat Bruno Jr., 7, showed his father, Pat Sr., the proper way to fish for striped bass. Pat Jr. landed a 33-inch, 17-pound linesider from the shore at IBM in Stamford. The savvy young angler was using clams for bait.
• Pat Bruno Jr. should get to know Julia and Jonathan Miller. Julia and Jonathan are 7-year old twins and they are also expert anglers. While their father, Pete, took notes, they caught four stripers measuring up to 31 inches. They were fishing at Wilson Point in Norwalk and using bunker chunks for bait.
• Perhaps Pat Jr. and the Miller twins should get to know Natalie Kulis. Natalie, 5, is also an expert angler. She recently caught a 36-inch, 18-pound striper while fishing with her dad, Keith, and her Uncle Ricky. There were drifting bunker chunks at the Stamford breakwater.
• Phyllis and John Crimmins had a couple of good outings last week. On their first trip they caught six stripers while fishing at the Stamford Cows. Then on Saturday they took out Melinda Menhaden and Andrew Dillinger. Birthday boy Andrew caught the largest striper of the day, a 41-inch bass that weighed 28 pounds. When all was said and done they had six keeper stripers. All of the fish were taken on bunker.
• Ted Lionetti caught a 37-inch bass while fishing at the Stamford breakwater. That fish weighed 171Ú2 pounds and was taken on a piece of bunker.
• Freddie Bonilla landed a 30-inch linesider while fishing from Shippan Point. He was also using bunker chunks.
• Cummings Beach was also a good place to fish last week. Using bunker for bait, Roberto Pagan caught a 28-inch bluefish and a 36-inch striper.
• Paul McFarland caught a pair of 28-inch stripers while fishing off Cummings Beach. They were taken on bunker chunks.
• Vinny at Fish Tales Bait and Tackle said Philip Vincoli has been busy fishing his secret spot off Stamford. Vincoli consistently catches some nice stripers there and last week he landed a 36-pound, 10-ounce linesider while live lining a bunker.
• Henry Alexandre caught a 31-inch striper while fishing from the shore at Dolphin Cove. He used clams for bait.
• Capt. Jason Monet had a great fishing trip last week. While trolling a tube and worm combo he caught four stripers measuring up to 28 inches and four bluefish weighing up to 10 pounds. He was trolling off Stamford.
• Francisco Ordonez found success while fishing at Cobblestone Reef. Using fresh bunker for bait, he caught and released a couple of linesiders. He kept one fish that measured 381Ú2 inches.
• The team of anglers known as FranknWayne had a good day fishing off Greenwich. Frank Wasco and Wayne Sorbo boated six stripers weighing up to 25-pounds using bunker for bait.
• Louie Marroquin caught a pair of blackfish while fishing from the shore at the end of Hobson Street in the Shippan section of Stamford. The fish measured 171Ú2 and 19 inches. Marroquin was using Asian crabs for bait.
• Joe Pease cruised over to Oyster Bay for some bottom fishing. Using squid and spearing for bait he boated five keeper fluke. (Martin Armstrong, Stamford Advocate).