Stamford Advocate

The striped bass season is shaping up as the best we have seen in years and Long Island Sound is loaded with big hungry stripers looking for an easy meal. There are so many bass around that I guess it is proof positive that all of the restrictive conservations efforts in recent years have worked.

Last week there were so many 40-plus inch stripers caught in local waters it boggles the mind:

1. Mike Curtin caught the largest striper reported last week, a 45-inch bass that weighed 29 pounds. He was fishing in Stamford waters and was using bunker chunks for bait.
2. Close behind was Joe Horvath who caught a 44-inch, 29 1/2-pounder. He also caught the fish in Stamford waters using bunker chunks.
3. Angelo Riccardelli sent an e-mail about a 43-inch striper he caught from the pier at Calf Pasture Beach. This was the first keeper bass he ever caught. He said the fish didn't put up much of a fight and that it took him only a couple of minutes to land the fish. Angelo was using frozen mackerel.
4. An angler known as "Jaque" caught a 42-inch striped bass while fishing off Dolphin Cove. He was using a live bunker for bait.
5. Gary Feighery and Carlo Colonello had a great day fishing in Stamford waters. Gary caught five linesiders including a 43-inch, 28-pounder and Carlo also caught five bass, the largest a 39-incher that weighed 21 pounds.
6. Pete Miller reeled in a 42-inch striped bass while fishing off Shippan Point. The fish weighed 26-pounds and was taken on bunker chunks. Fishing with Pete was his brother, Chris, who landed a 38-inch, 18 1/2-pound striper on a bunker chunk.

• Using 10-pound test line, Terry McPartland managed to boat a 37-inch striper. The fish, which weighed 21 pounds, was caught just off Sheffield Island. Terry was using bunker chunks for bait.
• There were also a lot of striped bass taken last week that we have no reports of the length but we know how much some of the fish weighed and some were heavy enough to be in the 40-plus inch range.
• The heaviest linesider reported was a 43-pounder caught by Jason Vlicky. He caught that fish and several others weighing around 30 pounds while fishing under schools of bunker in 40 feet of water around Rye, Mamaroneck and Hempstead. He was using snagged bunker for bait.
• Also fishing under bunker schools were Mike Palmer and Jeff Aricola. While live-lining a bunker off Rye they caught and released several stripers weighing up to 20 pounds.
• Frank DiPietro fished a couple of times. On one outing he caught 12 stripers including a cow that weighed 37 pounds. Those fish were caught with an umbrella rig trolled in the mid-Sound. On his second outing he fished around Captains Island where he boated seven stripers and 15 blues. Most of the fish were released unharmed.
• Also doing well trolling off Captains Island was Alex Vlahakis. Using an umbrella rig he caught several stripers including a 31-pounder.
• Adam Lutski caught several bass weighing between 20 and 30 pounds while fishing in Hempstead Harbor. All were taken on chunks of bunker.
• Phil Vincoli was out fishing a couple of time. On one outing he caught and released eight bass weighing up to 25 pounds and on his second trip he did even better, catching and releasing 20 fish also weighing up to 25 pounds. All were taken off Stamford on bunker chunks.
• Yung Chang caught a 30-pound, 14-ounce striped bass in Stamford waters. Yung was using a chunk of fresh bunker.
• Guy Esposito reported he landed a 27-pound striper while fishing from shore at IBM. The fish was taken using a mackerel head for bait.
• Capt. Mike Black of My Love Charters trolled for fish in Cold Spring Harbor with success. He caught one striper and 13 bluefish using an umbrella rig. He brought the striper, at least part of the striper, to Pete's Place to be weighed. All he had was the head of the striper and that measured 15 inches and weighed 10 pounds. There must be a pretty good story behind that catch.
• Vinny at Fish Tales Bait and Tackle reported Capt. Hocht and Jason Monet trolled the waters from Rye Beach to Hempstead Harbor where they caught 18 stripers to 24 pounds and some bluefish including one that tipped the scales at 18 pounds.
• John at Rudy's Tackle Barn reported Matt Casamassimma boated a 36-pound, 14-ounce striper while working the waters off Hempstead. He was also using bunker chunks.
• John also reported that Sean Brady caught a 35-pound linesider while drifting a fresh bunker off Playland.
• Ned Bojadzic caught a 20-pound linesider while fishing at Cove Island Park. It was taken on a bunker chunk.
• There were also some smaller striped bass taken.
• Magic Pincer boated a 34-inch linesider off Greenwich while John Califano and Rick Kulis fished around the Stamford "cows" and caught three bass including one that weighed 15 pounds. All three used bunker chunks.
• Jonathan Boisfeuillet and Jan Darula teamed up to catch and release 10 linesiders while fishing in Stamford waters. Their largest weighed 26 pounds and was taken on bunker chunks.
• Kevin at Sportsman's Den said Harry Leigh caught a 21-pound striped while fishing in Cos Cob Harbor. It was taken on a live bunker.
• Sportsman's Den fly fishing expert Sean Kelly caught and released several stripers while fishing around Greenwich. He was using a cinder worm fly.
• Joseph Stanley, 14, of Dover Plains, NY, found the fishing good in Byram Harbor where he caught and released six 20-inch striped bass he caught using poppers.
• Some anglers fished for other species of fish. Anthony Stevens, his dad and uncle, fished on the party boat Helen H and caught their limit of porgies using sandworms and clams. Their largest was 18 inches and weighed 2 1/2-pounds.
• Adam Weather caught a pair of 20-inch bluefish while fishing from the shore at Cove Island. They were taken on mackerel chunks.
• Tommy Flynn went to Kensico Reservoir where he trolled stick baits. He reeled in six brown trout and five lake trout. He also caught one smallmouth bass. His largest fish was a 26-inch brown trout that weighed 6 1/2 pounds.
• Fishing a little closer to home was productive for Kevin Miller. While working the Bathtub Pool on the Mianus River he caught six brown trout. All measured about 12 inches and were taken on dry flies. (Martin Armstrong, Stamford Advocate).