Heat and Sun and Rain and Thunderstorms this week....
Capt. Sal Tardella
August 6, 2008
Norwalk Islands - Saltwater Fishing Report
Friday's trip was with two Mikes from Westchester NY: Michael Herman of New Rochelle and Dr. Michael Blechman of Edgemont. The weather was perfect, and so was the fishing, with an impressive catch of blues up to 12 pounds.
Saturday's fishing party was the Probst family from Greenwich: Curtis and Cheryl and their three young children--11-year old Oliver, 9-year old Sylvia, and 6-year old Trevor. We left the dock at 10:00am, and immediately got into harbor blues around The Old Mill. Then about 45 minutes later the skies opened up, and a thunderstorm became very threatening. So, for safety's sake, I took everyone to the closest marina I could find, where we had to sit it out in our pilothouse for close to an hour. When the storm seemed to have moved eastward, we made our way towards Norwalk and fished for another hour while paying close attention to the weather reports and the skies above. We came upon an active bunker school, where we found larger blues--bringing in one at 10 pounds, but then everyone had to get under the roof again, and we quickly headed for home with the noisy storm in fast pursuit. The thunder and lightning continued as we disembarked and our passengers moved quickly to their vehicle. All in all, it was a great adventure for the family; they were all good sports about getting wet and having to endure a few interruptions throughout the trip.
We ended the week on Sunday with Doug Slater, Richard Granoff, and his 10-year old son, Noah. Starting at the Obstruction Buoy, which wasn't very productive, so we moved towards 28C and did well with blues up to 10 pounds and also some porgies, caught on bait chunks. Wanting to try top-water action, we moved toward Westport and found smaller blues feeding on sand eels; using very light tackle, they caught 14 in the 3-4 lb. class.
On Monday we sailed with Gary Lattrell of Pawling NY, Golf Course Superintendent of Quaker Hills Golf Club--along with the assistant golf pro and two other club employees. We went out to 28C and found a few nice blues--but, with the ripping tide--we moved toward Northport and found smaller bluefish that we caught on sand eel jigs. When the tide slowed down we returned to 28C and brought in a few more blues 5-7 pounds as well as some porgies.
Tuesday's trip was with "My Bonnie" first timers--all from Quality Machine & Tool Company in Norwalk; included were the owner, Chris Capozziello of Newtown, Andy Worobel of Newtown, Bret Worobel of Woodbridge, and Gus Merwyn of New Hampshire. We found a reef with a large school of blues in its drop-off--with the fish weighing 6-11 pounds as well as nice porgies up to 14" among the bluefish. Everyone got into the action and they took home lots of filets for the grill.
Wednesday's excursion was delayed because of thunder showers in the early morning. And the fishing definitely slowed down, possibly because of the change in the weather. The Matthew Cristino party from Shelton was aboard, and I was disappointed with the way the trip started out, especially because this was their first trip with us. Using bunker chunks, they brought in only a single bluefish in one of our favorite mid-Sound spots, so after an hour of working the tide in that area, we moved toward the OB and tried jigging up some fish--again with little luck. We then moved toward Westport, working some of the shorelines, and we found bluefish on top, feeding on sand eels. Everyone hooked up quickly, landing more than three dozen--with many filets taken home to share with family and friends.
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