Western Connecticut, Nor'east Magazine

• Well, it is that time of the fishing season where the tournaments start to heat up and the real sharpies, along with a few lucky novice anglers, hone in on the big fish in an effort to take home those coveted prizes. This year’s pool of large bluefish certainly means that the prize winner for the WICC Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth, and a few others, will bring home a few monster fish.
• At Stratford B&T in Stratford, Chris Fulton said that the tournaments in his area are already in full swing with the Valley Yacht Club having captured the inter-club bluefish tournament. Sal Biggs locked up the win for Valley with a 13.86-pound chopper. Moreover, Valley Yacht Club starts their anglers out young too, with 13-year-old Wade Rinkuonas winning the club’s annual striped bass tournament with a 24.92-pound fish.
• In other fishing news, Steve Higgs found the fluke plentiful while fishing at Middle Passage, where he used a squid and spearing combination on an Spro bucktail to catch his limit, including a 5.68-pound fish. Rob Litzie also fished Middle Passage, only his pursuit was those humpback porgies. Litzie limited out on those feisty fighters, using clam strips to catch 2-pound porgies. Ed Avitable headed over to Short Beach, where he tossed plugs for non-stop top water action with the bluefish. His heaviest blue was 10.22 pounds. Chris Schmedin tried another tack and used bunker heads fished on the bottom in the Housatonic River to catch an 11.97-pound bluefish.
• Jason Jadach of Bobby J’s in Milford was just gushing over the news of some really terrific fluke in New Haven Harbor. On a trip where he, Miguel Santiago and Chris Leandres slow dragged squid strips with a bucktail in the harbor, two of the three anglers limited out on the flatties to 6 pounds. Leandres was the sole angler to get skunked and his rusty hooks resulted in several shorts and a record catch of sea robins. Carl Bellizzi heard the news of New Haven Harbor and used squid strips on a bucktail to catch his limit of keeper fluke with his heaviest fish weighing 7.04 pounds. Tom Carboni also got in on the action and caught a 6.86-pound fluke with a squid strip. He also managed to entice a 30-pound striper to take the bait as well.
• Paul Gluhanich had a story to tell where he was fishing in 80 feet of water just outside of New Haven Harbor with a whole bunker, and after getting that familiar feel of play on the line reeled in a 5.4-pound sea bass. The funny part was that the tail half of the bunker was still sticking out of the sea bass’ mouth when he boated the fish. He also caught an 18-pound striper. Pat Devine had success at Southwest Reef where he was using a 3-way baited with bunker and promptly landed a 25-pound bass. Jadach wanted to remind anglers not to forget to sign the kids up for annual Milford Sportfishing Association’s Kid’s Snapper Derby which will take place on Sept. 8. Information and applications are available at Bobby J’s.
• Eric Johnson of Westport Outfitters in Norwalk reported that the heat is still on resulting in stripers and bluefish being found in the deeper reefs and even some in shallow water during the day. Most of the bass have been below keeper size but there have been reports of bigger fish being taken in Norwalk.
• Some really hot news is about bonito coming in from the area and the action is just beginning, with several claims that fish have been taken, but no confirming photos have been seen. The word is to try the incoming tide around structure that bait could be trapped in, like the north side of Cockenoe Island. With the fish holding in deeper, cooler waters, tube and worming has been the most effective method of fishing for larger stripers lately, but fresh bunker is also producing some decent fish to 35 inches.
• Fluke fishing is a little slow and the porgy action is starting to heat up with more keepers in the mix. This year, Westport Outfitters will once again be the key sponsor/supporter for the Annual Snapper Tourney held at Calf Pasture Beach. It will be held on September 15, so keep your eyes peeled for entry forms or log onto the City of Norwalk’s Park and Recreation webpage for more information.
• At Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, Nick Massaro spoke of Linda St. George and her catch of a 20-pound striper that was caught while fishing with a bunker chunk under the active bunker schools in Norwalk Harbor. Lou Milazzo received a nice surprise while jigging with a diamond jig at Middle Passage when a school of marauding bonita jumped on his lure and made his trip quite memorable. In some offshore news, Mario Cerbone fished the east end of the Tails where he caught a 180-pound blue marlin, a white marlin, two yellowfin, 60 and 90 pounds, and two albacore. Doug Van Dusan trolled the same location with virtually the same results, taking an 80-pound yellowfin and a white marlin.
• Pete Miller of Pete’s Place in Stamford had news of the blue claw crab run now making its way south to his neck of the woods. Miller said that good sized crabs can be found at Bruce Park, Holly Pond, Stamford Harbor and the Mianus River. The bluefish are also dominating the region and pretty much eating everything in sight. Paul McFarland and Roberto Pagan got in the crab action and each took home a 5-gallon pail of the tasty crustaceans, while Joe Horvath fished his usual spot at the Cows with clam strips for 14 jumbo porgies. Gene Barry fished Smith’s Reef with a 3-way, baited with sandworms where he caught several 24-inch bass. Mike Black hop scotched the bumps from Middle Grounds to the Cows and took home his limit of porgies with a few sea bass and keeper fluke mixed in.
• At Sportsman’s Den in Cos Cob, Mike Noyes reported that Todds Point has been the hot spot for fluke as of late with Nick Mitrione and Mike Loia confirming that news with a catch of seven fish at that location. The heaviest fluke was 6 pounds and were all caught on a squid and spearing combination. The youngsters got into the act at Todds Point as well with 11-year-old Justin Gaccione and 12-year-old Christian Bray teaming up to catch five fluke to 4 pounds using squid and spearing as their bait of choice.
• Joe Esposito of Rudy’s Tackle Barn in Greenwich said that Captains Island is still teeming with a variety of fish, with bluefish the mainstay of the day. Steve Piselli Sr. made it a family outing at Captains Island where he fished with Steven Jr. and Daniella Piselli, using squid strips on a bucktail to take home fluke to 8 pounds. (Rob Caluori)