The Weather's Hot, and so is the Fishing!
Capt. Sal Tardella
July 9, 2008
Norwalk Islands - Saltwater Fishing Report
On Friday we sailed at 9:00am, with six Westporters aboard: Pat Beranek and son, Pat Chapman and son, and Dan Kowalewski and daughter. All the kids were under 12 years old, and they were a lively bunch. The water was flat, and the air temperature couldn't have been more ideal. We found bluefish within the first half hour, as we were heading toward Westport, and I marked activity on my Lowrance. I had everyone take turns at blindcasting, and the action lasted for close to two hours. Looking for a change of pace, we drifted for fluke, bringing in a few, but they were just short of the 19.5" minimum length. As the charter was nearing its finale, we tried for striped bass--and brought in a 24-incher. It was a great Independence Day morning for all our passengers.
Saturday's trip was with Steven Umlauf of New York City and his 8-year-old son, Steven Jr. We had a good morning, despite the threat of thunderstorms being ever present--catching bluefish and bass on the surface around Westport. The Umlaufs kept three bluefish for their dinner.
We had Sunday off, but sailed on Monday afternoon with Brian Gaffney of Rowayton, and his 13-year-old son, Tyler. We tried fluking at first--making our way out to 30-foot depths just off of Goose Island. We had a few hits, but no hook-ups. Not wanting to waste any more time, we moved eastward and found a pocket of bluefish under some diving birds. The Gaffneys used top-water tackle and got blues weighing 3-5 lbs, after which we moved farther eastward and worked some structure near Southport--again scoring with similar-size blues. We then rigged our rods with tube & worm as we moved around some reefs, and brought in a few striped bass up to 24". Some bluefish filets were taken home for dinner, along with special recipes for their preparation.
Wednesday's trip was with Joe Miller of Newtown, hosting his father, John, of Ft. Myers FL, and their friend Cyril Tomascak of New Milford. We began in the Compo Beach area and worked the shoreline around The Mill, blind-casting with poppers and bringing in bluefish 3-5 pounds. The boys wanted to try something else, so we headed toward the middle of the Sound and found some nice bunker schools. We snagged some and then had non-stop action with blues 8-10 pounds.
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